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#592 Frank Bork
If I had to guess, I'd say that Frank Bork is the Swedish Chef's favorite baseball player. Bork bork bork!
Fun facts about Frank Bork:
-Frank was born in Buffalo and signed with the Pirates in 1960 at age 19.
-He had some outstanding years in the low minors, going 15-4 with a 3.34 ERA at Class D Hobbs and 19-7 with a 2.00 ERA at Class B Kinston.
-He made the Pittsburgh team in the spring of 1964 and debuted with two scoreless innings of relief against the Cubs on April 15.
-On April 26, he was called upon in the ninth inning to preserve a 3-2 lead with two on and two out, but allowed an inherited run to score on a Tim Harkness single. He wriggled out with the game tied at three, and lucked into his first career win via a walkoff single by Roberto Clemente in the bottom of the inning.
-Frank's initial big league save came at the expense of the Cardinals on May 2. He tossed a scoreless ninth inning to preserve a 5-4 lead.
-Bork finished the season with two wins, two losses, two saves, and two holds. In 42 innings over 33 appearances, he had a 4.07 ERA.
-The Pirates returned him to the minors in 1965, and he spent the final three years of his career at AA and AAA.
-Afterwards, he worked as a manufacturer's representative.
Let's fill in those blanks on the card: Burlington 1961 and Asheville 1962:
ReplyDelete"Frank Bork"... least likely baseball name ever.... and another guy whose card I don't recognize from my '65 collecting. I think I must have stopped buying before the last series. Me, and everyone else. Thats why they cost more now!
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of humorous how far they have to go to find a highlight for some of these players. I like the part about his first major league appearance stopping a five game Pirate losing streak. Of course, today the Pirates are thrilled if they only lose five straight.
ReplyDeletesjhax -Wow, I didn't even notice! That's some scattershot recordkeeping by Topps.
ReplyDeleteBob - I'm relieved I haven't had more trouble filling in the high numbers. Of course, the Tony Perez rookie may be another story.
Marc - My dad always talks about the tidbits they used to put on the scoreboard at Memorial Stadium. "Mark Belanger had the game-winning hit on May 7, 1969", and such. It was a bit sobering to see how far back they had to reach.