College World Series Contest Final Results

The College World Series finished up Wednesday night, with Vanderbilt edging out Virginia with a 3-2 game three win. The contest had been down to two contestants- Need More Cardboard and Wilson. Both had nearly identical results through their bracket with each person getting just four picks wrong. It came down to the finals with Wilson picking Virginia and NMC going with Vandy. With Vandy's win, the contest goes to Need More Cardboard. Congratulations! Give me your address and I will get your prize shipped to you at some point next week. Send it to zman40 at hotmail dot com.

Thanks to everyone that entered this year. This was the fifth year that I had held the contest and I had more brackets filled out this year than in any of the past ones.

I hope to see you all back next year!

Here is a look at what Need More Cardboard is bringing home.

1991 Leaf, Dave Eiland

#184 Dave Eiland

Back to back Yankee posts? Considering that I have only posted twenty-eight Yankee cards on this blog, that is a rare feat. I once went two years between posting a card of a Yankee. And it's not like I try to avoid getting Yankee cards signed, because I take whatever I can get. It's just that I do not have much luck getting 'graphs from guys that played in the Bronx. I did add a new one Tuesday, though. Mr. Don Mattingly was nice enough to sign one item for everyone when he showed up to Kauffman Stadium. That was definitely the highlight of the day.

Anyways, on to this card. This card was signed by the Royals pitching coach prior to a game in 2012. Speaking of the Yankees, they were the visiting team that day. It was a Sunday day game, and I knew that the teams would not be taking batting practice, so I only took cards of pitchers. Unfortunately, it was kind of wet that day, so even the pitchers stayed off the field (pretty sure that was the same series Mariano Rivera got hurt shagging). Therefore, the cards that Dave signed for me were the only autographs that I got that day. But, at least I did not come home empty handed.

I really like the way this card came out. For some reason, I like it when a border matches team colors. While the Yankees are technically navy, it is such a dark hue that it looks black most of the time.

Tune back in later today and I will have the final results up from the College World Series Contest.

1991 Fleer, Andy Hawkins

#666 Andy Hawkins

This is the second of three cards that Andy Hawkins signed for me last season. Andy is the bullpen coach of the Rangers and I was able to get the cards signed outside of Kauffman Stadium when he arrived at the ballpark. The first card can be seen here.

Speaking of getting cards signed outside the ballpark, the Dodgers are in town this week and I will be heading up tomorrow to get my 'graph on. With all the big name players, coaches, and commentators on the club, I am hoping to come home with some decent signatures. I am really looking forward to it!

Andy pitched in the Majors for ten seasons with the Yankees, Padres, and A's. He was 84-91 during his career with a 4.22 ERA. His best season was with San Diego in 1985. That year, he was 18-8 with 3.15 ERA. That was his first of four double digit winning seasons for his career. The last one came with the Yankees in 1989 when he went 15-15. That was the third straight year that he hit double digit losses. That streak continued the following season, as well.

In case you missed it, and judging by the attendance you have, Virginia and Vanderbilt are squaring off in the first game of a best of three series tonight for the College World Series championship. If Virginia wins the series, Wilson wins the CWS contest. If Vanderbilt wins, Need More Cardboard wins.

1991 Fleer, Franklin Stubbs

#518 Franklin Stubbs

Here is a card that was signed by Franklin Stubbs during my Spring Training trip. Franklin is the hitting coach for the Dodgers AAA team in Albuquerque and I was able to get him to sign my three cards after the Dodger minor leaguers worked out the day I was there.

On that particular day, the Major League Dodgers were in Australia. So, I figured it would be a good time to hit up their practice fields. With no parent club around, I thought there would be less 'graphers around and it would be easier to get some cards signed by the Dodger minor leaguers and their coaches. I was right in one regard and that was that there was less people around. That also made it harder because there was less help to identify the players as none of them had names on their jerseys. But, I got a few cards signed by the players and did well with the coaches. I even got Tommy Lasorda to sign a ball. I figured he would have been on the trip to Australia, but that was not the case.

