1994 Score, Jose Guzman

#178 Jose Guzman

Here is the third (actually fourth) and final card from Jose Guzman that I got signed in Arlington. You can see the first one here, the second one here, and the one that started it all here.

Whenever I do one of these Jose Guzman posts, I always type out Juan Guzman at least once. Sometimes, I have to look at the card to make sure I am writing about the right Guzman.

1993-94 Fleer Excel, Jose Herrera

#145 Jose Herrera

This is another card that Paul was able to get signed for me at an Atlantic League game. Paul got this card signed for me while Jose was playing with the Long Island Ducks.

Jose's professional career closely resembles that of Kevin Baez. Both made it to the Major Leagues fairly early in the careers in the '90s. But, with less than two years of Major League service time, they would never appear in another Major League game. Yet, their dream of one day getting back would last for some time.

For Jose, he had a slow start in the pros and had to repeat Rookie ball. But, in his fifth season, he got called up from AA and made it into 33 games with the A's. He started the next season in AA, but was quickly called up to the A's. This time around, he appeared in 108 games and hit .269. That was his last stint in the Majors as he started out the next season playing for Oakland's AAA team. That was his first tour for a AAA team in his career.

He spent the next three seasons in AAA. He sat out for two seasons before appearing in the Mexican League. He sat out the next season before becoming a Newark Bear in 2005 (plus fives games with Bowie of the Eastern League). He stayed with Newark until at least the 2008 season. I can't find any stats of him from this year and he is not on Long Island's current roster, so I am not sure how much time he spent with them. But, he has done a good job of keeping his dream alive. I hope that he can get into coaching at some point.

As for this card, the back of it lists Jose as an Athletic. But, he is obviously wearing a uniform of a Toronto affiliate. Apperantly, Jose was part of an August waiver trade that sent him and Steve Karsay to the Oakland organization for Rickey Henderson. As a result of that, he only played in four games that season as a A's minor leaguer.

As for the Hagerstown Suns, they are still in the South Atlantic League. They are currently affiliated with the Nationals.

1993 Ted Williams, Bert Campaneris

#44 Bert Campaneris

This is the third and final Bert Campaneris card that I got signed at the Willie Wilson Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. The game was held in July after the All-Star break. You can see the first card that he signed here and the second one here. Also, you can see the one card that I got signed by him the previous year here.

There really isn't anymore to say about this autograph that I didn't say in any of the other Campaneris posts. But, like I said in the last Wills post, this set is great for autographs. This one is black and white and the black Sharpie really stands out. The Wills card had some color and the blue Sharpie really went well with the Dodger Blue in his uniform. I wish that I could say I planned it that way.

1993 Ted Williams, Maury Wills

#17 Maury Wills

Here is the third and final Maury Wills card that I got signed at a Ft. Worth Cats game in August. You can see the first one here and the second one here. I got all three cards signed by Maury after he made his way up to the concourse after catching the ceremonial first pitch from some former Indy car driver. Of the three cards, this one probably looks the best. It seems like these cards were made for autographs.

During the game, they had a table set up where Maury was signing. Even though I had my cards signed, I decided to go through the line so that I could get team-issued photocard signed. It is not the best looking card that I had ever seen (the main picture is modern day Maury in a suit, with two smaller pictures as a Cat and Dodger), but I figured that I would get it signed. When I got to the front of the line to get the card signed, Maury looked up at me and then looked at the usher and said like "I don't what it is about baseball, but it has a way of making grown men smile like little boys". I can't remember if he said smile or gleam or what, but it was something like that. I thought it was pretty funny.

1993 Leaf, Mark McLemore

#512 Mark McLemore

Here is the second Mark McLemore card that I have posted on here. Like I mentioned on the first post, this autograph was obtained prior to the Rangers pregame show. The show is done right off the concourse down the left field line.

When I did the first McLemore post, I was in Maryland and I didn't have all of my ballpark photos with me. Now that I am home, here is a picture of the pre/post-game set with Mark and his co-host doing their thing.



That was from a game in 2008. Because of that, I knew to take some cards of him this year.

They even have some TVs set up in that area. I was able to get a picture of myself on TV. Pretty lame, huh?

1993 Leaf, Jose Guzman

#266 Jose Guzman

Here is another Jose Guzman card from my trip to Arlington in August. I had planned on only taking one Guzman card with me on the trip. I had wanted a card signed by him as a Cub since I got a Rangers card signed last year by him. When I started looking for cards, I quickly found a card of his as a Cub- a '94 Score. So, I set it to the side and started looking for cards of Mark McLemore. I started in '89 Score and I found another Jose Guzman, so I set it to the side. I eventually found the McLemore I was looking for and headed to this set to find another one. Again, before I found the McLemore, I stumbled onto another Guzman and set it to the side also.

So, that it how I ended up getting three cards signed by Jose Guzman. It was an accident.

I do like this card, though. Jose really stands out against the blue wall.

1993 Fleer, Joe Orsulak

#549 Joe Orsulak

I got this card signed in Baltimore last month. I went to an Orioles game on a Monday, which just happens to be the day the team has their alumni signing. Luckily, Ryan, of the Great Orioles Autograph Project, knew in advance who was going to be there and he brought some cards for me. He gave me a stack of Orsulaks and told me to pick out whichever one I wanted. I almost took the '86 Topps card of him as a Pirate, but I decided to get one signed with him as an Oriole.

Joe even gave me a team-issued photocard that he signed.