This Tuesday, I’m featuring the 1978 APBA card of catcher Don Werner.
To his credit, Werner lasted seven years in the majors. He played five seasons for the Cincinnati Reds and two more for Texas Rangers. Throughout those seven years though, his 1978 season was the only one where he batted more than 100 times.
That’s not to say the 25-year old Appleton native totally excelled as the backup to Johnny Bench in 1978. He batted .150 with nary a homer and a .186 slugging percentage.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 Totals | 50 | 37 | 132 | 113 | 7 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 30 | .150 | .242 | .186 |
Werner has just one zero and as expected, he doesn’t have a 1 in the second column. With hit numbers 8-8-8-9-9, that means he has unusual play numbers at 15 and 25.
Werner did walk 14 times in 1978 and that’s enough for four 14s which increases his offensive value a little bit. He also garners a 35-22 as a result of getting plunked once.
Ugly numbers: 11-8, 15-36, 25-38
Say what you want about Don Werner but he can always tell his grandkids that he started 37 games at catcher for a team that had Hall of Famer Johnny Bench on the roster.
Thanks, Tom Zuppa!