As for Franklin Stubbs, he played in the Majors for parts of ten seasons with the Dodgers, Astros, Brewers, and Tigers. He only played one season in Houston, but it was his best season. He hit .261 that year with 23 home runs and 71 RBI. Both the home run and RBI totals were career highs.

As for the College World Series contest, the tournament is down to two teams- Virginia and Vanderbilt. Fittingly, the contest is down to two contestants. Wilson and Need More Cardboard picked both teams in the final. They filled out some nice brackets and got all of the games right except for four each. They are both tied right now, but that will change in the next two to three days. Wilson had picked Virginia to win it all and NMC picked Vanderbilt. The championship team will determine the contest winner.

1991 Fleer, Ken Oberkfell

#511 Ken Oberkfell

Here is the fourth and final card that Ken Oberkfell signed for me last summer. Ken is the manager of the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association and he signed the cards for me and my kid before a game in Wichita. I got a card signed by him as a Cardinal, a Brave, a Giant, and now an Astro. Now I just need to get a Pirate card signed by him to have all his teams covered. Or at least all his teams where he got a card since there does not appear to be an Angels card of him.

Ken's tenure in Houston lasted a season and a half. He played in 130 games with them, but hit just .213 with a home run, 10 doubles, and 26 RBI. He was released in July of 1991.

Nobody picked him up after his release until the off-season when the Angels gave him a shot. He went on to .264 in the 41 games he played with the Angels in 1992. That was Ken's final season in the Majors.

Ken started managing in 1997 in the Phillies organization. He managed for them for four seasons and then managed for the Mets for ten seasons, including six years at the AAA level. He has been managing independent teams for the last two and a half seasons. Right now his Saltdogs are 15-19.

On the College World Series contest front, Virginia cliched a spot in the finals today. They will take on the winner of tonight's Texas/Vanderbilt game. So far, seven people have picked Virginia to be in the finals. Five people have Vanderbilt picked to advance and six people have picked Texas. For the ones that got Virginia right, three of them picked Vandy to face them and one picked Texas. This thing is still up for grabs.

1991 Fleer, Bob Melvin

#482 Bob Melvin

This is the first of three cards that Bob Melvin signed for me in Spring Training. Bob is the manager of the A's and he signed the cards for me before the White Sox game at Camelback Ranch. The other two cards he signed were older than this one, so it may be quite some time before those ever get posted.

Bob played in the Majors for ten seasons with the Tigers, Giants, Orioles, Royals, Red Sox, Yankees, and White Sox. He was mainly a back-up catcher throughout his career as he never started more than 76 games in a season. He hit .233 during his career while smashing 35 home runs and driving in 212 runs.

No season really stands out as the best of his career because most of his career highs were scattered across various seasons. His personal bests for home runs was 11 ('87), average was .314 ('92), doubles was 14 ('86 and '90), and RBI was 37 ('90). I guess since 1990 was mentioned twice, that might have been his best season.

Bob has a unique signature. For someone who played in the '80s and '90s, he has a signature that is impossible to make out. The autograph example on his Baseball Almanac looks much different than this one. I wonder if that is a bad example or if this one is of the hurried-up ballpark variety.

1991 Fleer, Curt Young

#28 Curt Young

This is the second of three cards of Curt Young that I got signed at Spring Training. Curt is the pitching coach for the A's and he signed the cards for me before a game against the White Sox at Camelback Ranch.

Curt spent eleven seasons in the Major Leagues, spending ten of them in Oakland. He was mostly a starter and he finished his career with a 69-53 record and a 4.31 ERA. His best season was probably the 1986 season when he went 13-9 with a 3.45 ERA and 116 strikeouts. That season was the first of three consecutive ones where he hit double digit wins.

Curt spent his entire career in the American League, yet he did manage to get one at-bat. That came early in the 1987 season when Curt made a start against the Mariners. Mickey Tettleton started behind the plate for the A's and Terry Steinbach was the designated hitter. For some reason, Tettleton had to leave the game after striking out looking in the fifth inning. Steinbach had to be moved to catcher and the club lost their DH. Curt came up in the seventh and grounded out to short off of Mark Langston. At least he didn't embarrass himself.