George Brett (1999)


Date of Birth: 5/15/1953
Birthplace: Glen Dale, West Virginia

George Brett played for the Kansas City Royals for his entire twenty-one year major league career. His brother, Ken, also played in the major leagues in 1967 and from 1969 through 1981, playing for 10 teams. He was a pitcher. Two other brothers played in the minor leagues.

Kansas City Royals

Brett was drafted by the Royals at the age of just eighteen in 1971. After two years in the minor leagues, he was called up to the Royals in August, 1973, for thirteen games. In 1974, his first full season in the major leagues, Brett batted .282 with 129 hits and 21 doubles in 133 games.

Brett started as a shortstop but he was quickly moved to third base for defensive purposes. He became the Royals regular third baseman in 1974, a position he held until he was moved to first base in 1988. He was the Royal's designated hitter for most of his last three seasons (1991-1993). A good defensive third baseman, Brett won a Gold Glove in 1985.

In 1975, Brett led the American League in hits with 195 and in triples with 13. The following year he won the American League batting title and led the league in batting average and triples. In 1976, he batted .333 with a career high 215 hits, 34 doubles, and 14 triples in 159 games. Defensively, he led AL third basemen in putouts with 140.

In 1978, Brett led the American League in doubles with 45 and in 1979, he led the league in hits with 212 and in triples with a career high of 20. He led AL third basemen in assists with 373 in 1979. That year, he won his first Baseball Digest Player of the Year award.

Brett won the American League MVP award, the batting title, and the first of three Silver Slugger awards in 1980. That season he batted a career high .390 with 175 hits, 33 doubles, 24 home runs, 118 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 117 games. He led the AL in hits, on-base percentage with .454, and OPS with 1.118. In 1980, Brett won his second Baseball Digest Player of the Year award, the Sporting News Player of the Year award, and the Hutch award.

In the strike shortened 1981 season, Brett batted .314 with 109 hits, 27 doubles, and 43 RBIs in 89 games. He had another strong season the following year. He finished the 1982 season with 166 hits, 32 doubles, 21 home runs, 82 RBIs, 51 strikeouts to 71 walks, and a .301 batting average in 144 games.

Brett led the AL in hits and OPS in 1983. He finished the season with 144 hits, 38 doubles, 25 home runs, 93 RBIs, 39 strikeouts to 57 walks, a .310 batting average, and an OPS of .948.

Brett's batting average dropped to .284 in 1984. He had 107 hits, 21 doubles, and 69 RBIs in 104 games. He came back strong in 1985, however, winning a second Silver Slugger award for batting .335 with 184 hits, 38 doubles, 30 home runs, and 112 RBIs. That year he also won the AL Championship Series MVP award and a Gold Glove for his defensive work at third base. In 1985, he led the AL in hits and OPS with 1.022. As a third baseman, he led the league in assists with 339.

In both 1986 and 1987, Brett batted .290. He had 128 hits, 28 doubles, 16 home runs, and 73 RBIs in 1986, and similar numbers in 1987, with 124 hits, 18 doubles, 22 home runs, and 78 RBIs. He played in 124 games in 1986 and just 115 games in 1987. He won the Lou Gehrig Memorial award in 1986.

Brett won his third Silver Slugger award in 1988 with a batting average of .306. Two years later, in 1990, he again won the American League batting title and he led the league in doubles. That season, he batted .329 with 179 hits and 45 doubles in 142 games.

Although Brett's batting average dropped to .255 in 1991, he still had a good season with 129 hits, 40 doubles, and 61 RBIs in 131 games. He played better in 1992, finishing with 169 hits, 35 doubles, 61 RBIs, and a .285 batting average.

In 1993, his last season as a major league player, Brett batted .266 in 145 games. He had 149 hits, 31 doubles, 19 home runs, and 75 RBIs.

Awards and MLB Records

  • Baseball Digest Player of the Year (2 times)
  • Hutch award
  • AL MVP
  • Sporting News Player of the Year
  • ALCS MVP
  • Lou Gehrig Memorial award
  • Silver Slugger award (3 times)
  • Gold Glove
  • Led the AL in batting average (3 times)
  • Led the AL in doubles (2 times)
  • led the AL in hits (3 times)
  • Led the AL in triples (3 times)
  • Led the AL in OPS (3 times)

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Brett in 21 seasons (1973-1993) in the major leagues include:

  • 11 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 215 in 1976
  • 14 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 45 in 1978 and 1990
  • 4 seasons with over 10 triples, with a high of 20 in 1979
  • 8 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 30 in 1985
  • 4 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 118 in 1980
  • 11 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .390 in 1980

Career batting statistics for Brett include:

  • 2,707 games played
  • 3,154 hits
  • 665 doubles
  • 137 triples
  • 317 home runs
  • 1,596 RBIs
  • 201 stolen bases
  • 907 strikeouts to 1,096 walks
  • .305 batting average
  • .369 on-base percentage
  • .857 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Brett at third base include:

  • 1,692 games played
  • 261 errors
  • 3,674 assists
  • 307 double plays
  • 1,372 putouts
  • .951 fielding percentage

Career postseason statistics for Brett include:

  • 7 postseasons
  • 43 games played
  • 166 at-bats
  • 56 hits
  • 8 doubles
  • 5 triples
  • 10 home runs
  • 2 stolen bases
  • 23 RBIs
  • 20 strikeouts to 17 walks
  • .337 batting average

Post Playing Career

Brett has remained a part of the Kansas City Royals as both their vice president and as a coach and instructor for the team. He also owns a minor league team that is a San Diego Padres affiliate team and he is co-owner with one of his brothers of a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate minor league team.

Brett was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot with 98.2% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - George Brett
ESPN - George Brett
Baseball Reference - George Brett

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