I have nine cards of Buddy Biancalana. This one is from 1986 Fleer.
Playing career: Shortstop Buddy Biancalana played six
seasons in the major leagues, mostly for the Royals. In 311 games, he hit .205
with 6 HR and 30 RBI. In 1985, the year Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s hit record,
he hit just .188 with 1 HR and 6 RBI in 81 games. David Letterman made fun of
Biancalana by setting up a “hit counter” to track Biancalana’s progress in
breaking Rose’s hit record. Biancalana responsed good-naturedly that “I'm
closer to Pete Rose than he is to Johnny Carson." The joke was on
Letterman in the World Series, however, when Biancalana got five hits,
including the game-winner in Game 5, and five walks. He was a guest on
Letterman’s show after the season, and was profiled in both Sports Illustrated
and People.
Where he is now: With Steven Yellin he is the Co-Founder of
PMPM Zone Sports Training, where he helps baseball players and golfers with the
mental aspects of their swings. Among other testimonials, George Brett credits
Biancalana with improving his golf game. Biancalana and Yellin co-authored the
book The 7 Secrets of World Class Athletes.
My memories: I started following baseball in 1986 and he was
still kind of a big name at that point, though he disappeared from the big
leagues pretty quickly after his World Series heroics.
Coming up next: The next profile will be Jim Bibby.
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