I was planning on a post congratulating Barry Larkin and Roberto Alomar on becoming the newest first-ballot-hall-of-famers, and Bert Blyleven on finally getting the call. Whoops.
Anyway, here’s the nerdiest card from a hall-of-famer that I could find through a very quick google image search.
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(14 votes, average: 3.57 out of 5)
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Thanks to Night Owl Cards for this image.
Click the stars to vote: (15 votes, average: 4.47 out of 5)
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According to Wikipedia:
In 1980, after being hit in the back of the neck on the basepaths with a thrown ball, Lowenstein was taken off the field on a stretcher, only to sit up abrubtly as he reached the dugout and pump his fists for the crowd.
Click the stars to vote: (15 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
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According to Professor Nerdtron, today marks the 100th nerd posted on this website. In recognition of this milestone, I encourage you all to raise a glass with Mr. Grubb, and celebrate his place in history. And his disembodied fingers.
(15 votes, average: 3.27 out of 5) Loading ...
What’s going on here? This man has no strange facial hair, his hat is normally placed, and his face is somehow avoiding the typical contortions expected of a nerd (though what’s with the bat?). This man is far more dangerous*. On WEEI today (Boston sports talk radio), Francona was asked how he valued RBI**.
How do you value RBIs?
I think there are some things that can be skewed. I grew up in an era where, if you hit .300, you were a good player. Well, you know what? That’s not the tell-tale. I was the perfect example. I could hit .300. I never helped our team. I hit all singles, I never walked, I wasn’t fast enough to score any runs. It was kind of cosmetic. Getting on base is a very important stat. It doesn’t mean we have nine guys up there trying to walk. But it means if they’re seeing pitches and working counts, they’re going to become more dangerous hitters. If they’re on base, we talk all the time about keep the line moving, You have to have a good enough team to do that. If you have four or five guys who are taking their walks, and four or five guys that can’t hit, that’s not going to work. If you have a balanced team, which we try to do, and you have that approach, it’s going to work.
Hey Francona, if you got out of your mother’s basement maybe you’d know how the game of baseball is supposed to be played. I can see through your veiled reference to OBP. Francona might not have the fashion down (yet), but this man is a nerd.
* I’ve been reading Dan Brown and sentences like “This man is far more dangerous” seem perfectly acceptable at the moment.
** WEEI, the plural of RBI is RBI. They’re runs batten in, not runs batted ins.
The following story is about a girl who lived down the hall from me for several years during college. I had not thought about this particular sequence of events for years before seeing the Jayson Werth rookie card embedded later in this post. And then it all came flooding back…
Click the stars to vote: (18 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
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Order of business #1: You can cover that umbrella hat in Budweiser cans all you want, but that doesn’t detract from the nerdiness of wearing it in the first place.*
Order of business #2: We need more “Jay Johnsones” in Major League Baseball. From Wikipedia:
[Johnstone] pulled off a number of infamous pranks during his playing days, including placing a soggy brownie inside Steve Garvey’s first base mitt, setting teammate’s cleats on fire (known as “hot-footing”), cutting out the crotch area of Rick Sutcliffe’s underwear, locking Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda in his office during spring training, dressing up as a groundskeeper and sweeping the Dodger Stadium infield in between innings, nailing teammate’s cleats to the floor, and replacing the celebrity photos in manager Lasorda’s office with pictures of himself, Jerry Reuss and Don Stanhouse. He also once dressed up in Lasorda’s uniform (with padding underneath) and ran out to the mound to talk to the pitcher while carrying Lasorda’s book and a can of Slim Fast.
As a baseball announcer, he once covered a microphone with a scent of stale eggs then proceeded to interview Dave Stewart, Mickey Hatcher and other players.
Johnstone struck out looking against Dave Spiwack in the top of the first inning in the movie Naked Gun.
*Let it be noted that I’m anticipating a return of the “nerd vs. dork” controversy in reference to the umbrella hat.
Click the stars to vote: (19 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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On September 8, 1990, Mr. Lusader tied a MLB record by committing three outfield errors in one inning.
Click the stars to vote: (18 votes, average: 3.39 out of 5)
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Click the stars to vote: (17 votes, average: 3.94 out of 5)
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A decidedly non-nerdy anecdote from Wikipedia:
A notable feud occurred between Cowens and pitcher Ed Farmer (current White Sox radio announcer). On May 8, 1979 playing for the Royals, Cowens suffered a fractured jaw and missed 21 games during an 8-7 loss to Texas as a result of being hit by a pitch from Farmer. Farmer also hit Royal Frank White in the same game and White sustained a broken hand, missing 33 contests. The next season on June 20‚ 1980 while playing for the Tigers‚ Cowens hit an infield grounder as Farmer pitched at Comiskey Park. While Farmer watched his infielder make the play, Cowens ran to mound and attacked the pitcher from behind instead of running to first base. Cowens was suspended for 7 games and a warrant was issued for his arrest in Illinois‚ forcing him to skip the remainder of the Tigers-White Sox series in Chicago. Farmer agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a handshake‚ and the 2 players brought out the lineup cards before the game on Sep 1, 1980.
Donruss Employee A: I think we need to use a different picture. His face is covered in shadow, and the picture is way blurry. Oh yeah, and the grass kind of looks orange.
Donruss Employee B: Fuck it.
Click the stars to vote: (12 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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Major League Baseball player, or a young Babu Bhatt from Seinfeld?
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