1991 Line Drive AAA, Rick Adair/Jim Gabella

#100 Rick Adair and Jim Gabella

I originally posted this card about two and half years ago and that post can be seen here. The original post only contained Jim Gabella's signature, so I am re-posting the card now that I have been able to add Rick Adair's signature to the card.

A few weeks ago, I was browsing the blogs when I noticed a post on The Great Orioles Autograph Project that included a signed Orioles postcard of Rick Adair. I didn't even realize that Rick was with the O's now and I left a comment asking Ryan what Rick's signing habits were. The O's are in Kansas City in May and I have tickets to one of the games. So, I was basically just trying to gauge what my chances of getting Rick's autograph at that game were going to be like.

Much to my surprise, Ryan emailed me the next day saying that he was heading down to Florida for Spring Training and that if I sent the card to him, he would try to get it signed for me. So, I did just that and Ryan obviously got it signed.

Thanks a lot, Ryan! I really do appreciate it.

This is definitely the oddest card that I have signed by two people. The photos are split up a little differently than usual. But, both coaches signed the card at the same angle as the line that divides them and it came out looking great.

This is actually the second card that is signed by two players that Ryan has helped me out on. A few years ago, he got the ball rolling on a 1987 Fleer John Stefero/Kevin Seitzer card. You're the best, Ryan!

1988 Topps, Ed Sprague

#113T Ed Sprague

First off, I am sorry for the absence of posts over the last month and a half or so. Between work, going to the gym, and a great new girlfriend, I have had little time to do anything else. Anymore, I may come home and shower and grab some clothes, but I spend most of my time either at work or at her place. I still check out the other blogs when I get a chance, but this blog has kind of been put on the back burner for now. I am hoping to get in a sporadic post every once in a while, but I doubt that it will be anything like it was anytime soon.

Having said that, here is my first signed card this year. This card features the former Blue Jay, Ed Sprague. Ed is the head baseball coach for Pacific and I was able to get this card and two others signed by him at a Kansas State baseball game this past Sunday.

I had plenty of cards of Ed to choose from, but I wanted this card because I have always enjoyed Team USA cards. I didn't own the card, so I purchased it from checkoutmycards. I ordered the card about two weeks before the game and I was a little disappointed when it hadn't arrived by Saturday. So, I called my local card shop and, although he didn't have this card as a single, he did have the '88 Topps Traded set in stock and said it would be about ten bucks. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend that much for basically this card, but I said screw it and went downtown to get it. When I got there, the owner was nice enough to drop the price down to four dollars since that was what they were going for online. I was a little surprised to hear that line from him, but I certainly appreciated it.

Having overcome that obstacle, I was feeling good until game day came. The problem that morning was my girlfriend. This was our first baseball game together and she doesn't quite understand why I have to get to the park so early to get autographs. Hopefully, she will grasp this new concept sooner rather than later. So, needless to say, we were running behind. Instead of getting to the park a half hour before first pitch, we got there maybe ten minutes before. I started to make my way over to the Pacific dugout to maybe get my cards signed when the coaches went to the plate to exchange lineup cards. That seemed like a bad time for that and all of the Pacific coaches were wearing jackets, so I couldn't tell who was who anyway.

Instead, we went and found a seat and had a great time at the game. K-State ended up winning 9-3 and my girl's little boy got a baseball from an usher and a free t-shirt from the mascot.

Towards the end of the game, we moved down by the Pacific dugout and I was still struggling to figure out which coach Ed was. Three of the four coaches looked really similar. Eventually, I found a guy wearing a Pacific hat and I went and chatted him up. He was from California and was out for the game and was nice enough to point Ed out to me. As soon as the game was over and Ed headed for the clubhouse, I asked him to sign and he signed all three cards for me. I brought some cards for my girl's son to get signed, but he was in line to run the bases by that time and missed out. Maybe next time.

I miss posting cards that have a story with them. I think that was one of the reasons I went so long between posts. The next card I was planning on posting was a Brian Bannister card and there really isn't much more to say about him than what I said in the first two or three cards I posted of him. Maybe I need to reevaluate the way I do things here.

So, there is my Ed Sprague story. While some of you are lucky enough to be 'graphing in the Florida or Arizona sun, I am stuck braving strong Kansas winds at college games to get mine. But, it is better than nothing. I'm going to a Wichita State game a week from today and former Met Jeff Duncan will be in town with Purdue. I just realized this today, so I don't have time to order any cards of him. I luckily have an '03 Ultra card to get signed, but I wouldn't mind a couple more. If anyone might be interested in a 50/50 trade, just let me know.

*I was feeling lazy and didn't want to warm up the scanner, so this photo was taken with my phone. Sorry about the thumb.

