Was going through a stack of Braves when I found this card from 1996 Score of one of my favorite Braves relievers, Mark Wohlers. As with any Braves player who moved through the minor league system, I must mention his time in Richmond from 1991-93. He pitched for 24 saves over those seasons, making 75 appearances. In 91 he had an ERA of 1.03 in 23 appearances and in 93 an ERA of 1.84 in 25 appearances.
This card looks like it wants to be a die-cut, if you notice the edge of the photo, next to the name on the right side. A radar rating is the perfect subset for Wohlers, who has the 3rd fastest recorded pitch in baseball history at 103 mph.
Look at that hair! No surprise that one of the common search terms on google under 'm' for Wohlers is 'Mark Wohlers mullet'. Also 'meltdown', but we'll ignore that one.
Wohlers spent several years as a set-up man for the Braves until 1995, when he became the closer. He has 119 saves for his career, including 39 in his only All-Star season in 1996.
Additionally Wohlers appeared on a Saturday Night Live episode in 1997 with 13 other MLB players for a skit called 'Baseball Dreams'. If anyone can find a video of this, I would love to watch it. Helen Hunt hosted the episode and Hanson was the musical guest, singing 'MMMBop'.
He probably could have thrown 104 if he cut his hair. That is quite a mullet.
ReplyDeleteIn fairness to Wohlers, it's tough to find the plate when your elbow ligaments aren't in sync with the rest of your body. Always enjoyed watching him back in the late 1990s when I was going to a ton of Braves games.
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