Last week, I posted 1994 Jeff Bagwell on Monday. This week’s entry was probably Bagwell’s competitor for best hitting card for that year, Matt Williams. I can tell you it’s a tough call.
The funny thing is, both these players were on the same team in our Illowa APBA League. With these two and the likes of Greg Maddux, it’s no one wonder this team did well. I remember getting into a conversation with Tedd, the manager of the team, about which card I’d like rather have on my team, going on about the particulars of card numbers.
Tedd simply said, “I’d rather have both”. Well played.
As I mentioned with Bagwell, 1994 was a strike-shortened year. That didn’t stop Williams from hitting 43 homers in his 112 games. Not only did that lead the NL but ironically, it was the most homeruns he hit in a season, shortened or not.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 Totals | 112 | 483 | 445 | 74 | 119 | 16 | 3 | 43 | 96 | 1 | 33 | 87 | .267 | .319 | .607 |
Matt Williams performance in 1994 is a case where a player had twice a many homers as the rest of his extra base hits. So he gets three 1s and two 0s plus some 1s in the second column.
Williams didn’t hit extraordinarily well in 1994 (.267) nor did he walk a lot (33 times). So other than his 3B-5, it’s definitely his power that attracts with this card. But there’s something about the three ones. Up until 1994, there weren’t that many full time players who were given such an honor, inevitably drawing comparisons to Babe Ruth’s cards.
As an epilogue, I eventually traded for Matt Williams. For several years, he ended up being my fifth man batting behind cleanup hitter, Albert Pujols. He of course never reached his peak of 1994 but he was a solid slugger and I could always count on him to be a 3B-5.
It’s an interesting card. Considering he got the 44-0, and did not have say 1 or 2 steals that would mandate a second column 11; do you think APBA could have just given him a single column card? Maybe a 1-5-5-6-1 or so?
Hi Scott,
a 1-5-5-6-1 probably wouldn’t give him enough HR.
From what I remember, the 5 is equal to .35 HR per 36 PA (assuming the 1 equals 1 HR per 36).
I personally prefer the Bagwell card, I’m a batting average guy, and I have had bad luck with the .250-.260 sluggers (thanks Reggie!) compared to the ones who can also hit for average. Bagwell’s OPS and that season in general is one of the best all-around seasons of all-time that was cut short by the unfortunate strike.
Mean’t to say one of the best all-around seasons by one player in all-time.