1990 CMC, Leo Garcia

#140 Leo Garcia

Here is a card that I got signed at Spring Training this year. This one features the former Red, Leo Garcia.

On the day I got this signed, I was 'graphing the Dodger minor league side of Camelback Ranch. The Dodgers were already off for Australia at the time, so I figured that would be a good time to hit up their minor league complex. I was going to a White Sox game afterwards and, since I 'graphed the White Sox minor leaguers last year, I figured I would give the Dodgers a shot this year. Plus, with the big league club half a world away, I figured that there would be less people there.

When I got to the Dodger camp, I was disappointed to find out that their minor leaguers do not have names on the back of their jerseys. With so many literal "no-names" out there, it makes it really tough for someone like me who knows none of the guys. Luckily, I found another 'grapher from Nashville who found a website with many of the guys numbers. That helped out, though I didn't get too many cards signed from the minor league players. It didn't help that two of the main ones I was wanting made the trip to Australia- Zach Lee and Joc Pederson.

But, I did do okay with the minor league coaches. That is how I got this card signed by Leo Garcia. He is the hitting coach for the Dodgers Rookie team in Ogden, Utah. He was nice enough to sign two cards for me after practice that day.

The highlight of the day, though, was meeting Tommy Lasorda. I did not expect him to be there since I figured he would have made the trip down under. Because of that, I did not take any cards of him. Fortunately, though, I had a ball on me that I have been carrying around to games for three years. So, I busted that out of the wrapper and finally put it to use. I would have preferred an '81 Donruss signed by him. But, since I don't even own that card, the ball will do just fine. That is just another example of why I need to complete the '81 Donruss set. One of these days....