1989 Star Durham Bulls, Andy Tomberlin

#23 Andy Tomberlin


Here is a card that I got signed at the Rickwood Classic last month. Andy is the batting coach for the Birmingham Barons. The only cards that I could find of him were minor league cards and when Andy saw them, he said "wow, you've got some old ones".

This card is actually out of a team set that I got at a card shop in the early '90s. The scan didn't come out too well, but the borders are actually orange and blue, like the Bulls colors. The only other notable names in the set (that I can think of) are Steve Avery and Kevin Costner. Unfortunately, the Costner card got lost in a TTM attempt. Other than that, the rest of the set is still intact.

I thought that it was kind of neat that Star changed up their borders between the team sets and the set that was available in packs. The two-toned team color border is a nice improvement over the single color borders.

Come back later tonight to find out how to get into the second and final phase of the CWS contest.

1997 Cal/Car All-Stars, George Lombard

#35 George Lombard

Sorry for the super-late post, but I've had a long day today. For starters, I ended up having to work three and half hours longer than I was supposed to. To make the day even worse, I stayed up too late last night and got up too early today. Then throw in the fact that I am getting a cold and you might begin to see how my day was. I came home from work and ate and then fell asleep on the couch watching hockey.

I'm up now, so here is a post for George Lombard.

This is another card that Paul, from Paul's Random Stuff, got signed for me at an Atlantic League game this past summer. George was playing for the Ducks at the time.

George has been playing pro ball since 1994. I thought that he was a career minor leaguer, but I was wrong. He has appeared in 144 Major League games with the Braves, Tigers, Devil Rays, and Nationals. Half of those games came in 2002 as a member of the Tigers. For his career, he is a .220 hitter who has 77 hits and 111 strikeouts.

He has also played at the AAA level with Boston, Florida, Los Angeles, and Cleveland. He played in 8 games this past year with the Columbus Clippers before moving to the Atlantic League. With the Ducks, he hit .343 in 50 games with 11 homers and 49 RBI. I would think with a season like that, he will have a job somewhere next season.

1997 Cal/Car All Stars, Mark DeRosa

#30 Mark DeRosa

I got this card signed this past April at the first Major League game I attended this year. Mark was with the Indians then and he signed all three of my cards during batting practice. I have four cards from this set signed, and this is by far the best one.

I find it hard to believe that Mark has been in the Majors since 1998. When I think of him, I don't think of a ten-year vet. He is a free agent this year and it will be interesting to see what king of deal he gets. He is a versatile player that can play anywhere in the infield and the corner outfield positions. He's good for 20 home runs and 75 RBI, but he will be turning 35 in February. I really don't see him getting more than a three year deal, but you never know.

I didn't notice it on the first two cards from this set I posted, but it is pretty obvious on this card. Whoever made this set decided to tilt all of the pictures so the they are aligned with the reddish-orange border. I thought that they were trying to outdo some of the '70s Topps shots, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

As for the Durham Bulls, they are still around. But, they moved from high-A all the way up to AAA. You don't see that very often. I hear that it might have something to do with some movie.