#81 Steve Avery
To be honest, I have no idea when when I got this card signed. I know that I got it signed through the mail in the early '90s, and it obviously wasn't before 1992. It was most likely '92 or '93, but that could be wrong.
Around 1993, this was a very good autograph to have. That season, Avery finished up with a 18-6 record to go along with a 2.94 ERA (that was his second 18 win season). He also finished with 223.1 innings pitched, which would be his last season with over 175 innings pitched. The next season, he finished with 151.2 innings pitched and the year after that, he was at 173.1 innings pitched. That was the last time that he finished over 150 innings pitched. It was downhill from there as arm injuries started to take its toll. After stints in Boston and Cincinnatti, as well as a comeback attempt with the Braves, again, Steve found himself jobless after the 2000 season.
In 2003, he tried to make a comeback with the Tigers. After 22 appearances in Toledo (only two of them were starts), he got the call to Detroit. After 19 appearances in relief in Detroit, he finished his last Major League season 2-0, with an 5.63 ERA.
Avery! I got into baseball right when this guy was at his peak, so I'll always have an inflated perception of how good he is.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see some old clips of him pitching. From this card I get the sense that he had a quirky delivery. His front foot is firmly planted, and his forward momentum seems to have stopped. It's all arm from there. Maybe that explains some of the injury issues he had.
For some reason I can almost picture him pitching from the stretch, but I absolutely cannot picture him pitching from a windup. Weird.
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ReplyDeleteAvery has a pretty nice autograph.
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