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.

1996 Best, Mendy Lopez

#40 Mendy Lopez

Here is a card that I picked up from Checkoutmycards for sixty cents.

Mendy's Major League career spanned parts of seven seasons with the Royals, Marlins, Astros, and Pirates. He was a utility infielder that played all four spots and a bit of outfield. He saw the most significant playing time as a rookie for the Royals in 1998. That season, he got into 74 games and had 206 at-bats. That was the only season that he ever had more than 100 at-bats. He hit .243 that year with 10 doubles and 15 RBI.

Mendy would play in just 117 games over the next six seasons. The only time he got decent playing time was when he came back to the Royals in 2003. That year, he got into 52 games and had 94 at-bats. He had career highs in home runs (3) and average (.277) that season.

While Mendy was never a star player, or even a regular, he is held high in Royals lore. On Opening Day in 2004, Mendy hit a three-run pinch hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the ballgame. The Royals went on to win the game. It was supposed to be the home run that was going to jump start the team's season, as they were picked as the favorites by most people. But, the team never got it going and Mendy was sold to the Korean League after playing in just 18 games.

Even though Mendy hasn't played in the Majors since '04, he kept on playing in Mexico through last season.

1997 Cal/Car All Stars, John Mizerock

#26 John Mizerock

I got this card signed in '08 at a Royals game. John was the Royals bullpen coach at the time and I got this card signed by the bullpen while John was smoking a cigarette (actually, I got it right after he smoked it). He signed all three cards for me and a fourth at a later date. I'm not sure which is which now, but you can see them here, here, and here.

I like how this sets reverses the colors for the two leagues. I also like cards of players/coaches signing autographs. Those are fun cards to have signed.

John was the manager of the Wilmington Blue Rocks in this card. They are still playing in the Carolina League and they are still affiliated with the Royals, though they were not for a few years. John managed at every level for the Royals and was even an interim manager in Kansas City once. He won at every level and has even been a base coach for the big league club. But for some reason, Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman thought that he was best suited for a bullpen coach. That is until this season ended and they decided they need a former pitcher for a bullpen coach. So, for the first time in a while, John is no longer a part of the Royals organization. I wish him the best of luck.

1993 Classic/Best, Jon Lieber

#110 Jon Lieber

Here is a cool card that I got from Rod, of Padrographs. This is the one autograph that came in the package that he sent me in April. Out of all of the autographs that Rod has given me, this is the first one that didn't have a Padre on it.

The cool part about it is that it featured a young Jon Lieber in the Royals organization. Jon was only in A ball at the time and was still about a year away from the Majors. While Jon never pitched for the Royals, he still had a good Major League career and he made the 2001 National League All-Star team.

I only got to see Jon pitch one time and he threw a great game. It was in Chicago in 1999 while his Cubs played the Pirates. He pitched 8 innings, while scattering 5 hits, along with 1 uneared run. He walked 1 batter and struck out 9. Unfortunately for him, he got lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth and the Cubs scored in the ninth to win the game.

This card features the Wilmington Blue Rocks. The Blue Rocks are still affiliated with the Royals, although they were with the Red Sox for a few years as well.

Tomorrow- 1994!