2010 Bowman Platinum, Mike Trout

#BPA-MT Mike Trout

Here is the best pull of my life! I had the pleasure of pulling this out of a pack in 2010 that I purchased at Target. At the time, Mike was the top rated prospect in baseball, so I was pretty happy to get this card. Ten years, eight All Star teams, and three MVPs has really amped up my appreciation for this card and I doubt that I will ever pull another autograph of a generational player again.

Mike's signature looks a lot different now than it did when he signed this card. He now has more loops and he doesn't lift his pen between his first and last name. He added his number to his signature for a bit, but that has been dropped off. Yesterday, I stumbled upon a Twitter post that chronicles the evolution of Mike's signature.

I have had the pleasure to see Mike play seven times. One of those was a Spring Training game in Tempe and one was at Safeco Field. The rest all occurred at Kauffman Stadium. Of the five games at The K, three were regular season games, one was the 2012 All Star Game, and one was the last postseason game that Mike appeared in. In case you aren't sure, that playoff game was back in 2014.

2008 Topps Heritage, Jose Arredondo

#638 Jose Arredondo

Here is a card that I got signed at Kauffman Stadium in 2009. The Angels were in town that day and Jose was the first guy on the team that appeared in the dugout right before batting practice. He just walked out in a warm-up jacket with headphones on to catch the end of the Royals batting practice session. With the jacket on, I wasn't really sure who he was and that was before I had a smart phone. So, I thumbed through my cards and deduced that it had to be Jose. I got his attention and was right. He made me go to the opposite end of the dugout to sign, but I was able to get my spot back afterwards.

Jose pitched in the Majors for just parts of four seasons with the Angels and Reds. Over that time, he was 22-11 with a save and a 3.27 ERA. His best season was his 2008 rookie campaign with the Angels. That year, he racked up an impressive 10-2 record while working exclusively out of the bullpen. Plus, he had a 1.62 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 61 innings of work.

Jose last pitched in the Majors in 2012. I am guessing that some arm problems derailed his career as he missed all of the 2010 season. He was out of baseball after 2013, only to reappear in the Atlantic League in 2016 and 2017. It looks like his career is officially over now.

I love Jose's signature. It is not readable, but it definitely has some flair and a very legible #66.

2008 Donruss Threads, Sean O'Sullivan

#67 Sean O'Sullivan

In 2011, my best friend and I took one of our annual ballpark road trips and we headed north that year. It was a short trip by our standards as we just took in a Twins game and a couple of minor league games. One of the minor league games that we saw was an Omaha Storm Chasers game.

Werner Park, the Chasers home, has one of the best set-ups for autograph collectors. Both clubhouses are in left field and the players walk down a single walkway to enter the field. Both teams use the same ramp and it is great. It can be a struggle as is gets closer to gametime, though, as there are quite a few players from both teams jamming up the walkway and you are trying to figure out who is who and find their cards. So, on that particular trip, I decided to 'graph the visiting team and I made by friend get the home team for me.

By the time Sean O'Sullivan came out, it was close to gametime and the walkway was crowded. I was able to pick Sean out of the pack and I called for him. I was getting cards signed by a visiting player at the time. He came over to me and I just played it off like I didn't call for him and pointed at my buddy. He had the card ready and handed it down and this is the end result.

With Wichita building a new ballpark, I hope that they have an entrance like Werner Park where you can 'graph both teams from one spot. It is so convenient.

As for Sean, he saw time in the Majors for parts of seven seasons with the Angels, Royals, Padres, Phillies, and Red Sox. Over that time, he was 13-23 with a 6.01 ERA. His best season was probably in 2009, his initial call-up to the Majors. He pitched in twelve games, ten starts, and was 4-2 with a 5.92 ERA. That was the only time that he threw over 50 innings in a season and had an ERA under 6.00.

I actually own a game worn Sean O'Sullivan Spring Training jersey. I picked it up for ten bucks at a Fanfest once thinking it would be easy to get signed. That never happened.

