RIP Oscar Gamble

[YankeeFan]

A favorite of mine growing up:

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Very sad news indeed. Man could hit. RIP.

 

[QYFW]

The 'Fro! RIP.

 

[Songbird]

I was just getting into baseball toward the twilight of his career. I had a ton of the card he's holding up.

Year    Age   Tm   Lg    G   PA   AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI SB CS  BB  SO   BA  OBP Awards
1969     19  CHC   NL   24   81   71   6   16   1  1   1   5  0  2  10  12 .225        .321
1970     20  PHI   NL   88  305  275  31   72  12  4   1  19  5  4  27  37 .262        .330
1971     21  PHI   NL   92  309  280  24   62  11  1   6  23  5  2  21  35 .221        .275
1972     22  PHI   NL   74  157  135  17   32   5  2   1  13  0  1  19  16 .237        .331
1973     23  CLE   AL  113  432  390  56  104  11  3  20  44  3  4  34  37 .267        .329
1974     24  CLE   AL  135  509  454  74  132  16  4  19  59  5  6  48  51 .291        .363
1975     25  CLE   AL  121  405  348  60   91  16  3  15  45 11  5  53  39 .261        .361
1976     26  NYY   AL  110  384  340  43   79  13  1  17  57  5  3  38  38 .232        .317
1977     27  CHW   AL  137  470  408  75  121  22  2  31  83  1  2  54  54 .297 .386 MVP-29
1978     28  SDP   NL  126  437  375  46  103  15  3   7  47  1  2  51  45 .275        .366
1979     29  TOT   AL  100  327  274  48   98  10  1  19  64  2  1  50  28 .358        .456
1979     29  TEX   AL   64  201  161  27   54   6  0   8  32  2  1  37  15 .335        .458
1979     29  NYY   AL   36  126  113  21   44   4  1  11  32  0  0  13  13 .389        .452
1980     30  NYY   AL   78  229  194  40   54  10  2  14  50  2  0  28  21 .278        .376
1981     31  NYY   AL   80  227  189  24   45   8  0  10  27  0  2  35  23 .238        .357
1982     32  NYY   AL  108  382  316  49   86  21  2  18  57  6  3  58  47 .272        .387
1983     33  NYY   AL   74  208  180  26   47  10  2   7  26  0  0  25  23 .261        .361
1984     34  NYY   AL   54  151  125  17   23   2  0  10  27  1  0  25  18 .184        .318
1985     35  CHW   AL   70  184  148  20   30   5  0   4  20  0  0  34  22 .203        .353

17 Y   17 Y 17 Y 17 Y 1584 5197 4502 656 1195 188 31 200 666 47 37 610 546 .265        .356

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/31/2018.

 

[playthrough]

The 'Fro! RIP.

Any kid of that era who collected cards can't hear the name without thinking of the 'Fro. Clearly he was a great sport about it.

 

[Songbird]

And he had that deep crouch at the plate.

 

[Chef2]

Best hair in MLB history?

 

[YankeeFan]

And he had that deep crouch at the plate.

Oh yeah, there were some great batting stances back then.

I would imitate his, Roy White's, Greg Nettles', and even George Brett's and Carl Yastrzemski's.

 

[QYFW]

Imitating batting stances during all-day Wiffle-Ball marathons. Those were the days.

 

[Bronco77]

The Cubs brought him up at age 19 and traded him in the wake of their '69 collapse along with **** Selma to the Phillies for Johnny Callison. Looked like a good deal for the Cubs at the time, but Callison was at the end of the road and Gamble emerged as a solid major leaguer (and Selma could've helped the '70 Cubs, who didn't have much of a relief corps beyond Phil Regan). Certainly not up there in Cubs annals with Brock-Broglio, but not one of their better trades.

Loved Gamble when he came back to Chicago with the '77 White Sox. Had 31 homers and came close to hitting .300. Left after that season because free agency was taking off and Bill Veeck simply couldn't afford him.

 

[micropolitan guy]

More career walks than strikeouts, from a guy with decent pop.

 

[Chef2]

Imitating batting stances during all-day Wiffle-Ball marathons. Those were the days.

I may have the best Danny Tartabull, Cecil Fielder, Jay Buhner, Mel Hall, John Kruk in history.
Just saying.

 

[goalmouth]

Gamble hit a homer the first (and only) time I sat behind the plate at Yankee Stadium.

 

[Songbird]

I may have the best Danny Tartabull, Cecil Fielder, Jay Buhner, Mel Hall, John Kruk in history.
Just saying.

I'd say my best batting stance imitations were Garvey and Dusty. I'm a switch-hitter so I had fun trying to do Joe Morgan's chicken-wing flap.

 

[Chef2]

I'd say my best batting stance imitations were Garvey and Dusty. I'm a switch-hitter so I had fun trying to do Joe Morgan's chicken-wing flap.

I did Mel Hall better than Mel Hall did.
Talk about someone tailor-made for a ball park.......Mel Hall and the Old Yankee Stadium with the porch in right.

 

[cyclingwriter2]

While you guys were imitating Mel Hall, he was probably rolling around your middle school hitting on girls.

 

[HanSenSE]

HOF hair.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

He was scouted by Buck O'Neil.

 

[Chef2]

He was scouted by Buck O'Neil.

Mel Hall?

 

[Chef2]

While you guys were imitating Mel Hall, he was probably rolling around your middle school hitting on girls.

Nothing probably about it.