1989 Fleer 3

#384 Dave Martinez

This is the second of three Dave Martinez autographs that I got from the Tampa Bay bench coach. I was hoping that the World Series would still be going on when I got to this card so that I would have something to tie into this post. But, it's over.

This is the last '89 Fleer card on here. Tomorrow will bring us the second minor league card posted here.

1989 Fleer 2

#155 Norm Charlton

I mentioned Norm in my '89 Bowman post (how I didn't recognise him). Well, I got Stottlemyre to sign and as they were walking away, I asked someone if that was Norm Charlton. He said that it was. After batting practice, Mel and Norm were walking back towards the dugout, talking. I asked Norm to sign, but he was in a conversation and ignored me.

Well, about a week later, the Mariners were in Kansas City. This time, when Norm was heading back towards the dugout, I called him over and he came and signed all three cards.

1989 Fleer

#121 John Moses

This is the second of three signatures from the Las Vegas hitting coach that I got in OKC this past summer. Prior to this summer, I had zero cards signed from this set. Now I have three- this one and another from someone already shown on here and one completely new guy, although I mentioned his name in an earlier post.

1989 Donruss 3

#442 Cecil Fielder

I got this card signed through the mail when Cecil was mashing home runs for the Tigers in either 1990 or '91. I was pretty excited when I got this one back because I never had too much success with sluggers through the mail. I wish he would have signed it with a black Sharpie, though. The blue doesn't contrast well with his blue jersey.

Speaking of blue, this is the first Blue Jays card on here.

1989 Donruss 2

#430 Bob Dernier

This is the third and final Bobby Dernier that I got at the Willie Wilson Classic. It's kind of funny how the '86 card is from the Cubs, while the '84 and '89 cards are of the Phillies.

1989 Donruss

#85 Frank White

I got this card signed during the Royals Caravan back in 2004. The Caravan that year (and the next) was at the local Buick dealership, of all places. I obviuosly wasn't thinking when I picked this card out. It's pretty dark and the signature is kind of hard to see.

1989 Bowman

#261 Mel Stottlemyre Sr/Mel Jr/Todd

I went 19 years without getting one of these big beasts signed. I resisted so long just because of it's odd size. I always liked the card design (of the regular looking cards, not this one) but hated the size. But, last month I went to a Ranger's game against the Mariners and Mel was the M's pitching coach. This is the only Mel Sr card I have, so it was this or nothing. If the M's bring him back next year, I'll get an older card of him off of ebay and try to get that signed.

At the game, Mel was in the dugout talking to the bullpen coach, Norm Charlton (who I didn't even recognise). I asked him to sign and was going to throw my book at him, and he said "not over the dugout". So, he walked out by the tarp and signed it there.

I guess that this card is supposed to be a modern take on the 1955 Bowman, but, to me, it came up short.

1988 Topps 6

#433 Bill Pecota

I got this card signed at a card show in Salina in the late 80's. Sounds like a kick-ass show, huh? I didn't have a Bill Pecota card (or knew who he was), so I picked one up at the show. Bill was at the Willie Wilson Classic this past spring, but I didn't see him to get some cards signed then. So, this is the only Pecota card.

The back of the card lists him as a 3B. But, in '87, he played second 15 times, third 17 times, and short 36 times. I wonder why Topps picked third. They should have pulled a Greg Pryor (3B-SS-2B)

1988 Topps 5

#420 Wally Joyner

This is my second favorite autograph because this is the first one that I ever got through the mail. In 1988, Beckett listed the addresses of the team's spring training homes. I probably sent about five or six off right before the end of spring training and this was the only one that I got back. I can't remember who else I sent cards to, except for Benito Santiago. Surely Mark McGwire or Jose Canseco were one of them.

I even still have the envelope that in came in. That's the only reason I knew I got it in '88.

