Now, let me preface this all by stating clearly that I was never
anywhere close to being a College baseball player, let alone a MAJOR
LEAGUE player.
So while I seem to be poking fun of some players from time to time,
in no way do I forget the fact that these were, at some point in their
lives, the sh*t wherever they came from!
With that being said however, sometimes it is incredible to see a
player with a Topps baseball card with stats that would make anyone
depressed.
Take Mr. Allen here. As card #539 of Topps 1974 set, you have a
young pitcher for the Texas Rangers with all the promise in the world.
Then you turn that card around and, oh my, you see a 1973 line that
states: 0-6 with a 9.42 E.R.A!
Whew! That's a bit hard on the eyes don't you think?
So of all marginal players out there for Topps to give a card slot to, Allen made the cut. ???
Guess I just don't see it! Oh well.
But come on! The guy pitched in 28 games, good for 49.2 innings in
1973 for the Rangers and Angels, with a staggering 13.2 hits per nine
innings!
Damn.
Sadly things did NOT get any better for Allen before he hung up the
glove, as he never won a Major League game again, going 0-4 the rest of
the way (0-2 in both 1974 & 1975).
He ended his seven year career with a rough 8-25 record and a somewhat pedestrian 4.69 earned run average.
Kind of tough for a former first round pick (12th overall) by the California Angels in 1968.
But in all fairness, the 1968 draft was a bust overall. In the
first two rounds, the only players of note drafted after Allen were Gary
Matthews (1st round / 17th pick) and Bill Buckner (2nd round/ 25th
overall pick).
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| We feel for you Lloyd... |
