Another from Scott Fennessy’s 1883 BBW replay. This is Dave Orr from the New York Metropolitans. Orr is probably best known for hitting 52 triples in two straight seasons including 31 in 1886.
The 1883 season was Orr’s second in the American Association and he was still getting his feet wet. Overall, he hit .320 but for the Metropolitans, he hit .320 with four doubles, three triples and two homers in 50 at-bats.
| Year | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1883 | 13 | 50 | 50 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .320 | .320 | .640 |
Dave Orr’s 1883 card is a foreshadowing of what was to come as his power numbers are 1-2-2-5-6-6. While his hit numbers are quite high for a .320 hitter (he has a 15-7), he has no 14s justifying the higher hit value.
No batters’ strikeouts were recorded in the American Association in 1883 that I know but Orr has no 13s on his card either. So any outs you see will be ground outs and fly outs. As a result, Orr has some unusual fly out results like 36-30 and 24-30 and 64-30.
Fun numbers: 11-2, 33-2, 55-6
On a related note, last week’s Tripp Sigman column prompted a friendly comment from reader Bob Stanton:
“This card like so many others should appear on Freaky Friday or Weird Wednesday. For me at least posting cards like this demeans truly awesome seasons. Take a look at Chuck Klein and Lefty O’Doul two members of the 1929 Phillies who had had awesome seasons. Sure Sigman has a better card but come on rank the players.”
To be honest, Bob isn’t the first person to raise this. When I started Monster Card Monday way back when, it was the intention to celebrate the APBA card not necessarily the player himself. I rationalize it this way… I don’t want to make it personal when I post a Terrible Tuesday card. The card is terrible not the player who played so hard to get to the big leagues.
But let’s face it, baseball fans and APBA players want to read about the heroes and the good guys not the lucky ones, not the “Tripp Sigmans” of the game we love.
I do appreciate the comment, Bob. Monster Card Monday has been one of the most popular features of this blog so in the future, I’ll do my best to post the Chuck Kleins and Babe Ruths every Monday.
Don’t be surprised if you see a Chris Bando card every so often though!
Thanks to Scott!!
Delicate subject, as these things go, I suppose, but I do appreciate the MM be reserved for the truly monstrous cards, the cards that for decades we all wanted to see first when we gt the shipment.
But you could spotlight (Not Iron) Mike Tyson’s 1981 and I’d still think it’s a great site.
haha! APBA did have a boxing game once, didn’t they?
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10708/apba-boxing
Did anyone ever play it?
Boxing game? Yes, I used it quite a bit
(a few hundred matches over the course of a few years). It was actually quite good.The APBA boxing game grew out of the Avalon Hill card game designed by the Trunzo brothers. The game lives on in the computerized version under the name Title Bout and can be downloaded for about $12.