Friday, February 26, 2010

2000 Fleer Tradition, Ben Davis



#11 Ben Davis

For starters, this is a die-cut card. To make scanning easy, I usually scan my cards by the sheet. That's why you can see the back of a Topps card in the scan. Any guess on what card that is?

This Padrograph is of former top prospect, Ben Davis. Ben played at the Major League level for the Padres, Mariners, and White Sox. The former first round draft choice (this is the second Padre first rounder of the week) hasn't played in the Major Leagues since 2004, but he has played in the minors every year since.

Ben's best season was probably 2001. That year, he played in the most games in his career and batted .239 with 11 homers and 57 RBI. He also broke up a Curt Schilling no-hitter that year by bunting for a hit in the eighth inning.

In 2008, Ben got released by the Orioles. He signed with the Camden Riversharks, of the Atlantic League, as a pitcher. He pitched in 6 games for them and posted a 3.00 ERA in 21 innings. The Cincinnati Reds must have been somewhat impressed and signed him to a minor league deal last season. Ben pitched in 9 games with their Florida State League team and had a 3.09 ERA with 4 saves before an injury shut him down. I have no idea if he is going to try to make a return this year.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I got one or two cards signed when Davis played for the Riversharks, but I didn't manage to get that die cut one signed.

I did see Davis pitch once - he wasn't bad. I was a little puzzled by his decision to try it at such a late stage in his career, though.