1988 Topps 4

#293 Doug Jones

I won this card in a contest on the 88 Topps Blog. For the contest, we were shown a small picture of part of the card and we had to guess which card it came from. This one was one of the easier ones on there. It showed part of the banner that has his name and part of where his hands are crossing. I just used his labels and searched all of the teams that had red banners and found it.

Other than that, I know nothing else about this card. I don't know how it was obtained or by whom. I don't even know what the PTL under his name stands for. But, I do know that this is the first Indian's card on here.

1988 Topps 3

#254 Lee Elia

I got this card signed back in September in Arlington at a Ranger's game. Lee was the bench coach for the Mariners at the time. The Mariners were on the field waiting for the Rangers to finish batting practice and most of the M's coaches were huddled around the cages BS-ing. Lee wasn't too far from me and he must not have the best hearing anymore because I had to yell his name three times. After the third time, he looked over and I asked him to sign and he came right over and signed.

This is the first manager card on here.

1988 Topps 2

#240 Lee Smith

I got this card signed through the mail. I don't know what year it was, but it was probably in the early 90s when Lee was racking up saves with the Cardinals. But I do know that it is not Lee's signature. But I'll get into that more in about a month and a half when I get to 1990 Topps. So, until then, here is a fake Lee Smith signature.

Wow, three out of the last four cards were Cubbies. I bet we won't see that again.

1988 Topps

#112 Les Lancaster

I got this card signed this past summer in Sioux City, Iowa. Les is the manager of the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association.

Earlier that day, I was at the College World Series in Omaha. I went to the day game and decided to go to a game in Sioux City rather than stand in the long line for the general admission seating in Omaha. I did that last year, and by the time I got in for the second game, it was the third inning and there was no place to sit. Plus, it was much easier and cheaper to get a hotel in Sioux City.

1988 Score

#70 Tim Wallach

I got this signed through the mail when Tim was a Dodger (93-95, probably '94). I'm kind of surprised that I sent a six year old card to get autographed. Most of the cards I sent through the mail were less than a year old. Wallach was a five time All Star for the Expos, but I remember him the most from World Series Baseball on the Sega Genesis. He was a stud on that game.

This is the first, but definitely not last, Expo (or Score) card on here. I love the picture on this card. Tim is down in his stance waiting for anything that the batter might bring his way. Plus, how can you not love the blue unis with the stripes extending all of the way up to the armpits?

Since I got this autograph through the mail (like Steve Sax's), I'm comparing this to Baseball Almanac. And I would say that they are very similar. The only difference is the W. Other than that, they are pretty much the same signature.

1988 Donruss

#438 Dave Martinez

I got this card signed this past season in Kansas City. Dave is the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays. I was surprised after I got this card in my album that this is the only '88 Donruss card that I have signed and that I don't even have a Fleer card from this year signed. Come to find out, I only have about three packs worth of '88 Fleer. I do not know why that is.

1987 Topps 9

#51T Danny Jackson

I got this card signed at the Turkey Bowl in 2003. I got the card out of the Royal's box at the local card shop. I didn't even realize it was from the traded set until some time later. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that this card wasn't issued in the regular set. It's not like Danny was hurt in 1986 or was a rookie in '87. He pitched in over 30 games in '86 and '85. Weird.

This is the last card from 1987. I'll start '88 tomorrow and should be through it in about a week.

My favorite 1987 card that I have signed- Fleer Danny Tartabull.

1987 Topps 8

#769 Steve Sax

I got this card signed through the mail in the late 80s. I just checked out his Baseball Almanac page and the autograph that they are showing on there is completely different than this one, so that is a little upsetting. I went to ebay and looked for Steve Sax autographs and most of them look different than this one's and BA's, but I guess they look closer to mine. The signature on his 1982 Topps looks very similar to this one. So, who knows?

Steve was my favorite player when I was a little kid and was pretty happy when I got this card back. Now I don't know what to think. I guess that is what you get when you get autographs through the mail.

