Weird Card Wednesday: 1940 Wally Berger

berger ken schulz fb

This 1940 Wally Berger card, submitted by Ken Schulz via Facebook, looks like someone threw the numbers into blender. 

It’s obviously a data or printer error.  But if you look closer, there you can make some sense of it.  The bottom four rows seem to be correct.  As for the top eight rows, each result number was inadvertently printed on the black dice roll number on the left of the intended placement.  Those result numbers intended for the left hand column were placed on the far right column and one column up. 

Split G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO BA OBP SLG
1940 Totals 22 47 43 3 13 2 0 1 5 1 4 8 .302 .362 .419
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/28/2015.

 

But what of the 11 result?  Logic would tell me that it would be the number at 62 (the “leftover” number).  Alas, that is a 12 and that certainly isn’t it.  Besides, Berger already has a 23-12.  I don’t think I’m going out on too much of a limb to say it’s probably an 11-0-1.

As strange as this card looks, It’s a workable and near accurate card once the one correction is made at the 11.  He has hit numbers 0-0-0-7-7-8-8-8-9-9 with three 14s.  I work this card out to hitting around .280-.290 which is a little low compared to his real life .302 mark but not too far off.  His power numbers also seem to fit someone who hit two doubles and one homer in 47 plate appearances.  It does make me appreciate the traditional (and correct!) APBA card layout and how easy it is to tell a good hitter from a poor hitter at a glance.

Thanks Ken for a truly scrambled card!

Thomas Nelshoppen

I am an IT consultant by day and an APBA media mogul by night. My passions are baseball (specifically Illini baseball), photography and of course, APBA. I have been fortunate to be part of the basic game Illowa APBA League since 1980 as well as the BBW Boys of Summer APBA League since 2014. I am slogging through a 1966 NL replay and hope to finish before I die.

3 Comments:

  1. Wow! Strangest card I’ve ever seen.

  2. This type of “weird card” is just another example (one in a long, long line) of printer errors that are all too normal since the change of ownership of APBA. I, and I suspect most of the APBA-ites of a certain age, think this is not a happy development.

    • Hi Gary,
      To be fair, card errors have traditionally been a annual occurrence since I started playing APBA in the 70s. I remember the APBA Journal posting the card corrections back then.
      I have no hard evidence that they are happening more or less now.

      Tom

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