2007 Topps, Joey Gathright

#27 Joey Gathright

Here is the first of many cards from 2007 Topps that I will be posting in the coming months. Considering that I have over thirty cards from this set signed, and I only post about a dozen cards a month, I am going to be posting cards from this set all the way to Christmas.

This is the third card from Joey Gathright that I have posted on here. The first one was obtained in 2008 at a Royals Caravan stop. I got the second one a couple of years ago while Joey was playing in the American Association and his signature changed dramatically over the five years. Joey went from signing his initials in 2008 to doing an actual full signature in 2013. Based off that bit of info, you can tell that Joey signed this card for me in 2008. He signed around the time of the first card, but at Royals Fanfest.

When the Royals acquired Joey from the Rays, I was expecting tons of plays like the one on this card. Unfortunately, even with Joey's amazing speed, he did not do that great in the spacious outfield of Kauffman Stadium. In 2006, the year Joey joined the Royals, he lead the league in range factor/game for outfielders with a 2.66 rating. But, he was at a 2.91 as a Ray and then slipped to a 2.49 with the Royals. That number, as a whole, slid to 2.40 in 2007 and then 1.98 in 2008, his final season with the Royals. By that time, he was -5 in total zone total fielding runs above average (Rtot).

The Royals and him parted ways after that season and it would four seasons before the Royals landed the centerfielder that I thought Joey was going to be. Plus, the new centerfielder, Lorenzo Cain, could hit.

Nonetheless, this is a cool photo to start 2007 Topps.