Mr. Gantner played baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and had his uniform number retired there. In the majors, he once went 1,762 consecutive at-bats without hitting a home run.

From Wikipedia: “Durham appears briefly in the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He is the first baseman in the sequence where Braves outfielder Claudell Washington hits a foul ball caught by the titular character.”

Also, Durham was pretty good at baseball. In over 1000 career games, he posted a .277/.356./.475 line (125 OPS+). In 1982, he put up a .312/.388/.521 (151 OPS+) line with 22 home runs. He was a first round draft pick in 1976.

New nerd on Monday.

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.

Cognitive dissonance: noun, the uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.
Example 1) Looking at this baseball card, and knowing that Mr. Lamp was only 30 years old at the time this picture was taken.
Example 2) Seeing this baseball card, and knowing that Mr. Lamp was still pitching in the 1990’s (his last year was 1992).
Example 3) Realizing that this is the same Dennis Lamp that later played for the Red Sox in the late 80’s/early 90’s.

Oh 1982 Dennis Lamp, what would you say to 1989 Dennis Lamp if you had the chance? Hand on your hip, your scruffy haircut falling out from beneath your too-tight Sox cap, gazing into the distance…What happened to your glasses? The extra two inches on your mustache?* Your pose that said “Bring me a beer” instead of “Could you kindly point me in the direction of the barber shop quartet?”

*For more facial hair related baseball-talk, make sure to check out our friends at The Wright Stache.

Mr. Davis broke a New York Yankees record by striking out eight consecutive batters in a single relief appearance. He also co-owns the record for most blown saves in a single season, with 14. He actually had 5 seasons throughout his career (‘79, ‘80, ‘81, ‘83, ‘85) that I wouuld categorize between “good” and “great.” In two of these he actually averaged over 10 K’s per 9 innings. For a nerd, this is the eqivalent of hall-of-fame level production.

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Major League Baseball player, or a young Babu Bhatt from Seinfeld?

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Mendoza as in "The Mendoza Line" fame...You see that look on his face? Either he just got look at his own batting stats (a career .245 OBP and .262 slugging pct), or someone just farted.

The only way the quality of the 1982 Fleer set makes sense is if they somehow got in a time machine and commissioned my high school basic photography class to take their photos. Even then, I’m pretty sure Mr. Carter gave us the f-stop and framing lessons within the first week. Take away the red border and this shabby baseball card becomes a post-modern work of art…The white of Mr. Mendoza’s jersey fading seamlessly into the bright white of the sky illustrating the fine line between existence and nothingness…OK, no more drinking on weeknights…