2008 Bowman, Trevor Reckling

#BCP228 Trevor Reckling

Here is a card that I got signed at the Futures Game in St. Louis in 2009. Trevor was an up-and-comer for the Angels at the time and I was lucky enough to get this one card signed by him. While his signature is not readable and looks nothing like the pre-printed one on the card, it sure does look stylish.

During his Futures Game season, Trevor tore up the Texas League. At just 20 years of age, he was 8-7 with a 2.93 ERA and 106 strikeouts. Not only did he appear in the Futures Game, but he was a league All Star and represented the USA in the IBAF World Cup after the season.

Unfortunately, he would never repeat those numbers again. 2010 was split between AA and AAA and he was 7-13 between the two levels with a 6.42 ERA. He pitched parts of two more seasons in the Halos system before they let him go.

He spent two seasons trying to work it out in independent leagues, but 2015 is the last year that I can find stats for him. According to his Wikipedia page, he is pitching in Denmark. But, I didn't see him on a roster, so that might not have worked out either.

That just goes to show how hit and miss it can be prospecting in baseball. Even the brightest stars of tomorrow never make it to The Show to shine.

2008 Bowman, Andrew Romine

#BCP149 Andrew Romine

In 2011, a work colleague and myself decided to make a mini ballpark roadtrip. That trip consisted of all of two ballparks- Sox Stadium in Amarillo, Texas and Security Service Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Neither park was very memorable, but I definitely liked the one in Amarillo better. Even though it was kind of a dump, it looked and felt its age which is exactly why I wanted to go there.

Amarillo was in the American Association at the time, so there wasn't too much 'graphing to be done there. Colorado Springs, on the other hand, was still in the Pacific Coast League, so that was were the action was at on that trip. Since each team came out onto the field by their respective dugouts, you can really only 'graph one side or the other there. So, I hit up the home side and made my buddy work the visitor side for me. The visitors that day happened to be the Salt Lake City Bees and this is one of the cards my friend got signed for me.

Andrew has played in the Majors for parts of nine seasons with the Angels, Tigers, and Mariners. Over that time, he is hitting .235 with 10 home runs and 81 RBI. His best season came with the Tigers in 2017. He hit .233 that year, but had career highs in home runs (4), RBI (25), and doubles (17).

Over the years, Andrew has had the chance (or misfortune) to pitch in seven Major League games. Over those games, he has logged 5.2 innings with a 12.71 ERA, 3 homers, 5 walks, and a strikeout. The unfortunate soul that struck out- Kurt Suzuki.

It appears that Andrew is going to try his luck in the National League this year. He is a non-roster invite of the Phillies.

Here is an updated 2008 Bowman map.

2006 Upper Deck, Dustin Moseley

#1095 Dustin Moseley

Here is a card that was given to me by Rod, from Padrographs, when we met at a Hillsboro Hops game in 2015. I was always curious why he had this signed Angels card in his collection, but now it makes sense. It looks like Dustin spent parts of two seasons pitching for the Padres.

Dustin spent parts of seven seasons in the Majors, seeing time with the Angels, Yankees, and Padres. Over that time, which was spent starting and relieving, he racked up a 15-21 record with 199 strikeouts and a 4.67 ERA. His best season was probably with the Padres in 2011. Even though he had a poor record (3-10), he threw a career-high 120 innings and responded with 64 strikeouts and a 3.30 ERA, both career bests. Despite his somewhat solid season, he would only pitch in one Major League game after that.

Despite his relatively short Major League career, Dustin had the pleasure of pitching in two playoff games. He threw a scoreless inning for the Angels in the 2007 Division Series and then threw two scoreless innings for the Yankees in the 2010 ALCS. In those two games, he allowed just one hit and struck out five. Plus, he picked up the win in Game One of the 2010 ALCS.

2002 Upper Deck Honor Roll, Barry Wesson

#131 Barry Wesson

Here is a card that I got signed two years ago when the Kansas Stars competed in the NBC World Series. Barry was on the Stars team and was one of the first cards I got signed that evening. He was standing outside the batting cages taking practice swings and hanging out with his son. I asked him to sign and he seemed a little reluctant to, which surprised me. I would expect that from the bigger names at the event, but not from a guy that I had never heard of before he was put on the roster.

