No, not this one.
This one…
I’m getting this in just under the wire. I’m busy getting ready for this weekend’s Chicagoland Summer tournament. Scott Fennessy and I will be attending. More on that later this week.
“Tioga George” was an underrated first baseman who had a career year in 1926 for the Cleveland Indians. He led the league with 64 doubles and batted .358. While his other power numbers were not as high (3 triples, 4 HR), his 115 rbis and .396 OBP helped him attain the AL MVP honors.
Since Babe Ruth had made his ascendance as a slugger by 1926, we may have the idea that homeruns we quite common. They really weren’t. Only the Babe hit more than 20 in the AL and only eight hit in double digits. The numbers in the National League were even less.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1926 Totals | 151 | 151 | 657 | 603 | 98 | 217 | 64 | 3 | 4 | 115 | 14 | 28 | 34 | .360 | .396 | .496 |
Burns’ 1926 card is worthy to bat anywhere in the lineup for his era. His .358 batting average (don’t ask why Baseball Reference displays .360 when I embed his stats) was enough to give him lots of hit numbers. He gets a 51-7! Interestingly, he only received two 8s but he still maintained a 64-9.
One reason Burns only received two 8s might be because he got two 10s, a 15-10 and a 25-10. This was to replicate his 14 steals. There may not be enough room for an extra 8.
Burns had good bat control. He has three 31s on this card which is great for the Hit and Run play.
With 64 doubles, I wondered if Burns might get five 0s. He only got four. In hindsight, I think that’s fair. Burns played every day and therefore had a lot of plate appearances (657). In addition, his triple and homerun numbers didn’t add much to his EBH totals.
In some ways, George Burns was a prototypical first baseman for the future. Lou Gehrig was just coming into his own at New York. Burns earned his MVP award at the right time!!
photo credit: Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Yes thats an interesting and handy card for sure. (Im always partial to first sackers.) An unusual number of 2nd column 6s (though not unearned) to go with that lone 2 & 4. Throw in 3 x 31s and all those RP numbers us firstbasemen love and you never know whats gonna happen lol. ps…thanks for these. They are terrific.