2008 Donruss Elite, Josh Harrison

#57 Josh Harrison

I only bought a few packs of 2008 Donruss Elite, but I was lucky enough to pull this card out of one of them. At the time, it was just a sticker autograph of a minor league player that I had never heard of. Now, it is not that bad of a pull.

Josh was originally drafted by the Cubs in the sixth round of the 2008 draft out of Cincinnati. A year later, he was dealt to the Pirates to shore up some pitching for a playoff push that never materialized. It worked out great for the Pirates, though, as they ended up with a two-time All Star and key piece to their good teams a few years back.

During Josh's eight seasons in Pittsburgh, he would hit .277 with 52 home runs and 269 RBI while playing everywhere except center field, first base, and catcher. He made All Star teams in 2014 and 2017 and had his best statistical campaigns in those two years, though his 2014 season was probably the better of the two. That year, he had career highs in average (.315), doubles (38), and runs (77).

Josh became a free agent after this past season and will be joining the Detroit Tigers this year.

Unlike the other 2008 draft picks that I have posted from this set, Josh is not sporting his college digs in this photo. He is instead pictured in the minor league uniform of the Boise Hawks.

2008 Donruss Elite, Jose Duran

#56 Jose Duran

Jose Duran was drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by the Brewers. He signed quickly and made his minor league debut that year, hitting .221 for their rookie level team. He played A ball the next season and again hit .221. The Brewers had seen enough and released Jose. His career in affiliated ball was over.

But, he latched on in the American Association and was able to play three more seasons on that circuit. He made the rounds in the Am-Ass, setting up shop for five different clubs in those three seasons. He saw time with Grand Prairie, Ft. Worth, Wichita, Kansas City, and Winnipeg. Over the course of it all, he hit .290 in the league before calling it a career after the 2012 season. He did come back in 2014 in the United Baseball League, but played in just 26 games before calling it quits for good.

For someone that only played two seasons of affiliated ball, Jose sure got quite a few cards. He has one Bowman card and the rest are from Panini.

I got this card signed at a Wingnuts game in 2012 while Jose was playing for the Kansas City T-Bones.

2008 Donruss Elite, Johnny Giavotella

#53 Johnny Giavotella

Even though I posted a card of Johnny last week, this is his first stand alone post. Ideally, I would have done a post about him when I was going through my 2008 Bowman. But, since I do not have any repeats in this Donruss Elite set besides Johnny, it just made sense for me to post this card instead.

As a Royals fan, I was looking forward to the day that Johnny was going to be their everyday second baseman. Unfortunately, that day never came. Johnny spent parts of four seasons with the club, but he played in just 125 games with them. The most games he ever got into in a single season with the Royals is 53 in 2012. He hit .236 with the team that drafted him before they dealt him to the Angels after the 2014 season. It was kind of a sad day as I feel that Johnny was never given the chance to prove that he could play everyday.

The Angels gave him the everyday job in 2015 and Johnny had a good season. He played 129 games and he hit .272 with 25 doubles, 4 homers, and 49 RBI. He played in just 99 games the next year, but still managed to hit .260 with 20 doubles, 6 dingers, and 31 RBI.

He became a free agent after that season and signed with the Orioles. He would spend most of the season in AAA, appearing in just seven games with the O's, probably the last seven games of his career. He was with two different organizations last season, but got released by each of them during the season. He is not at Spring Training this year and his career is more than likely done.

I got this card signed in Wilmington, Delaware at a Blue Rocks playoff game in 2009.

2008 Donruss Elite, Jeudy Valdez

#50 Jeudy Valdez

Here is another Padrograph from Rod that was given to me when we met up in Hillsboro, Oregon in 2015. This card features Padre minor leaguer Jeudy Valdez.

Jeudy had a long professional career, but he never made it up to the Majors. In fact, he never made it above AA. He played for ten seasons and did three stints in AA, but that was as far as he got. In his final season of affiliated ball in 2014, he actually spent the entire season at high-A and hit only .197. He then played in 2015 with three indy teams in three different leagues before calling it a career.

