I’ll admit the first thing I noticed when I saw this 1965 Gary Kolb card is that he was just “down the road a ways” from where I grew up. Rock Falls’ high school was in the same conference as my high school. Not only that, Kolb was a fellow alum of the University of Illinois (Go Illini!). I’d much rather exhibit my beloved Illini alums on Mondays (like this one) but Kolb’s 1965 card fits the bill for Tuesday.
Kolb was a journeyman outfielder who played for four teams in seven years. After starting out with the Cardinals, he was traded to Milwaukee (that’s Braves for you young ‘uns). In ‘65, he split the season with the Braves and the Mets. The Mets may have thought Kolb had worked through his issues at the plate as he had improved his BA for the Braves to .259 from his previous season’s mark of .188. As it turned out, Kolb slumped for the Mets and he batted .167 for them bringing his composite average to an identical .188 mark.
Kolb did steal three bases and hit one homer in 122 plate appearances. He only walked four times for the whole season.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Totals | 64 | 26 | 122 | 117 | 11 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 34 | .188 | .213 | .231 |
I’ll give Kolb this… he’s got two 10s, he’s Fast and he’s at least an OF-2. After that though, there’s not much else to his ‘65 card. Kolb’s second column is quite nice, if you can get to it. He has eleven 1s but it’s behind just 0.
Kolb is cursed with a 31-40 and a 51-13 and with only one 14, it doesn’t get any better after that. It also doesn’t help that he has three 24s.
Ugly numbers: 51-13, 31-40, 11-7
In his seven year career, Gary Kolb batted a paltry .209 with six homeruns.
I do like to emphasize on occasion during these Tuesday posts that these players no matter how bad they may appear, they did something most of us can only dream of doing. They got a chance to play in the big leagues. They got this chance because at some point, whether in high school, college, or in the minors, they were the best at what they do.
Tom: Good point in the last paragraph. It is easy for us fans to denigrate players who did not do well in the majors but what would each of us give to be able to say we had played major league ball? Even if it were just a brief appearance like Moonlight Graham?
Hi Dick,
yes, it’s about the card not about the player despite any kidding around I might do.
I watch a lot of college baseball and know at least second hand what it takes to get to the bigs.