I was never a huge Vince Coleman fan in his day. I mean, I grew up a Cubs fan, right? But boy, that man could steal bases. Matt Farmer thought his 1985 APBA card would make a good Monster Card and I agree.
1985 was Coleman’s rookie year and that year, he went places. Assuming he got on base (a big if since his OBP was a mediocre .320), pitchers and catchers needed to keep an eye on him. Coleman stole a total of 110 bases that year. To be fair, Coleman was only caught stealing 25 times so the odds were pretty good (see Rickey Henderson).
Coleman hit .267 with one homerun and scored 107 times in 1985. “Vincent Van Go” was awarded with the NL Rookie of the Year that year.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 Totals | 151 | 692 | 636 | 107 | 170 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 40 | 110 | 25 | 50 | 115 | .267 | .320 | .335 |
Full time APBA cards in the 1980s weren’t known for their strangeness. APBA didn’t have very many options even with the asterisk. For starters, Coleman was given speed numbers 11-11-11-10. He also received asterisks on all three of his 14s. On top of that, eight of his second column 6s were starred too.
If that were not enough, he got seven second column 11s behind two zeroes.
For his ten triples, Coleman has ten 2s in the extra column. To be honest, I double checked to make sure there weren’t any * behind them too.
Worthy of note: In 1985, APBA placed the 12 at 42. I’m perusing the APBA 12 list now and that is probably the best dice roll the card makers have ever placed the 12.
thanks, Matt!
I love the 80s for the combination of speed and power. If it weren’t for the boring astro-turfed stadiums, especially in the NL, I’d call that the best era ever in baseball. I liked Vince!
ps–I have very few quibbles with the basic game, which is awesome in its simplicity, but the timing of steals drives me a little nutty. It’ll be 11-0 in the 8th inning and some guy takes off. Really? I count it, though, for statistical accuracy when all is said and done, but within a given game it can be pretty silly.
I am in September in my 1967 AL replay, and Bert Campaneris is forever padding his league lead in steals in meaningless situations, to the point that I’ve started calling him Mister Personal Stats.