2006 Topps, Sam Perlozzo

#593 Sam Perlozzo

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2008. I was 'graphing the Royals parking lot that day when a group of Mariners coaches pulled up in a rental car. Sam was the only coach of the four that I recognised out of uniform and I thought that it was pretty cool that he actually came over and signed when I asked him to. That was the only non-Royal autograph that I got that day in the lot. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure that is the only non-Royal autograph that I have ever got from that lot.

At the time, Sam was the Mariners third base coach. He held that gig for two years before moving on to the Phillies organization in 2009. With the Phillies, he has coached third and first and he is currently listed as their first base coach.

Sam played in the Majors for twelve games. He got into ten of those games with the Twins in 1977 and he hit .292 in limited action. He played the last two games two years later when he went hitless in two at-bats with the Padres.

It appears that Sam has two cards from his playing days. But, both of them are Topps rookie stars cards that feature Sam with two or three other guys. That could explain why he has such a small signature- he is used to signing a small area.

2006 Topps, David DeJesus

#565 David DeJesus

Here is the second David DeJesus card that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in May and, despite both cards being signed at the same event, the first one had a slightly better signature on it. I can't complain though as you never know which DeJesus signature you are going to get. I've seen some hideous ballpark signatures from him, but his sigs at signings are generally a bit nicer.

David had an off year this past season with Oakland. He posted a career low in average (.240) and all of his offensive numbers were down. Yet, he somehow parlayed a bad season (by his standards) into a two-year deal, with an option for a third, with the Cubs. By all accounts, it appears that David is going to be the Cubs starting right fielder this season.

When David was with the Royals, he played all three outfield positions. I thought that he was best in left field because, while he had a good arm, it wasn't a dominant right field arm. But, that is just my opinion and I hope that David has a good tenure with the Cubbies. I look forward to seeing him play a few times on WGN this summer.

2006 Topps, Runelvys Hernandez

#471 Runelvys Hernandez

Here is a quick post about the former Royal and Astro, Runelvys Hernandez, aka Elvis, aka Dos Chins. This is the third and final card that I got him to sign for me during a Round Rock Express game in 2008. You can read about what I had to go through to get this card signed here and my thoughts on Elvis here.

I'm not quite sure what is worse- Topps choosing this photo for the card or me choosing this card to get signed.

Runelvys (I somehow still know how to spell his name without looking) last pitched in the Majors in 2008. He spent 2009 pitching in Korea and 2010 pitching in Mexico. I can't find any stats from him since that season, so I am going to assume that his career is over.

2006 Topps, Paul McAnulty

#325 Paul McAnulty

Here is the second card of Paul McAnulty that I got signed after a Colorado Springs Sky Sox game last July. Paul was playing with the visiting Salt Lake Bees and he was nice enough to sign for me after his team lost a ten inning heart-breaker.

Paul has spent parts of five seasons in the Majors and he has logged playing time in 133 games. Nine of those games were spent with the Angels and the rest were with the Padres. Through those 133 games, Paul is hitting .201 with 6 home runs and 23 RBI in 234 at-bats. Paul hasn't played in the bigs since 2010.

It's not too often that I post an autograph of a Padre that was not given to me by Rod from Padrographs. But this is one right here. To be fair, Rod did give me a signed copy of this card. But, it is always more fun to have an autograph in the collection that was obtained in person. So, if anyone needs this card, I have an extra.

I'm always surprised when I see Paul listed as an outfielder. He just doesn't look like the outfielder type to me. He is short and round and I always think of him as a catcher, even though he has never caught a professional game in his ten-year career.

2006 Topps, CJ Wilson

#321 CJ Wilson

Here is another unprepped card from 2006 Topps. This one features one of the newest additions to the Los Angeles Angels, CJ Wilson.

I got this card signed before a Royals game in 2008. It was a weekday day game, so there was no batting practice. Luckily, a majority of the Rangers pitchers were on the field getting their workouts in.

At the time I got this card signed, I had no idea who CJ Wilson was. In fact, this was the only card that I even had of him. The only reason that I was able to identify CJ out of the crowd of Rangers pitchers was because he pitched against the Royals the night before and I noticed that he wore an interesting necklace.

Apperently, CJ is a hunter. The necklace that he wore was a homemade one made up of turkey spurs and antler tips. If it wasn't for that necklace, CJ would have walked on by unnoticed by me, like a majority of the Ranger pitchers did that day.

Even though CJ was an unkown to me when I got this card signed, this is now probably the best 2006 Topps autograph that I have. I guess that goes to show why I am not too picky when getting people to sign for me. You just never know how a person's career is going to turn out.

Now, if only I could make out anything from his signature besides his number.