Tuesday, May 20, 2014

#218 Ben McDonald

About the Front: This photo cuts Ben McDonald off at the knees, so you don't get a proper sense of his height. The former #1 overall pick is 6'7", with long, lanky legs.

About the Back: Yep, just your average alligator-wrestling, sardine-eating righthanded pitcher. Nothing to see here.

Triple Play:

1. His superlatives in 1989, when he won the Golden Spikes Award (best collegiate baseball player): 14-4, 3.49 ERA, 202 strikeouts in 152 innings pitched, and a season-opening 44 and 2/3 inning scoreless streak.

2. Ben made his first big league start on July 21, 1990, shutting out the White Sox on four hits and a walk and outdueling Jack McDowell.

3. McDonald now works as a TV analyst for ESPN's college baseball broadcasts, and also occasionally fills in on Orioles' TV and radio broadcasts.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: When Ben started the 1994 season by winning each of his first seven starts, I was sure he'd made a breakthrough. Of course he went 7-7 with a 4.56 ERA for the duration of the season. Oh well.

Bill James Said: "His strikeout rates, since his brief trial in '89: 3.7 per nine innings, 4.9, 6.1, 6.3, 7.0."

On This Date in 1993: May 20. The fourth-season finale of Seinfeld airs on NBC, wrapping up the season-long story arc of Jerry and George's television pilot for "a show about nothing". The pilot makes it to air, but the (fictional) NBC executives reject the show.

3 comments:

  1. Big Ben did a small hotel card show appearance right about the time of this card. I asked him to sign a 8x10 to my sons 'Brooks and James' and went on to try and explain that they were named for two Orioles. He just kind of looked at me like I had said I was from Mars. He signed it though.

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  2. Bob - Sometimes we just don't speak the same language as athletes. I remember trying to explain my website to Boog Powell, haha.

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  3. You might not see his full height, but that is one long arm spanning half the card.

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