Barry played just 25 games in the Majors over parts of two seasons with the Astros and Angels. With the Angels, whom he didn't play a game with until the 2003 season, he got into 10 games and he was 2-11 with 2 runs, 1 home run, and 3 RBI. That dinger was the only one he hit in the Majors and it was hit in his final Major League game. Up to that point that September, Barry was 0-7 before getting the start in left in game 162. Batting ninth, he went 2-4 with 2 RBI in an Angels 4-2 win over the Rangers. Barry would play three more seasons in the minors, but never make a return to the highest level again.

Based off of this card, I do not think that Honor Roll is a good name for this set. I think that Upper Deck Mug Shot is a better description. The only thing missing is a placard with the player's info on it.

1996 Pinnacle, Troy Percival

#296 Troy Percival

Here is a card of Troy Percival that I got signed at a Kansas State game last year. Troy is the head coach for his alma mater, UC Riverside, and they had the misfortune of playing baseball in Kansas in March.

I had planned on going to the game as soon as the schedule was released and I saw Troy was coaching. But, come game day, it was freezing out. I do not remember the exact temperature, but it had to have been between 30-35 degrees with a strong wind. I did not want to go to a game in those conditions and I certainly wasn't taking my one year-old out in that. So, I did the next best thing. We all drove to the park. The family stayed in the car and I went and bought one general admission ticket. I went in, got Troy's autograph, used the restroom, and then left. I was in and out in five minutes. We then left and enjoyed the day in lovely Manhattan, Kansas.

As for Troy, he was real easy to talk to as I asked him about coaching and the weather. He was clearly disappointed that they were not playing in California where it was 80 degrees at the time. I can't say that I blame him.

I got three cards signed by Troy, but this was the only Angel card. This card kind of reminds of some current Donruss cards, with the exception of some barely visible logos.

Troy is the Angels all-time save leader with 316 of them. He has 108 more saves than the second place closer and no current Angel is even in the top ten. I am sure his team record will be intact for some time.

1990 Topps, Bob McClure

#458 Bob McClure

Here is the third and final card that I got signed by Bob McClure at a Giants game in 2015. Bob was the Phillies pitching coach at the time and he signed three for me by the Phil's bullpen. He was the only person that signed for me that day.

Bob spent parts of thee seasons with the Angels in the early '90s. Over that time, he appeared in 72 games and was 8-1 with 3 saves and a 3.11 ERA. He was having a rocky season with them in 1991 and got released mid-season. He was able to bounce back from it and still pitch in the Majors for two more years.

Bob's career spanned nineteen seasons. Over that time, he was 68-57 with 52 saves and a 3.81 ERA.

With this card, I now have cards signed by Bob as a Brewer, Expo, Met, Angel, and Cardinal. The only teams I am missing are the Royals and Marlins.

With the new manager in Philadelphia, some changes were made and Bob is no longer with the organization. He is now employed by the Twins as their special pitching adviser.

1986 Donruss, Bob Boone

#17 Bob Boone

Here is the second card that Bob Boone signed for me through the mail in 2014. The first card was his '81 Donruss card and that one can be seen here. When I mail out an '81D to get signed, I rarely send out another card with it. But, I could not resist adding another signed Diamond King to my collection, so this one went out with it.

After spending his first ten season in Philadelphia, Bob went on to play seven seasons with the Angels. With California, he hit .245 with 39 home runs and 318 RBI. He made his last All Star team as an Angel and he won three Gold Gloves with them. His best season with them was probably in 1982, his first year with the team. That season, he hit .256 with 7 home runs and 58 RBI. He even got a few MVP votes that season.

