1988 Topps, Mike Mason

#87 Mike Mason

Here is the second of two cards that Mike Mason signed for me in Des Moines last month. Normally, I always take three cards of a player/coach with me with the hopes that they might sign all three. But, I only took two cards of Mike with me on that trip because that was I all I could find. I have most of my cards from the '80s and '90s neatly organized in 5000 count boxes. But I have one major flaw with my collection. Once a card comes out of those boxes for whatever reason, it rarely makes it back into them. That's why I could only find two cards of Mike this summer. I went to my first I-Cubs game two years ago and Mike was their pitching coach back then, too. I took three cards of him to that game and didn't get them signed. Those three cards had been missing ever since. I actually came across those cards a couple of weeks ago while searching for another long-lost card, but it was a little late by then. I guess that if there is one thing I need to improve upon with my collection, it is keeping up with my organization. This was not the first time that this situation had occurred.

Mike pitched in the Major Leagues for parts of seven seasons. He spent the majority of the time with the Rangers, but he did spend some time with the Cubs and Twins as well. He was mostly a starter and his best season probably came in 1984. He was only 9-13 that year, but his did post career bests in ERA (3.61) and strikeouts (113).

Mike has been the I-Cubs pitching coach since 2008.