This week in MCM, there’s a bit of twist. He’s a Monster in two different ways. I’m talking about 1989 Mitch Williams of the Chicago Cubs. With his hitting card you’re taking the good with the bad.
Reliever Williams sports five 1s on his card. After that though, there are no more hit numbers on his card. Further, he has a few 24s. More 24s than any other numbers. Combined. If you bother to count them, there are 19 of them. As a matter of fact, there are only six result numbers on his card that aren’t a 1, 13 or a 24 (25, 23, 36, 12, 36, and 35).
| G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 | .200 | .800 |
Looking at his 1989 hitting stats, they look pretty innocuous for such a wild card. Essentially, it comes down to one homerun, one strikeout, and one double play in five at-bats. A typical game for Jim Rice, right?
The 24 result is a hard one to analyze when it comes to APBA cards. The 1 is easy. This card for example, should hit five homeruns in 36 plate appearances. But we all know that the same can’t be said for the 24. Williams won’t hit into a double play 19 times out every 36 appearances. There has to be a runner on an appropriate base. Hence, the odd-looking card.
I’m a long-suffering Cub fan so I remember Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams quite well. Two things that stick out in my memory about him. One, I remember his unconventional delivery which seemed to land him on the ground every time. And two, as a closer, he usually got the job done but not before walking the bases loaded (see his W ?), throwing me and most likely his manager into conniptions.
Nonetheless, he helped lead the Cubs to the playoffs in ‘89 leading the National League in appearances and coming in second with 36 saves.
See other Monster Card Monday selections
I was at the game He hit the homer. It was against the Mets. He took a hack and connected and drove it out to left center. It was pretty awesome.
As a Phillies fan Mitch will always have a special place in my heart as well and I quickly forgave and never blamed him for what happened in October of 1993, Joe Carter just did what he was supposed to do. My favorite “Wild Thing” plate appearance will always be his game winning single against the Padres at 4:40am to win the second game of a rain delayed double-header in July of that magical season. He had some good years here in Philly (12-5,27 saves with a sub 3 E.R.A in ’91 and 43 saves in ’93) not to be loved. Plus he signed my baseball card on the next to last day of the ’91 season after a win over the Mets.