1981 Donruss, Reggie Jackson

#228, 348, and 468 Reggie Jackson

I'm still alive and kicking! For whatever reason, I gave up on this blog. I guess a dozen years of blogging can do that to a person. But now, there really isn't a whole lot going one and I am stuck at home more than I would like. So, I figured I would dust this page off and randomly post some cards.

Here are my three most recent additions. With my Spring Training trip getting canceled and no sign of the season starting, I have had a hard time getting cards signed. Relief came on Monday when these three cards and Dave Winfield's 81D made it back from a private signing. The Jacksons were signed on the 3rd and I was starting to get a little worried about them. But they finally made it home and I could not be more happy with the results.

I have been officially working on this set for five or six years now and these new additions get me to 433 signed cards. Only 167 more to go! Reggie was one of the few guys in it with three cards and I am glad that I don't have to worry about him anymore.

Sorry about the crappy image. I normally scan my cards. But, I just posted these on Twitter the other day and figured I would save some time and work off of that photo.

2008 Upper Deck A Piece of History, Alberto Gonzalez

#129 Alberto Gonzalez

Here is the third card of Alberto Gonzalez that I have posted on here. But, since this is the only card from this set that I have signed, the first two cards were all part of a "Rest of" round-up. That way, I would only have to do one post of Alberto. The first card I posted can be found in this '08 Bowman post and the second one in this '08 Topps post.

Nearly all of Alberto's cards are from 2008, so I was surprised that he played in the Majors for parts of seven seasons with the Yankees, Nationals, Padres, Rangers, and Cubs. Over that time, he played all four infield positions over 426 games. He was a .239 career hitter with 4 home runs and 91 RBI. His best season was with the Nationals in 2009. That season, he played in 105 games and got a career-high 291 at-bats. He responded with a season best average of .265 with a home run and 33 RBI.

2013 was his last season in the Majors. By 2015, he had fallen down to the independent American Association. He spent 30 games with the Wichita Wingnuts that year and that was how I was able to get the cards signed. The Tigers ended up signing him mid-season and he would play some AA ball in their organization before getting released in early 2016. That was the last year that he played affiliated ball. Since then, he has only participated in the Venezuelan Winter League.

The Rest of 2008 Upper Deck First Edition

#271 Rob Johnson
#278 Luis Mendoza
#297 JR Towles
#327 Kerry Wood
#408 Oliver Perez
#422 Wilson Betemit
#425 Bobby Abreu

I am not really sure what is going on with this set. I guess that it was Upper Deck's version of Topps Opening Day in that it lacks foil (although '08 Opening Day had foil). While all seven cards are foil-less, the cards come in two variations. The first three cards are from the main release of First Edition and the cards are glossy and they say "First Edition". The last four cards are from First Edition Update and the cards have no gloss and they do not say "First Edition". I have no clue why they switched up between the two releases, but I obviously prefer the non-gloss cards for getting signatures.

Rob Johnson- I didn't have much to choose from when I got Rob's autograph at a Rangers game in 2008. So, it was this card and his base Upper Deck card.

Luis Mendoza- Luis never pitched for the Red Sox. But, I guess this was the only photo Upper Deck had of him when they decided to make this card. Luis signed this one for me after the Royals home opener in 2012.

JR Towles- JR must have been a bigger prospect than Rob Johnson because I had a lot more options for cards with JR than I did with Rob. JR signed for me after a Round Rock Express game in 2008.

Kerry Wood- I got Kerry to sign at a Royals game in 2009 while he was with the Indians. Needless to say, but I was super-excited to get his autograph.

Oliver Perez- Speaking of the Indians, Ollie signed this card for me just last season when Cleveland came to The K. I saw the Indians play in Kansas City twice last year and Ollie signed both times. I took three cards to get signed the first time and he signed two of them. I got the third card signed when I saw them again a month later.

Wilson Betemit- I got Wilson to sign this card for me from the Royals parking lot in 2010.

Bobby Abreu- Bobby signed for me during batting practice at The K in 2009 while he was with the Angels.

