Take a look at this 1989 Alejandro Pena card, salivate and just wish you could use it in your everyday lineup.
Unfortunately, unless you bend the rules a little, you won’t be able to. Pena batted just once in 1989 and hit a single for the Los Angeles Dodgers. In case you’re wondering, he appeared in the 12th inning of a scoreless game against the Expos. The Dodgers eventually won it 1-0 in the 22nd inning on a Rick Dempsey homerun. Time of game: five hours and fourteen minutes.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 Totals | 53 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 |
A Grade A*XZ reliever, Pena had a pretty decent year on the mound in 1989, too.
| Split | W | L | G | GS | GF | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 Totals | 4 | 3 | .571 | 2.13 | 53 | 0 | 28 | 5 | 76.0 | 62 | 20 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 75 |
Pena has twelve 7s, four 8s and two 9s.
It’s funny, the hit numbers are all great and everything but as someone who sees APBA cards on a regular basis, you know what I focused on? The order of the hit numbers. It’s all wrong, I tell you. Pena has a 61-7 but a 42-8 and a 64-8. It seems out of whack.
Fun numbers: 61-7, 46-9, 53-8
Note: due to the 53-8, the 21 error number was moved to 21.
Alejandro Pena started out as a starter with great promise for the Dodgers. He won double digits his first two full years and even led the NL in ERA and shutouts in 1984. In ‘85, he was out for most of the year with injures. When he came back, his role transitioned to the pen. He had several years as an effective reliever almost exclusively in the National League.
For his career, he was 56-52 with a 3.11 ERA. He also appeared in 23 career postseason games with a similarly effective 2.03 ERA.
