Ken Dixon, 1985 Donruss #270

Oh Ken Dixon, who dressed you today? A yellow undershirt? Come on now.

Ken Dixon, 1987 Fleer #468

Hey, whaddaya know? Ken Dixon has a place in baseball's record books. According to this post on the Baseball-Reference Blog, Ken is one of just 16 pitchers in the modern era (1901-present) to allow more home runs than walks in a season (with a minimum of 20 HR). In 1987, one of the most homer-happy seasons of all time, the righty served up 31 gopher balls while issuing only 27 free passes in 105 innings. To give you some indication of how many longballs were hit that year, Dixon's 31 didn't even place him in the top ten of the American League. He was edged out for the tenth spot by teammate Eric Bell, who let 32 hitters touch 'em all. In related news, the Orioles lost 95 games that year.

Ken Dixon, 1985 Topps Traded #31T

This is usually the purview of my 1965 Topps blog, but today I present 10 Fun Facts about Ken Dixon:

-According to the card back, "his wide variety of hobbies include writing, playing basketball and drums". That is a wide variety! I wonder what he wrote. Maybe it was a script for a stage revival
of "Maude".

-Ken was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 1987 for Mike Morgan, one of twenty-two transactions in Morgan's long career.

-He won his first career game on April 25, 1985, a complete-game, three-hit effort against the Indians.

-As a rookie, ranked in the top ten in the American League in fewest hits per nine innings (8.0, 7th) and most strikeouts per nine innings (6.0, 10th).

-He shares a birthday October 17) with former Baltimore Elite Giants and Dodgers infielder Jim "Junior" Gilliam and 19th-Century great Buck Ewing.

-Won a career-high 11 games (against 13 losses) in 1986, and improved to seventh in strikeouts per nine innings (7.56).

-Held Don Baylor to two singles in 19 career at-bats with six strikeouts.

-Struck out thirteen White Sox batters on July 11, 1986.

-Ken's the only player in major league history born in Monroe, VA.

-There is a Camden Chat member named KenDixonFanClub. Is he a member of the fan club? Is he the president? Is he the entire fan club? Inquiring minds want to know.