Monster Card Monday: 1994 Andres Galarraga

Last week, I posted a fun Andre Dawson card from the strike-shortened 1981 season. There was discussion that many monster cards (and a few weird ones) come from shortened seasons.

Well, in 1994 there was another baseball strike in which the last 50 games or so were not played. As a result, there were plenty of outstanding APBA cards. This 1994 Andres Gallaraga card is but one.

Galarraga played 103 games for the Rockies (it was the second year of their existence!). In 417 at bats, he hit .319 with 31 homeruns and 85 rbis. With 77 runs scored, he managed eight stolen bases.

The APBA gave “Big Cat” a satisfactory 1B-4 defense rating. He is a medium baserunner but does garner a 15-10.

But y’all didn’t want to see Galaraga’s card for his defensive skills and speed. The “Big Cat” has power and plenty of it! He has power numbers 1-1-5-6.

A big bonus is that Andres hit .319 which gets him plenty of hit numbers, too. In addition to his power numbers and the 15-10, he has a 55-7 plus the conventional three 8s and two nines.

Two strikes against Galarraga’s 1994 card:

1. He strikes out plenty. He has six 13s (it sounds strange to say that since that almost qualifies as a contact hitter in the 2010s).
2. Also, the “Cat” only has one 14. He does sport a 13-42 (a hit-by-pitch) in addition. Looking at Andres’ stats, it’s not surprising. He walked only 19 times in 1994.

Note that the APBA card maker placed the “12” at 36 in 1994. Because of that, they moved any potential 33s to 23 as in Galarraga’s case.

As good as this card was, there were other, even better ones in 1994:

• 1994 Matt Williams (three 1s)
• 1994 Jeff Bagwell (55-0)
• 1994 Tony Gwynn (51-7)
• 1994 Albert Belle (with a 55-0)

If the MLB 2020 season ever gets started, the APBA baseball set may have some very interesting cards!