Guns don't kill people. And neither do wallet cards

Little Mack at the gun range

Little Mack sharing a margarita and chips.

2002 Bowman, Chris Smith

#BDP53 Chris Smith

Here is the third straight card of a former Wichita Wingnut. This one is of the former Red Sox and Brewer, Chris Smith. Surprisingly, with such a common name, only one other Chris Smith has ever played in the Major Leagues. This Chris Smith signed three cards for me before a 'Nuts game in 2013.

Chris was drafted by the Sox in the fourth round of the 2002 draft out of UC-Riverside. He progressed up the organizational ladder and made his first stop at AAA in 2006. He spent most of the time at that level in 2007 and 2008. But, he did get the call to Boston in '08 and made his debut in June. He got called in to the second inning in a game against the Cardinals. Diasuke Matsuzaka got roughed up in the first inning, and was walking people in the second, so Chris was in for damage control. He pitched four innings and gave up three hits, one run, and had three strikeouts. The homer he gave up was a grand slam to Troy Glaus, but all three base runners belonged to Dice-K. It was smooth sailing after that.

Chris finished that season, his only one with Boston, 1-0 with a 7.86 ERA. He walked 7, struck out 13, and gave up 6 long balls.

2002 Bowman, Brent Clevlen

#BDP49 Brent Clevlen

Here is another card that I got signed at a Wichita Wingnuts game. This one features the former Tiger and Brave, Brent Clevlen. Brent spent three out of the past five years playing in Wichita and was a key part to last seasons American Association championship team. He signed this card for me before a game in 2013. The sig got smudged a bit from his sweat, but it didn't turn out horrible.

Brent was drafted out of high school by the Tigers in the second round of the 2002 draft. He progressed through the Tigers minor league system and made his Major League debut in July of 2006. He had quite a game in his debut, going 2-3 with a walk, double, two runs and an RBI against Twins starter, Johan Santana. Three days later, he hit his first Major League home run, a solo shot off of Rays reliever, Travis Harper. He added another solo home run later that game. After his first three games, Brent was slugging 1.500.

Brent came back to reality after that super start he had and ended up finishing the season with a .282 average with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. Though the Tigers went to the World Series that season, Brent was not on any of their playoff rosters.

2001 Upper Deck Prospects Premieres, Mike Conroy

#47 Mike Conroy

Here is a card that I got signed at a Wichita Winguts game in 2012. Mike was playing for Wichita at the time and signed the card for me before a game. He was impressed to actually see a card of himself and commented that it was an old one and that it was taken twelve years ago.

Mike was the 43rd player selected in the 2001 draft by the Indians. He came out of Boston College High School and signed quickly enough to get into 43 minor league games that summer. Mike struggled making the adjustment to pro ball and, in five seasons in the Indians organization, barely made it above A ball. The Tribe cut him loose after the 2006 season. Mike hit just .247 in affiliated ball.

After missing the 2007 season, Mike caught on in the American Association. He would continue to play in the independent leagues through 2012, also seeing time in the Atlantic League and Can Am League. He had his best season with the Wingnuts in 2011. That year, he got into 99 games and hit .302 with career bests in doubles (23) and RBI (48). Though he was just a .247 hitter in affiliated ball, Mike hit .285 in the independent leagues.

I took my boy to his first Winguts game the same day that Mike signed this card. He wanted something to wear that said Wingnuts, so I let him wear my hat. After I got Mike to sign my card, some kids came up and had him sign their stuff. One kid got his cap signed. My boy saw that and promptly ran down and got his hat signed. He came back up grinning and then asked me if it was alright that he got the hat signed. He went on to add a few more signatures to that hat that day and it has been his ever since.

I hate how this card looks like the base Upper Deck set. They must have got that from Bowman.

2001 Upper Deck, Bruce Chen

#239 Bruce Chen

Here is the latest autograph from Bruce Chen. As far as I can tell, it has been two and a half years since the last time I posted a card of him. It will not, however, be the last. I have one more coming up next month and then I have some newer ones that may or may not ever be posted on here.

