- Bobby Tolan
Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor2=#c6011f
bgcolor1=black
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
name=Bobby Tolan
position=Center fielder
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1945|11|19
city-state|Los Angeles|California
debutdate=September 3
debutyear=by|1965
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
finaldate=September 19
finalyear=by|1979
finalteam=San Diego Padres
stat1label=AVG
stat1value=.265
stat2label=HR
stat2value=86
stat3label=Hits
stat3value=1121
teams=
*St. Louis Cardinals (1965-1968)
*Cincinnati Reds (1969-1973)
*San Diego Padres (1974-1975, 1979)
*Philadelphia Phillies (1976-1977)
*Pittsburgh Pirates (1977)
highlights=
*World Series champions: 1967
*National League pennant: 1967, 1968, 1970, 1972
*National Leaguestolen base leader: 1970
*Hutch Award : 1972
*National League Comeback Player of the Year: 1972Robert Tolan (born
November 19 1945 inLos Angeles, California ) is a former center andright fielder inMajor League Baseball .Tolan, who batted and threw left-handed, played for the
St. Louis Cardinals (1965-68),Cincinnati Reds (1969-73),San Diego Padres (1974-75, 1979),Philadelphia Phillies (1976-77) andPittsburgh Pirates (1977).Tolan was a reserve outfielder during his years with the Cardinals, with whom he won a World Series title in by|1967. He also played on the by|1968
National League champions; however, the Redbirds lost to theDetroit Tigers in the World Series in seven games, after leading three games to one. The day after the final game of this Series Tolan was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for veteran outfielderVada Pinson .Batting second behind
Pete Rose in the Reds lineup, Tolan in by|1969 hit .309 and established career highs inhome run s and runs batted in (21 and 93 respectively). In this, the first year both leagues were split into two divisions, the Reds finished third in theNational League West , four games behind the division-winningAtlanta Braves . The "Big Red Machine," which also featured future Hall of FamersJohnny Bench andTony Perez (and would later feature a third,Joe Morgan ), was just beginning to take shape.In by|1970, Tolan batted a career high .316 with 16 home runs and 80 RBIs, and led the National League in
stolen base s with 57 (the only time former Cardinal teammateLou Brock did not lead the National League in steals between by|1966 and by|1974) for a Reds team that won the National League West title for their first postseason berth since the1961 World Series . The Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS in three games; in the second game, Tolan scored all three runs in a 3-1 victory, including a fifth-inning home run off starterLuke Walker . However, theBaltimore Orioles defeated the Reds in the World Series in five games. Tolan went 4-for-19 in the Series, including a home run offMike Cuellar in Game Two.Tolan missed the by|1971 season after rupturing his
Achilles tendon playingbasketball . He came back in by|1972, winning both the Comeback Player of the Year award and theHutch Award after batting .283 with 82 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. His Reds again defeated the Pirates in the NLCS (this time with the winning run scoring on awild pitch byBob Moose , after the Reds entered the ninth inning trailing by a run) to win the pennant; however, they were defeated by theOakland Athletics in the World Series in seven games.by|1973 was a disastrous year for Tolan: his batting average plummeted to .206, he had several squabbles with management, went
AWOL for two days in August, and broke team rules by growing abeard . OnSeptember 27 , the team suspended Tolan for the remainder of the season; though they won yet another division title, they lost to theNew York Mets in the NLCS. At the end of the season the Reds traded Tolan to the Padres for pitcher Clay Kirby. After the trade theMajor League Baseball Players Association filed agrievance on Tolan's behalf. During the by|1974 season, in which he batted .266 in 95 games, he learned that he had won his grievance. He demanded that the Reds publicly apologize to him because his name had beenslander ed.Tolan was released by the Padres after batting .255 in by|1975. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as a
free agent , and in by|1976 batted .261 as a part-time outfielder. The Phillies won theNational League East title to earn their first post-season appearance since the “Whiz Kids” were swept by theNew York Yankees in the1950 World Series . However, Tolan’s former team, the Reds, defeated the Phillies in the NLCS.Tolan played professionally in Japan in by|1978. He was also
Tony Gwynn 's first batting coach while employed in the Padres'farm system . Tolan also wasplayer-manager of theSt. Petersburg Pelicans , a team in theSenior Professional Baseball Association , in the two years of the league's operation, by|1989-by|1990.In his major league career, Tolan batted .265 with 86 home runs and 497 runs batted in, in 1,282
games played .Tolan is married to Marian Trahan and they have a son Robert Tolan who plays professional baseball in the
Washington Nationals organization.Tolan's uncle,
Eddie Tolan , was a sprinter who won two Gold Medals in the1932 Summer Olympics . [http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/cheers_thursday_september_18/ See post 38]ee also
*
List of Major League Baseball stolen base champions External links
*baseball-reference|id=t/tolanbo01
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