Graig Nettles is one of those guys who, as time goes by, you forget how good he really was. Despite only hitting .248 throughout his career (which probably kept him out of being seriously considered for the Hall of Fame), he hit 390 career homeruns as a third baseman and he did it while walking 1,088 times vs. only 1,209 strikeouts. He never struck out more then 100 times in a season and only twice did he strike out more then 80 times. This is a guy who usually shows up as one of the top 15 third baseman ever.
Of all his outstanding seasons, 1977 was probably the best. He set career highs in homeruns (37), RBIs (107) and runs (99). People forget that is wasn’t slugger Reggie Jackson who led the team in homeruns in 1977, it was Graig Nettles. After winning the homerun crown in 1976 with 32 homeruns, Nettles’ 37 in 1977 was good for second in the league to Jim Rice, who hit 39. He won his first gold glove and also had his best MVP ballot ever. He finished in fifth place and he even mustered two first place votes in a season where Rod Carew ran away with the award with his .388 batting average.
Nettles definitely got things done in the second half of the season. He entered the All Star Break hitting only .222/.306/.444 through the first half but turned it up and hit .297/.368/.562 in the second half. His best month of the year was August. Nettles hit ten homeruns, drove in 25 and hit .340/.405/.730 in 27 games. His best run was probably in late August when from August 20, 1977 through August 23, 1977, he hit three homeruns, drove in six and scored five runs while going six for sixteen.
Probably the only knock on Nettles 1977 season was how poorly he played in the post season. He went 7 for 41 with only three RBIs in eleven post season games. Regardless, it was a top notch season from a top notch player.
Here’s a look at Nettle’s numbers in 1947:
Games 158
AB 589
Runs 99
Hits 150
Doubles 23
Triples 4
Homeruns 37
RBIs 107
Walks 68
Strikeouts 79
Stolen Bases 2
Caught Stealing 5
BA .255
OBA .333
SLG% .496
OPS .829
RC 96
RCAA 21
RCAP 16
RC/G 5.68
ISO .241