The funny thing about Bob's seven Gold Gloves was when he got them. He got the first two in back-to-back seasons with the Phils in 1978-79 when he was 30 and 31 years of age. He won the next one in '82 at the age of 34. He then won his final four in consecutive seasons from 1986-89 at ages 38-41. It seems Bob catching skills only got better with age, which is usually not the case at that position. For comparison, Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who has the most Gold Gloves as a catcher, won his final one at the age of 35.

1983 Topps, Rick Burleson

#315 Rick Burleson

Here is a card I got in a trade with Tom, from Angels in Order. Back in the day when I used to rake in autographs at Royals Fanfest, I would offer to get things signed from certain alumni if anyone needed them. Tom took me up on the offer a couple of times, though I was only able to help him out once. In return, Tom sent me three signed cards and this is the first of those three.

Rick Burleson played in the Majors for thirteen seasons with the Red Sox, Angels, and Orioles. After breaking in with the Sox in 1974, he was a mainstay in the Boston infield for seven seasons before being dealt to the Angels prior to the 1980 season. But, with the Sox, Rick played in one World Series and made three All Star teams.

He made one more All Star team with the Halos in 1981 before injuring his throwing arm in 1982, limiting his playing time for the next three seasons. He came back strong in 1986 in time for the Angels AL West title run.

For his career, Rick was a .273 career hitter with 50 home runs and 449 RBI. He hit .318 in three playoff series and won one Gold Glove and one Silver Slugger.

I have no idea how Tom got this card signed. I just know that I need to acquire Rick's card from the '81 Donruss set and get it signed.

Today is selection Monday, so the College World Series Contest will be up and running around seven o'clock tonight.

1981 Donruss, Bobby Grich

#289 Bobby Grich

Last night, I posted a card that I got signed through the mail last summer and I referred to it as one of my more recent additions to the '81 Donruss collection. Well, here is my most recent addition. I got this one signed through the mail just last month. I have had this card for nearly eight years, so I have no idea why I never sent it to Bobby before. But, I noticed a success from him in early February and gave it a shot. Two weeks later, I had this back to me.

When I first got into cards in 1985, Bobby Grich was not a big deal to me. He was at the end of his career and would only appear in sets through the 1987 season. All I knew about him then was that he had a big mustache.

All of these years later and I know that Bobby was a hell of a ballplayer in the '70s and early '80s. Playing for the Orioles and Angels, Bobby made six All Star teams over the years and he won four Gold Gloves at second base. He probably would have won more if it wasn't for Frank White. His teams made the playoffs five times, but could never clinch the pennant.

For his career, Bobby was a .266 hitter with 224 home runs and 864 RBI. His best offensive season was with the Angels in 1979 when he clubbed 30 home runs, 30 doubles, and drove in 101 RBI. Frank White never hit 30 dingers or drove in 100 runs.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #202

1981 Donruss Bert Campaneris

#50 Bert Campaneris

I had met Bert twice in person at events held by the Kansas City T-Bones. Those events were about eight years ago and, while I got cards signed by Bert, I did not get his '81 Donruss signed. Most of my '81 D were bought in an unopened box back in 2008. Since the cards were twenty-seven years old, and Donruss put gum in their inaugural packs, each pack had one card with a peice of gum glued to the front of it. Of course, the only card of Bert in that box had gum on it. So, I had to buy this card and get it signed through the mail. I did that in 2014 and got the card back two months later.

Yesterday, I went to Royals Fanfest. While I was able to get in some autograph lines, unlike last year, I still did not do very well. I came home with just eleven cards signed by five guys. That hardly justifies the $45 it costs to get the family in the doors. If I would have got Salvador Perez, it would have been a good day. Instead I got Ned Yost, Scott Alexander, Chris Young, Rex Hudler, and Hunter Dozier. Out of those, Hunter was the only one that I did not have anything signed by. We missed out on all the big name players and did not even see any Royals alumni signing.

While I have always criticized the Royals for how they run their autograph lines at Fanfest, they seem to get worse and worse every year. For starters, you have to get in one of five lines and hope for the best. They do not tell you who is signing where or when. It's a crapshoot. Then, they only allow 150 people in that line. We got to Fanfest as it opened and headed for the furthest line from the door. When we got there, the 2:30 line was full already. So, we got in the 3:30 line. Perez signed for the 2:30 crowd and we got Dozier at 3:30.

