| Bobby Tolan | |
|---|---|
 Tolan in 1972 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: (1945-11-19)November 19, 1945 (age 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 3, 1965, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 19, 1979, for the San Diego Padres | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .265 |
| Home runs | 86 |
| Runs batted in | 497 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Robert Tolan (born November 19, 1945) is an American former professionalbaseballcenter fielder /right fielder, andcoach, who played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theSt. Louis Cardinals (1965–1968),Cincinnati Reds (1969–1973),San Diego Padres (1974–1975,1979),Philadelphia Phillies (1976–1977), andPittsburgh Pirates (1977); he also played one season inNippon Professional Baseball (NPB), for theNankai Hawks (1978). Tolan batted and threw left-handed.
Tolan served during theVietnam War in the478th Engineer Battalion of theU.S. Army based atFort Thomas, Kentucky.[1] His unit included several of his teammates includingJohnny Bench,Pete Rose andDarrel Chaney.[1]
Tolan was a reserve outfielder during his years with the Cardinals, with whom he won aWorld Series title in1967. He also played on the1968National League champions; however, the Cardinals lost to theDetroit Tigers in theWorld Series in seven games, after leading three games to one. Seeking to boost their offense, the Cardinals traded Tolan and relieverWayne Granger to Cincinnati for veteran outfielderVada Pinson.
Finally given the opportunity to play every day, Tolan blossomed. As Cincinnati's regular center fielder, often batting second behindPete Rose and in front ofAlex Johnson in the Reds' lineup, Tolan in1969hit .305 and established career highs inhome runs andruns batted in (21 and 93 respectively). In this, the first year both leagues were split into two divisions, the Reds finished third in theNational League West, four games behind the division-winningAtlanta Braves. The "Big Red Machine", which also featured futureHall of FamersJohnny Bench andTony Pérez (and would later feature a third,Joe Morgan), was just beginning to take shape.
In1970, Tolan batted a career high .316 with 16 home runs and 80 RBIs, and led the National League instolen bases with 57 (the only time former Cardinal teammateLou Brock did not lead the National League in steals between1966 and1974) for a Reds team that won the National League West title for their first postseason berth since the1961 World Series. The Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in theNLCS in three games; in the second game, Tolan scored all three runs in a 3-1 victory, including hitting a fifth-inning home run off starterLuke Walker. However, theBaltimore Orioles defeated the Reds in theWorld Series in five games. Tolan went 4-for-19 in the Series, including a home run offMike Cuellar in Game Two.
Tolan missed the1971 season after rupturing hisAchilles tendon playingbasketball, which violated a specific clause in his contract barring him from that activity. He came back in1972, winning both theComeback Player of the Year award and theHutch Award after batting .283 with 82 RBI and 42 stolen bases. Tolan became only the second player to win both the Hutch Award and his league's Comeback Player of the Year Award (Tony Conigliaro was the first) and the first to do so during the same season. His Reds again defeated the Pirates in theNLCS (this time with the winning run scoring on awild pitch byBob Moose, after the Reds entered the ninth inning trailing by a run) to win the pennant; however, they were defeated by theOakland Athletics in theWorld Series in seven games. Two Tolan miscues contributed to the Game 7 loss. In the first inning, Tolan's 3-base error on a misplayed ball hit byÁngel Mangual led to Oakland's first run. In the sixth, Tolan looked like he had a bead on a double to the base of the center field wall bySal Bando but the ball fell for a hit. Tolan said his hamstring tightened which inhibited his ability to make that play. After the 3-2 loss to Oakland, Tolan apologized to his teammates in the locker room.
The poor 1972 finish spilled over into the next year for Tolan, as1973 was a disastrous year for him. Tolan's batting average plummeted to .206, he became a malcontent and had several squabbles with Reds management, who were still unhappy with his 1971 basketball injury. Tolan also wentAWOL for two days in August and broke team rules by growing abeard. On September 27, the team suspended Tolan for the remainder of the season. The Reds won yet another division title but the suspension forced Tolan to miss theNLCS, which the Reds lost to theNew York Mets. At the end of the season the Reds traded Tolan to the Padres for pitcherClay Kirby. After the trade theMajor League Baseball Players Association filed agrievance on Tolan's behalf. During the1974 season, in which he batted .266 in 95 games, he learned that he had won his grievance. Tolan demanded that the Reds publicly apologize to him because his name had beenslandered but never got the apology.
Tolan was released by the Padres after batting .255 in1975. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies as afree agent, and in1976 batted .261 as a part-time outfielder. The Phillies won theNational League East title to earn their first post-season appearance since the"Whiz Kids" were swept by theNew York Yankees in the1950 World Series. However, Tolan's former team, the Reds, defeated the Phillies in theNLCS.
Tolan played professionally inJapan in1978. He was also a coach for the Padres from1980–1983. During thestrike of 1981, Tolan was dispatched toWalla Walla, Washington, where he wasTony Gwynn's first hitting coach.[1] Tolan also wasplayer-manager of theSt. Petersburg Pelicans, a team in theSenior Professional Baseball Association, in the two years of the league's operation,1989–1990.
In his major league career, Tolan batted .265 with 86 home runs and 497 runs batted in, in 1,282games played.
Tolan is married to Marian Trahan and they have a sonRobert (Robbie) Tolan who played professional baseball in theWashington Nationals organization.On December 31, 2008, Robbie was shot by aBellaire, Texas policeman allegedly investigating reports of a stolen car after a confrontation in the Tolan driveway. The younger Tolan was unarmed and driving his own vehicle. The bullet lodged in Tolan's liver; the injury may have ended his professional baseball career. An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.[2][3]
Tolan's cousin,Eddie Tolan, was asprinter who won two Gold Medals in the1932 Summer Olympics.
