Monster Card Monday: 1922 Reb Russell

I almost saved this 1922 Reb Russell card that Beau Lofgren sent me for Weird Wednesday.  It’s pretty rare that you see two first column 3s on a card especially on a player with 250 plate appearances.  But Reb Russell’s card is so juicy, he’s showing up today. 

Last week, I highlighted Terrible Card 1966 Mel Queen.  Queen went from being a outfielder to a pitcher.  Reb Russell took the opposite route.  He came up as a pitcher in 1913 for the White Sox.  He was pretty successful winning 22 games in his rookie year and having a career 80-59 record with a 2.33 ERA.  Somewhere around 1917, Russell started playing outfield along with his hurling duties and when he came back for the Pirates after a two-year hiatus, he primarily played the outfield and never threw from the mound. 

His last two seasons were not full time but he certainly hit the ball.  In 1922, he hit .368 with 18 doubles, 8 triples and 12 homers.  He scored 51 and drove in 75 for the Bucs. 

In his last year with the Pirates, he still hit .289 with 9 homers and 58 rbis in 291 at bats. 

I told Beau that Reb’s 1922 card would be deadly with a runner on second base.  The 1-3-3-5-6 power number combination is practically unheard of for starting players. 

Not only does Russell have three more 7s but he also has a 15-10.  That gives him a fun 51-7.  He was hit by the pitch 7 times in 1922.  That’s enough for a 61-42. 

Fun numbers:  33-3, 22-5, 51-7

As usual, SABR has an interesting bio on Russell, this one authored by Richard Smiley.