2000 Just, Chris George

#BA14 Chris George

Here is another COMC pick up. This one features the Chris George that played for the Royals, not the one that played for the Brewers. This card set me back $1.09.

Chris pitched for the Royals for parts of four seasons. The former first round draft pick got his first call up in 2000 when he was just twenty-two years old. He made 13 starts and went 4-8 with a 5.59 ERA. That would be the lowest ERA he would post as a Major Leaguer. He made just six starts for Kansas City the following season and was 0-4.

In 2003, Chris made the Royals rotation out of Spring Training and got off to a splendid start. He won his first two games while allowing only 3 earned runs over twelve innings. The wheels started to fall off, though, in his third start when he gave up eight earned runs to the White Sox in under five innings. His season flamed out of control after that and he was sent down to Omaha in July. Even though he was leading the team in wins at the time, his ERA had ballooned to 7.11. It didn't help that he had walked 44 batters and given up 22 home runs in 93.2 innings.

Chris got a shot with the Royals in 2004, but continued to pitch poorly. In just 42.1 innings, he had a 7.23 ERA and a strikeout to walk ratio of 3:5.

Chris never pitched in the Major Leagues after that stint, but he continued to pitch at the AAA level through the 2012 season. He finished his career with 1244.1 AAA innings pitched with a 68-74 record and a 4.98 ERA. That was slightly better than his big league numbers, 14-20 and a 6.48 ERA.

This is a funky looking card that Just put out. I am not sure if they were trying to be artsy, or what, but I am not a big fan of this blocked-out look. Chris does have a good looking signature, though.