Highlighted Year: Nate Colbert, 1971

First Baseman, San Diego Padres

Age: 25 (April 9)

3^rd season with Padres

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 205 

Prior to 1971:

A native of St. Louis, Colbert was the son of a former semipro catcher. He played sandlot baseball in his youth and performed well at Charles H. Sumner High School. Tall and well built, he drew the attention of scouts but had his eye on the hometown St. Louis Cardinals who signed him in 1964 to a $20,000 bonus contract. Initially assigned to the Cardinals team in the Sarasota Rookie League the aspiring first baseman/outfielder appeared in 45 games and batted .217 with 2 home runs, 13 RBIs, and a .396 on-base percentage helped by drawing 26 walks. In 1965 he moved on to Cedar Rapids of the Class A Midwest League and was hitting .274 with 9 home runs, 45 RBIs, and a .345 OBP, when he suffered a broken hand. Sent to the Florida Instructional League he was selected by the Houston Astros in the Rule 5 draft. With the Astros required to keep him on the major league roster, Colbert, who was unready to deal with major league pitching, rode the Houston bench in 1966, appearing in only 19 games and going hitless in seven plate appearances. Following more action in the Florida Instructional League, he played winter ball in Venezuela. Assigned to the Amarillo Sonics of the Class AA Texas League in 1967 he had an outstanding season and was named as the league’s Player of the Year after batting .293 with 28 home runs, 67 RBIs, 26 stolen bases, a .370 OBP, and a .546 slugging percentage. Moving on to the Oklahoma City 89ers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in 1968, Colbert was utilized in center field to take advantage of his speed but was limited to 92 games due to a broken hand and hit .264 with 15 doubles, 14 home runs, 44 RBIs, a .327 OBP, and a .466 slugging percentage. In two call-ups to the Astros he hit only .151. In the offseason he was made available in the NL expansion draft and was selected by the Padres who installed him at first base. With his first shot at regular duty in the major leagues in 1969, Colbert batted .255 with 20 doubles, 9 triples, 24 home runs, 66 RBIs, a .322 OBP, and a .482 slugging percentage.  He followed up in 1970 by hitting .259 with 38 home runs, 86 RBIs, a .328 OBP, and a .509 slugging percentage. Despite striking out 150 times, when he connected the results were often very good and he entered 1971 with a firm grip on first base and as a rising power hitter.

1971 Season Summary

Appeared in 156 games

1B – 153, PH – 3

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 639

At Bats – 565

Runs – 81 [19]

Hits – 149

Doubles – 25

Triples – 3

Home Runs – 27 [9, tied with Johnny Bench]

RBI – 84 [15]

Bases on Balls – 63 [18, tied with Joe Torre & Wes Parker]

Int. BB – 6

Strikeouts – 119 [9]

Stolen Bases – 5

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .264

OBP - .339

Slugging Pct. - .462 [16]

Total Bases – 261 [16]

GDP – 17 [16, tied with four others]

Hit by Pitches – 4 [16, tied with thirteen others]

Sac Hits – 2

Sac Flies – 5 [18, tied with seventeen others]

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 14, HR – 19, RBI – 51, AVG - .276, SLG - .516. OBP – .369

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Most hits, game – 3 on nine occasions

Longest hitting streak – 12 games

HR at home – 13

HR on road – 14

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 3 AB) vs. San Francisco 4/7, (in 4 AB) at LA Dodgers 4/11

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 6 at LA Dodgers 4/11

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 3 (.333)

Fielding

Chances – 1488

Put Outs – 1372

Assists – 106

Errors – 10

DP – 125

Pct. - .993 

Awards & Honors:

All-Star 

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The Padres went 61-100 to finish sixth (last) in the NL Western Division, 28.5 games behind the division-winning San Francisco Giants while leading the league in fewest runs scored (486), fewest hits (1250), fewest doubles (184), lowest batting average (.233 tied with the Philadelphia Phillies), lowest OBP (.293), and fewest total bases (1784). The Padres got off to a poor start as they lost 9 of their first 10 games at home and finished April with a 5-16 record which set the tone for the remainder of the season. While the pitching showed much improvement over the course of the season, the hitting dropped off significantly although Colbert, who was dealing with back problems, once again provided the most power production.

Aftermath of 1971:

Colbert followed up with another strong season for the lowly Padres in 1972, batting .250 with 27 doubles, 38 home runs (tying his own club record), 111 RBIs, a .333 OBP, and a .508 slugging percentage. Along the way he slugged a record-tying 5 home runs in a double-header at Atlanta while his 13 RBIs in the twin bill set a new standard. In addition to once again being an All-Star, Colbert finished eighth in league MVP voting. During a difficult season for the Padres in 1973 that was shadowed by rumors of a move to Washington, Colbert got off to a slow start and had only seven home runs through June on his way to a total of 22 while batting .270 with 25 doubles, 80 RBIs, a .343 OBP, and a .450 slugging percentage. The Padres stayed in place in 1974 and several offseason trades were made to upgrade the club. The arrival of veteran first baseman Willie McCovey from the Giants led to Colbert splitting time at first base and left field and his hitting dropped off to .207 with 16 doubles, 14 home runs, 54 RBIs, and a .319 OBP. Dealt to the Detroit Tigers in the offseason, who hoped he would revive his career while playing home games at Tiger Stadium. That hope went unfulfilled during a 1975 season in which Colbert failed to produce at the plate and was batting only .147 with 4 home runs, 18 RBIs, and a .231 OBP when he was sold to the Montreal Expos in June. His hitting was no better with the further change in locale. In 1976, he lasted only until June with the Expos when he was released. Ignored in the first free agent re-entry draft in the offseason, he went to spring training with the expansion Toronto Blue Jays in 1977 and was let go well before the season, thus ending his career due to chronic back pain and the resulting decline in production. For his major league career, Colbert batted .243 with 833 hits that included 141 doubles, 25 triples, and 173 home runs. He scored 481 runs and compiled 520 RBIs, a .322 OBP, and a .451 slugging percentage. Prone to striking out, he whiffed 902 times. With the Padres he batted .253 with 442 runs scored, 780 hits, 130 doubles, 22 triples, 163 home runs, 481 RBIs, a .331 OBP, and a .469 slugging percentage while striking out 773 times. His production was all the more impressive due to his playing for a typically low-scoring team for most of his time in San Diego which also prevented him from ever appearing in the postseason. He was a three-time All-Star and was an inaugural inductee into the Padres Hall of Fame in 1999. Following his playing career, Colbert became an ordained minister in addition to serving as a batting instructor in the Padres organization. He later served a prison sentence for loan fraud and afterward worked with disadvantaged youth. Colbert died in 2023 at age 76.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.