After we got Dozier, we got back in line. Of course, the 4:30 was full already, so we got in the 5:30. Scott Alexander signed at 4:30 and a third of the people in line jumped out to hope for a better person in whatever line they could get in. Did they let more people in line to make up for the mass exodus? Of course not. That would have made too much sense. So, Scott signed for everybody in his line in a mere twenty minutes compared to the fifty-five minutes it took for Sal to sign for his line.

Since I have cards signed by all the big name Royals except for Perez, I would have been more than happy picking off some of the younger or newer guys that aren't as popular. But, since they only sign for the people that made it into the line before it got closed off, whether those people stay in that line or not, that is impossible to do. The lesser known guys sign for the people in less than twenty minutes and then pop smoke and vanishes.

Less than five years ago, we used to be able to hit up more than one line per session. Yesterday, we were doing good just to get in a line for every other session.

"81 Donruss Tracker: #182

1980 O-Pee-Chee, Willie Aikens

#191 Willie Aikens

To date, I have posted three cards of Willie Aikens on here. I thought it was much more than that. But, as it turns out, I have got a small handful of cards from the last two Royals Fanfest that I have yet to post. So, here is the first of those. This one was obtained at the 2014 Fanfest.

The first three cards I posted showed him with three different teams. There was one of him as a Royal, a Blue Jay, and an Explorer from the senior league. Since I had a card signed by him from the Royals and Jays, naturally I needed a card of him with the Angels signed. This O-Pee-Chee card was the best I could do on short notice in 2014. So even though it clearly says Royals on the card, Willie is still in an Angels uniform and that counts for something.

Willie's tenure with the Angels lasted just parts of two seasons. After being drafted by the Halos in the first round in 1975, he made his debut with them in '77. He got into just 42 games and hit .198. He spent the next season in the minors, but returned to the Angels in '79 and did real well. That year, he hit .280 and clubbed 21 homers while driving in 81 runs.

After that season, the Angels traded him and Rance Mulliniks to the Royals for Al Cowens and Todd Cruz.

The Blue Jays card I linked to above was signed by Willie at Fanfest in 2013. That card was signed Willie Mays Aikens. Willie apparently dropped the Mays out of his signature shortly after that.

1979 Topps, Al Fitzmorris

#227 AL Fitzmorris

Here is the second card of Al Fitzmorris that I have posted this week. The first one showed him as an Indian and this one has him with the Angels. Add in the Royals card I posted three years ago and we have the three teams that Al played for.

For me, three is the magic number. Whenever I go 'graphing, I almost always take three cards of a player because my book holds three cards per page. Ideally, if that player has played for more than one team, I make sure I get a card of each team. If they played for more than three, I narrow it down by which cards are going to look the best signed. For whatever reason, I just like to mix it up a bit when I get more than one card signed by a player. And, I have effectively done that with Al Fitzmorris with this card. Now I can concentrate on getting a few more Royals cards signed by him in the future.

It is kind of surprising that Al got this card of him as an Angel. His tenure there only lasted nine appearances. Despite the limited work, Al did alright by posting a 6-1 record with a 1.71 ERA.

Al finished his career with a 77-59 record with 7 saves and 3.65 ERA. He still lives in the Kansas City area, so I sure that there will be more cards of him here in the future.

This is final card from the seventies. I am pretty excited to be hitting the '80s with my next post. Expect to be seeing plenty of '81 Donruss coming up.

1971 Topps, Steve Kealey

#43 Steve Kealey

Here is the second of three cards that were signed for me by Steve Kealey at the Wichita card show last year. I posted the first card of Steve earlier this month and it can be seen here.

Steve pitched for the Angels for parts of three seasons, never appearing in more than seventeen games. Over 38 appearances for the Halos, Steve made just three starts and was 3-1 with a save and a 3.82 ERA. One of those starts happened to be a complete game shutout of the Orioles. In that contest, Steve scattered seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. His two strikeout vivtims were Hall of Famers Brooks and Frank Robinson. That is not a bad night right there.

