Real MLB games are FINALLY HERE!!! To celebrate, we’ll be posting a new nerd card every day this week. That’s right, five new nerds in five days!!! Can you handle the glasses? Can you handle the facial hair? Can hat brims possibly get any flatter? Lets find out…Also, this is our first “by request” nerd.
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(19 votes, average: 4.26 out of 5)
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Tags: 1978, 2B, Donald Sutherland look alike, glasses, nerd, nerds, reds, ss, topps
Did we ever confirm that this is not actually Donald Sutherland?
Good call, Nerdzah Ball – it really does look like Sutherland.
Also, I just looked up Auerbach’s stats and they are truly horrible. Over 11 seasons (primarily as a shortstop), he played in 624 games and had 1567 plate appearances. His career totals are .220/.286/.286, which is good for a .572 OPS. Those numbers translate to an OPS+ of 66. Yikes.
I understand that, in the 1970s, shortstops weren’t expected to contribute much with the bat, but this is outrageous. The guy hit 9 home runs in nearly 1600 plate appearances. I hope he was a tremendous defender.
Auerbach was also involved in possibly the worst shortstop swap of all time. Auerbach was traded from the Rangers to the Mariners in 1980 in an 11 player deal, in which Mario Mendoza (of the Mendoza Line (in)fame) was sent to the Rangers. In the subsequent season, Auberbach batted .155 in 96 plate appearances for the Mariners (OPS+ of 21) while Mendoza, also a shortstop, batter .231 in 254 plate appearances for the Rangers (OPS+ of 55).
This is awesome: Auerbach was drafted by the Seattle Pilots in 1969.