I love first column 2s. They’re such a rare treat that when they come up you kinda do a double take. Now take a look at the card above. Wow! APBA Blog reader Paul Trinkle gets credit for suggesting this week’s Monster Card Monday entry, Lawrence “Hack” Miller who has eight 2s, the only hit numbers on his card.
Paul says:
“I just wanted to nominate my favorite monster card. 1916 Brooklyn Robins’ Lawrence ""HACK"" Miller.
He has 8 2’s and 8 14’s. He is lesser known than Gates or the Count. However, with the success I have had with the Robins at the conventions he is becoming more popular. (Or hated).”
Indeed, Hack’s card is one mess of 2s and 14s with some 13s thrown in. Miller’s card is based on quite simple stats. In 1916, he came to the 4 times for the Brooklyn Robins. He hit one triple, walked once, and struck out once.
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| Hack Miller’s biography at sabr.org |
To me it’s interesting that Miller’s card is more indicative of a pitcher who might gather just a few at-bats. Yet Miller is a position player (OF-1) who APBA deemed worthy of getting one of the 25 cards on the Brooklyn Robins team. (Note: I can’t emphasize how much I use the “APBA Baseball Card 12 List and Publication Data” when determining certain info on card sets. Thank you, Doug Burg!)
An interesting thing I noticed about Miller… he was pretty short. He’s listed on his APBA card as being only 5’9”.
While this was Miller’s first year in the majors, he didn’t really catch on until six years later. He played a short stint in 1918 for Boston but in 1922-23 he strung together two full seasons of ball. In ‘22, he hit .352 for the Chicago Cubs and followed it up with a .301 season in ‘23. True to form, he never did forget those 2s he got in 1916. He hit 5 triples in 1922 and 11 for his career.
One last tidbit on Miller. He actually received a Hall of Fame vote in 1937 despite only playing in two full seasons. Presumably, it was based on his .323 “career” batting average though he did it in with only 1200 at bats. Perhaps the voter was a time traveller who had seen his 1916 APBA card and was suitably impressed.
This Hack Miller card is part of the 1916 APBA card set that came out in 1980. Thanks to Paul for suggesting the Hack Miller card. Great idea!
See other Monster Card Monday selections
I’m replaying that season and somehow managed to completely miss this card. (It’s early yet, obviously!) Great catch!
I’m not surprised forcing a 25-man team on a club from that era led to some craziness. Baseball-reference lists on 32 players appearing, 10 of whom are pitchers. 8 of the 22 players, including Miller, had both fewer than 10 games and 10 PA’s–next lowest was Fred Merkle (23 G, 78 PA, though he came over from the Giants mid-season). Since 4 of the pitchers threw under 50 innings (2 under 20 innings), choosing 25 cards inevitable produces a small sample size output. I can imagine they might have chosen this card for the sheer novelty.