1998 Bowman, Buddy Carlyle

#315 Buddy Carlyle

Continuing the trend, here is another card that was sent to me by another blogger. Since this one is of a Padre, you have probably already figured out that it is from Mr. Padrograph, Rod.

This one features journeyman pitcher Buddy Carlyle. Buddy's career has taken him from the Reds to the Padres to the Hanshin Tigers in Japan to the Royals to the Yankees to the Dodgers to the Marlins and to the Braves. He was even sold to the LG Twins of the Korean League. But I can't find any stats for him there, so I'm not sure if he actually pitched for them.

With all of the organizations he pitched for, he only pitched in the Majors with the Padres, Dodgers, and Braves. The Braves picked him up in 2007 and threw him into the starting rotation when they started losing pitchers to injuries. In 20 starts and two relief appearances, he went 8-7 with a 5.21 ERA. He pitched out of the pen in '08 and he had a 3.59 ERA in 62.2 innings of work. In 2009, however, Buddy had a 8.86 ERA over 16 outings. He became a free agent after the season and will be heading back to Japan next year as a member of the Nippon Ham Fighters.

This is a pretty cool card with the US map in the background. I have no idea if this is an insert or if it is a seperate set. Buddy is from Omaha and you can clearly see Omaha on the map. You can even see where I live on it. You can't make out the name, but it is the dot to the left of Manhattan, Kansas.