2008 Tristar Projections, Eric Duncan

#175 Eric Duncan

It was bound to happen. When you make a minor league set, you know going into it that not every player is going to make it to the Majors. Here is the first player from this set that I have posted that never made it.

Eric is pictured with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on this card and I actually got it signed at a SWB Yankees game. What are the odds of that? Well, to be exact, my buddy got it signed at the game. I was busy 'graphing the visiting Durham Bulls and he was nice enough to grab a few 'graphs for me from the Yankee side.

Eric was the Yankees first round pick in 2003. He was a top 100 prospect for a couple of seasons and got his first taste of AAA in 2006. Then he got stuck in AAA and was there through the 2009 season, which is when he signed this card. The Yankees released him after that season and he went on to play three more years of AA ball with three different organizations before calling it a career.

It is hard to tell in the scan, but this card is a reflective parallel.

The Yankees still have their AAA team in SWB, but they have ditched the Yankee name. They are now the Rail Riders.

The Rest of 2008 Topps, Part V

Here are the final cards from 2008 Topps.

#UH207 Alberto Gonzalez
#UH211 Brett Tomko
#UH235 Eddie Guardado
#UH278 So Taguchi
#UH279 Alex Hinshaw
#TCP4 Luke Hochevar

Alberto Gonzalez- This is the second card of Alberto that I have posted on here and both have been lumped into a "best of" post. I have a third one coming up that will get its own post, so this is going to have to do for now. Alberto signed this card for me in 2015 while he was a member of the Wichita Wingnuts.

Brett Tomko- Believe it or not, but I did not get this card signed by the Royals parking lot. I actually got it at a Kansas Stars game in 2016.

Eddie Guardado- Eddie signed this one for me while I was waiting outside of Kauffman in 2017. Eddie was the Twins bullpen coach at the time.

So Taguchi- I got this card signed outside of Principle Park in Des Moines, Iowa in 2009. So was playing his final season in the U.S. that year and he spent the majority of the time with the Iowa Cubs. He signed two cards for me after the game and both featured his Japanese signature.

Alex Hinshaw- This is the first card of Alex that I have posted on here. But, I have another one that will get its own post. That one is a 2009 card, so it might not show up on here until 2022. Alex signed this card for me while he was with the Wingnuts in 2014.

Luke Hochevar- I have no clue where this card came from. Night Owl probably sent it to me. I am assuming that the card was a Target exclusive, but I am not even sure about that. All I know about the card is that Luke signed it for me at Fanfest in 2009.

And that is it for '08 Topps. You can say whatever you want about the design of the set, but I will say this- you will never get 2008 Topps confused with any other Topps set.

2008 Topps, Shelley Duncan

#UH308 Shelley Duncan

Here is the final single card post from 2008 Topps. I still have quite a few cards from the set to show and those are going to have to be broken up into multiple posts, so I am not quite done with the set yet.

Here is the card of Shelley Duncan that I got signed at a Diamondbacks Spring Training game in 2014. I had set up shop along the third base line that day and somehow he had gotten past me down the line. But when I called out to him, he came back over to me and signed one of the three cards I had of him.

Shelley played in the Majors for parts of 7 seasons with the Yankees, Indians, and Rays. Over that time, he was a .226 hitter with 43 home runs and 144 RBI. His best season was with the Indians in 2011 when he had career highs in average (.260), doubles (17), homers (11), and RBI (47).

Currently, Shelley is working for the Blue Jays as their Major League field coordinator. I have no idea what a field coordinator does. But he is listed with the Jays coaching staff and is assigned a number, so he must suit up for games.

2008 Goudey, Ian Kennedy

#131 Ian Kennedy

Here is a card that I got signed by Ian Kennedy at a Royals game in 2012. Ian was with the D-Backs at the time and I had a rough outing on the 'graphing front that day. As it turned out, Ian was the only guy I got. But, he did sign all three cards that I had of him, so it could have been much worse. And, considering that he was a year removed from a 21 win season, it was a good autograph to get at the time.