1987 Topps 7

#550 Pete Incaviglia

I got this card signed at the beginning of September in Grand Prairie, Texas. Pete is the manager of the Grand Prairie AirHogs (yes, there is supposed to be a capital H with no space). I happened to be in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area as the American Association Championship was starting , so I decided to go to game one of that series rather than the Ranger's game. The AirHogs lost the opener (and eventually the championship) and barely 1,000 people showed up for the game, presumably because Hurricane Ike was less than a day away. While the game was going on, less than ten miles away, Adrian Beltre hit for the cycle against the Rangers. So, I missed out on a piece of history, but I did see a good game and a beautiful and unique ballpark. Plus I got in for free thanks to a friend that umpires in the American Association.

Also, this is my first, and so far only, Topps All Star Rookie card that I have had signed.

1987 Topps 6

#474 Jerry Narron

This is the third and final Jerry Narron, the Ranger's special assignment coach. I'm not really sure what exactly a special assignment coach does, but I thought that I heard someone at the game say that he basically looks after Josh Hamilton (ie, goes out to eat him and makes sure he doesn't do something he shouldn't be doing). I'm not sure how accurate that actually is, but it is what I heard. It would kind of make sense since Hamilton's first big league experience was with the Reds and Narron was the manager for the first half of the season.

1987 Topps 5

#433 Ed Hearn

I didn't post yesterday because I was at a horseshoe tournament all day, so I have an extra one tonight.

I got this card signed at the Willie Wilson Classic. It was good to see Ed there after all of the health issues that he has had. I didn't recognize him at the game. I didn't realize how big he is. This card lists him as 6'3" and 215 pounds. From the card's photos, I always thought that he was a smaller guy.

This is the first time that I've had cards that are in numerical order (432 and 433).

1987 Topps 4

#432 Jim Slaton

Here's the second of three Jim Slaton autographs. All of them were obtained at the Oklahoma Redhawks game. Jim has an interesting looking signature. He just does a J with a little squiggle at the end for his first name. Then his last name starts with a weird looking S that doesn't have much bend to it.

1987 Topps 3

#408 John Mizerock

I have four different cards of John Mizerock. Three of them I got signed while he was in the bullpen waiting for the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs to jump into the park. This one, however, was obtained a few months later by the Royals parking lot. He parked his car and was making his way to the tunnel entrance. He had a coffee in his hand this time instead of the cigarette. I asked him to sign, he set his coffee down and came over and signed.

1987 Topps 2

#284 John Moses

I got this card signed in the beginning of August at an Oklahoma Redhawks game in Oklahoma City (the team has since changed their name to the Oklahoma City Redhawks). John was the hitting coach for the Las Vegas 51s, who were the Dodger's top affiliate (they are now affiliated with the Blue Jays and will probably change their name this offseason).

1987 Topps

#226 Max Venable

Here's the third and final Max Venable that I got in Salt Lake City. The three cards that he signed were an '86 Donruss and '87 Topps and Fleer. I usually like to have more variety when I get three cards signed, but these were the only Venable cards that I have. He must not have an '81 Donruss. He actually looks like a third-base coach in this card.

1987 Procards

#2243 Kevin Koslofski

No, that number is not a typo. I got this card for Christmas one year as part of the Ft. Myers team set. I'm guessing that Procards put out a set for nearly every minor league team and they just numbered them all together rather 1-30 for each team. Also, I have no idea where the rest of this team set is. It's not with the rest of my worthless minor league cards which makes me wonder if it's in an album somewhere.

I got this card signed at the Royals Caravan in the winter of 1993. This was the year that the Caravan came to my middle school. I took my cards to school with me, but the players wouldn't sign there. They only talked. But at least I got out of class for awhile. Later on that night, they signed at the mall. Obviously, it was a pretty bad assortment of Royals that year. Kevin thought that it was pretty cool that I has such an old card of him. I doubt that there were any mainstream cards out at that point. Just some scarce minor league cards and some update/traded cards.

This is the first time that Baseball Almanac doesn't have an autograph of someone that I do. Take that!

