2006 Upper Deck, Sandy Alomar, Jr.

#677 Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Here is the third card that I have posted of Sandy Alomar, Jr. I posted the first one, one given to me by Rod, ten years ago. The second one, a through the mail success from the late '90s, the next year. This one was obtained in-person in September.

Sandy is the first base coach for the Indians and I saw the Indians play in Kansas City twice this past summer. At the second game, I got to the park super-early to do some 'graphing outside of The K. It paid off when I saw a group of Indians coaches get out of a vehicle to enter the park. Sandy was the only one that I recognized out of the group and I called for him and asked for his autograph. He came over and signed one of the three cards that I had.

I had Sandy one-on-one and was a little disappointed that he didn't sign more than one, especially since his 1989 Topps Futures Stars card was one of the three. But, I could not be more thrilled with the way this one came out looking. There is just something about a clean-looking Dodger or Royals card signed in blue Sharpie.

Sandy's tenure in Los Angeles lasted all of 27 games in 2006. During that time, he managed to hit .323 in 62 at-bats with 5 doubles and 9 RBI. He was traded to the White Sox in July for a minor league player. This is the only card of Sandy as a Dodger.

2006 Upper Deck, Oliver Perez

#365 Oliver Perez

It has probably been over two years since I have posted a card of a current player. But, here is one now. To be honest, I had no idea that Ollie was even pitching this year until I was getting cards ready to see the Indians play in Kansas City. I had to do some digging to find three cards of him, but I found them. Ollie signed two of them at the late August game I attended, but not this one. I then saw the Indians again in Kansas City a month later and was able to get this one signed.

Ollie had an amazing season this year with the Tribe. The LOOGY got into 51 games and pitched 32.1 innings with a 1.39 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Those are some good numbers for a 38 year-old reliever that does not throw gas.

Just like the last two guys I posted on here, my three cards of Ollie all featured him with a different team. This one showcases his time in Pittsburgh, which lasted about three seasons. Over that time, he was 21-28 with a 4.59 ERA.

His best season was with the Pirates in 2004. That year, he was 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA and a career high 239 strikeouts. Those 239 K's ranked fourth in the National League and his 10.975 K's per nine lead the league.

2006 Topps, David Dellucci

#UH25 David Dellucci

Here is the second card that David Dellucci signed for me at the Kansas Stars game last year. I posted the first card in June and that one can be seen here.

That first card showed David with is second team, and the one that he stayed with the longest, the Diamondbacks. After the D-Backs, David played for the Yankees and Rangers before landing in Philadelphia for the 2006 season. He did well for the Phillies that year, hitting .292 with 13 home runs and 39 RBI. He was used more as a pinch hitter that season than a starter, but he still did well enough to get a three-year deal from the Indians for about 3.75 million dollars a year.

The Indians would end up releasing David during the final season of that deal and he would finish the year with the Blue Jays. He called it a career after that, finishing with a .256 average, 101 homers, and 398 RBI for his career.

2006 Topps, Miguel Cairo

#204 Miguel Cairo

Here is the second card that I got signed by Miguel Cairo at Spring Training in 2017. Miguel was helping out the Reds at the time and I got him to sign three cards for me after the team's minor league workout. I posted the first one back in May and it can be seen here.

The first card I posted showed Miguel with the third team he played for, the Devil Rays. After three seasons with the Rays, he spent half a year with the Cubs, two and a half with the Cardinals, and one year with the Yankees before joining the Mets on the other side of town. His tenure in Queens lasted just one season before shifting back over to the Bronx for another year and half. But, while with the Mets, Miguel managed a .251 average with 2 home runs and 19 RBI in 100 games.

I was shocked to see that Miguel played parts of seventeen seasons in the Major Leagues. But, he was around for a while and I got to see him play eleven times between 2000-2008. I saw him in uniform with the Devil Rays, Cubs, Cardinals, Yankees, and Mariners. Over those eleven games, he hit just .143 with a home run and four RBI. I also saw him man five different positions as well as DH and pinch hit in those contests.

After his second stint with the Yankees, he would also go on to play with the Cardinals (again), Mariners, Phillies, and Reds.

2006 Topps, Brandon Inge

#28 Brandon Inge

Back-to-back Tigers and back-to-back card number 28. What are the odds?

This is the third card of Brandon that I have posted on here. I posted the first two over five years ago and they can be seen here and here. I got those two signed at a Royals game in 2011. I got this one signed at a Kansas Stars game last year.

When I went to that game, Brandon was signing autographs right when I got into the seating bowl. I almost didn't go down there to get my cards signed by him because I got three done at that Royals game in 2011 and I got six from him at a Stars game the previous year. But, I figured that I brought some cards of him with me, so I might as well get them signed. So, now I have a cool dozen cards signed by Brandon. That is the most of a single player that I have that did not ever play for the Royals. In fact, it might be the most cards that I have signed by one guy irregardless of team.

When I last posted a card of Brandon, he was still an active player that had just joined the A's in 2012. He went on to play one more season after that with the Pirates before calling it a career. The 2009 All Star finished his career a .233 hitter with 152 home runs and 648 RBI.

I would call this card an error because Brandon is listed as a second baseman. Brandon played third in 160 games in 2005. He played second 19 times in his career, but those games occurred in his last two years of playing. On the back of the card, he is listed as a third baseman.

2006 Bowman Heritage, Nate Robertson

#28 Nate Robertson

Here is the second card of Nate Robertson that I have posted on here. I posted the first one three years ago after I got it signed at a free card show in Wichita. This one, on the other hand, was signed at a Kansas Stars game in 2016.

Nate and Adam LaRoche were the masterminds of the Kansas Stars. Nate had a venue and tournament, thanks to his Wichita Wingnuts hosting the NBC World Series at Lawrence Dumont Stadium, and Adam was freshly retired. The native Kansans got some friends together and the Kansas Stars were born. They debuted at the 2016 NBC World Series and took second place. They came back in 2017 and won it all. Then, in 2018, they were no more. Supposedly, the casino they stayed at, the Kansas Star, was booked up for the week of the tournament and they had no place to stay. But, I think that the powers that be just did not want a team of former pros, which included All Stars and Hall of Famers, whooping up on college kids. That is just my opinion, though.

The team stayed together this past summer as the Louisville Stars and played in the Bluegrass World Series. The Bluegrass World Series was created for the Stars and they competed against college level teams like they did at the NBC tournament. While Adam made the transition to Louisville, Nate did not.

Nate pitched in the Majors for parts of nine seasons with the Marlins, Tigers, and Phillies. Over that time, he was 57-77 with one save and a 5.01 ERA.

2005 Upper Deck USA Baseball, Kevin Gunderson

#58 Kevin Gunderson

Here is a card that was given to me by Rod, from Padrographs, when we met up at a Hillsboro Hops game in 2015.

Most of the cards that I get from Rod feature a Padre or someone that had played for the Padres at some point. But, not this card; Kevin only played in the Braves organization. After a quick check at Baseball Reference, I see that Kevin is from Oregon. Oregonians are another lot that Rod collects. Even though I collect autographed cards of anyone and everybody, it is still cool when another person hooks me up with a signed card from their collecting niche. And that has happened quite a few times with Rod.

Kevin played at Oregon State and was drafted by the Braves in the fifth round of the 2006 draft. He played in their organization for four seasons, reaching as high as AAA in 2009. But, he only pitched in four games at that level and called it a career after the season. For his career, he was 12-10 with a 3.01 ERA.