1979 Profile: Jim Spencer

"The Yankees are fortunate to have not one, but two Gold Glove first basemen. That's right, Jim Spencer has won the Gold Glove on two different occasions, including 1977, one year before Chris Chambliss received his for fielding excellence.
Spence joined the Yankees during the winter of '77 and has proved to be an excellent addition to the Yankee lineup both as a backup to Chambliss and as a left-handed designated hitter. Jim possesses the highest fielding percentage of any first baseman in history.
But it's more than ability with the glove that makes Spencer so valuable. He also knows what to do with a bat in his hands. After hitting 18 home runs in '77, Jim hit four more in his first nine games as a Yankee. He also finished the season as a .292 pinch hitter, including a memorable pinch grand slam on May 26 that beat the Blue Jays.
It's that subtle quality of being able to beat the other team with either the bat or the glove that prompted the Yankees to bring Jim Spencer to New York and, needless to say, he looks much better in Yankee pinstripes than in any rival uniform."

-The New York Yankees Official 1979 Yearbook

"Jim served the Yankees well last year. He was used as a backup first baseman for Chambliss, a left-handed designated hitter and a reliable pinch hitter. He was 7-24 (.292) as a pinch hitter, including a pinch-hit grand slam on May 26 that beat the Blue Jays.
Jim started off well in 1978, with four home runs in his first nine games as the Yanks' DH. He hit all seven of his homers prior to June 16. He started games Two, Five and Six of the World Series due to an injury to Chambliss.
One of the best fielding first basemen in baseball, Jim did not commit an error in the 15 games he appeared at first base last year, handling 97 chances flawlessly. The American League's Gold Glove first baseman in 1970 and 1977, he committed only 10 errors in '77. In 1976 he led all A.L. first basemen in fielding, committing only two errors that year for a .998 fielding percentage. Jim possesses the best fielding percentage by a first baseman in baseball history (.996) based on first basemen who have played 1,000 or more games at the position.
Jim played in the 1973 All-Star Game. In 1977 he had two homers and eight RBIs in one game on two different occasions: May 14 against Cleveland and July 2 against Minnesota.
Jim was the California Angels' first selection in the free agent draft of June 1965, and broke in with Quad Cities that year. He hit 63 home runs and had 222 RBIs in the next three years at El Paso to earn a trial with the Angels in 1968. Jim led the Texas League in 1968 in homers (28), total bases (267) and RBIs (96), and was a unanimous Texas League All-Star selection in 1967 and '68. He was the Texas League MVP in '68.
The grandson of Ben Spencer, an outfielder with Washington in 1913, Jim played Little League, Pony, Colt and American Legion baseball in Maryland. He starred in baseball and basketball at Andover High School (Linthicum, MD); his four-year high school batting average was .407. He was a high school All-American basketball player his senior year. Jim played in Yankee Stadium in 1963 in the annual Hearst Sandlot Game and hit a home run.
He enjoys golf, hunting and tennis."

-New York Yankees 1979 Media Guide