1987 Fleer 5

#U-117 Danny Tartabull

This card right here is my favorite autograph. Sure I have some cards and balls and 8x10's signed by much bigger names, but this is the one that started it all. This was my very first autograph.

I got this card signed at a card show at a local motel in the winter of 1988. I bought this card at the card show. I surely had some '87 Topps or Donruss cards of him, so I must have wanted a Royals card of him signed. This card is from the Fleer Update set and the picture must be from spring training of that year since he is wearing 15.

This was my first card show and, since I was a year away from attending my first big league ballgame, the first time I was in the presence of a professional athlete. So, naturally, I was in awe. My mom got me to get it personalized, and it says "To Zach My Best". But the biggest thrill for me was after the show. We were sitting around in the lobby waiting for my dad to come pick us up. The next thing you know, Tartabull is leaving the show and walking by us. Again, I was in awe and didn't know what to say or do. He said hey or something to us and then stopped, looked at me and said "you be good now, you hear" and left the building. I was eight or nine years old and that was the highlight of my life at that time. A pro ballplayer talked to me. I will never forget that.

1987 Fleer 4

#570 Jamie Moyer

Here's the first card of an active player. All of the previous cards have showcased players that are retired, coach, or are broadcasters. But Jamie is still pitching 21 years after this rookie card was made. And, he's heading to the NLCS. It will only be his second time in a LCS. He was 1-0 for the 2001 Mariners.

I got this card signed just this summer through the mail. I usually don't send cards through the mail anymore, but Andy at 88 Topps Cards showed off an '87 Topps that he got signed. So, I figured that I might as well acquire one, too. It only cost me 80-some cents in postage and a card that wasn't mine to begin with. The only other player I wrote to this year was Chien-Ming Wang. My letter must have got lost in the mail because I never got the card back.

1987 Fleer 3

#384 Wilie Wilson

Do you want to know the difference between Willie Wilson and Dennis Leonard? Both of them asked which of the three cards I wanted signed. But, unlike Dennis, Willie signed that card and then said "ah, screw it" and proceeded to sign the other two.

1987 Fleer 2

#374 Dennis Leonard

I got this card autographed at the Willie Wilson Classic. He wouldn't sign before the game, but he signed afterwards. He also pulled a Willie Wilson. I had three cards and he would only sign one. At least he asked which one I wanted signed. I think I told him it that is doesn't matter, so he signed the middle one.

1987 Fleer

#216 Max Venable

Here's the second of three Max Venable's that I got signed at a Salt Lake Bees game this past May.

I have a few '87 Fleer, but not many. So, this card and the next three I got from a friend. One day, he searched his basement and brought over all of the cards that he could find. That included his 1987 Fleer complete set. It was complete in the sense that he bought it as a complete set back in '87. But when he brought it over, all of the good rookies and some of the stars were missing. He thinks that he might have traded those away, but isn't sure. Because of that, he never bothered to take the "set" home and it is still here at my house. So, whenever I need a card from a nobody or minor star that played in 1986, I grab one out of his "set". He doesn't mind.

1987 Donruss 2

#653 John Mizerock

I got this signed at a Royals game back in June. John is the Royal's bullpen coach. That day, the Navy Leap Frogs were jumping into the park and John was in the bullpen smoking a cigarette and talking with one of the Navy personnel (smokin' and jokin'). After he was done talking, I asked him to sign and he told me that he would in a minute. He checked something in a binder and then came over and signed.

If you've never seen the Leap Frogs before, they are a real treat. I saw them a few years ago at a Braves game and they basically did the same routine in Kansas City. I've seen the Army Golden Knights before, and the Navy team blows them out of the water (and I'm Army biased).

Plus, after they were all on the ground, the C-130 that they jumped out of buzzed the stadium. This wasn't your average flyover. That baby was within a couple of hundred feet of the stadium. I guess that is one advantage of building your stadium in the middle of nowhere. They didn't do that in Atlanta.