2005 Bowman Heritage, Luis Hernandez

#277 Luis Hernandez

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2009. Luis signed it by the dugout after he finished taking his hacks in batting practice.

Luis began his professional career with the Braves in 2002, but he never played a game as a member of the Atlanta Braves. He made his Major League debut with the Orioles in 2007 and he went on to hit .290 with a home run in 30 games with them. The .290 average is the highest he achieved in the Majors.

He was back with the Birds in 2008 and he hit .241 in 36 games. For 2009, he was with the Royals organization and he hit .205 in 37 games for Kansas City. Last season was spent with the Mets and he hit .250 with 2 home runs in just 17 games.

It looks like Luis is playing for the Mets AAA team this year, though he did not play yesterday in the Buffalo Bisons opener.

Luis certainly has an interesting looking signature. The only thing that I can make out from it is the first letter of his first name and the last letter of his last name. I do like how he underlines his name, though.

2005 Bowman Heritage, Brandon Sing

#235 Brandon Sing

Here is a card that I got signed at a Wichita Wingnuts game last season. Brandon was playing for the Sioux Falls Pheasants last year and I was able to get this card signed prior to the start of the game.

Brandon was drafted by the Cubs out of high school in the 20th round of the 1999 draft. He advanced through the Cubs system slowly, not reaching AA until 2003. He didn't do so hot there, so he had to repeat high-A in 2004. With the Daytona Cubs that year, he hit a career high 32 home runs. He was bumped back up to AA the following season and he responded with 26 dingers.

2006 was split between AA and AAA and Brandon regressed that season. In 33 AAA games, Brandon had 4 home runs and a .170 average. In 85 AA games, he had only 8 home runs and a .204 average. The Cubs let him go after that season and he spent 2007 with the Orioles AA team. Since 2008, Brandon has been playing in the independent circuits, spending one season in the Atlantic League and two in the American Association.

Last season, Brandon clubbed 27 home runs for the Pheasants. The strange part about it was that he had either 22 or 23 homers at the All Star break. He took part in the home runs derby before the game and didn't do too well. Maybe the derby screwed him up just like it supposedly did for Bobby Abreu.

For those of you keeping score at home, this card is a mini.

2005 Bowman Heritage, Shane Costa

#227 Shane Costa

2005 Bowman Heritage starts out just like the regular Bowman set did- with Shane Costa!

So, here is another Shane Costa autograph. I posted the first one about a week ago and it can be seen here. While the first one was signed at a ballgame, I got this one signed at Royals Fanfest two years ago.

I did a much better job picking out this card than I did when I bought Shane's regular Bowman card. By the time I bought this card, I had found checkoutmycards.com and my ebay card buying days were over. Shane is not wearing the old black Royals jersey on this card, so you can actually see his autograph. Too bad that there isn't more to see in his signature. All I can make out is "Sh Cta" and then his number.

2005 Bowman, Chase Headley

#BDP119 Chase Headley

Here is the fifth and final 2005 Bowman Padrograph. It is also the last card from the 2005 Bowman set. Also, this is the card that was won by the Night Owl on Opening Day, so it will only be in my collection for a few more days.

Chase was drafted by the Padres in the second round of the 2005 draft, out of Tennessee. He was fast-tracked to the Major Leagues and he made his debut in June of 2007. He only played in eight games for the Padres that year, but at least he got a taste of things to come.

He split 2008 between the Majors and AAA, but by 2009, San Diego was his home for good. Over the last two seasons, Chase has averaged about 159 games played with a batting average of .263. He had 31 doubles, 12 home runs, and 64 RBI in 2009, but those numbers slipped to 29, 11, and 58 in 2010. Still, that is not bad for a 26-year old.

So far this season, Chase is 3-12 with a homer and 4 RBI in just three games.

I didn't notice it until I looked at the scan of this card, but Chase is wearing white pants that have pinstripes on them. Since the Padres haven't sported pinstripes since 2001, I am going to guess that this photo was taken while Chase was playing for the Eugene Emeralds.

