Who is the man: Jim Rooker won 10 games in his second full season with the Royals in 1970. He was the only starter on the staff to reach double figures in wins.
Can ya dig it: The scoreboard is the star of the show on this card. I'm assuming that's a Coca-Cola sign.
Right on: Going through a pitching motion in the outfield with the warning track in the background isn't fooling anyone.
You see that cat Rooker is a bad mother: Rooker was a mainstay in the Pirates' starting rotations of the mid-1970s and one of the team's most consistent pitchers.
Shut your mouth: Rooker famously said, "if we don't win, I'll walk back to Pittsburgh," when he was broadcasting a Pirates game from Philadelphia in 1989. The Pirates scored 10 runs in the top of the first, prompting Rooker's statement in the bottom of the first. The Phillies wound up winning the game, 15-11. After the season, Rooker fulfilled his promise with a charity walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.
No one understands him but his woman: Rooker ran for political office twice. He lost both times.
(A word about the back): Rooker hit .201 for his career, but, by far, his best hitting seasons were the 1969 season mentioned (.281, 4 home runs) and the 1974 season (.305, 5 doubles, 2 triples).
In the 1979 World Series, the Pirates pitching staff was running out of gas when they were down 3 games to 1. Rooker made a fantastic 5-inning start, relieved by Blyleven, in Game 5 to keep them alive.
ReplyDeleteRooker battled arm/shoulder problems in '79, and his better days were behind him, but he rose to the occasion on that day. Alas, this was the last time the Pirates won (or have even been in) a World Series.
ReplyDeleteThat was probably the last world series game that will ever be played in Pittsburgh.
DeleteSo you are not even going to comment on the picture of his cap on the back?
ReplyDelete