2004 Justifiable, Brian Anderson

#1 Brian Anderson

Here is a card that I got signed at Royals Fanfest ten months ago. I was lucky to get this card signed since I didn't go through the line where Brian was signing. Instead, I was waiting in line for the second group of signers and if you want to guarentee that you get to go through the line, you have to be in line before the first group is done.

So I was standing in line waiting for the first group to finish so the second one could come up. When the first group was finally done signing, they all got up and left. Luckily, Brian didn't make it too far. He apparently ran into someone he knew and stopped to talk to them. I didn't think he was going to stand there too long since he was right beside the autograph line. But, he was still talking after a minute, so I went over there to get my card signed. I don't like going up to people that are talking just to interupt them for an autograph, but Brian made it easy for me. I stood off to the side with my autograph book and Brian just reached over and grabbed it and signed my card without missing a beat in his conversation.

Brian was a questionable addition to the Royals last off-season. He was one of the first free agents the Royals signed and, to me, it seemed like the Royals had signed a player that they already had in the form of Mitch Meier. It then got stranger when the Royals added Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel. In Spring Training, Brian ended up being the odd man out, so the Royals did what any other team would do and they converted Brian to a pitcher.

He pitched in 17.1 innings this season between three levels of minor league ball and he posted a 2.08 ERA with 17 strikeouts and five walks. The Royals outrighted Brian to AAA on Wednesday, but he opted to become a free agent. So all the National League teams should be on the prowl. The next Brooks Kieschnick is available on the free agent market.

This is the only 2004 Justifiable card that I have signed and I love it. This set was meant to be signed.

Brian is playing for the Winston-Salem Warthogs on this card. There is still a team in Winston-Salem, but they are now called the Dash (after the dash between Winston and Salem). The Dash are still affiliated with the Chicago White Sox.