#CardCorner: 1982 Donruss Hal McRae

McRae earned an invitation to the Reds Spring Training camp in 1967 and began the season with Double-A Knoxville before earning a mid-season call-up to Triple-A Buffalo. McRae hit three homers in one game for the Bisons on July 11 and finished the year with a .267 average, 16 homers and 59 RBI in 124 games across the two levels.

Still a second baseman, McRae was invited to the Florida Winter Instructional League following the 1967 season, then made a huge impression in Spring Training of 1968, hitting .341. But with All-Star Tommy Helms ensconced at second base, McRae was ticketed for Triple-A Indianapolis.

“I know I’ve had a good spring,” McRae told the Tampa Tribune. “But I know I can’t do enough to make it.

“I don’t want to be anybody’s utility man. I’m a second baseman.”

McRae was hitting .284 with 24 doubles, 11 home runs and 42 RBI through 73 games in Triple-A when the Reds brought him to Cincinnati on July 11, 1968 – just days after right fielder Pete Rose suffered a fractured thumb and Helms was called to a two-week tour of duty with the Marines. He debuted that night with two hits in four at-bats off future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry of the Giants, handling seven chances flawlessly at second base.

“I didn’t know what to say,” McRae told the Cincinnati Enquirer, recalling the moment Indianapolis manager Don Zimmer told him he was headed to the big leagues.

McRae was returned to the minors two weeks after his debut before being recalled when rosters expanded in September. He got regular work at second base down the stretch, finishing with a .196 average in 17 games for the Reds.

But following the season, McRae fractured his leg in four places playing winter ball in Puerto Rico – trying to knock the ball loose from a catcher on a play at the plate. He was not ready for game action until early August of 1969, when he was placed on the Indianapolis active roster.

“It almost ended my career,” McRae said. “But it didn’t affect the way I play.”

McRae played in just 17 games for the Indians in 1969, then returned to the instructional league following the season and hit .369. Due to his diminished mobility following the broken leg, McRae was now an outfielder – but he made the Reds’ Opening Day roster in 1970.

In 70 games that season, McRae hit .248 with eight homers and 23 RBI as Cincinnati won the NL pennant. McRae started three games in left field in the World Series, hitting .455 (5-for-11) with three RBI as Baltimore defeated Cincinnati in five games.

But with a deep lineup and a minor league system teeming with talent, the Reds had no regular spot for McRae in 1971 or 1972. He hit .264 with 24 doubles in 99 games in ’71 and then batted .278 in 61 games a year later, hitting .444 (4-for-9) in the Reds’ World Series loss to the Athletics.

Following that season, the Reds traded McRae and Wayne Simpson to the Royals for Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum. It would be a trade that would help remake Kansas City into one of the dominant teams of the next decade.

“(McRae) has a good bat and he needs to play every day,” Royals general manager Cedric Tallis told the Kansas City Times following the trade. “I can see him hitting 15, 20 or even 25 home runs a season. He’s the big man in the deal.”

The timing was perfect for McRae and the Royals, as the American League instituted the designated hitter for the 1973 season. McRae – like many players – was hesitant at first to accept what seemed to be a part-time role. He played 63 games in right field in 1973 and 37 more at DH, hitting .234 with nine homers and 50 RBI.

But in 1974, McRae finally found his footing – hitting .310 with 15 homers, 36 doubles and 88 RBI in a career-high 148 games – including 90 at DH.

And though he played 114 games in left field in 1975 – hitting .306 with five homers and 71 RBI while earning his first All-Star Game selection – McRae soon settled into the role he seemed born to play.

“I love to hit. That’s my game now,” McRae told Gannett News Service.

In 1976, the young Royals claimed their first American League West title – but the final weekend of the season featured more individual than team drama. Heading into the final day of the season, the Royals had clinched first place but the AL batting title was a locked in a heated three-way race between McRae (hitting .33078), teammate George Brett (.33073) and the Twins’ Rod Carew (.32928) – with the Royals hosting the Twins for the final game.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, both McRae and Brett were 2-for-3 at the plate, leaving McRae at .3326 and Brett at .3322. Carew was 2-for-4 to raise his average to .331, but the Twins led 5-2 and Carew would only hit again if the game went to extra innings.

With one out in the ninth, Brett hit a seemingly playable fly ball to left field. But Minnesota’s Steve Brye misjudged the ball – and it skipped past him to give Brett an inside-the-park home run. McRae followed, needing a hit to win the batting title – but he grounded out to shortstop, leaving Brett at .333 and McRae at .332 in one of the closest three-way races ever.

Following the groundout, McRae gestured at Twins manager Gene Mauch, indicating he thought that Mauch had ordered Brye to let the ball drop. Both men had to be restrained as the teams charged the field.

Mauch denied all the allegations. Brett, however, wasn’t so sure.

“I thought (Brye) let it drop,” Brett told the Associated Press after the game.

The Royals, however, closed ranks and remained focused heading into the ALCS, losing a classic five-game battle to the Yankees.

The next season, McRae played in 162 games – 115 at DH – and hit .298 with 21 homers, 54 doubles and 92 RBI. The Royals repeated as AL West winners but again lost the ALCS vs. the Yankees – this time as McRae hit .444 with three doubles and six runs scored. In Game 2, McRae took out Yankees’ second baseman Willie Randolph with a rolling block to break up a potential double play in the sixth inning, allowing Freddie Patek to score all the way from second to tie the game at 2 in a game New York eventually won 6-2.

The play was legal at the time, but soon MLB changed the rules to say that on any slide into second base a runner must be able to tag the base or else the play is immediately dead. The change became known as the “Hal McRae Rule.”

“Mac is of the old school,” former Royals teammate Dave Nelson told the Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s a 1930s player in the 1980s, a throwback to the era of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, the era of rock ’em sock ’em baseball. Not many guys play like that anymore.”