#237 Jeff Keppinger
I like to think that I know all of the players that have put on a Royals uniform since I started rooting for the team in 2000. But, every now and then, one evades me. That is the case with Jeff Keppinger. Until I just looked at his stats, I had no idea that he once suited up for the Royals. It was only for 22 games in 2006, but it still counts.
Jeff had a good career as a utility man that lasted nine seasons. Over that time, he played for the Mets, Royals, Reds, Astros, Giants, Rays, and White Sox. He was a .282 career hitter that ended up with 45 home runs and 295 RBI. His best season was probably with the Rays in 2012. That season, he had 40 RBI while having a career year with 9 dingers and a .325 average.
I got this card signed at an Astros preseason game at Minute Maid Park in 2009. That was Jeff's first season with Houston and this is probably the first autograph he signed as an Astro at Minute Maid Park.
I only got two cards signed by Jeff that day because that was all I could find of him. Despite entering his fifth season in the league, there were only a handful of cards made of him at that point. The other card he signed was his '09 Topps Heritage.
At that point in 2009, I was still relatively new to in-person 'graphing. I still had not learned about prepping cards, so there is some slight bubbling going on with this card. That is something that you will be seeing more or as I move through this set. Also, I was obviously still using a black Sharpie. This card would have came out so much better had I used blue.
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