1991 Leaf, Rich Rodriguez

#448 Rich Rodriguez

Today is another day when I have two Padrographs to share. Hopefully, I should be caught up by Christmas, then I can go back to one post a day. Then there will be mostly the cards that I have gotten signed along with a nice mixture of Padrographs. It will go that way until I get to the late '90s and early 2000s. I didn't collect much then, but I seem to have many Padrographs from that time frame. So, here's Rich.

Rich had a fairly long career as a relief pitcher. He made 609 appearances (only 2 as a starter) over 13 seasons and with eight teams. He started out in San Diego and this is his rookie card, I presume. He seems to have been pretty good during his first 3.5 seasons in the Bigs (his ERA over his time in San Diego was about 2.86). Then he got traded to Florida in the trade that brought Trevor Hofffman to the Padres. He was never quite as successful over an extended period of time again, although he did have two good years in San Francisco in 1997 and '98. But, he did finish his career with a 3.81 ERA, which isn't bad at all for a reliever in his era.

Rich has an interesting signature that is very loopy and takes up most of the card.

Also, I would like to thank Indians Baseball Cards. Always. I got my "twelve days of Christmas" gift today and there were some goodies. The best part of all was that Tribecards took the time to wrap the cards in wrapping paper. So, this was the first Christmas present that I opened this year. I requested some Royals cards and being an Indians fan, he was more than willing to get rid of some Royals cards. Here is what I got.

12 Mark Gubicza's including am '89 Classic and a '96 Collector's Choice Silver Signature
11 Kevin Appier's including a '91 Topps All-Star Rookie and a few late '90s cards that I have never seen before
11 Jeff Montgomery's (he must have miscounted this one). He did include a '96 Topps Finest refractor that still has the protective film
9 Bo Jackson's that include a 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites that I never had and an 1988 Topps Big
8 David Hoawrd's
7 Jim Eisenreich's
6 Wally Joyner's
5 George Brett's from '88-93
4 David Cone's from his second stint with the Royals, but still some good ones
3 Gregg Jeffries'
2 Mark Quinn's who used to be my favorite Royal until he started hurting himself practicing karate in his basement during the off-season
1 Bowman Luke Hochevar rookie that I didn't have

All-in-all, it was a pretty good day. Plus, he even threw in a Willie Wilson button that was probably made in the late '80s. I might just wear it to the Willie Wilson Classic next year. Thanks again.