#251 Christopher McConnell
Here is the third and final 2004 ninth round draft pick from the SP Prospects set. I got this card signed this past season and the one difference between Chris and the prvious two guys that I posted from this set is that, as of the end of the 2010 season, Chris is still in affiliated ball. I got this card signed in Springdale, Arkansas at a Northwest Arkansas Naturals game while I was on my way back home from the Rickwood Classic. Chris was playing for the Naturals, the Royals AA team.
Chris was drafted by the Royals out of high school with the 265th pick of the 2004 draft. Chris' pro career got off to a slow start and it was 2007 before Chris advanced to high-A. It would be two more years before Chris got to AA and he would have to repeat that level in 2010. Last season with the Naturals, Chris hit .231. Yet, he somehow managed to be one of nine or ten Naturals that made the Texas League All Star team.
Until I started to post the cards from this set, I had no idea that the three guys that I have cards signed from were all drafted within six spots of each other. Trevor Lawhorn was number 258, Jim Fasano was 261, and Chris was 264. Normally, a weird coincidence like that could take years to accomplish. But I was able to stumble across the three players in less than a months time. What are the odds?
I was pretty disappointed in Chris' signature. It looks like he signs his first and last name the same. I could understand that if you are Randy Ready and there isn't much difference between you first and last name. But Chris' names don't even begin with the same letters.
In case you are wondering, only three out of the thirty players taken in the ninth round of the 2004 draft have reached the Major Leagues.
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