2005 Topps, Vicente Padilla

#630 Vicente Padilla

Here is the second of three cards that Vicente Padilla signed for me at a Royals day game in 2008. Padilla was with the Rangers at the time and I was able to get the cards signed before the game while the pitchers were getting their work in. The first card I posted can be seen here and I never would have guessed that this unprepped glossy card would come out looking better signed than the UD Vintage card did. The signature is still unreadable, but at least it shows up better on this card.

I was surprised to see that Vicente is pitching out of the Dodgers bullpen this season. He spent his first three Major League seasons pitching out of the bullpen, but he had been a starter since 2002. He is off to a good start, though, as he is 0-0 with 2 saves and a 2.57 ERA. Those two saves doubled Vicente's career total.