1996 Best Binghamton Mets, Brian Edmondson

#6 Brian Edmondson

Here is another minor league card that was given to me by Ryan, from the Great Orioles Autograph Project. This was part of a small lot of random autos and Royals that Ryan sent me a couple of years ago.

When I got this card, I assumed that Brian Edmondson was just one of the many minor league players that never made it to the Major Leagues. It turns out that I was wrong.

Brian was originally drafted in the third round by the Tigers in 1991. He advanced up to AA with them before landing in the Mets organization. He spent three years in the Mets system and in his final year, he posted a 1.23 ERA at AA and a 2.90 ERA in AAA. The Braves took notice and selected Brian in the Rule V Draft after the season.

He made his Major League debut with the Braves in 1998 and was 0-1 with a 4.32 ERA in 10 games. The Braves designated him for assignment in June and he was picked up by the Marlins, whom he finished the season with. He was back with the Marlins again in '99 and pitched in 68 games for them, all out of the bullpen.

He seems to have missed all of the 2000 season, but played for three more seasons after that in the minor leagues. For his career, Brian pitched in 121 Major League games and was 9-12 with 1 save and a 4.98 ERA.

Royals Playoff Contest Results

The Royals made a great run through the playoffs, but ultimately came up two runs shy of winning it all. They ran into a beast of a pitcher who now is probably my least favorite player in baseball.

Sorry it took me so long, but the results are in. Nobody picked the Royals to lose in seven games. One person picked them to lose in six and that is our winner. Congrats to Paul, from Paul's Random Stuff. I will get your prize out to you sometime this week. If your address has changed, let me know.

Thanks to all that entered.

1996 Best, Mendy Lopez

#40 Mendy Lopez

Here is a card that I picked up from Checkoutmycards for sixty cents.

Mendy's Major League career spanned parts of seven seasons with the Royals, Marlins, Astros, and Pirates. He was a utility infielder that played all four spots and a bit of outfield. He saw the most significant playing time as a rookie for the Royals in 1998. That season, he got into 74 games and had 206 at-bats. That was the only season that he ever had more than 100 at-bats. He hit .243 that year with 10 doubles and 15 RBI.

Mendy would play in just 117 games over the next six seasons. The only time he got decent playing time was when he came back to the Royals in 2003. That year, he got into 52 games and had 94 at-bats. He had career highs in home runs (3) and average (.277) that season.

While Mendy was never a star player, or even a regular, he is held high in Royals lore. On Opening Day in 2004, Mendy hit a three-run pinch hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the ballgame. The Royals went on to win the game. It was supposed to be the home run that was going to jump start the team's season, as they were picked as the favorites by most people. But, the team never got it going and Mendy was sold to the Korean League after playing in just 18 games.

Even though Mendy hasn't played in the Majors since '04, he kept on playing in Mexico through last season.

1995 Upper Deck Minors, Aaron Boone

#95 Aaron Boone

This is the second of three cards that I got signed by Aaron Boone at the College World Series this past summer. I posted the first one about a month ago and it can be seen here.

This is only the second signed card from this set that I own, and the first one that I have gotten in person. That is kind of a shame, because for a minor league set, this one really sets itself apart. Upper Deck did a good job with this one, even if they only copied their '95 base set look.

Aaron was working for ESPN when I got this card signed. He is still with them and you can hear him tonight working the World Series for ESPN Radio.

Speaking of the World Series, I made it to game one last week. The game did not turn out the way I wanted, but I still had a great time and enjoyed the experience. Since the Royals lost badly, the highlight of my day was getting a ball signed by Big Papi, David Ortiz.

I had to camp out by the Fox booth for over an hour to get the ball signed, but it was definitely worth it. Here was my view from the field while I was waiting.

Here was our view from the seats. Not too bad for just $165.

1995 Ultra, Chris Bosio

#99 Chris Bosio

This is the third and final card that Chris Bosio signed for me last year at Spring Training. Chris was the pitching coach for the Cubs at the time.

You can read more about that day in the last post about Chris Bosio.

