2004 Topps Clubhouse Collection, Jonathan Fulton

#JF Jonathan Fulton

Here is another card that I was able to get signed in Amarillo over the summer. Jon was playing for the Grand Prairie AirHogs and he signed this card for me prior to the game.

Jon's career is kind of similar to the last guy I posted that signed in Amarillo- Van Pope. While Van might have risen through the ranks faster than Jon, both ended up converting to pitchers in the minor leagues. The main exception, though, is that Jon is still trying to make it as a pitcher while Van converted back to the infield.

Jon was drafted by the Marlins in 2003 and made his professional debut that year in Rookie ball. Through five seasons, Jon hit just .236 and never made it out of high-A. So, the Marlins converted him to a pitcher and they got some mixed results from him. In his first season as a pitcher, he posted a 3.04 ERA in the Gulf Coast League while notching 5 saves. He was bumped up to high-A the next year and he had an ERA of 2.42 over 22.1 innings. He repeated high-A the following year and his ERA grew to 4.43. But, he did get his first taste of the AA level that season and he had a 10.80 ERA in just 1.2 innings of work. The Marlins released him after the season and no other Major League team wanted him.

So, he ended up signing with Grand Prairie and he did pretty well with them. In 53.1 inning of work, he posted a 2-2 record with a 2.53 ERA while striking out 41 and walking just 16. Plus, he was a member of the 2011 American Association championship team.

I wish I could tell you more about Topps Clubhouse Collection, but this is the only card that I have from it and it was purchased off of checkoutmycards.com. All I know is that if Topps hadn't issued the set, I would not have a Jonathan Fulton autographed card in my collection.