I almost didn’t have a Weird Wednesday column lined up for this week but Kevin Burghardt from Janesville, Wisconsin just posted this interesting card on Facebook.
Kevin says this is “one of Charlie Finley’s designated pinch runners, this one not named Herb Washington”. Indeed.
This Don Hopkins card is based on his 1975 season when he didn’t start a game and only collected six at-bats. However, he did appear in 82 games, stole 21 bases and scored 25 runs. He gives 1974 Herb Washington a run for his money. I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Hopkins before.
| G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 0 | .167 | .375 | .167 |
APBA didn’t give Hopkins a purely pinch runner card like they did with Herb Washington. See Washington’s one-of-a-kind 1975 card here when it was Monster Card of the Week. Hopkins, on the other hand, received a normal hitting card though it is a bit odd.
Hopkins’ 1975 card is pretty solid if you decide to bat with it. With his two walks in 8 plate appearances, he got nine 14s all with asterisks. APBA felt that Hopkins deserved a first column 6 even though his only hit was a single. That 6 comes with an asterisk, as well.
With those ten asterisks, Hopkins also gets an 11 and two 10s. Honestly, I almost missed the second 10; it’s at 22. After that, though, he got a 8 and a 9 and that’s about it. Realistically, this card was meant to be a pinch runner.
Don Hopkins didn’t last long in the majors. In 1976, he appeared in three games with 0 at-bats. Did he steal any bases? Well no, but he did get caught stealing once. Finley’s experiment with Hopkins was finished, I guess.
thanks Kevin!!
You should ave waited a day and posted it on his birthday.