Some interesting things to note about Mr. Sakata:
1) He was the 2nd ever Asian American to play Major League Baseball.
2) He was part of one of the coolest sounding games ever — On August 24, 1983 the Orioles rallied to tie their game against the Blue Jays in the bottom of the ninth inning. While doing so, they were forced to replace their starting catcher, AND his backup, so Mr. Sakata was put behind the plate to start the 10th inning. Three consecutive Blue Jays reached first base in the top of the tenth, and each of them (thinking it would be easy to steal second with Sakata catching) were picked off by O’s pitcher Tippy Martinez. Sakata then hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth.
3) While mostly a utility player, Mr. Sakata followed the nerd M.O. of playing professional baseball without being able to hit. Over the course of his ten year career, he was employed by the Brewers, Orioles, and Yankees. He appeared in over 550 games, with a career OPS+ of 71, and a career OBP of .286. His 1984 season ranks as a particularly low-point for nerds, where he played in 108 games with 168 plate appearances and an OPS+ of 33!!! On the bright side, you’ve got to love the hair.
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(16 votes, average: 4.38 out of 5)
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Tags: 1981, 2B, amateur photography and printing by donruss, donruss, flat brim, glasses, nerd, nerds, orioles, totally sweet haircut
This is awesome. Great job on the story about Sakata as the third string catcher. I wonder how many times there have been three pickoffs in one inning.
I love hearing just how terribly bad these guys were. It really adds to the whole nerd mystique. At least he got to be the hero on one occasion, though.
That’s one ugly woman. What’s that? A man? Really? Well, carry on then.