1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs, Pat Borders

#11 Pat Borders

Here is the next to last 1996 Leaf card that I have to post for the week. This one features the 1992 World Series MVP, Pat Borders, and him winning that award is the only reason I bought this card. It set me back one dollar.

I was shocked to see that Pat played in the Majors for parts of seventeen seasons. I had no idea. He made his Major League debut in 1988 and he played his final game in 2005. That is a long time to be playing, especially for a catcher. Plus, it looks like he played in more minor league games in his career than Major League games. That is insane.

Pat was the starting catcher for the Blue Jays in the early '90s. By 1995, he was relegated to backup duties and after 1998, he was mainly a minor league catcher that would come up whenever a catcher got injured. But, it seems like Pat took it all in stride and was fine with it. You don't see enough players like that anymore.

On a strange side note, Pat was released by the Dodgers just last month. I guess that he had been on the restricted list since 2006 and the Dodgers just got around to releasing the forty-seven year old then. Here is the link, just scroll down to the Dodgers transactions.

Throughout his career, Pat played for the Jays, Royals, Astros, Cardinals, Angels, White Sox, Indians, Mariners, and Twins. If he had only played with the Tigers, he would have played for the entire AL Central. Pat was a .253 career hitter.