Today’s Monster Card selection hits close to home for me. Dave Smith was my very first draft pick in Illowa APBA League.
This is Smith’s 1987 card for the Astros. Despite ‘87 being a hitters’ year, Smith had a great year on mound with a a career low 1.65 ERA. He struck out 73 batters in 60 innings and didn’t give up a single homer.
At the plate, Smith singled once and walked once in three plate appearances.
| Split | W | L | G | GF | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Totals | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1.65 | 50 | 44 | 24 | 60.0 | 39 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 8 | 73 |
and his hitting stats…
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 Totals | 50 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .500 | .667 | .500 |
Dave Smith is rated as a A&C* XYZ reliever. On top of that, “Flight 45” gets quite a hitting card to match his .500 batting average… almost. He was slightly downgraded. He received hit numbers 7-7-7-7-7-7-7-8-8-8-9-9. The inclusion of the 14s make his card make it that much more tougher. He has nine 14s.
Fun numbers : 15-7, 26-14, 46-36
Don’t tell the IAL managers this but the 16-year old me was probably more enthralled with the Grade A on rookie Dave Smith’s card in 1981. Let’s face it though, he was a good pick in hindsight. Aside from his 1982 season when he was a Grade C*, Smith was never graded lower than B for his first 11 years in the majors.
I had two picks in my freshman year in the IAL. Who was the other pick? A then unknown infielder named Tommy Herr who I picked because he covered second and shortstop. He turned out ok too.
