Friday, July 17, 2020

NOT REALLY MISSING IN ACTION- 1976 DON WERNER

On the blog today we have a “not so missing” 1976 card for former Cincinnati reds catcher Don Werner, a poor bastard who happened to have the same position on the same team as perhaps the greatest catcher of them all, Johnny Bench:



Werner made his Big League debut at the age of 22 and went 1-for-8 at the plate, good for a .125 batting average over seven games.
He’d appear in only three games during the 1976 season, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and run batted in with some time behind the plate.
Werner actually saw substantial playing time in 1978, appearing in 50 games for Cincinnati, with 17 hits over 113 at-bats, for a .150 batting average with 11 runs batted in and seven runs scored.
Actually not a bad hits-to-RBI ratio!
Anyway, he would not see Major League action in 19
79 though would make it back in 1980 before moving on to the Texas Rangers in 1981 and 1982.
For his seven year career Werner hit .176 with 49 hits in 279 at-bats over 118 games, all while catching behind the plate.