This week’s Terrible Card comes from the 1986 World Champion New York Mets. Kevin Elster was just a rookie and didn’t put in much time, only 33 plate appearances. He didn’t make much of an impact with those precious at-bats, either.
In his debut, “Kev” Elster went 5 for 30 with one double and three walks. He also struck out eight times.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 Totals | 19 | 9 | 33 | 30 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | .167 | .242 | .200 |
There’s not too much to Elster’s card. He gets a 66-6 and a 11-7 and that’s about it. That gives him a 25-39. Predictably, he gets three 14s and seven 13s. To make matters worse, he’s a SS-7.
I’d like to say that things got better for Kevin Elster throughout his 13-year career but they really didn’t. In 3225 plate appearances, he batted a yuck-inducing .228. His season with Texas in 1989 (some of us remember that year) was the one anomaly. That year, he hit .252 with 24 homeruns which was twice the amount he ever hit any other year. Hmm, suspicious.
Interestingly, Elster did get to make five postseason appearances in 1986, going 0 for 4.
Kevin Elster had quite a bit hype around him, being one of the up-and-coming young Mets from the 86′ team (with plenty more like Gregg Jeffries on the farm). He never lived up to anything, had a few weird power years late in career. His 86′ card, I usually use him as a pinch-runner, possible once-in-a-huge while at-bats eater in blow-out games.
Anyone who appeared in 15 different seasons had a good career.