We haven’t had a Negro League Monster Card in a while and this one is quite worthy. This is Hall of Famer Pete Hill and this card is based on Hill’s 1910 season with the Chicago Leland Giants.
Now, I raised this before with Josh Gibson’s entry but I wonder how APBA gets their numbers. As I said before, stats from the Negro Leagues are not the most complete but Baseball Reference does have unofficial numbers. Looking at his card, his power numbers might be a tad inflated judging from his actual stats.
Hill at the plate in 1909
A quick look at Hill’s 1910 stats:
54 AB, 28 H, .519 BA, 1 HR, 4 2B, 4 3B, 2 W
I’m sure these stats are league games only and don’t include exhibition, Cuban Winter League or barnstorming games. Perhaps APBA is factoring in those stats though I’m not sure where they would get those numbers.
But if you’re willing to suspend a little accuracy here, this card is quite fantastic. His 1-2-4-5-5 EBH numbers are good enough for anyone but he also has two 11s and a 10 plus a 55-7. Not only that, he has three 31s, for those who want to forgo his power and try to move the runner along.
If that wasn’t enough, he’s Fast and an OF-3.
By the way, there’s a good bio on Hill on Baseball Reference’s Bullpen section. Definitely worth a read.
![[photo credit]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pete_Hill_1909.jpg){kind=link}
I think the current top dog to go to for questions about Negro League stats is Scott Simkus, who did an amazing amount of research that went into the creation of Strat-o-Matic’s 2010 release of Negro League cards.
I’m fairly certain that Simkus’ stats are what ended up being placed on Baseball Reference.
You should be able to Google him up and find articles about the research that he did, but if memory serves correctly he spent about 3 years combing through old newspapers to assemble everything.
This link here includes a link to a PDF version of the booklet that came with Strat’s set. It’s worth a read for anybody who is both (a) a sim gamer, and (b) interested in the Negro Leagues.
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/announcements/strat-o-matic-offers-a-free-download-negro-league-all-stars-guidebook
And, hey, maybe you could reach out to Scott and do a brief interview with him for your site. To my knowledge he only plays Strat, not APBA, but I wouldn’t doubt that the latter’s cards are based on the numbers that Simkus turned up for the former.
Another good write-up here:
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/glenn-guzzo-column/som-ratings-may-be-deepest-study-negro-leagues-ever“
And one final one:
http://www.strat-o-matic.com/community/announcements/strat-o-matic-negro-league-baseball-puts-negro-league-stars-back-field
That is really a great card. A 44-5. I don’t think I have ever seen that before. Only 1 13 with that kind of power and speed too? And he is great on defense too.
Just my own request if anyone has a James “Cool Papa” Bell card. I would be interested to see one given his reputation. And from what I have read about him a truly great player.
Add in that he seems to be choking up a good 3″ and it’s even more impressive.
Well 52 at bats is probably 12 or so games. Obviously lots of players have had hot streaks of 10-12 games or longer Hurricane Bob Hazzle comes to mind. Pete Hill, however, had other impressive Negro League seasons and while the statistical record is not there for barnstorming, winter ball etc the antidotal evidence sure is