Wait, he played here?
In this edition of, Wait, that guy played for the Royals? We look at the career of Pat Putnam.
Putnam was a native of that baseball hotbed Bethel, Vermont, a picturesque village of 1,900 people. Amazingly, Putnam was the third major leaguer to come out of Bethel, following Harry Burrell (who was an extended member of Putnam’s mother’s family) and Heinie Stafford. If a small town in cold-weather Vermont puts out three big leaguers, that qualifies it as a hotbed. The Putnam family moved to Fort Myers when Pat was eight, which certainly accelerated his baseball development. Putnam was a sweet-swinging, left-handed hitting first baseman who played collegiately at the University of South Alabama, where he was coached by former major leaguer Eddie Stanky.
The Mets took him in the 12th round of the 1974 draft, and he elected to stay in college. The Rangers took him with the 22nd pick of the first round in the 1975 draft.
He dominated at nearly every step in the minors. In 1976, as a 22-year-old, he blasted pitchers in the Western Carolina League to the tune of .361/.437/.567 with 24 home runs and 142 RBI in 138 games, winning the league’s Triple Crown. This earned him The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year, quite a feat for a Class A player.
This production earned him a promotion to AAA Tucson for 1977 where he hit at a .301/.376/.471 clip, which included 15 home runs and 102 RBI. That earned him a cup of coffee with the Rangers, in which he hit .308 in 27 plate appearances.
He dominated Tucson again in 1978 to the tune of .309/.402/.515 with his power output bumping up to 21 home runs followed by another late-season tryout with the Rangers.
He made the Rangers out of spring training in 1979, primarily as their DH. After starting first baseman Mike Jorgensen took one off the head (from former Royal hurler Andy Hassler), Putnam moved in as the everyday first baseman. It was a scary beaning for Jorgensen, who had recurring headaches and seizures before it was discovered that he had a small blot clot on his brain.
Despite having 31 games of major league experience, 1979 was Putnam’s rookie season, and he had a good one. Over 139 games and 465 plate appearances, he slashed a very respectable .277/.319/.458 with 18 home runs, 64 RBI, and an OPS+ of 109. This production earned him a fourth-place finish in the league’s Rookie of the Year vote.
Unfortunately, Putnam was never able to capitalize on his early success. He played a career high 147 games in 1980 but saw his power and run-producing output drop to 13 home runs and 55 RBI. After a slow start to the 1982 season, Putnam was optioned to AAA Denver, where he once again raked: .310 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI in just 80 games. Putnam was a prime example of a player who was too talented for AAA but not quite enough for the big leagues.
In December of 1982, the Rangers traded Putnam to Seattle for pitcher Ron Musselman. The change of scenery was good for Putnam as he appeared in 144 games, collecting a career high 517 plate appearances with which he stroked .269/.326/.448 with 19 home runs, 23 doubles, and 67 RBI, all career highs. A slow start to the 1984 season doomed him once again, and the Mariners shipped him to the Twins, where he played in 14 games with little success. After being released by Minnesota, the Royals signed him as a free agent prior to spring training.
It’s been forty years since the 1985 World Series championship season, which was somewhat unexpected. The Detroit Tigers dominated the 1984 season, and if you were alive in 1984, it was something to see. By May 24, the Tigers had steamrolled to a 35-5 start and everyone knew it was over. They cooled off a bit as the summer wore on, but still won 104 games. The Tigers went on to sweep the Royals in the ALCS before dispatching the Padres in the World Series in five games.
Going into 1985, there was no reason to believe that the Tigers would slip, yet somehow, they did. Toronto won the East in 1985 with a 99-62 mark, while Detroit fell to 84-77 and a third place finish. It was a shocking turn of events.
The Royals won the West in 1984, albeit with only a record of 84-78. When 1985 rolled around, the Royals were an aging team in the field but had a collection of brilliant young pitchers. They needed a few bench pieces to fill in the gaps, which is what brought Pat Putnam to Kansas City. In those days, the Royals’ spring training site was Fort Myers, so this was a homecoming for Putnam. I had forgotten all about Putnam being with the Royals until reading it in Darin Watson’s blog: UL’s Toothpick. I remembered Putnam from his time with Texas. Stocky build. Bright red hair. Sweet swing with some pop.
Putnam had a strong spring training and looked to be in line to be Steve Balboni’s backup, but manager Dick Howser elected to go with an extra man on the pitching staff instead of another bench bat.
The team outrighted Putnam to Omaha, where in 123 games he hit .257/.333/.370. At age 31, his power started to wane as he only had 9 home runs. He was always solid with the glove, ending with a major league career fielding percentage of .993. He only committed 31 errors over 4,368 chances, which is remarkable. Unfortunately for Putnam, the Royals could never find any at-bats for him. Steve Balboni was an ironman in 1985, appearing in 160 games in which he hit 36 home runs.
The Royals released Putnam after the 1985 season, and finding no takers, he signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters (is there a better team name than this, anywhere?).
He was excellent for the Ham Fighters in 1986, hitting .286 and blasting 25 home runs. He fell off some in 1987, hitting .241 with 12 dingers before calling it a career at the age of 33 and retiring to Fort Myers.