Ryan Morrison recently suggested this 1998 Juan Gonzalez APBA card for Monster Monday. Juan Gone was a big star in our Illowa APBA League. My buddy Chuck Lucas even traded him to me but Chuck’s no dummy. He waited just before his usefulness was about to expire. I got one semi-decent year out of him (I remember that was the year my team had three players named Gonzalez, Juan, Luis and Alex).
Chuck on the other hand, was able to enjoy this card. Gonzalez played a full season in 1998, playing 154 and batting 606 times. In that time, he blasted 45 dingers and drove home 157 runs. Not only that, he amazingly led the league in doubles with 50.
Igor was never much to take a pitch but in 1998 he did manage to walk 46 times a high for him up until that point.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 Totals | 154 | 669 | 606 | 110 | 193 | 50 | 2 | 45 | 157 | 2 | 46 | 126 | .318 | .366 | .630 |
APBA doled out only two 14s to Gonzalez but that’s probably because he had so many plate appearances. Let’s face it, this card can hit!
Not only does Juan have five power numbers with 1-1-5-6-6, he also has a 55-7 on top of that.
Fun numbers: 33-5, 44-6, 55-7
It’s worth mentioning that Chuck did very well with this card in the Illowa APBA League. Gonzalez hit 65 homeruns for him with 156 rbis. Gonzalez’ 65 homers ranks sixth all-time and his 156 rbis ranks 12th all-time.
Interestingly, Gonzalez did not lead the IAL in homers that year but that’s another story.
thanks Ryan!!
