My place or residence hit a new low for degrees below zero early Saturday morning. Don't get excited, that's for the season, I've experienced 40 below previously, though thankfully that was back in the '90s.
But 22 below does cause you to ponder a few things. That is, until two days later when you get hit with a foot-and-half of snow and the brain switches into physical labor mode.
One of those things I pondered was a sometimes series I've done on this blog, and by "sometimes" I mean twice. I did it once in 2014 and once in 2021. I would've done a few more of them but I tend to forget. Probably all that snow.
The series is based on what I used to do with my cards as a youngster: I'd go through an entire set and determine which players had the worst career batting averages. I'd place the 10 worst on the floor and then slide the cards over as a new contender entered the bottom 10.
So in 2014 I determined the bottom 10 for 1979 Topps. Then in 2021 I found the bottom 10 for 1989 Topps. This time I wanted to do something different. I wanted to see what passes for the lowest 10 these days. I pulled out my complete 2024 Topps set.
Considering how little batting average is valued today I wondered what those bottom 10 batting averages would look like. And who would those players be, maybe some stars instead of the role players I displayed for 1979 and 1989?
Well, I did find something, but not exactly what I thought I'd find. Let's see if you can find it, too. All 10 of these cards have something in common. I bet it won't take you long.
.160
10. Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics
Already, the "highest" of the bottom 10 is the worst from this spot of the three years I've covered. A .160 batting average would be the third worst in 1979 and the second-worst in 1989.
Soderstrom has perked up quite a bit in batting average, and a lot of other categories. And he doesn't represent most of the players I found on the 1979 and 1989 bottom 10 lists.
.151
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9. Everson Pereira, Yankees
Everson Pereira, on the other hand, is more in line with the support-staff found in 1979 and 1989. At least for now.
.143
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8. Jonathan Ornelas, Rangers
Even two-plus years after the 2023 stats listed on the back, Jonathan Ornelas has totaled just 32 games in the majors. I don't think that would even warrant a card in 1979 or 1989, but I'll get to more on that later. Are you seeing what each of these cards are displaying?
.129
7. Jordan Lawlar, Diamondbacks
Jordan Lawlar would have the worst career batting average in the 1989 set and the second-worst in 1979. He's still at .165 for this career.
.128
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6. Jordyn Adams, Angels
I can't say his name rings a bell nor do I remember pulling this card. After three years he's totaled 38 games and is up to .165.
.115
5. Colton Cowser, Orioles
Like Tyler Soderstrom, Colton Cowser has blossomed since this card showed up. He kind of slipped in 2025 though and his career average is still nothing to shout about. Also, this .115 average is worse than anything in 1979 or 1989. ARE YOU CATCHING ON TO THE COMMONALITY YET??
.100
4. Kyren Paris, Angels
Do you think the thrill of appearing on your rookie card in a Topps set would be diminished somewhat by that .100 career average on the back? I don't know, but that's exactly the kind of thing we'd laugh ourselves silly about as youngsters collecting cards.
Paris is still at just 80 games for his career and ambling along at a .157 career average.
.000
3. Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs
Yes, a batting average of zeroes, on the back of your baseball card. I'd say that's a first in my experience but of course we're only at No. 3 in the countdown and also I seem to recall a card from the 1950s showing a .000 average. I'll look that up some day.
Crow-Armstrong has come along fine, just check out his 2025 season -- or listen to me moan about how his Heritage card is the only thing keeping me from completing the set.
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2. Irving Lopez, Cardinals
Another zero-zero-zero guy and Irving Lopez hasn't returned to the majors since his five games in 2023 -- yes, five games.
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1. Jose Rodriguez, White Sox
Also listed at .000 but you can hardly blame him, he's played in only one major league game and he has not recorded even a plate appearance so actually his average is not .000. He doesn't even have an average! So I guess I should have left Rodriguez off the list, but Topps threw me off. Thanks, Topps.
And by now you've probably figured out what all 10 of these cards have in common. They're all rookie cards.
Just to be fair, there were a few rookies in the 1979 and 1989 bottom 10, increasing each year. The 1979 list had two. The 1989 list had seven. In 2024 it's all 10.
Players with limited playing time are naturals for a list like this. They're still feeling things out and players who continue to produce at such a low level don't stay around very long. But that's even more the case now than it was back in 1979.
To illustrate, here is a look at each year and the average for career games, at-bats and years of service for the 10:
1979
Average career games: 255.9
Average career at-bats: 553.6
Average years of service: 4.6
1989
Average career games: 48.6
Average career at-bats: 110.7
Average years of service: 1.8
2024
Average career games: 17.1
Average career at-bats: 42.1
Average years of service: 1.0
Every card in the bottom 10 for 2024 is of a hitter who played exactly one year in the majors. There is no Bill Plummer (10 years) or Jim Mason (8 years) in the 2024 bottom 10.
Also at an average of 17.1 games for the 2024 guys, I'm pretty sure that in most cases Topps wouldn't have even bothered putting a card of them in the 1979 or 1989 set, or at best wedged them onto a three-player rookie stars card.
This is another example of how the domination of rookie cards has affected virtually everything in collecting. Even obsessive, pointless rankings like this one.
Anyway, I plan to keep doing this -- hopefully more often -- because there's definitely a pattern and I'd like to see if it's a steady progression or not.
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