I'm going to take a week or two break from trivia to try and catch up on all the posts I already have done (first world problems, right?!).
Anyway, rest assured trivia Thursday will be back soon enough for those of you who like it...
For now, here's a "Then and Now" card for longtime relief specialist Ted Abernathy, who closed out a solid career after the 1972 season:
Abernathy actually came up in 1955 with the Washington Senators,
when he started and came out of the bullpen on his way to a 5-9 rookie
year with two shutouts and a gaudy 5.96 earned run average.
Over the next eight years he bounced back and forth from the Minors
to the Majors, and it wasn't until the 1963 season, now with the
Cleveland Indians, that he found his groove strictly as a relief
pitcher, as he posted a 7-2 record, with a 2.88 E.R.A.
and 12 saves.
Two years later he had a great season, now with the Chicago Cubs,
as he went 4-6 with a 2.57 E.R.A., with a league-leading 31 saves over
84 games and 136.1 innings pitched.
He finished 62 games that year, and struck out 104 batters, the only time in his career he'd top 100 K's in a season.
Two year after that, now with the Cincinnati Reds, he'd have
perhaps his finest year as a pro, when he posted a 6-3 record, with a
sparkling 1.27 earned run average and a league-leading 27 saves, while
finishing 61 games over 70 appearances.
He'd also post excellent years in 1968 with the Reds, as well as
1970 when he split the season between three teams (Cubs, Cardinals and
Royals), and 1971 as a 38-year-old in Kansas City when he finished with a
2.56 E.R.A. with 23 saves over 63 games.
Even his final season, 1972, was impressive, as he posted a 3-4
record with a very nice 1.70 earned run average and five saves at the
age of 39.
By the time he retired he appeared in 681 games with a 63-69
record, with 148 saves and 765 strikeouts over 1148.1 innings of work.
Incredibly however, even though he suited up for seven different
organizations during his 14-year career, he never appeared in a
post-season game.
