Wednesday, March 4, 2015

#386 Ray Lankford

About the Front: Is the blurry fan in white seated behind the dugout wearing a bucket hat?

About the Back: Carl Nichols played a total of 96 major league games, batting .204/.274/.247 with no home runs and 18 RBI. I wonder if Ray Lankford teased his uncle at family gatherings.

Triple Play:

1. Lankford posted five 20/20 (steals/homers) seasons in St. Louis, making him the only Cardinal to do so more than once.

2. Ray made the All-Star team just once, getting the nod in 1997 when he batted .295/.411/.585 with a career-high of 31 home runs. However, his career OPS+ of 123 speaks to the fact that he was a consistently reliable hitter.

3. On October 3, 2004, he hit a pinch two-run homer in his final career game, adding to his franchise-record total of 123 home runs at Busch Stadium.

11-Year-Old Kevin Says: I had a handful of Kenner Starting Lineup figures. Most of these little plastic ballplayers bore little resemblance to their real-life counterparts, but I always liked my Ray Lankford figure. He was posed sliding headfirst into the base.

Bill James Said: "He was bothered by a sore wrist, which put him on the DL for a time in mid-summer, and gave him a slow trigger the rest of the year."

On This Date in 1993: March 4. Patti LaBelle receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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