#28 Jerry Priddy

#28 Jerry Priddy

Progress: 1st of this card
155 of 407  38.1% complete 
(50% of the non high numbers!)
How acquired:  $4.36 on eBay
Condition: Very Good

This is one of my favorite cards so far.  Priddy looks like a badass on the front of this card with all those bats.  I can remember playing summer ball as a teenager, and checking out the other team to see who looked like they could play, who had an arm, who could run, and the like.  Often the little guy I ignored would come up to bat as the three hitter and the monster with the rolled sleeves would be batting eight.  Priddy's stats suggest he was more of a batting practice hero than feared slugger, as even with all those bats he only hit 61 homers over 11 seasons.  Not bad, but he probably would have been better off just using a donut.  Which is not to pick on Priddy, who had a very respectful career and was described as one of the best defensive 2nd basemen of all time by no less an authority than Bill James.  I'm just saying it's a cool looking card that led me to believe Priddy may have been a power hitter, which he wasn't.

"I'll never understand what happened with him, other than bad luck and some injuries. Jerry was a better player than I was. He had more power and could play the heck out of second base." -Phil Rizzuto

Stats: 11 seasons, 1,252 hits, .265 avg, received MVP votes in 4 different seasons.

Best Hall of Fame Showing: N/A