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(8 votes, average: 4.13 out of 5)
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After Monday’s post questioned Mr. Sabo’s place in baseball eye-wear history, I wanted to remind everyone of why most people associate him with Rec-Specs in the first place. Whether or not he pioneered their use in MLB, he wore them well, and wove the Rec-Specs name into the consciousness of 7-13 year old baseball card collectors. And he was featured in this amazing “Diamond Kings” card.
I am posting this card not as evidence of the nerd-era in MLB, but as evidence of the “we don’t give a crap” attitude of the Fleer company in the early 1980′s.
Not only is Mr. Bonham featured in a profile view, with his face obscured by shadow, but he is forced to share his card with an anonymous shirtless fan, who is given an equal amount of baseball card real estate. Only the early ’80s Fleer company…
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(31 votes, average: 4.42 out of 5)
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Not to be confused with Don Robinson. Mr. Robinson was given the nickname “The True Creature” by Pete Rose (who was the Reds’ manager). He also came within one strike of throwing a perfect game on May 2, 1988. Montreal’s Wallace Johnson broke it up with a single.
From the back of the card: “Although he doesn’t hit .300 very often, he gets a lot of hits.”
Actually, Hughie Critz only hit .300 or better once, in his 1924 rookie season with the Cincinnati Reds, when he hit .322 in 102 games. That was also the only season in which he posted an OPS+ over 100. It was all downhill from there. Critz appeared in almost 1500 games in a 12 year career, as a second basemen for the Reds and New York Giants, posting a career OPS+ of 73. Somehow, he placed in the top 5 in MVP voting twice (2nd in 1926 and 4th in 1928).
In 1933, the year in which this card was issued, Critz was a member of the World Series champion Giants, who beat the Washington Senators in 5 games. That 1933 Giants team featured future Hall of Famers Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Travis Jackson, and Carl Hubbell, as well as some guy named Jo-Jo Moore.
Click the stars to vote: (14 votes, average: 4.57 out of 5)
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And don’t forget to vote for the 2009 Nerd All-Star Team. Only a few days left…
Thanks to the reader who tipped us off to Mr. Duren. Unfortunately the nerd archives were Duren-free, but I was able to track this image down online.
We here at Nerd Baseball were torn about whether or not to add any Chirs Sabo cards to the Nerd Archive. On the one hand, he single handedly brought Rec-Specs into the public consciousness. On the other hand, those things never really took off, and he ended up being one of the only guys to wear them. On the one hand, among casual baseball fans, he ranks extraordinarily high on the name-recognition scale (for a nerd). On the other hand, finding Chris Sabo nerd cards is almost too easy. There’s no sense of wonder, or discovery, when you find one.
In the end, we found a couple that we decided were keepers.
Click the stars to vote: (14 votes, average: 3.64 out of 5)
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Happy Opening Week everybody. Regular nerd schedule resumes on Monday.
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.
Click the stars to vote: (19 votes, average: 4.26 out of 5)
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In the wake of Jim Bowden’s recent firing resignation from his position as general manager of the Washington Nationals, Buster Olney of ESPN took a look back at Bowden’s run with the team, and it wasn’t pretty (must have Insider account to read). Bowden’s firing resignation made me think about how strangely baseball teams handle the hiring of their most senior decision makers. It’s almost like you win the lottery if you get hired as a GM of a team because you’re likely to retain the job long after it’s been proven that you aren’t very good at it (Brian Sabean, I’m looking at you) and, if you actually do get fired, you’re probably going to get hired by another team just because you’ve been a GM before. Bowden is a perfect illustration of this dynamic.
(4.88 out of 5) (4.75 out of 5) (4.75 out of 5) (4.73 out of 5) (4.73 out of 5)