2005 Bowman, Nick Hundley

#BDP90 Nick Hundley

Here is the fourth of the five 2005 Bowman Padrographs. This one features Nick Hundley.

Nick was drafted in the second round of the 2005 draft out of Arizona. Like the previous two 2005 Padre draft picks I posted, Nick progressed steadily through the Padres farm system and he made his Major League debut in 2008. He got into 60 games that season and he hit .237 with 5 home runs and 24 driven in.

In 2009, Nick played five AAA games and spent the rest of the time on the big league roster. That season, he got into 78 games and he hit .238 with 8 home runs and 30 RBI. Last season, he played in 85 games and his average rose to .249 while hit hit 8 dingers and knocked in 43.

So far this season, Nick is off to a hot start. In just two games, Nick is 4-8 with a double, a triple, and four RBI. If he keeps progressing at the Major League level like he has been, Nick could be in for a pretty good season.

For the Opening Day contest, Night Owl won by correctly guessing Nick.

2005 Bowman, Josh Geer

#BDP82 Josh Geer

Here is the third of the five 2005 Bowman Padrographs. This one features Josh Geer.

Josh was drafted by the Padres in the third round of the 2005 draft out of Rice. He progressed steadily up the ranks and he got his first shot at AAA in 2007. He started out 2008 in AAA, as well, and he did good enough to get called up to the Majors at the very end of August. In the last month of that season, Josh got five starts and he went 2-1 with an ERA of 2.67. That is not a bad start to a Major League career.

Unfortunately, Josh could not keep it going in 2009. He started that season with the big league club and he went 1-7 with a 5.96 ERA through the first four months of the season. The Padre brass were not impressed and they shipped him back to AAA after 17 starts. Josh has not appeared in the Majors since.

Josh spent all of last season with the Padres AAA team in Portland. The Portland Beavers are no more, so it looks like Josh is going to start this season with the Padres new and temporary AAA team, the Tuscon Padres.

I mentioned in yesterdays post that the Padres no longer wear these sand colored road uniforms. Rod left a comment saying that this is the first season for the new gray uniforms. That is too bad because I always liked the sand colored ones just because they were different.

2005 Bowman, Cesar Ramos

#BDP65 Cesar Ramos

Here is the second of the five 2005 Bowman Padrographs that I have to post. Unlike the first one, this guy has some Major League service time.

Cesar Ramos was selected by the Padres as the 35th overall pick of 2005 draft after playing college ball at Long Beach State. He progressed steadily up the minor league ranks and by the end of 2008, he had one season of AAA under his belt. He repeated AAA in '09, but by September, he had earned himself a September call-up. In five games that month (two starts), Cesar had an 0-1 record with a 3.07 ERA. He did not allow a home run and he struck out 10 in 14.2 innings.

He started off the 2010 season with the big club and it looks like the Padres decided to use him as a LOOGY last year. Through the first month of the season, Cesar had pitched in six games, but he had just 2.1 innings of work to show for it and a 3.86 ERA (one earned run). In May, Cesar had a couple of bad outings (one where seven runs were scored in one inning) and he was shipped back to Portland. But, again, he did good enough in Portland to get another September call-up. In the final month of the season, Cesar threw 3.2 scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 11.88 for the season.

In December, Cesar was packaged in the deal that took Jason Bartlett from Tampa Bay to San Diego. Cesar had a good spring and made the Rays Opening Day roster. Hopefully he will stick a little longer this year than last.

I noticed on Sportscenter last night that the Padres no longer wear these sand colored road uniforms. Is this the first season that they have gone back to grey?

Though the autograph is a little bubbled, it is interesting to note that Cesar's signature looks just like the one pre-printed on the card.

Congrats to the Night Owl for swooping in and taking yesterdays contest in less than an hour. I hope to have your card posted on Monday.