George Brett

George Howard Brett -
Born: May 15, 1953, in   Glen Dale, West Virginia
Position: Third Base
Bats: L Throws: R

Debuting at the young age of 20 years old, just a year after Mike Schmidt entered the bigs, George Brett became the Kansas City Royals franchise player.  Brett played his entire career for the Royals, leading them to six AL Championships and two World Series in their heyday of the late '70s and early '80s.  The all-time team leader in every offensive category except for stolen bases, Brett's number 5 was retired along with those of former manager  Dick Howser and second baseman Frank White on April 7, 1997.

Initially a fastball hitter, he worked with batting coach Charlie Lau to improve his hitting, and he captured his first of three batting titles in 1976 with a .333 average (Brett is the only man to win a batting title in three different decades). That was also the first of ten .300+ seasons.  In 1979 Brett tallied 85 extra-base hits and was only the sixth player ever to rip 20 or more doubles, triples, and home runs in the same season.  His 1980 season, during which he flirted with .400 for most of the year and ended up at .390, won him an MVP award and he topped the league batting average by 120 points (the league average that year was .271, roughly where it's been in the mid-to-late 1990s).  He managed a 37-game hit streak that season.

Brett proved more than a one-dimensional player by continually improving his defense and baserunning.  He won a Gold Glove in 1985, and stole 201 bases during his career.  Brett finished his 21-year career as the only major leaguer to combine for over 3,000 hits (3,154), 300 homeruns (317), 600 doubles (665), 100 triples (137), and 200 stolen bases (201).  His 1,595 RBI and 1,583 runs scored lead all major league third basemen.

Brett was also a terrific clutch performer.  In 1980, Brett's upper-deck homer off Goose Gossage in the top of the seventh inning in Game 3 of the ALCS sealed a three-game sweep of the Yankees.  He went on to hit .375 in the Series, the Royals fell to the Phillies in six.  In 1985, he ripped the Toronto Blue Jays for a .348 batting average, and posted a .370 average in the 1985 Series against the Cardinals to give his team its first and only World Championship.  His nine career home runs and .728 slugging average are LCS records.

An American League favorite throughout his career, Brett was named the League's Player of the Week a record 12 times.
 
Source: Baseball HOF