Happy New Year Everyone!!
It’s only fitting that my league commissioner Mike Bunch would suggest St. Louis firstbaseman Bob Burda for Weird Card Wednesday. He’s a big Cardinals fan. But I bet he didn’t know Burda was a former University of Illinois baseball player when he brought it to my attention. Go Illini!
Burda’s 1971 card is one of the few out there that has the result 42 in the second column. He gets eighteen of them for his one HBP in 83 plate appearances. His other eighteen spots in the second column are all ones (he hit one HR, too).
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | HBP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 Totals | 65 | 83 | 71 | 6 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 10 | 11 | .296 | .386 | .338 | 1 |
It’s worth noting that 1971 was the first season that the 42 result for “Hit By Pitcher” was in effect. In the late 60s and early 70s, APBA was trying to deal with the increased number of hit batters. At the time, the 15 and 22 were the only methods of adjusting the accuracy with players who took one for the team. With players like Ron Hunt getting three or four 22s on their card, their other offensive results became a little inaccurate. APBA solved the problem by giving the HBP its own number, the 42. See Ron Hunt’s 1971 Monster card article for a look.
It’s my guess that Burda’s 1971 card was a bit of an experiment. As far I know, APBA hasn’t repeated the second column 42 experiment since the 1970s.