Tomorrow, 10/21, I get to go to my very first World Series game and I am pumped! I have been rooting on my Royals for fifteen years and it had been a long fifteen years. It had gotten to the point that I just expected them to suck every year, and mostly they did just that. But, this year has obviously been different. The team has clicked at just the right time. I just hope that they can keep it going this week against the Giants. After their sweep of Baltimore, they have had a bit of a break. But, hopefully, they will pick right up from where they left off.

This is my third playoff game in Kansas City this year, so it has been an expensive month. But, I would not have traded it for anything. After taking my wife to two games, and our son and my good friend to one, I get to go to the World Series with my dad tomorrow. We have been to many games at The K together, including five or six opening days and the All Star Game, but nothing is going to compare to game one of the 2014 World Series. I can't wait.

Four more wins!

Go Royals!!!

1995 Ultra, Kenny Lofton

#38 Kenny Lofton

Here is the third card that I have posted from the Kenny Lofton autograph line at the College World Series this year. It was an interesting autograph session as it was billed as hitting lessons and autographs. He was teamed up with Capital One and, before he started signing, he was over at the wiffle ball field Capitol One had set up. Normally, kids would be out there taking turns hitting a few balls and then shagging them. Then Kenny showed up and started giving lessons. It was pretty neat and he was really interactive with the kids. I told my then-fiance to take our kid over there, but he was way too deep in line to get to hit when Kenny was there.

While that was all going on, my dad and I were standing in line for autographs. There was a large monitor set up that was airing Kenny's hitting critique to everyone at Fanfest. I though it was pretty cool. My dad, on the other hand, thought otherwise. He was annoyed that he was over there and not signing and was worried that would be cutting into his time signing. I told him to chill out and that was how it was scheduled and that everything was going to be alright. As usual, I was right and I went through the line several times.

When I think of Kenny Lofton, I think of him as an Indian. He played for seventeen seasons and parts of ten of those were in Cleveland. He was with the franchise on three separate occasions and it is the only team, out of eleven, that he played with for more than one season. He ranks in the top ten for all time Indians players for hits (ninth), sac flies and WAR for position players (fourth), runs (third), and stolen bases (first). His 452 stolen bases is 173 more than second place, who happens to be Omar Vizquel.

On an unrelated note, I was supposed to be at game three of the ALCS tonight. Unfortunately, rain washed out the game and I was only an hour and ten minutes away from the stadium when I found out about postponement. But, I have it covered and, although I have to burn a day of vacation, I will be at the park tomorrow. I can't wait. Go Royals!!

1995 Team Set, Harrisburg Senators

#17 Steve Faltseisek
#20 Tony Kounas
#27 Mark Charbonnet
#38 Antonio Grissom

Here is a foursome from the Harrisburg Senators team set from 1995 that was sent to me a couple of years ago by Ryan, from the Great Orioles Autograph Project. These are not the first cards of the Senators that he has sent me. He sent me three from the '94 set, too, and those can be seen here. Like I said on that post, I believe that the Sens were Ryan's local minor league team back in the day and that is how he got these cards signed. I very easily could be wrong, though.

Out of these four players, three of them never made it above AA-ball, which is the level Harrisburg was at. Two of those three only got one crack at AA and were either out of baseball or in an independent league afterwards. Tony Kounas was spending his third straight season at AA, first with the Expos organization, but was done after that season.

Steve Falteisek was the highlight of this group. Not only was he a pitcher on a card with a posed batting shot, but he also made it to the Majors. He made his debut with the Expos in 1997 and had five relief appearances and posted a 0-0 record and 3.38 ERA. He spent all of '98 in the minors before make it back up to the bigs in '99 with the Brewers. He got into ten games and again did not get a decision. And his ERA ballooned to 7.50. That was his last chance in the Majors, though he did pitch professionally through the 2003 season. His career stats are no decisions and a 5.85 ERA with 6 walks and 7 strikeouts over 20 innings.

Mark Charbonnet played minor league ball for twelve seasons. About a third of that time was spent in independent leagues that are no longer around- the Western League and the Prairie League. Some of the teams he played for in those include the Moose Jaw Diamond Dogs, the Southern Minny Stars, the Bend Bandits, the Zion Pioneerzz (yes, two Z's), and the Tri-City Posse. I do not remember either of those leagues, but at least they left us some interesting team names.