Fast-forward seven years later and now Ian isn't that great of a grab. After two very disappointing years in the Royals rotation, Ian has been sent to the bullpen this season. Minus the money the Royals are paying him, it is a move that I like. Last season, Ian did fairly well during his first time through the line-up. But, things weren't as good the second time around and they got even worse on the third trip through the order. So, the demotion made sense to me. As it stands right now through the Royals first twelve games of the season, Ian has been the most constant reliever in an awful bullpen. Hopefully, he can keep it up.

Speaking of Royals games, I went to one today and got to see the bullpen blow another lead en route to their tenth straight loss. On top of that, the 'graphing was nearly non-existent. The Royals open up the outfield an hour and a half before first pitch, but you cannot head down by the field until an hour prior. During the thirty minute gap, there were six Mariner pitchers on the field getting their work in. Two minutes before you could head down by the field, they all went back into the clubhouse. Booooo.

But, I was able to snag three from Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred and three from the M's starting catcher, Tom Murphy. So, it could have been worse.

This card is another example of how I somehow manage to get autographs from future Royals players.

2008 Donruss Threads, Jesus Montero

#80 Jesus Montero

I just got back from Opening Day in Kansas City and I had a blast. Even though the weather sucked and there was nearly a two hour rain delay, I still had a fantastic time. The 'graphing was nearly nonexistent because of the rain, but I somehow managed to get a whopping three cards signed. But, that is alright. I have done worse in better weather. Plus, I ran into Travis Kelce and had him sign my autograph book. I now have two autographs in it from football players that I have met at baseball events.

Speaking of rain delays, I once sat through a four hour rain delay after getting this card signed. Jesus signed this for me prior to the Futures Game in St. Louis in 2009. About the time that game started, the rains came and almost never let off. If it hadn't been for a six hour drive to get to St. Louis, I probably would not have waited it out. I did skip the celebrity softball game, though, because of the delay.

Jesus lasted in the Majors for parts of five seasons. He broke in with the Yankees in 2011 and got off to a good start, going 20-61 in 18 games. The Yankees then traded him to the Mariners after the season and he was the every day catcher in Seattle in 2012. He responded with a .260 average with 15 homers and 62 RBI. That was his only season as a full time player.

Jesus only played in 73 games for the M's over the next three seasons and never got it going. In 2016, the M's put him on waivers during Spring Training and Jesus never played in a Major League game after that, though he did play winter baseball this past offseason.

Jesus finished his career a.253 hitter with 28 home runs and 104 RBI.

The Rest of 2008 Bowman

#86 Billy Butler
#219 Alberto Gonzalez
#BP95 Matt Buschmann
#BDP22 Nick Hundley
#BDP46 Warner Madrigal
#BDPP47 Johnny Giavotella

I have been posting 2008 Bowman cards for about two months, but that is over now. Here are the cards I skipped over. I originally planned on skipping over cards when it was of a player that I have posted on here before. But, I decided to switch it up when I got to Alberto Gonzalez. I have not posted a card of him yet, but I have a 2008 Upper Deck Artifacts card of him where that is the only card of the set that I have signed. So, I have to post that card. So, rather than doing two posts about him, I will be lumping him into the "Rest of" category twice before he gets his first post.

Billy Butler- He signed this card for me from the Royals parking lot after a game in 2008. Those were the good ol' days.

Alberto Gonzalez- He signed for me in 2015 while he was playing for the Wichita Wingnuts.

Matt Buschmann- A Padrograph. I don't think I mentioned it in his original post, but Matt is the bullpen coach for the Blue Jays now. I also have one more of these if anyone needs one.

Nick Hundley- Another Padrograph.

Warner Madrigal- He signed this for me at a Northwest Arkansas Naturals game in 2010 when he was on a rehab assignment with the Frisco Rough Riders.

