Page made an impressive start to his major league career when, he became the second player in Major League Baseball history with more than 20 home runs and 40 stolen bases in their rookie season however, his offensive production declined over the next few seasons and, he never lived up to the promise of his debut season.[2][3] He played his final season with the Pittsburgh Pirates.[1]
In Oakland, the star players of the Swingin' A's teams that won three consecutive World Series championships earlier in the decade had left the team by trades or via free agency.[4] Page made his major league debut at the age of 25 on the opening day of the 1977 season, replacing the departed Joe Rudi as the Athletics' left fielder.[1][4] His early performance indicated a promising career ahead of him when he began the season with an eight-game hitting streak along with a .500 batting average, as the Athletics surged to a 7-1 record.[4] Page was named the American League Player of the Week on April 17th, just two weeks into his major league career.[8] On September 2, he earned his second Player of the Week award and ended the season with a .307 batting average along with 21 home runs, 75 runs batted in and 42 stolen bases for the Athletics, becoming the second player in Major League Baseball history after Tommie Agee (1965) with more than 20 home runs and 40 stolen bases in their rookie seasons.[1][8][3]Mike Trout (2012) and Corbin Carroll (2023) are the only other rookies to accomplish the feat.[3]
Page had a respectable 1978 season, batting .285 with seventeen home runs and 70 RBIs.[1] He then played in the 1978-79 Venezuelan winter league season for the Navegantes del Magallanes, helping the team win the league championship, thus qualifying for the 1979 Caribbean Series held in Puerto Rico.[4] Page led the Magallanes to the Caribbean Series victory, leading the round-robin tournament with 2 home runs and 11 runs batted in, earning him the Series’ Most Valuable Player award in what he called the biggest thrill of his baseball career.[4]
Page was involved in a contract dispute with Athletics owner Charlie Finley during Spring training1979, and wound up getting suspended by the owner for refusing to play in exhibition games.[11] He was used as the designated hitter during the regular season as injuries had limited his range in the outfield. He produced just a .247 batting average with nine home runs and 42 RBIs in his new role.[1]
Page was released by the Athletics during Spring training 1984. He signed a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates shortly afterwards, and in twelve at bats, hit .333, with three walks as a pinch hitter in August.[1] Page played in his final major league game on September 30, 1984 at the age of 32.[1] After spending all of 1985 with Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate in Hawaii, he was released.[1]
In an eight-year major league career, Page played in 673 games, accumulating 560 hits in 2,104 at bats for a .266 career batting average along with 72 home runs, 259 runs batted in, a .346 on-base percentage and 104 stolen bases.[1] He finished his career with a .963 fielding percentage.[1]
Coaching career
Page returned to Tacoma as their hitting coach from 1992 through 1994, and served as first base coach for the Kansas City Royals from 1995 to 1997.[2]
He accepted a job with the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach for the Memphis Redbirds in 1998. From there, he moved to minor league hitting coordinator in 1999. Midway through the 2001 season, he was promoted to the St. Louis Cardinals as hitting coach.[2] Page worked with rookie Albert Pujols who went on to win the Rookie of the Year award and became one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball.[2] In 2004, the Cardinals led the National League in batting average, runs and slugging percentage.[13] He remained with the club through the 2004 World Series, but left the post immediately afterwards to enter an alcohol treatment facility near his Oakland, California home.[14] The Cardinals batted just .190 in the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.[15]
Page returned to baseball as minor league hitting instructor for the Washington Nationals in 2005, and became the major league hitting coach in 2006.[16] In 2006 he authored a book on hitting titled, The Complete Manual of Hitting.[17] Page left the job in May 2007 due to a relapse of his alcoholism. He returned to the organization later in the year as a roving minor league instructor.[2] He rejoined the Cardinals' organization, and began 2010 as a coach with the Quad Cities River Bandits, but left in May due to "personal reasons."[18]
