Mon Aug 03, 2015 3:40 pm
Thanks, Harry. I remember when the Tigers picked up Mathews as a late season acquisition in 1967. He was in the twilight of his career and mostly spelled Cash at 1B. Although he had poor numbers in '67 & '68, he was still feared as a hitter.
I was surprised to learn that the Tigers had no power hitting 3rd basemen over the years with Strato cards. Of course, they had HOFer George Kell, a wizard with the glove and lifetime .300+ hitter, who averaged about .330 and won a batting championship during the five seasons from 1946-1950 (no small feat, considering that Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio and Luke Appling, all high average hitters and HOFers, were still in the league), but, oddly, Kell has no Tiger cards, and he was past his prime for his 1953 and 1955 SOM cards with the Red Sox and White Sox, respectively.. Then there's Dean Palmer, who had 4 30+ HR seasons with Texas, KC & Detroit in the '90s who has no ATG SOM card. So it came down to Al Rosen, Mathews and David Wright. I figured Mathews was the best fit for my team, plus I took into consideration that he actually played for the Tigers.
Speaking of great picks, I can't believe that the Giants fell to you at 5 and that Maddux fell to you at 8. Also, I can't believe that the Dodgers fell to 11.
I'm a little short on starting pitching compared to the other franchises, so I just hope my team can be competitive.