Johnny Giavotella- This one is like Alberto Gonzalez in that I haven't given Johnny his own post. But, that is coming shortly. This one was signed in 2009 at the Wilmington Blue Rocks game I attended. If I had to guess, I would say that this photo was taken at Wichita State's Eck Stadium in 2008. WSU hosted a regional that year and Johnny's New Orleans Privateers were one of the four teams there. Back then, Eck featured a turf infield and grass outfield just like the photo on this card. I went to two games in that regional, but I did not see New Orleans play.

1999 Topps, Darryl Strawberry

#18 Darryl Strawberry

Here is the fourth and final card that I got signed by Darryl Strawberry when he was preaching in Wichita two years ago. There are four of us in the family and we all got one card signed. My wife and my then eight month old baby got extra cards signed for me. My oldest son got to pick out a card of Darryl for himself. This is the card he picked out and it is currently in my collection as he didn't really care for it. Had I known that before the event, I would have just picked out another Mets card of my choosing.

This was not the first time that had happened. I have a signed '84 Topps Ken Oberkfell in my collection that my kid abandoned.

I was hoping to post the picture that we all took with Darryl, but I am not even sure if we even have it anymore. It was on my wife's phone and that thing got wiped clean around that time. She is in bed now, but if she does happen to have it still, I will post in on here soon.

You can see my first three cards of Darryl here, here, and here.

The Super Regionals are set and there were a decent amount of upsets. No one has a chance of locking up all eight spots, but every one has a chance for points. Here are the teams that every one has a chance of getting in. They are all one seeds unless otherwise noted.

John- 2.Auburn, Stetson, Minnesota
Greg- Florida, Texas, 3.Cal St Fullerton, 2.Vanderbilt, UNC
Rod- 2.Tennessee Tech, Stetson, Oregon St
The Lost Collector- 2.South Carolina, Texas, 3.Cal St Fullerton, UNC
Kin- Florida, Texas Tech, Texas, UNC, Oregon St
Joey- Florida, UNC, Oregon St
Jeff- Florida, Texas Tech, 2.South Carolina, Oregon St
Wilson- Florida, Arkansas, UNC, Oregon St

1997 Ultra, Darryl Strawberry

#103 Darryl Strawberry

Here is the Yankees card that I picked out to get signed by Darryl two years ago when he came to Wichita to preach at a local church. I already posted a card of him with the Mets and Dodgers and I did not have a Giants card of him to get signed.

Darryl spent his last five seasons wearing Yankee pinstripes. Those five years were riddled with injuries and his treatment for colon cancer, but the Yankees kept bringing him back every year. The reason for that was because, unlike his Dodger days, he did real well.

Darryl played in 231 regular season games with the Yankees and he hit .255 with 41 home runs and 114 RBI. That is a 162 game average of 29 homers and 80 RBI. Who wouldn't want that in their lineup? That is even more impressive considering that Darryl played for the Yanks in his age 33-37 seasons.

Though past his prime during his second go-around in New York, Darryl still accomplished some feats. He had a three home run game in 1996, which was only the second of his career. He hit 24 homers in '98, he next to last season. He got to play in the postseason three more times and came home with a ring each time. Though his postseason numbers with the Yankees were not that great, he was red hot during the 1996 ALCS. In the four games he played against the Orioles, Darryl was 5-12 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI.

1989 Topps, Neil Allen

#61 Neil Allen

Here is the second of three cards that Neil Allen signed for me this past season. Neil is the pitching coach for the Twins and he signed for me outside of Kauffman Stadium after stepping off of the team bus. I posted the first card back in July and that one can be seen here.

Neil had two stints with the Yankees. The first one lasted just half of a season after being purchased from the Cardinals in 1985. Over 17 games with Yanks, Neil was 1-0 with a save and a 2.76 ERA. That was the last save Neil would ever record.

After the season, Neil was dealt to the White Sox and he would play for them for a year and a half before getting released at the end of August in 1987. The Yankees picked him up and he would finish out the season with them and pitch for them for all of the '88 season. Over that time, Neil went 5-4 with a 3.80 ERA and 77 strikeouts. Neil was granted free agency after that season.

