I was born in Portsmith, Ohio on 10/14/1946. In my rookie season (1969), I played first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit 17 homers, batted .285, and was second in voting for Rookie of the Year Honors. Never known for my fielding, I hit hard liners all over the diamond; I was a hitter, pure and simple. I was a big runs producer for the "Lumber Company and we won the pennant in 1970 and 1971. I slugged a three-run homer in game 5 of the NL Championship series over the San Francisco Giants.
In 1972, the Pirates shifted me to centerfield and I batted .312 and drove in 89 runs. My hitting also helped the Pirates win pennants in 1974 & 1975. Starting in 1972, I batted better than .300 in 11 of the next 13 years. I was traded to the Texas Rangers in December of '77, and finished in the top ten in batting in my four seasons with the Rangers and had 117 RBI's in 1980. At the age of 35, while playing with Montreal, I led the league with my .331 batting average. I also led the league in doubles with 43 hits with 204 and with 109 RBI's thus becoming the first major leaguer to collect 200 hits and 100 RBI's in a single season for both leagues. I ended my career with a .303 lifetime batting average with over 2,700 hits.
