#181 Phil Hiatt
I got this card signed through the mail, probably in 1993. This is the first baseball card that I ever had that was signed with a ballpoint pen and I hate it. I do not like ballpoint pen signatures unless it is on a ball. My Mark Fidrych card looks OK in ballpoint, but that is the one exception. You can barely even see this one.
Phil only played in 170 Major League games where he hit .216 with 13 home runs. But, he played in 1535 minor league games where he hit .270 with 334 homers. Phil is the definition of AAAA.
This is the second Memphis Chicks card that I have shown on here. When I was little, I thought that the Chicks had the girliest name in baseball. I didn't know at the time that Chicks was short for Chickasaws.
I remember thinking that Phil Hiatt was going to be incredible. It's too bad he didn't get more of a shot to play after flopping his rookie year. As you say, he certainly had the minor leagues figured out. I really had no idea how well he continued to do in AAA.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of former prospects for the Royals, I just saw the Royals inked Greinke to a four year contract! I'm absolutely ecstatic about this. They may make some boneheaded signings from time to time, but locking up Greinke and Soria is pretty awesome.
The one move I wish they could have made, with 20-20 hindsight, is passing on Jose Guillen and grabbing Milton Bradley. Similar issues (attitude, health) but you get a far superior player in Bradley. And he could have put up a real OBP too.