I got this card signed this past season at the first game of the year I attended. It was a Sunday game and the Royals brought back their autograph afternoons for Sunday games. My family got in one of the lines that day and it ended up being Bruce's. I ended up with two new autographs from Bruce and they are the last items I got signed by him.

I had bought this card a couple of years ago just to try to get a card signed by Bruce that pictures him on a different team. I already had cards of him that I have posted as a Brave, Met, and Oriole, not to mention Ranger and Royals cards that haven't been posted yet. Now I can add the Phillies to that list, too.

Bruce pitched for the Phils for two half seasons. He was traded to them mid-season in 2000 and he went 3-4 with a 3.63 ERA. In 2001, he was 4-5 with a 5.00 ERA before being dealt to the Mets in July. In Bruce's "season" in Philly, he was 7-9 with a 4.28 ERA over 31 starts.

On an unrelated note, the Royals announced their Royals Caravan route today. Much to my surprise, they are rolling through my hometown this year. They have not yet announced who was going to be on that leg of the trip. But, since I have that day off, I know I will be there.

2001 Topps, Dan Riechert

#259 Dan Riechert

Here is the third and final Dan Riechert card that Dan signed for me at a Wichita Winguts game in 2013. Dan was the pitching coach for the Lincoln Saltdogs. You can see the first card that he signed for me here and the second one here.

I mentioned in the last Riechert post that he got claimed off of waivers by the Devil Rays at the end of the 2002 season, ending his Royals career. He never pitched in the Majors for the Rays and they released him in Spring Training the following year. He was picked up by the Blue Jays and made his Major League curtain call with them that season. With Toronto, Dan got into 15 games, all in relief. He had no record and a 6.06 ERA over 16.1 innings. He did have his best strikeout to walk rate of his career, though, 13:8.

Dan continued to pitch through the 2012 season, splitting most of his time between AAA and the independent leagues.

For his Major League career, Dan was 21-25 with 2 saves and 5.55 ERA. He struck out 240 and walked 223.

It looks like Dan is still listed as the pitching coach for the Saltdogs.

The signature on this card looks a little weird, like it was signed with a Steadtler. It was signed with a Sharpie, so I have no idea why it looks that way. Maybe Dan just signs so fast that the Sharpie could not keep up.

When Dan was a rookie with the Royals, I thought he was going to be a good pitcher. Because of that, I had him sign one of my official balls.

I also took my picture with him on photo day. I wasn't signed until the Wingnut game where I got the cards signed.

Sorry it is a picture of a picture, but I was too lazy to take it off the wall to scan.

2000 Just, Chris George

#BA14 Chris George

Here is another COMC pick up. This one features the Chris George that played for the Royals, not the one that played for the Brewers. This card set me back $1.09.

Chris pitched for the Royals for parts of four seasons. The former first round draft pick got his first call up in 2000 when he was just twenty-two years old. He made 13 starts and went 4-8 with a 5.59 ERA. That would be the lowest ERA he would post as a Major Leaguer. He made just six starts for Kansas City the following season and was 0-4.

In 2003, Chris made the Royals rotation out of Spring Training and got off to a splendid start. He won his first two games while allowing only 3 earned runs over twelve innings. The wheels started to fall off, though, in his third start when he gave up eight earned runs to the White Sox in under five innings. His season flamed out of control after that and he was sent down to Omaha in July. Even though he was leading the team in wins at the time, his ERA had ballooned to 7.11. It didn't help that he had walked 44 batters and given up 22 home runs in 93.2 innings.

Chris got a shot with the Royals in 2004, but continued to pitch poorly. In just 42.1 innings, he had a 7.23 ERA and a strikeout to walk ratio of 3:5.

Chris never pitched in the Major Leagues after that stint, but he continued to pitch at the AAA level through the 2012 season. He finished his career with 1244.1 AAA innings pitched with a 68-74 record and a 4.98 ERA. That was slightly better than his big league numbers, 14-20 and a 6.48 ERA.

This is a funky looking card that Just put out. I am not sure if they were trying to be artsy, or what, but I am not a big fan of this blocked-out look. Chris does have a good looking signature, though.