"Road Runner"
Rico Carty injured his left knee playing Winter ball in the Dominican Republic, and was lost for the entire 1971 season. Garr seized the opportunity, batting over .400 through the middle of May, and earning the nick-name "Road Runner" due to his speed. On May 10, against Tom Seaver and the New York Mets, Garr hit a solo home run with two outs in the tenth inning to tie the game. He hit a second home run in the twelfth for the walk-off victory.
He became so popular with fans in Atlanta that the Braves negotiated exclusive big-league baseball rights with Warner Bros. Cartoons to use animated scenes of the Looney Tunes character Road Runner on the scoreboard, while the calliope erected behind right field went "beep-beep" like the cartoon character every time Garr reached first base. By the end of the season, Garr's batting average cooled off to .343, good for second best in the National League to the St. Louis Cardinals' Joe Torre. He also scored a career high 101 runs batting second in the Braves' batting order.
Unfortunately, Garr's defensive short-comings (he led N.L. outfielders with eleven errors) caused him to lose his starting job in left field when Carty returned to the Braves in 1972. He still appeared in 134 games and managed a .962 fielding percentage manning all three outfield spots. His .325 batting average was again second best in the league (this time to the Chicago Cubs' Billy Williams). At the end of the season, Carty was traded to the Texas Rangers, opening a permanent spot for Garr.
Garr again put up solid offensive numbers in 1973 (.299 batting average, 11 home runs, 94 runs scored & career high 55 RBIs & 35 stolen bases), but his weak glove made him trade-bait at the 1973 Winter meetings. Needing to strengthen their infield defense as well, the Braves had a deal in place that would have sent Garr to the Philadelphia Phillies for shortstop Larry Bowa, but it fell through. Instead, he remained in Atlanta, and put together the best season of his career. He flirted with a .400 batting average for much of the first half of the season. He had 149 hits heading into the All-Star break that year, a record that stands to this day, to earn selection to the National League All-Star team (he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout). He ended the season with a league best .353 average, and also led the N.L. in hits (214) and triples (17).
Garr spent much of his early career believing that he was under paid by the Braves. After a career year, Garr sought a raise to $114,500 for the 1975 season, more than double what he received in 1974. The Braves countered with $85,000. The contract dispute went to arbitration, with Garr winning to become the highest paid player on the team, and the first player in major league history to double his salary through arbitration.
Despite an excellent Spring, and going into the season with confidence, Garr's average dipped to .278 in 1975. He did, however, lead the league in triples (11) for a second year in a row. After the season, he and infielder Larvell Blanks were traded to the Chicago White Sox for Ken Henderson, Dick Ruthven and Ozzie Osborn.
Read more about this topic: Ralph Garr
Famous quotes containing the word road:
“At sundown, leaving the river road awhile for shortness, we went by way of Enfield, where we stopped for the night. This, like most of the localities bearing names on this road, was a place to name which, in the midst of the unnamed and unincorporated wilderness, was to make a distinction without a difference, it seemed to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)