Fri Nov 03, 2023 8:58 am
Concurring that he was one of a kind in his day.
His size all by itself made him a very menacing figure in the batters box. But he swung his bat in a hard, looping, lurching, all-arms-and-head way that was frightening to see. He just pulverized the ball when he made contact.
He loved LHP, and my Tigers' Mickey Lolich could not get him out. Pitchers were unanimous that his home runs were almost all wicked line drives that rose as they left the yard.
I loved that when he was with the Senators, his nickname other than Hondo was "Capital Punishment."
He finished his career with the Tigers and shared the first DH position with Gates Brown in '73.
I was surprised that he was named manager of a couple of teams after his career. He certainly did not fit that mold when he was playing. In fact, when he was with the Dodgers, he had a tendency to sulk a little, and they had to talk him out of retirement and to report to Spring Training from his home in Wisconsin a couple of times.
I would love to try his ATG 9 cards someday, but in all honesty, they aren't that good in the non-DH format I prefer. His glove and legs are big liabilities.
RIP, Hondo.