So yesterday I was flipping through some old baseball cards, you know how it is, just killing time. Found this Mickey Rivers card from the Yankees days and it got me wondering – what’d this guy actually do in the majors? I barely remembered him playing.
Started Digging
First thing, I opened up my laptop and went straight to the big baseball stats site. Typed in “Mickey Rivers stats” and boom, his whole career popped up. Took a sec to figure out where everything was hiding.
Scanned through all the numbers kinda quick at first – years played, teams he bounced around on. Noticed he played a bunch of seasons, mostly for California and those late 70s Yankee squads. Then I got down into the nitty gritty stuff.
The Numbers That Stuck Out
- Hits: Okay, this jumped out at me first. Guy had over 150 hits for like, 9 years straight? That’s pretty darn solid. Added ’em all up at the bottom – 1,660 hits total. Not Hall of Fame stuff, but way more than I thought he had.
- Batting Average: This was kinda surprising. Checked his best year – .332? And a career .295 average? That’s actually really good! Especially compared to today’s players. Felt like I’d totally underestimated him.
- The Rest of the Story: Here’s where it got real. He barely hit any homers. Like, 61 his entire career. And his slugging percentage? Yeah, not exactly big power numbers. Kinda figured why I forgot about him now. But then saw the stolen bases – 267! So maybe he was all about speed and getting on base?
Putting It Together
Sat there scratching my head for a minute trying to make sense of it. Good average, ton of singles, fast as hell, but almost no power whatsoever. Decided to look up one of his highlights. Found a grainy video of him legging out an infield hit. Yep, looked exactly like the stats painted him: quick, slap hitter.
Honestly, was kinda fun putting the pieces together. The stats tell the tale – Mickey Rivers was the definition of a contact hitter with wheels, probably drove pitchers nuts back then. Wasted a whole morning on this, but kinda glad I did.
