John Mayberry Marquee

b. February 18, 1949 · Houston Astros 1968–1971, Kansas City Royals 1972–1977, Toronto Blue Jays 1978–1982, New York Yankees 1982

He walked 122 times in 1973 and 119 in 1975 to lead the American League in both seasons, and in the second of them hit 34 home runs with 106 runs batted in and finished second for the Most Valuable Player award. Kansas City had traded two minor-league pitchers for him at twenty-two.

Fifteen seasons gave him 1,379 hits, 255 home runs, 879 runs batted in, 881 walks and a .253 average, with two All-Star selections. He was the first genuine power hitter the Royals had and he drove in 100 runs twice for them.

Toronto got him in 1978 and he hit 30 home runs for them in 1980, at thirty-one, before the Yankees bought him for the 1982 stretch. His son John Jr. played six seasons in the major leagues. The 1988 ballot gave him no votes at all.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	2	1973, 1974
Player of the Week	2	1974, 1975
The Sporting News All-Star	2	1973, 1975
Player of the Month	1	1975

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1968	HOU	4	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	.000
1969	HOU	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000
1970	HOU	50	148	23	32	3	2	5	14	21	33	1	.216
1971	HOU	46	137	16	25	0	1	7	14	13	32	0	.182
1972	KCR	149	503	65	150	24	3	25	100	78	74	0	.298
1973	KCR	152	510	87	142	20	2	26	100	122	79	3	.278
1974	KCR	126	427	63	100	13	1	22	69	77	72	4	.234
1975	KCR	156	554	95	161	38	1	34	106	119	73	5	.291
1976	KCR	161	594	76	138	22	2	13	95	82	73	3	.232
1977	KCR	153	543	73	125	22	1	23	82	83	86	1	.230
1978	TOR	152	515	51	129	15	2	22	70	60	57	1	.250
1979	TOR	137	464	61	127	22	1	21	74	69	60	1	.274
1980	TOR	149	501	62	124	19	2	30	82	77	80	0	.248
1981	TOR	94	290	34	72	6	1	17	43	44	45	1	.248
1982	NYY/TOR	86	248	27	54	7	0	10	30	35	43	0	.218
Career	—	1620	5447	733	1379	211	19	255	879	881	810	20	.253

On this day & linked events

1949

Born February 18, 1949

Detroit, MI, USA

1968

Major-league debut: John Mayberry

John Mayberry made a major-league debut on September 10, 1968.

1975

Final major-league game: John Mayberry

John Mayberry played a final major-league game on September 28, 1982.

Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain