Bad Cards: Brian Hunter Base Thief
Every Wednesday we'll be highlighting some of the ugliest, funniest, and error-ridden sports cards of both past and present. Today we will revisit Brian Hunter's 15-minutes of fame as an elite base stealer.
A quick scan over Brian Hunter's Major League career numbers reveals little more than the obvious truth: he wasn't much of a hitter. There's his underwhelming career OBP mark of .313, a wimpy .660 OPS, feeble power numbers and sub-par batting average numbers... but man, the dude could run.
Hunter led the American League in stolen bases twice in his career. He swiped 74 bags in 1997 with the Detroit Tigers, and piled up 44 steals between Detroit and Seattle in 1999. For his efforts, Hunter was summoned to pose with two bases under his arms while sporting a Zorro mask for Topps' Chrome set in 1999.
The Tigers traded Hunter to the Mariners in April of 1999, not too long after this card first surfaced.