I still need Neil's '81 Donruss card if anyone has one to trade. See the tab up on the top right of the screen to see the rest of the '81 Donruss cards I need.

1989 Procards, Don Schulze

#753 Don Schulze

Here is the third and final card that I got signed by Don Schulze in 2015. Don was the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds at the time and he signed for me prior to an Omaha Storm Chasers game. The first card of him that I posted can be seen here and the second one here.

Don pitched for four different teams in the big leagues- the Cubs, Indians, Mets, and Yankees. Of those four teams, he has a few Indians cards and one Mets card. I did not have the Mets card in my collection, but I was lucky enough to find this card from the 1989 Procards set.

This was the first minor league cards set that I ever found in packs and I could only find them at one spot. It wasn't at one of the local cards shops or at a big card show. I found these packs at a local gas station. Granted, it was a gas station with a really nice selection of cards, including a case with singles. But it was still a gas station, nonetheless. I only got a few packs from this set and about the only cards worth noting were of Jay Bell and Mark McGwire. I never understood why McGwire was in the set since he last played minor league ball in 1986, but I still thought it was a cool card. I ended up getting the Jay Bell card signed through the mail in the early '90s.

This is the fifth card of the Columbus Clippers that I have posted on here. I am not going to check, but that has got to be the most posts that I done for a single minor league team.

1988 Topps, Don Mattingly

#386 Don Mattingly

I have been excited to post this card ever since I got it signed in 2014. Don was managing the Dodgers at the time and my dad was able to get this one signed for me outside of Kauffman Stadium when Don showed up. Andre Ethier was also signing at that time, so I stayed with him while my dad got Don. I probably could have got another one signed by Don, because he signed for everybody, but I was so ecstatic about this one that I did not bother with a second.

This is the only '88 Topps All Star card that I have gotten signed and it came out looking wonderful. I will definitely get more from the subset signed if the opportunity arises.

Don had a typical Don Mattingly season in 1987 to earn this card. He hit .327 with 30 homers and 115 RBI. He got the start in the All Star Game and went 0-1 with two walks.

1981 Donruss, Rich Gossage

#347 Rich Gossage

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. But, on a whim, the family decided to go to Spring Training this year. So, all of my free time in the the two weeks leading up to that was finding cards for the trip. All the time sorting paid off as I was able to get 94 cards signed in Arizona this spring.

Here is the Goose Gossage card that I got signed through the mail last summer. It was fairly well know that Goose charged for his signature through the mail ever since his induction to the Hall of Fame in 2008. But, last summer, I started noticing successes from him for free. So, like my Spring Training trip, I sent this card to him on a whim, without a donation, and it came back signed about five weeks later.

Needless to say, I was very excited to get this card back. While I have a few sigs from Hall of Famers from this set, this was the first one that was signed through the mail. On top of that, just look at that signature. That sig on this card is hard to beat.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #205

1967 Topps, Dooley Womack

#77 Dooley Womack

I first heard about Dooley Womack when I read Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". It was just such an intriguing name and it always stuck with me. Even though I read "Ball Four" about ten years ago, I still assume Dooley spent a lot of time with Jim as a Seattle Pilot. Turns out that was not the case. Dooley was traded to the Pilots for Jim late in the season. Based on that bit of info, I would assume that Dooley had a very minuscule role in the book. Nevertheless, he is still the only other player I can think of from "Ball Four" and that is because of his interesting name.

I mailed this card to Dooley in late 2012 and I had it back ten days later.

Dooley pitched in the Majors for five seasons with the Yankees, Astros, Pilots, and A's. He pitched out of the bullpen and had a 19-18 record with 24 saves and a 2.95 ERA for his career. His best season was with the Yankees in 1967 when he went 5-6 with 18 saves and a 2.41 ERA.

Dooley's given name is Horace Guy Womack.

1964 Topps, Bud Daley

#164 Bud Daley

Here is the final card from the 1964 Topps set that I have to post. This one is of the former Yankee, Bud Daley. This is the second card of Bud that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in July and that one can be seen here. Both cards were sent to Bud in early 2014 and they both came back signed about a week later.

