Darren Schulz provided this fun 1969 Joe Morgan for our viewing pleasure. It’s a wild one! I actually remember this one as a kid. My brother bought this original set and I inherited it. Well, let’s say that I “appropriated” it from him.
Before diving into the card itself, let’s look at the stats. “Little Joe” hit just .236 but walked 110 times (third in the league) and stole 49 bases, second to Brock’s 53 thefts.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Totals | 147 | 657 | 535 | 94 | 126 | 18 | 5 | 15 | 43 | 49 | 14 | 110 | 74 | .236 | .365 | .372 |
A first look at this card might be a turn-off. A 33-9? Yikes! A 44-14? Wow.
But consider that Morgan has a 15-11, a 25-11 a 31-10 and 51-10. These are all hits against the best. Not only that, Joe has five 14s to go along with that. Interestingly, he has a 45-37. Perhaps a 44-14 and 45-14 would look TOO odd.
Those who are sticklers for realism may note that Morgan’s ’69 card has two 9s and no 8s. That means he will hit better against Grade B pitchers than he would Grade C pitchers. APBA generally gives hitters an 8-8-8-9-9 combination. Sometimes, hitters will get an extra 8 and with those hitters with lower batting averages, they will get an 8-8-9-9 combo. Morgan’s two 9s is something I have not seen with other APBA cards.
Overall, this is an excellent leadoff card, 33-9 notwithstanding. 1969 Morgan has a total of eleven on base chances against an A pitcher not including the error. That’s better than anyone I had on my league team this year. Four of those results will get him to second base too.
thanks, Darren!
This set broke my heart with the font choice. :-)
I don’t know… I kind of like it. For one year. :)
Check out Walt Hriniak, a reserve catcher for some National League team. He has 22s all over the place, but few hits. Thank goodness they thought of the 42. This was also a 1969 production.
Another ’69 weird card was the original Reggie Jackson. He also hits Bs better than Cs. He had 5 xbh’s if I remember right. Don’t have the set in front of me (it’s late and I don’t want to dig it out now). By the way, it’s not about weird cards, but if you replay games with the ’51 set, you can realistically bat Ned Garver and Tommy Byrne in the middle of the lineup. Even though they’re pitchers, they’re better hitters than a lot of the regulars and the manager did put them in those lineup spots. With Garver, who’ll likely pitch a complete game, you’re ok, but Byrne’s probably gonna be knocked out early and you’ll be stuck pinchhitting for the D pitchers who replace him.