Archive of SportingNews.com's old SOM Baseball forum

Any theories on why Leon Durham is so bad? His cards are all from good to very good (OPS from .823-.908) but in every league I've been in he can't even hit over .200, few walks and no power.

What gives??? anyone had good luck with him?

I've only used him twice, and had sucess both times. His most recent effort for me was with his '83 card (2nd lowest OPS card BTW) in Dodger stadium yielded:

.262 BA... .462 SLG....365 OBP...with 30 doubles, 12 triples and 17 homeruns for a full season.

As far as I'm concerned, that's very productive for a players 4th worst card. The other time I used him was his '82 card (best card) which was a monster...as it should for any players best card.

My only problem with him is I've only used him twice.

I've had solid-- if not lights out seasons--from him twice. The first was off his worst card (.823 OPS). He gave me .772 OPS. The second was off his best card (.908 OPS). He gave me .852 OPS.

Both performances are roughly 50 points below the card, but that's not unusual vs. the good pitching in the 80's game. My teams were in Yankee. If Durham generally slightly underperforms (and I haven't seen enough seasons to know if he does), it might be because he ran up his numbers in Wrigley. In most other parks his stats might tend to deflate somewhat.

My guess is that, in the leagues you've seen him in, he's sometimes dumped after short trials. If he gets 550 AB, he should perform. I think he represents solid value, even if Wrigley somewhat inflates his stats.

I only had Durham play one full season for me and it was in Yankee stadium. I was pleased. :D It was his '82 card and he did the following:

Durham, L. '82 L 1B 3e14 499 99 36 23 100 51 10 8 .345 .595 .404

Wished I'd picked him up sooner

102 406 61 120 35 3 9 49 31 93 12 2 .296 .463 .346 .809

Leon only stinks when he is managed poorly. He is an out spoken man and needs his freedom.

The Bull is a fav of mine in Tiger Stadium.