Vail played for parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues, appearing in 665 games and hitting .279 with 34 home runs. He came up with the New York Mets in 1975 but did not see regular action until 1977 when he played in 108 games for the Mets, hitting .262 with eight home runs. Vail made a stop with the Cleveland Indians in 1978 before joining the Chicago Cubs the following year. He played in a career-high 114 games for the Cubs in 1980, posting a .298 average with six home runs while setting career highs in RBIs (47), doubles (17) and runs scored (30). Vail played for four more teams over the next four seasons before finishing his big-league run in 1984.
As he mentions, Vail is best known for stringing together a 23-game hit streak as a rookie in 1975. At the time it was the longest hitting streak for a rookie in National League history.
We featured his toughest pitcher, J.R. Richard, in March.
Mike Vail – career stats
