Not only could he hit, but, if Luzinski could get to the ball he was a great fielder with a good arm, and a smart, if slow baserunner. He’ll never be forgiven in Phila for Black Friday, but he was one of the main ingrediants of the ’70’s team core of Bowa, Schmidt, Bull, Boone, Lefty, Christenson, Maddox etc.

1977 wasn’t simply a fluke or a  bolt-from-the-blue year for Luzinski, either.  He had a very similar, though not quite as good, season in 1975.  His best stretch was from 1973 through 1978, discounting 1974 because he had knee surgery.  If you look at those years, you can see a pretty steady progression leading up to his career year of 1977.

It’s too bad that he declined like he did.  Prior to 2008, the team’s greatest triumph in it’s long history, and the fans’ fondest memory, was the 1980 world championship.  Unfortunately for Luzinski, having a poor 1980 season and going hitless in the world series most likely diminishes how highly he is regarded in retrospect, as it certainly didn’t show him to be the valuable hitter he was during the 1976-1977-1978 run of division championships.