Lyman Bostock

Lyman Bostock was one of the most talented hitters in Twins history. Unfortunately, at the advent of free agency, Calvin Griffith determined he couldn’t keep him, and he left as a free agent to join the then California Angels. I can’t prove it but I think both Carew and Bostock would have had stronger overall careers had they stayed with the Twins as they both dropped off (still both were very good) on joining the Angels.

One noteworthy thing about Bostock is that he finished 2nd in the AL in batting in 1977, a full 52 points behind the great Rod Carew. Still, Bostock's basic stats for 1977 were stunning! He had 660 plate appearances and 593 at bats with 199 hits for a .336 average. [Stats: Baseball Reference]

Now get this! He had 36 doubles, 12 triples and 14 HR with 90 RBIs. .336/.389/.508!

Primarily a left fielder alongside Larry Hisle in CF in that magical 1977 season, he did play some CF. He hit .323 for the Twins in 1976 and .296 with the Angels in 1978. I remember that Bostock got off to a particularly slow start in his debut season with the Angels and offered to return some of his salary!!!

A few personal recollections. I think it was Tiger Stadium (I was born and raised in Toledo) when I first saw Bostock hit and he opened my eyes big time by scorching a base hit between the 3rd baseman and the bag, even as a left handed hitter!

Bostock made $20,000 with the Twins in 1977 before signing a $2.3 million, 6 year deal with the Angels. [Wikipedia]

I also remember in a brief exchange I had with Roy Smalley on Twitter, Roy saying something like, "it really would have been fun to keep that team together [1977 Twins] to see what we could have done."

Lyman was tragically killed in a shooting, in September, 1978 while visiting home in Gary, Indiana after a game vs. the White Sox. He was a passenger in the rear seats with a woman who was estranged from her husband. Bostock was not involved with the woman, it was pure bad luck.

Allegedly, the woman had several affairs and her husband pulled up to the car Bostock was in and fired point blank into the rear seats, intending to kill his wife. Tragically Lyman was shot around 10:40 p.m. and died in the hospital 2 hours later. [Wikipedia]

Bostock finished with a career .311 average. He remains one of my most beloved Twins to this day and provided, in concert with his 1977 teammates, many thrills for this lifelong Twins fan (since ’64 or ’65).

Greg Allen