This image really helps to characterize this set. Yesterday, we had a college photo. Now we have a minor league photo with Jeudy playing for the Eugene Emeralds. This set is basically a hybrid of prospects from Bowman mixed with Bowman Draft. It is the best of both worlds with no airbrushing (or Major League teams/logos).

2008 Donruss Elite, Dusty Coleman

#32 Dusty Coleman

Here is a card that I got signed through the mail in 2009. I mailed this to the single-A team that Dusty was playing for at the end of the season and I got it back a few weeks before Thanksgiving.

The reason why I felt I needed to get this card signed is because it features a Wichita State player. When I was growing up, Wichita State baseball was the cream of the crop. They were always winning their conference and were always in the hunt to go to Omaha. While they are nowhere close to where they used to be, I still keep tabs on them. I saw Dusty play a few times in the 2008 Regional and Super Regional, so I thought it would be cool to try to get a card signed by him.

Dusty was drafted in the 28th round by the A's in 2008, but would never make it to the Majors with them. He got his first taste of big league action when he got into four games with the Royals in 2015, going 0-5 with three strikeouts.

Luckily, he got another shot two years later with the Padres. That time, he played in 27 games and he it .227 with 4 home runs and 9 driven in.

Dusty played in AAA all last year with the Padres organization. It looks like he is teamless right now and, considering he hit just .202 in 103 games last season, it very well could be that his career is over.

2008 DAV Tulsa Drillers, Ubaldo Jimenez

#146 Ubaldo Jimenez

Here is the second card from the 2008 DAV Tulsa Drillers "team set" that I have been able to get signed. The set was given away at a random Drillers game I attended in 2008.

I got this card signed at a Royals game in 2012 while Ubaldo was a member of the Indians. He signed down the line right after batting practice. I had three cards of him, but wasn't sure if he would sign all three. So, I gave one to my dad and, since he signed the two I had, I came home with three signed cards from him that day.

Ubaldo last pitched for the Orioles in 2017. For his career, he holds a 114-117 record with a save, a 4.34 ERA and 1720 strikeouts. He had six double-digit win seasons, but also seven double-digit loss seasons. He played in one World Series and made one All Star team.

He was an All Star in 2010 and that was by far his best season as a Major League hurler. He finished the season 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA and 214 strikeouts, all of which were season highs for him. He finished third in the National Cy Young vote behind Roy Halladay and Adam Wainwright. He got the start in the All Star Game that year and threw two shutout innings while striking out Vladimir Guerrero.

2008 DAV Tulsa Drillers, Manuel Corpas

#141 Manuel Corpas

Normally, when I get to a minor league team set, I will just post all the cards that I have signed from that set in a single post. But, I only have two cards signed from this set and this set is a little different. So, each card will get its own post.

This set was a stadium giveaway. Rather than giving away a set of the current players on the Drillers, this one features the best Drillers players from their time as a Rockies affiliate. The Rockies began their affiliation with the Drillers in 2003, so it is impressive that they were able to put out a "best of" set after just four years.

The first card from the set that I got signed was this card of Manny Corpas. I got this one signed by the visiting team dugout at a Royals game in 2010 when the Rockies came to town. I ran across Manny outside the park on his way in, but he wouldn't sign then. His reason was that he had signed the day before. Luckily, he changed his mind once he got inside. Manny signed three cards for me.

Manny pitched in the Majors for seven seasons with the Rockies and Cubs. Over that time, he was 13-20 with 34 saves and a 4.14 ERA. His best season was with the Rox in 2007. That year, he was 4-2 with a career-high 19 saves and a 2.08 ERA. He was just as effective in the postseason that year as well, allowing just one earned run in 10.1 innings of work.

I was a little skeptical about how cards from this set were going to turn out signed with the odd background and all. But, to my amazement, they both came out looking good.