#78 Jared Sandberg
This is the first of five '98 Bowman cards on here and this one came from the Collective Troll. This one features Ryne Sandberg's nephew, Jared. The Troll sent me this card and one other '98 card at the end of September, along with some assorted Royals and '81 Donruss.
Jared was taken in the 16th round of the 1996 draft by the Devil Rays. I am assuming that that was the first year they drafted. Anyway, Jared's pro career got off to a slow start and he didn't get above A ball until his fifth season. In his sixth season, though, he got a call up to St. Petersburg and he appeared in 39 games for the D-Rays, hitting .2o6 with a home run and 15 RBI. He got into 102 games the next season and he hit .229 with 18 homers. It seems that his one problem was strikeouts. That season, he struck out 139 times in 358 at-bats. The following season would be his last as a Major Leaguer and he went on to hit .213 with 6 home runs in 55 games.
He spent all of the next season with the Rays AAA affiliate before they granted him free agency. He spent the next three seasons playing for three AA teams and one independent team. His final season was 2007 as a member of the Royals AA affiliate in Wichita. I went to a few games in Wichita that season, but I do not remember seeing Jared.
This is the very first Devil Rays card on here.
With the Troll's autographs, I usually guess wrong on how he got them. But, it is still fun to do. I think that he got this one in person, maybe after an interview.
I met Mr. Sandberg once during the two weeks or so that he was a Somerset Patriot in 2006. I didn't particularly like him; he had this attitude that made him seem like he thought he was too good to be playing indy ball.
ReplyDeleteAsking for a signature after an interview is a journalistic no-no. I know Troll knows that (I think he confessed to doing it once).
ReplyDeletePaul- That is too bad. Did you have any luck with autographs?
ReplyDeleteNO- Good point. Like I said, I am almost always wrong with the way he gets these cards signed. I'm pretty sure that he got some cards signed in-person somewhat-recently; I'm just not sure how.
I had no idea that Ryne had a nephew that made it to the Majors. Good information here man.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that until yesterday. I saw that he was from Washington, so I went to Baseball Reference to see if there was any relation.
ReplyDeleteThe Patriots did team autograph sessions before every Sunday game, so I did get a card signed by Mr. Sandberg. I'm not sure that I still have it, though.
ReplyDeleteIve always been a big fan of Ryne Sandberg, I think hes being groomed to take over as manager in the next couple years.
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