Mel M sent me this 1936 Hal Finney card for Terrible Tuesday. I looked up his stats with Pittsburgh Pirates and did a double take. I’ll let you ponder them for a second or two…
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 Totals | 21 | 8 | 35 | 35 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
Finney comes close to Bill Bergen’s record of 45 consecutive at-bats without a hit. We have to go back to 1933 for Finney’s last at-bat before 1936. He finished the year with at least six hitless at-bats giving him a total of 41.
How bad is Finney’s 1936 card? He only has two hit numbers and even they are weak, an 8 and a nine. Should he face an A pitcher, his only chance to reach base is his 53-18. He doesn’t have any 14s so his 45-36 is useless with the bases empty unless his opposing pitcher has a W. So no, he won’t be getting many free passes either.
Even today’s American League pitchers have nicer cards than Hal.
Ugly numbers: 66-8, 33-38, 22-13
Not to be nitpicky but I am puzzled but Finney’s two 24s. He never grounded into any double plays in 1936.
Despite being rated a Slow runner, Finney was used as a pinch runner seven times in 1936. The three runs was kind of a giveaway. It turns out that Finney was used in that role throughout his five year career.
Thanks Mel! Great find!
Wow. That is a card I would really be hard pressed into putting into play. Maybe as a defensive replacement in a blowout at the end of the year and the team is out of the running.
interesting that he managed to drive in 3 runs
sac flies and FC ground outs most likely
there are bad hitting pitchers with much better cards. LOL