Steve was traded to the White Sox after the 1970 season.

Unfortunately, Steve had given up on the sports goggles by the time this picture was taken. Just see my previous post of him to see what I am talking about.

1969 Topps, Steve Kealey

#224 Steve Kealey

Here is the first of three cards that Steve Kealey signed for me at Rock's bi-monthly card show in Wichita last year. The day of that show was actually my first wedding anniversary. I got to spend the day with my pregnant wife going to a card show and then going brewery hopping afterwards. It was definitely one to remember, for me at least.

This card looks a little bare without Bill Harrelson's signature on it. Steve mentioned that Bill still signs these cards, I just have not found an address for him. Right now, I just have SCN's free account. Since this is the only card that Bill has, there has never been any activity for Bill signing whenever I check the latest successes page. I keep checking back, though, just probably not as much as I should be if I really want to get this card signed again.

I love Steve's sports glasses in his photo. Unfortunately, he will not be wearing those in the next card I post of him.

1965 Topps, Bobby Knoop

#26 Bobby Knoop

The first card from 1965 starts with my last card, for now, of a Los Angeles Angels player. The Angels moved to Anaheim in 1965 and rebranded themselves the California Angels. Luckily, the '65 Topps cards of the Angels still had this lovely LA hat with the halo on top. In '65, the team switched to a CA hat and kept the halo on top before dropping the C from the hat in 1971.

This card of Bobby Knoop was mailed to him in early 2014 and I had it back about two weeks later.

Bobby played in the Major Leagues for parts of nine seasons with the Angels, White Sox, and Royals. He was a second baseman with a good glove and a decent bat at times. I say at times because he was just a .236 hitter for his career. But, he had a monster season in 1966 when he had 17 home runs and 72 RBI. Though he hit just .232 that season, that was the only time that he ever reached double digit home runs and the 72 RBI were about 25 more than he would ever have in any other season. He was rewarded for his efforts that season by making his lone All Star team. He went 0-2 in the game with a strikeout to Jim Bunning.

Bobby won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 1966-68.

That autograph on this card is a little hard to make out because of where he signed. But, with the close-up face shot, there are not any good spaces for a large signature like that.

1963 Topps, Don Lee

#372 Don Lee

Back-to-back Angels cards? Make that back-to-back Los Angeles Angels cards. That night never happened on here ever again.

This one is of the former Tiger, Senator, Twin, Angel, Astro, and Cub, Don Lee. I mailed this card to Don on the last day of 2012 and I had it back eight days later.

Don pitched in the Majors for nine seasons. He both started and relieved, but appeared in more games as a reliever. He was 40-44 with 11 saves and a 3.61 ERA for his career. His best season was probably with the Halos in 1964. That year, he was 5-4 with 2 saves and a career-best 2.72 ERA. Plus, he racked up 73 strikeouts in 89.1 innings, which was his best season for K/9.

Unfortunately, the halo on Don's hat is about as hard to see as it is on the last post of Buck Rogers. Maybe I need to find a card to get signed where that Halo is a bit more prominent.

1963 Topps, Bob Rogers

#280 Bob Rogers

Here is the second of two cards that Buck Rogers signed for me in 2013. I posted the first one, an '81 Donruss, later that year and it can be seen here.

When I found Buck's address and saw that he signed TTM, I kept an eye out for a card from his playing days the next time I attended the Wichita card show. This was the only one I found, but I was pleased to find it as it is always fun to get a Topps rookie cup card signed. It is even more fun to get an old one signed with the original trophy. I am pretty sure that this is the oldest rookie cup card that I have signed.

Buck spent his entire playing career with the Angels. He played nine seasons with them and hit .232 with 31 home runs and 288 RBI. His best season was his rookie campaign in which he hit .258 with 6 dingers, 34 doubles, and 61 RBI.

In this photo, you can just barely see the halo on the top of Buck's hat.