BOBBY GRICH

In 1976 Bobby Grich signed a five-year contract worth a "cool" 1.5 million. What was so cool about it? The ink was hardly dry when the second baseman who swung an outfielder's bat got overmatched in a contest with an air conditioner.

1976 was the first year of free agency. Thanks to a landmark court case won by Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, Grich and a host of other players who were at the end of their contracts were the prime beneficiaries.

With the Autrys waving all that money in his face, the Southern California kid couldn't catch a plane out of Baltimore fast enough. A chance to come home and get big bucks to play a game he would have played for nothing? Are you kidding!?

About that air conditioner. You would think with all that money he would have hired somebody to carry it up to his new apartment in the posh Belmont Shores neighborhood of Long Beach. Instead, he threw his back out trying to do it all by himself, pretty well shooting the '77 season. But by '78 he was once more the player that caused California to sign him in the first place. And by 1981, when he was again a free agent, they offered him $4 million for four years.

The year for which Bobby will be best remembered is 1979. He was working on his fifth Golden Glove since coming to the bigs in 1970. He had never had a first half as good as the one he enjoyed that year, sporting a .300+ batting average to compliment his always sparkling play in the field.

It was one of his six All Star years, and the year the Angels won the AL West. His .294 average with 101 RBI was a big factor in carrying the Angels closer to the AL pennant than they had ever been.

The thing that sets Grich apart from 95 percent of the other second baseman who have played is the combination of fielding and hitting. Grich set an all-time major league fielding record in 1973 with a .995 fielding percentage. When Rob Wilfong broke it with a .996 in 1980, Grich came back and set another record in '85, fielding .997 (two errors all year!).

Hitting? He retired with a BA of .266, a SA of .424, 224 HRs and 864 RBI.

Want a comparison? Hall of Famer Johny Evers compiled a .270 BA over 18 years (one more than Grich), but had only 12 HRS and 528 RBL His .953 fielding average compares with Grich's.983. True, Evers played in the pre-Babe Ruth home run era, when mitts were glorified gardening gloves, but Grich got scant consideration for the Hall of Fame. Maybe now that they've finally let Maz into Cooperstown...