From Wikipedia:

During the 1980s, a variation of the Chicago-style hot dog called the Vance Law Dog was sold at Wrigley Field. It featured a traditional Chicago-style hot dog topped with cole slaw and ketchup. Some fans incorrectly referred to the dog as ‘The Vance Slaw Dog’ because of the inclusion of cole slaw. The dog was a personal favorite of the late broadcasting legend Harry Caray.

Anyway, here’s the nerdiest card from a hall-of-famer that I could find through a very quick google image search.

Click the stars to vote: Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.

Thanks to Night Owl Cards for this image.

Mr. Breining appeared to be in the middle of a decent career as a relief pitcher, when, according to Wikipedia, he blew out his shoulder throwing the ball to first base on a bunt attempt.  The Expos lost an arm out of the bullpen, but future generations lost a career that promised to be chock-full-of-nerd cards.

Mr. Fermin is a throwback to the days of NerdBaseball on MySpace. In 1996, Mr. Fermin was nearly traded to the Yankees for Mariano Rivera. After that same season, he ended his career with a total of four home runs in 2,767 at bats.

Mr. Cubbage hit for the cycle on June 27, 1978. Mets fans may remember him as their interim manager for seven games in 1991, and Red Sox fans may remember him as their interim manager after Joe Kerrigan was fired in spring training of 2002.

Congrats to the 2009 Nerd-All-Stars, and starting with Mr. Cubbage, new nerds will be eligible for the 2010 Nerd-All-Star-Team.

Not to be confused with Bruce Bochy, the manager of the San Francisco Giants. In researching the nerds that I post, I rarely find a player whose career takes more than a few minutes to digest. However, in the case of Mr. Bochte, there is a LOT going on. He made the all-star team in 1979. His career OPS+ is 113, over the course of almost 6000 plate appearances. However, Mr. Bochte off the field seems to be a fascinating character.

He did not play at all in 1983, despite not suffering any injuries, and despite possessing above-league-average hitting abilities. Why didn’t he play? I can’t figure it out. According to Wikipedia, he was personally protesting the rise in player salaries that he felt was ruining the game. According to the U.S.S. Mariner, after years as the Mariners’ player representative, he became disillusioned with what he felt was a cold, impersonal attitude of the team management.

Mr. Bochte has also had an interesting post-baseball career. He studies cosmology. He seems to be an active environmentalist. Dusty Baker is the only person he still speaks to from his MLB days. I promise it will be worth your while to take a few minutes and read this article. Sneak preview quote from Mr. Bochte:

“In traditional religion, the understanding is that God put the human on Earth and that the human is here to glorify God. I don’t think that way anymore. We know that the human came out of the Earth and the universe. We’re the descendants of a long, long journey of life on the planet. We came into the planet out of the planet itself. I don’t think we were imported here…I don’t know if there is life after death. If there is, that’s great. If there isn’t, that’s fine, too. We get so attached to our own self. If you take it back to the elemental world, it’s not so scary.”

Major League Baseball player, or "Bad News Bears" extra?

Mr. Zahn is a major league baseball player turned Christian motivational speaker.

On August 24, 1975, Mr. Halicki threw a no-hitter against the New York Mets. So far, this is the first documented nerd-thrown-no-hitter.

The mystery of Mr. Breazeale’s career–he was a first round draft pick in 1968.  He played in two games in 1969, none in 1970, then ten in 1971, and 52 in 1972, and actually put up league average numbers.  He then has this card in the 1973 Topps set, but does not play in a game again until 1978, after which he never plays again.

I wanted to spread the nerd love around before doubling-up on any player. I really did.

The problem is that I have the Nerd Archives organized alphabetically by last name, and time and time again this card greeted me from the top of the pile. I just couldn’t help myself. It’s almost not fair. When it comes to nerd cards, it’s like Mr. Atherton is playing on a totally different level.

Now it’s up to you to decide: which card is nerdier, this one, or Mr. Atherton’s 1989 Fleer? Make sure to vote by clicking on the stars!