This week’s Monster Card is 1974 All-Star Ralph Garr which has several interesting features which includes a fancy-dancy 51-7
Garr led off for 136 of the 143 games he played the Atlanta Braves in 1974. I find that interesting. Yes, he has a nice .383 on-base percentage but consider that he hit an NL-leading .353. Most of that OBP came from his bat not from his patience. Garr only had 28 walks in 645 plate appearances. If I were Braves’ managers Eddie Mathews or Clyde King looking at his APBA card (oh, if only they had that luxury!), I’d consider batting him lower.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 Totals | 143 | 645 | 606 | 87 | 214 | 24 | 17 | 11 | 54 | 26 | 16 | 28 | 52 | .353 | .383 | .503 |
It’s a bit disguised by the double columns but Ralph Garr also had NL-leading 17 triples in 1974. If you count the 2s, he has eleven in the second column (he also has a second column 5 for nitpickers) behind three 0s. That is very close to a single column 2.
A serious question for 70s Braves fans or anyone who might know: Was Garr deserving of the OF-1?
Thanks Rich!
The latest edition of this card (2012) has only one 14 and three 8’s instead of two.
Garr had the highest OBP on the ’74 Braves, though his mirror image was on the club. Darrell Evans batted only .240 but drew 126 walks and had an OBP of .381.
RE the defense, I may have only seen him play a game or two on TV, but Garr’s defensive stats are quite close to those of Willie Stargell, who was 34 that season. Garr made nine errors that season. Great card, I had him in my first APBA league!