Hard Luck, Indeed
Detroit Tigers pitcher Art Houtteman was having a rough year when he was pictured on his 1952 Topps card.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Art Houtteman was having a rough year when he was pictured on his 1952 Topps card.
Figures lie and liars figure. I have a whole lot of baseball statistics in my hand and want to tell you some stories about Monty Kennedy.
Someone opening a pack of baseball cards in 1952 would have been quite happy to find card #106 between folds of wax paper wrapping. It pictured Washington Senators first baseman Mickey Vernon. The former batting champion was the best player on his team, racking up respectable totals in home runs and doubles.
Here’s a stat that summarizes the career of John Jaha: He led the 1995 Milwaukee Brewers in homeruns despite appearing in only 88 games that season. Injuries were a regular feature of Jaha’s decade in the majors. Of the 1,620 games scheduled during his 1992-2001 career, he appeared in just 826 of them (51%).
What’s that Mr. Hamner? You say you’ve never seen the Final Destination movie series? Then this should all be new to you.
Before Bobby Thomson, Dick Sisler had the most famous walk off home run in the game.
A mailman kept making the rounds while carving out a baseball career that started prior to D-Day and ended well after the Six Days War.
High expectations followed the local sandlot star in Cincinnati.
Gus Niarhos had one of the most impressive eyes for the strike zone.