#80 HAL KING

FAVORITE BRAVES PLAYERS OF THE 1970'S

#80 HAL KING

ATLANTA BRAVES 1970-1971

Two things I remember about Hal King (Other than his 71 Topps card above). He was traded to the Rangers for Paul Casanova in the "Trade of African-American catchers of 1971." And he was slow. Braves announcers Milo Hamilton and Ernie Johnson kept saying King was slow, even for a catcher. When he crushed a ball off the outfield during one road game and only ended up with a single, it was the first time I had ever seen that occur. I then had to concede that yes, he was slow, even for a catcher. 

Hal's best season was 1970 when he hit 11 homeruns. This included a grand slam against Tug McGraw on August 14, 1970. More importantly, on July 18, 1970, the slow footed King got his only career stolen base against the battery of Bob Gibson and Joe Torre. I'm guessing this may be why Torre's days as a catcher were numbered after that.