John George Brandt Jr.

Rickey Henderson was only 2-1/2 years old in 1961. But somewhere in MLB, there was someone who was getting on base and leading off games with home runs. This pre-Rickey was born in Omaha and had already played with some guy named Mays. His name, John George Brandt Jr., but here, we'll just call him Jackie. 

 In the recent doubleheader with the Tigers, Jackie was just all over the place for the Orioles, drawing 4 walks, scoring 4 runs and if that weren't enough, he led off game 2 with a home run. 5 runs scored in a doubleheader is pretty good, what Jackie did over the course of 1961 was pretty good itself, .297 average, 153 hits in 516 at-bats, 73 RBI, 93 runs scored and a .371 OBP. Of course, Rickey would obliterate those numbers, but Jackie did what any lead-off hitter did in 1961 and did it well. I really haven't kept track of stats, but Jackie's Strat numbers have to be consistent with what he did in 1961. Rickey was great, but Jackie in this replay is exceptional right now. He'll be one to watch going forward as this replay continues.

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