Books and articles about Bake McBride

McBride hit .300 seven times, including the first five years of his career. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1974 when he hit .309 with 81 runs and 30 steals as the second-place Cardinals' centerfielder. He missed time with injuries the next two seasons (although he was named to the All-Star team in 1976) and was traded to the Phillies in June 1977. Moving from spacious Busch Stadium to Veterans Stadium, he hit a career-high 15 HR while batting .316 and stealing a personal-best 36 bases, and started the winning ninth-inning rally in Game One of the LCS. In 1978 he slumped to .269 but led NL outfielders in fielding, tied a ML record for right fielders with 10 chances in a game (September 8), and pinch hit a game-tying HR in the seventh inning of the Phillies' LCS loss in Game Four. He tied for second in the NL with 12 triples in 1979.

McBride rebounded to .309 (fourth in the NL) in the Phillies' 1980 World Championship season, setting career highs of 87 RBI and 33 doubles. He went on to belt a game-winning three-run HR in the Series opener and singled in the tying run and scored the game winner in the Phillies' eighth-inning rally in their Game Two victory.

After limited time in 1981, McBride was traded to the Indians and finished with two years of part-time duty. (WOR)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 11, 1974: The Mets lose a marathon night game after seven hours four minutes, and 25 innings, the longest game to a decision in ML history. Two Mets errors lead to the Cardinals' winning run starting with an errant pickoff throw that allows Bake McBride to scamper all the way around from 1B. St. Louis wins, 4–3. The Mets go to the plate 103 times, the only time the century mark has been reached in a ML game; the Cards are not far behind with 99 plate appearances. All told, a record 175 official at-bats are recorded, with a major-league record 45 runners stranded. Only a thousand fans are on hand when the game ends at 3:13 a.m. » November 27, 1974: Cardinal OF Bake McBride wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award. » July 7, 1975: In an 8–6 loss to the Cardinals, Giants catcher Marc Hill -- as well as the Cards -- ties a mark last accomplished in 1905 when he tags out three Cards runners at home on throws from the outfield. The three Cards dealt out are: Ken Reitz, in the first inning. on a throw from LF Gary Thomasson. Reitz tries scoring from 2B on a Mike Tyson single; Ron Fairly in the 6th inning thrown out by RF Bobby Murcer on a Tyson fly ball; Bake McBride in the 7th thrown out by LF Chris Arnold when he tries to score on a Willie Davis fly. » April 19, 1976: The Mets outlast the Cards, 4–3, in a 17-inning contest. Bake McBride tallies five hits for St. Louis. » June 15, 1977: The Phillies swap batteries with Montreal sending P Wayne Twitchell and C Tim Blackwell for C Barry Foote and P Dan Warthen. Then Philadelphia ships P Tom Underwood, OF Rick Bosetti and 1B Dane Iorg to the Cardinals for Bake McBride and Steve Waterbury. McBride will hit .339 after arriving in Philley. » October 4, 1977: The Phillies score twice in the 9th inning on singles by Bake McBride, Larry Bowa, and Mike Schmidt off Elias Sosa, to beat the Dodgers 7–5 in the opening game of the National League Championship Series. Ron Cey blasts a grand slam for Los Angeles in the 7th, and Greg Luzinski homers for the Phils. » October 5, 1977: In game two of the NLCS, Dusty Baker's grand slam, off Jim Lonborg, leads the Dodgers to a 7–1 win over the Phillies as Don Sutton goes the distance for LA. Bake McBride's homer in the 3rd is the only score for Philley. » September 8, 1978: In a 5–3 win at Wrigley Field, Phillies RF Bake McBride handles 11 chances, tying the National League mark for right fielders. It was last matched by the Cubs Swish Nicholson, in 1945, in the same park. » September 11, 1980: In a 6–5 win over the Cubs, Montreal's Ron LeFlore steals his 91st base of the season and Rodney Scott steals his 58th, breaking the major-league record for stolen bases by teammates in one season. Lou Brock and Bake McBride set the record with the 1974 Cardinals. » October 14, 1980: Philadelphia pitcher Bob Walk becomes the first rookie to start a World Series opener since Joe Black in 1952, and the Phillies rally from a 4–0 deficit to beat the Royals 7–6. Kansas City's Willie Aikens hits a pair of homers, becoming only the 3rd player to do so in his first World Series game. Bake McBride homers for the Phils. » February 16, 1982: Bake McBride becomes the 3rd starter from the Phillies' 1980 World Championship squad to be traded or sold since Bill Giles bought the club last October. The Indians get him in exchange for pitcher Sid Monge. » June 12, 1982: A's RF Tony Armas sets a pair of ML records for the position with 11 putouts and 12 total chances in an 8–1 win over the Blue Jays. Harry "Silk Stocking" Schafer's record of 11 total chances had stood since 1877, and matched four times, most recently by Bake McBride, in 1978. Armas has a single and a triple, including the game winner for Rick Langford. » September 17, 2001: Bud Smith follows up his no-hitter with a 2–1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The only run in seven innings against the Cards' budding young ace is unearned. Jeromy Burnitz of the Brewers comes within one fielding chance of joining Harry "Silk Stocking" Schafer (1877), Greasy Neale (1920), Casey Stengel (1920), Bill Nicholson (1945) and Bake McBride (1978) as the only N.L. right fielders to register 11 chances in a game. The major-league record is held by Tony Armas who handled 12 chances in an A.L. game in 1982.