1987 Donruss, Mike Mason

#284 Mike Mason

Here is a card that I got signed in Des Moines last month. Mike is the pitching coach for the Iowa Cubs and I was able to get this card signed prior to a game against the Nashville Sounds.

Mike spent most of his pre-game time talking with that nights starter, Casey Coleman. When I asked him to sign for me, he just held out his finger like he was telling me to wait a minute. He then continued talking to Casey for another five minutes or so. When they were done talking, Mike started to make his way to the stands to sign and by that time, there was a bunch of kids around asking for his autograph. But, he came straight to me and signed my two cards before moving over and signing for the kids. I thought that was pretty cool.

As for his pre-game pep talk to Casey Coleman, I hope that they were talking about batting. Casey lasted seven innings, but he surrendered six runs. At the plate, though, he was 2-3 with a triple and two RBI. I'm not sure if I had ever seen a pitcher hit a triple before that night.

Mike has got to have the two craziest "M's" that I have ever seen in a signature. I really do not know what to make of them. If you click on the link at the top of the post, you'll be redirected to Mike's Baseball Almanac page. They have an autograph of him there that must have been obtained a few years ago becuase the signature is similar, but the "M's" are completely different.

1986 Topps, Jerry Mumphrey

#76T Jerry Mumphrey

Here is the third and final card that Jerry signed for me TTM this past winter. I sent Jerry his '78 Topps card, his '81 Donruss card, and this one. I sent the '78 just because I had unlocked it in the Topps Million Card giveaway and the '81 because I like the set. I sent this one, though, for a little bit different reason.

When I posted the '85 Fleer Update card of Gary Lavelle, I talked about how I got an incomplete complete set out of a stocking that my buddy gave me for Christmas. When I saw the set in there, I asked him where he got it and if they still had any left. He said that they did and that they were on clearance, too. So, a couple of days later, I went over to the hardware store and bought four more stockings. One had the '86 Topps Update set(minus Bo, Barry, Bobby, and Wally Joyner), one had the '88 Donruss Rookies set, one had an actual sealed and unopened set of '90 Fleer Update, and the last had a '91 Score Rookie/Traded set.

Since the '86 Topps set was not complete, I had no problem with sending this card out with the other two. The funny thing is that this one actually got damaged on the trip home while the other two cards came out unscathed. It's funny how things work out like that.

Jerry sure does have an interesting "J". I would say that it looks more like a "Z" than a "J", but what do I know?

1986 Topps, Bret Saberhagen

#720 Bret Saberhagen

Here is the second Bret Saberhagan card that I got signed at my local Menards grand opening in May. If you haven't read about how great a show Meanrds does for their grand openings, just scroll down a few posts to the previous Saberhagen post and check it out. They seem to go all-out for them.

I have three more Saberhagen cards to post after this one and I am short on time, so I am going to keep this one short. But, I will say this. For some reason, I have always liked the '86 Topps All Star cards. They are similar to the base set, but are clearly different. There is no black on the border and these cards tend to look a little better than the base cards after twenty-five years of wear and tear.

I'm real OCD when it comes to my autographed cards and I like to store them in binders by year, brand, and card number (just like I post them on here). It just happened to turn out that this card sits next to my John Tudor All Star card from the same set. For those of you that don't remember or weren't around then, the Royals and Cardinals squared off in the '85 World Series and Tudor and Saberhagen were the number one starters for their respective teams. Every time I flip my binder to that page and I notice those two cards, I always chuckle to myself and mumble something to the effect of "suck it Cardinals".

1986 Topps, Spike Owen

#248 Spike Owen

Here is another card that I got signed in Omaha last month. This one is signed by the Round Rock Express (I mistakenly called them the Oklahoma Redhawks yesterday) third base coach, Spike Owen. At least I think he is their third base coach. The Express website lists Spike as the interim manager. But since the actual Express manager was at that game, I doubt that the interim manager tag has much truth left in it. Spike may have been the interim manager at some point this season, but that is no longer the case. Maybe he was the hitting coach until Bobby Jones was needed by the Texas Rangers. In any case, the Express are now operating with four coaches and that is a bit unusual in the minors.

