1989 Star

#90 Bill Masse

This is the first card on here of a player that never made it to the big leagues. Billy played AAA for four seasons, all in the Yankee organization, before hanging it up. In his second season of AAA, he hit .316 with 19 homers and 91 RBI. I figured that kind of season would at least get him a September call-up, but it didn't. So close.

I got this card signed in San Antonio in August. Bill was the manager of the Missions. I tried to get him to sign after the game was over, before he left the dugout, but he didn't. So I waited outside the ballpark for him to come out. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Around eleven o'clock, I said to myself "I'll give him fifteen minutes, and then I'm leaving". Fifteen minutes later, I said the exact same thing. Fifteen minutes later, I said "screw it, I've waited this long" and sat out and waited until he came out. Finally, about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game ended (and nearly midnight), he came out and signed both of my cards. It wasn't like I had to be anywhere anyway. I was just going to leave the game, drive north for a few hours and sleep in my car at a truck stop. So, it didn't really matter if I left at ten or twelve.

Even though it is just a minor league card, this is the first card on here of a player from the Yankee organization.