My First Cards

There was an awesome 16 inning game in Los Angeles on Monday, September 13, 1982. That night, little known Joe Lefebvre managed 10 total bases, including a 2-run HR.

1982 was an up and down season for Joe though. Just 6 days after that game, he strikes out 3 times in San Francisco. He went from his best game of the season to his worst, in less than a week.

His splits tell a tale of his ups and downs. That season he was a far far better hitter in home games than the road, his BA was about 80 points better at home and his OBP was 98 points better. His BABIP against lefties was .233, but 60 points higher against righties.

For the whole season, he posted a slim 77 OPS+. The next year he’d have a 150 OPS+. The year before, he had a 135 OPS+. Pretty up and down even across his seasons too.

His season really turned around on August 1 though. If we split his season on that date, it makes me wonder why the Padres didn’t send him down to AAA by the All-Star break.

He carried that late season momentum into ’83, when he was traded to Philadelphia and hit very well for the NL Champion Phillies, .310/.388/.543. That was his last hurrah though, as he fell back to being a below average hitter in ’84 and slipped out of the majors after ’86.

Now let’s talk for a moment about what game was being played in this photo. Here’s our clues—

• The catcher is in a striped home uniform, with red “band” on sleeve.
• It’s during daylight
• An African-American player is on the on-deck circle waiting to bat

There’s only 2 games that could possibly fit, May 2 or the 1st game of the doubleheader on May 3, 1981 in Shea Stadium. Can’t be sure which day, but it’s definitely from either May 2 or 3. Either way, this means the catcher is Alex Trevino & the player waiting to bat is Broderick Perkins.