Highlighted Year: Leon Roberts, 1978

Outfielder, Seattle Mariners

Age:  27

1^st season with Mariners

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’3”    Weight: 200 

Prior to 1978:

A Michigan native, Roberts suffered vision impairment due to a childhood injury, a fact which he hid until after his baseball playing career. He still was a prominent athlete at Portage Northern High School where he played football and basketball in addition to baseball, and also ran track. Much pursued with college scholarship offers, he attended the University of Michigan on a football scholarship and also played baseball, batting .367 and receiving All-Big Ten recognition. Roberts was selected in the tenth round of the 1972 amateur draft by the Detroit Tigers. With teams in the Class A Florida State and Carolina Leagues in 1972 he batted a combined .304 in 80 total games with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 5 home runs, 54 RBIs, a .415 on-base percentage, and a .435 slugging percentage. In 1973 he advanced to the Montgomery Rebels of the Class AA Southern League and hit .295 with 30 doubles, 14 home runs, 70 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, a .382 OBP, and a .446 slugging percentage. Roberts spent 1974 in Class AAA with Evansville of the American Association where he batted .285 with 31 doubles, 12 home runs, 79 RBIs, a.363 OBP, and a .441 slugging percentage. Receiving a late-season call-up to the Tigers, he appeared in 17 games and hit .270. Touted as the successor to long-time star Al Kaline in right field in 1975, Roberts appeared in 129 games and batted .257 with 17 doubles, 5 triples, 10 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .316 OBP.  In the offseason he went from one last-place club to another, when the Tigers traded him to the Houston Astros as part of a seven-player deal, who were seeking to add promising young players. As a part-time player with Houston in 1976, Roberts hit .289 in 87 games with 7 home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .347 OBP. Strictly a reserve with the Astros in 1977, he was sent down to Class AAA with the Charleston Charlies of the International League in June after having managed only two pinch-hits in 21 at bats. In 73 minor league games he batted .299 with 20 doubles, 2 home runs, 34 RBIs, and a .382 OBP, and publicly expressed his frustration with having not been given a sufficient opportunity to prove himself with the Astros. Roberts was dealt to the Mariners for infielder Jimmy Sexton in the offseason. Initially platooned in right field in 1978, he settled into full-time duty as the season progressed, gaining notice for his hustling outfield play as well as his hitting.

1978 Season Summary

Appeared in 134 games

RF – 128, PH – 11, DH – 2

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 528

At Bats – 472

Runs – 78

Hits – 142

Doubles – 21

Triples – 7 [11, tied with six others]

Home Runs – 22 [17, tied with four others]

RBI – 92 [12]

Bases on Balls – 41

Int. BB – 2

Strikeouts – 52

Stolen Bases – 6

Caught Stealing – 3

Average - .301 [6]

OBP - .364 [16, tied with Jason Thompson]

Slugging Pct. - .515 [6, tied with Gorman Thomas]

Total Bases – 243

GDP – 7

Hit by Pitches – 8 [4, tied with Chet Lemon]

Sac Hits – 3

Sac Flies – 4

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 8, 3B – 2, HR – 11, RBI - 41, AVG. - .305, SLG - .527, OBP – .386

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Most hits, game – 3 on nine occasions

Longest hitting streak – 8 games

HR at home – 9

HR on road – 13

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. Baltimore 8/16

Multi-HR games – 1

Most RBIs, game – 6 vs. Toronto 5/7

Pinch-hitting – 4 for 8 (.500) with 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI & 2 BB

Fielding

Chances - 307

Put Outs – 289

Assists – 10

Errors – 8

DP – 4

Pct. - .974

Awards & Honors:

33^rd in AL MVP voting (3 points – 1% share)

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The Mariners went 56-104 to finish seventh (last) in the AL Western Division, 35 games behind the division-winning Kansas City Royals. The Mariners dropped into the AL West cellar in April and never rose above fifth place the rest of the way. Disappointing play from some of the standouts of the inaugural season combined with front office instability to damage the club’s chances. Roberts was one of a few stars for the struggling team once he settled into regular duty in right field.

Aftermath of 1978:

Roberts followed up in 1979 with a somewhat lesser season, batting .271 with 24 doubles, 6 triples, 15 home runs, 54 RBIs, a .352 OBP, and a .451 slugging percentage. In a disappointing season for the Mariners in general in 1980, Roberts hit .251 with 18 doubles, 10 home runs, 33 RBIs, and a .325 OBP. Traded to the Texas Rangers in the offseason as part of an eleven-player deal, Roberts split time during the strike-interrupted 1981 season with John Grubb and batted .279 with 17 doubles, 4 home runs, 31 RBIs, and a .345 OBP. Frustrated with his role as a reserve outfielder in 1982 while the Rangers were struggling, Roberts was sold to the Toronto Blue Jays in July. For the year he hit .230 with 9 extra-base hits, 11 RBIs, and a .276 OBP. Traded in 1983 to the Kansas City Royals, he played for two seasons as a reserve and batted a combined .252 with 8 home runs, 27 RBIs, and a .311 OBP. Left off the postseason roster for the ALCS in 1984, he was released following the season. Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates for 1985, he played in the minors and never returned to the major leagues. For his major league career, Roberts batted .267 with 731 hits that included 126 doubles, 28 triples, and 78 home runs. He scored 342 runs and compiled 328 RBIs, a .332 OBP, and a .419 slugging percentage. With the Mariners he batted .276 with 187 runs scored, 358 hits, 63 doubles, 16 triples, 47 home runs, 179 RBIs, a .349 OBP. and a .458 slugging percentage. He never appeared in the postseason and only received MVP votes in 1978, his best major league season. Following his playing career, Roberts coached at the major and minor league levels. He also played in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball Association.

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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.