#142 Chris Chambliss

What does the 1970 AAA Rookie of the Year do in his next season?....win the 1971 AL rookie of the year....debuted with no prior MLB experience and only a single year and month at AAA Witchta....Would have been called up but had military commitments....Highly touted but a godsend and bright spot for the struggling team....Replaced a rapidly aging Ken Harrelson at first detouring his outfielder training....became a Cleveland fixture for two more seasons....strangely after a great start in 1974 Chris and tribe parted ways, transforming into a  NY Yankee...Chambliss’ bat cooled considerably  in his first Yankee year but appeared to have settled in with new experiences, namely winning, nationwide exposure, and watching other engrossed in controversy...Chambliss regains his batting stroke and exceeds his Cleveland output....gained more power....apex of which was 1976, his best year....hit 17 over the fence in the regular season....then became unstoppable in ALCS  topping off with series ending walk off homer....set an iconic visual; seemingly swimming upstream from the frenzied Yankee faithful who had stormed the field to touch home base....Chris’ steadiness made him a favorite of Billy Martin...Chambliss continues his steady consistency over 1977-79, acquiring two WS rings in tow...the latter year being tarnished with the death of Thurman Munson....Chambliss was the linchpin of trade to Toronto for young backstop Rick Cerone....Chris never appeared in a  Blue Jay uniform, quickly flipped to the Atlanta Braves....on the surface it appeared to be a return to the NL answer to Cleveland, but the Braves were buoyed by draft picks, Ted Turner’s deep pocket, and the first coming of skipper Bobby Cox....after a couple of season of near .500 ball efforts were rewarded with his last postseason appearance in 1982....Chambliss sticks around as regular in 83, yielded playing time for 84, dropping  to limited use reserve for 1985 and 1986 effectively the end....returned to Yankees as coach....in moment of short handedness in 1988, signed a three day contract to take his last at bat as a Yankee....fittingly.