I will always remember Spike Owen from my youth. His cards were worthless and I knew nothing about him, but I'll be damned if he did not have the coolest name in baseball in the '80s. Being all grown up now, I just figured that Spike was his nickname. Luckily, that is not the case. His given name is Spike Dee Owen and I am not making that up. If he had been born in the late '80s/early '90s, one would think that he was named after Spike Lee. The funny thing is that Spike's older brother, Dave, was born three years before him. So, in a three year stint, their parents went from giving the kids ordinary names to naming one Spike Dee. It doesn't get any better than that. It should therefore come as no surprise that Dave went to Texas-Arlington while Spike attended Texas-Austin. That just goes to show a far a name can take you.

Before Spike signed this card, he informed everyone that he was in a hurry and couldn't sign everything. But, he still signed two of the three cards that I had of him and I could not have been happier. Thanks Spike Dee!

1986 Topps, Bob Jones

#142 Bob Jones

Here is a card that I was able to get signed in Omaha last month. Bobby is the manager of the the Rangers AAA affiliate, the Round Rock Express, and I was able to get this card signed prior to their contest against the Storm Chasers. Omaha has a nice set-up for the autograph seekers as both teams enter the field from left field. I didn't recognize Bobby when he walked by, but I was lucky enough that the Hawks had names on the back of their jerseys and I was able to back track to get him.

Bobby had a long and interesting career. He played pro ball until he was 37-years old. But, throughout that time, he only appeared in 314 Major League games. On the flip-side, Bobby played in 1417 minor league games with over 1000 of them at the AAA level. I guess Bobby was basically a AAAA player. He did great in AAA, but couldn't quite put it together in the Majors.

His career line in interesting to look at. He played in a little over 100 Major League games in the '70s and all of those came from 1974-'77 with 78 of the games coming in 1976. He then disappeared to the minors for a few seasons, but did play in ten games for the Rangers in 1981. He then spent all of '82 in AAA before splitting time between the Majors and minors for the next four years. For his career, Bobby is a .221 hitter with 20 home runs.

1985 Topps, Jeff Jones

#319 Jeff Jones

Here is the second and final card that I was able to get Jeff to sign for me at Target Field a few weeks ago. I love this card. The only thing that would have made it better is if it was signed Jeff "Cheech" Jones. That would have been classic.

Jeff pitched in the Majors for parts of five seasons and all of them were spent with Oakland. He pitched mainly out of the 'pen and his best season was probably his rookie campaign in 1980. That year, he appeared in 35 games and he had a 1-3 record with 5 saves and a 2.84 ERA. For his career, Jeff is 9-9 with 8 saves and a 3.95 ERA.

For those of you with inquiring minds- Yes. Jeff does in fact still rock the 'stache.

1985 Fleer, Gary Lavelle

#U-69 Gary Lavelle

Here is another Gary Lavelle card that I got signed through the mail. I originally decided to write to Gary when I unlocked his '78 Topps card on the Topps Million Card Giveaway site. Since I do not own Gary's '81 Donruss card, all I planned to send him was the '78. But, for Christmas last year, my best friend gave me a sports card stocking that he found at a hardware store. In it was random packs of sports cards, a minor league team set, and a complete set of 1985 Fleer Update that was missing four cards. And in that set was this card. Since the set was missing four cards, it wasn't really complete and I had no trouble breaking into it and mailing this card out.

Gary played for the Jays for just a season and a half. In that time, he went 7-10 with 9 saves and a 3.77 ERA. He was released by the Jays in August of 1987 and the A's picked him up. With them, he was 0-0 with 0 saves and a 8.31 ERA in just 6 games. Gary retired after the season was up.

How many Blue Jay logos can you find on this card?