"Seemingly lost in the sea of famous names that populate the Yankee roster, Jim Spencer knows what his job is. Even if the television producers aren't knocking down his door for product endorsements, Jim maintains his poise and continues to knock down outfield fences. With little noise, and the least fanfare possible, Spence gets the job done.
During the 1979 season, Jim hit a career high 23 home runs, surpassing his old season high mark of 18 compiled in 1971 and 1977. In '79, Jim had only 295 at-bats and a very respectable .288 batting average to go along with his impressive long ball record.
Who knows? After everyone recognizes his fine stroke and his Gold Glove at first, maybe the offers will come pouring in. But for now, Jim is satisfied with winning ball games and letting his bat do the talking."
-The New York Yankees Official 1980 Yearbook
"Spencer reached career highs last year in batting average (.288) and home runs (23); he averaged one home run for every 12.8 at-bats. Jim hit two home runs in a game on three different occasions; the last one was on the final day of the season, concluding a fabulous final week. He hit five home runs during his last five games, drove in eight runs, scored nine and hit .471 (8-17). Jim hit eight home runs in September after hitting only seven in all of 1978. On August 20, he drove in five runs, scored four and hit two home runs against the Royals.
Jim served primarily as the designated hitter, but also saw considerable action at first base. His fine year allowed the Yankees to deal Chris Chambliss. An excellent fielding first baseman, Jim had only two errors in 251 chances, a .992 percentage. The year before, he did not have a miscue.
His .996 lifetime fielding percentage is the best in baseball history among those first basemen who have played 1,000 or more games at that position. Spencer was the American League's Gold Glove first baseman in 1970 and 1977. In 1976, he led all A.L. first baseman in fielding, committing only two errors for a .998 percentage.
Jim joined the Yankees in 1978 and started well, hitting four home runs in his first nine games. He was 7-for-24 (.292) as a pinch hitter in 1978, including a pinch grand slam to beat the Blue Jays on May 26. All seven of his Yankee home runs in 1978 came prior to June 16; conversely, 18 of his 23 in 1979 came after that date. Jim started Games Two, Five and Six of the 1978 World Series due to an injury to Chambliss.
Originally drafted number one by the Angels in the June 1965 Free Agent Draft, he broke in at Quad Cities. Al Monchack, now the first base coach at Pittsburgh, was the scout who signed Spencer. Jim hit 63 home runs and had 222 RBIs in the next three years at El Paso to earn a trial with the Angels in late 1968; he got a base hit in his first at-bat in the big leagues. He led the Texas League in homers (28), total bases (267) and RBIs (96) in 1968, and was a unanimous Texas League All-Star in '67 and '68. He was the league's MVP in 1968.
Jim started 1969 in AAA but quickly moved up to the Angels where he hit 10 home runs. He hit .274 in '70 with 12 homers and 68 RBIs and won the Gold Glove. Jim was named to the All-Star team in 1973. He posted his top two career RBI totals in Chicago with 70 in 1976 and 69 in 1977, and matched his career-high home run total with 18 in 1977; that same year he had two homers and eight RBIs on two different occasions: May 14 vs. Cleveland and July 2 vs. Minnesota.
The grandson of Ben Spencer, an outfielder with Washington in 1913, Jim grew up in the Baltimore area and played Little League, Pony, Colt and American Legion ball there. He starred in baseball and basketball at Andover High School (Linthicum). His four-year high school batting average was .407, and he was a high school All-American basketball player his senior year. Jim played in Yankee Stadium in 1963 in the annual Hearst Sandlot Games and hit a home run.
Spencer's biggest thrill was playing in the World Series and winning the championship in 1978. He enjoys hunting and playing golf."
-New York Yankees 1980 Media Guide
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