no. 387 - ron herbel

Who is the man: Ron Herbel played for the Padres and the Mets during the 1970 season. He was dealt from the Padres to the Mets on Sept. 1, 1970 and then sent from the Mets to the Braves on Dec. 1, 1970.

Can ya dig it: Herbel is wearing a Mets jersey in this photo, which is kind of impressive, considering that he spent just a month at the end of the 1970 season in a Mets uniform. The player to be named sent by the Mets to the Padres in the trade was Rod Gaspar, who was just featured four posts ago. You can tell by the photo on Gaspar's card that the Herbel and Gaspar photos were probably taken at the same time. It's interesting that they were Mets teammates at the time of the pictures but neither appeared listed as Mets when their cards were issued.

Right on: Herbel is displaying the chemistry teacher smile for a second straight card. (He's wearing a Giants uniform in that photo). If I saw these cards as a kid, you'd never get me to believe Herbel was a baseball player.

You see that cat Herbel is a bad mother: Herbel led the National League in games pitched in 1970 with 76.

Shut your mouth: Herbel was the Giants pitcher who replaced Juan Marichal after Marichal was ejected for clubbing Dodgers catcher John Roseboro with a bat during a game in 1965. Herbel won the game.

No one understands him but his woman: Herbel's inability to hit was well-known in the majors and a constant source of amusement among teammates. He finished his career with 6 hits in 206 at-bats for a .029 batting average, the lowest average for a major league player with at least 100 at-bats.

 (A word about the back): Herbel's 10 saves in 1970 would be a career high.