When I posted that first card of Bud, I had completely forgotten that I sent this card along with that one. So I said about all that I could possibly say about that TTM experience in that post. Rather than cut this post super-short, I am going to be lazy and just copy and paste the first post. Come back tomorrow and I will have a new, and original, post up.

Bud played in the Bigs for ten years, never playing for a team for more than three and a half seasons. He both started and relieved throughout his career, getting the bulk of his starts during the middle of his career with Kansas City. Over the 248 games that he pitched in, he had a 60-64 record with 10 saves and a 4.03 ERA. His best season was with the A's in 1959 when he went 16-13 with a save, a 3.16 ERA, and 125 strikeouts.

Bud made two All Star teams as an A and pitched in two World Series with the Yankees. He racked up three strikeouts in 1.2 All Star innings, ringing up the likes of Ernie Banks, Vada Pinson, and Orlando Cepeda. In the Fall Classics, he pitched eight scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher in game five of the '61 series.

2007 Upper Deck, Kei Igawa

#502 Kei Igawa

Here is the third and final card that Kei Igawa signed for me in 2009. Kei was playing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at the time and he signed the three cards for me while in the stands charting pitches. You can see the first card I posted here and the second one here.

Needless to say, but Kei's career in the States did not go as well as he, and the Yankees, had hoped. He managed to pitch in just 71.2 innings with the Yanks and those did not go well. In those 16 games (13 starts), Kei went 2-4 with a 6.66 ERA. He walked 37 while striking out just 53 and giving up 15 long balls.

Instead of pitching in Yankee Stadium, Kei spent most of his time in the U.S. pitching in PNC Field in Scranton. He spent the majority of five seasons pitching for the SWB Yankees and he did okay with them. He was 33-22 in AAA with a 3.81 ERA. Over 469.2 innings of work, he struck out 373 while walking 136.

After the failed experience with Major League Baseball, Kei went back to Japan and pitched three more seasons in their Pacific League before calling it a career.

2007 Topps, Kei Igawa

#WM28 Kei Igawa

I absolutely love this card. It comes out of a Wal-Mart exclusive insert set that basically puts a player on an older card like Topps Heritage or Archives does. Most of the cards are really uninspiring because of that, though some of the cards are not based on Topps cards. This one uses a non-Topps, old-looking Japanese card. On the back of the cards in the insert set, it lists which card set the card is imitating. It is usually specific for the old Topps sets, but not for the non-Topps brands. This one simply states that it is "based on a Japanese baseball card design". I have no clue what set it is based off of, but it came out looking really nice. Kei signing the card in Japanese script only helped to enhance the look of it.

This is the second card of Kei that I have posted on here. I posted the first one this past July and it may be seen here. This one, like the first one, was obtained at a Scanton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game in 2009 while Kei was charting pitches in the stands.

Kei spent eleven seasons pitching in Japan. Most of that was before he came to the States, but he did go back in 2012 to finish off his career there. Over those eleven seasons, Kei was 93-72 with 1 save and a 3.21 ERA. He struck out 1279 batters.

2007 Bowman Heritage, Kei Igawa

#229 Kei Igawa

Here is a card that I got signed at a Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game in 2009. Kei was charting pitches in the stands that game and was pretty easy to identify out of his uniform. So, I went up to him between innings and he signed all three cards that I had of him.

Kei came to the States from the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Central League. He pitched for them for eight seasons and won 86 games for them while only losing 60. His best season for the Tigers was the 2003 season when his 20-5 record lead the team to the Central League pennant. Kei posted a 2.80 ERA that season and struck out 179 batters. Those numbers earned him the MVP Award and the Eiji Sawamura Award, which is the Japanese Cy Young Award.

With the Tigers, Kei had a 3.14 ERA and struck out 1174 batters, including a career high of 228 in 2004.

After the 2006 season, the Tigers posted him and the Yankees won the bid for him with a bid of $26,000,194.