Scott Veatch contributed today’s Terrible Card, 1969 Billy Grabarkewitz of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This XB card in its trademark black and white format is a most deserving entry indeed.
Scott Veatch writes about Grabarkewitz:
“It hurts for me to include the Billy Grabarkewitz card. I’m a Dodger fan and he was one of my favorite players during his brief career with the team. This is his XB card from the 1969 season and he provides some decent backup defense at third base even though he was over matched offensively his rookie year. He had a very good 1970 season and even made the NL All-star team but 1969 was tough.
His nickname was “Billy G-Whiz” because that’s how newspapers listed his name in the box score. Grabarkewitz was so tough to spell.”
Grabarkewitz batted just .092 in 65 at-bats with a double and a triple. He stole one base and walked four times.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Totals | 34 | 18 | 70 | 65 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 19 | .092 | .145 | .138 |
The ‘4’ would be the logical choice for a power number for Grabarkewitz if you had to use a single column but it does give him the possibility of hitting a homer.
His one stolen base entitled him to a 15-10. Besides that, he gets an 8 and a 9 and that’s it for hit numbers. Grabs gets a 55-13 (ugh!).
Ugly numbers: 11-8, 55-13, 22-14
As if his card wasn’t bad enough, Billy G gets four 24s based on three double plays.
Grabarkewitz rebounded for his sophomore year in 1970. He hit a solid .289 in 156 games and socked 17 dingers and drove in 89 rbis for the Bums. That earned him a spot on the NL All-Star team in 1970.
Thanks, Scott!
Love the old paper XBs – brings back fond memories.