2008 Goudey, Dennis Eckersley

#135 Dennis Eckersley

I figured that since Bobby Doerr and Sparky Anderson each got a post from this set, Eck might as well get one, too.

So, here is the third and final card that I got him to sign at the College World Series in 2014. My main focus at the event was getting his '81 Donruss signed. After that, I had this card and his '87 Fleer card and it didn't really matter which one got signed. In the line, I had the '81D and my wife had the other two cards. Somehow, she sweet-talked her way into getting both of them signed by him. She never ceases to amaze me.

Anymore, when retired players appear in modern sets, I would much rather get an original card of theirs signed instead of one after they retired. And, while I wanted a signed card of Dennis with the A's, he was with them during the junk wax era. So, when it came down to taking a 1990 Donruss card or this one, this was the easy choice.

Dennis pitched for the A's for nine seasons and was phenomenal. After being a starter his whole career, the A's threw him out of the bullpen and it resurrected his career. During his tenure in Oakland, he went 41-31 with 320 saves and a 2.74 ERA. He made four All Star teams with them and lead the league in saves twice, including his career high of 51 in 1992. Plus, he helped the club to the postseason four times and helped them to the championship in 1989.

For a couple of years, the CWS stopped doing autograph signings. It was kind of a bummer because I was so used to coming home from Omaha with autographs like this. Then last year, they started it back up again. The only difference was that they were during the week instead of the weekend. The day I was there last summer was supposed to have Ryan Howard signing. But, some crazy weather hit town and it got cancelled. So, you will not be seeing a signed 2008 Goudey Ryan Howard on here.

I posted the first two cards of Dennis two years ago. His '81D can be seen here and his '87 Fleer here.

2007 Bowman, Lars Davis

#BDPP19 Lars Davis

Here is a card that I got signed at the College World Series in 2015. Lars is a coach for the University of Florida Gators and I was able to get him before one of the games I attended. I could not got this card signed without the help of Peter Alonso. I had to ask him where Lars was and Peter sent him over to me. The way it is looking, I should have been asking Peter for his autograph.

Lars played minor league ball for eight seasons without getting a crack at the Majors. Over that time, he was a .250 hitter that had 30 home runs and 197 RBI. He reached AAA and played 92 games at that level and hit .253.

It seems odd that Lars ended up at Florida. For starters, Lars is Canadian and Florida is about as far away from Canada as one can get. On top of that, he played college ball at Illinois. I am not sure how he got on at Florida, but they sure have done well since he joined the staff five years ago. Since that time, they have won the College World Series and have made four consecutive trips to Omaha.

While t doesn't happen every year, it is fun to find a guy coaching in Omaha that I have a card of.

2004 Bowman Heritage, Blake Hawksworth

#320 Blake Hawksworth

Here is a card that I got signed at the College World Series last summer. Blake was the pitching coach for Cal State Fullerton and I was able to get him to sign two cards for me prior to a game in which his pitching staff blew a lead against Oregon State. Somehow, this autograph got smudged and I have no clue how it happened.

It is not very often that I get autographs from coaches at the College World Series, but I have got a few. Off the top of my head, I have got Mike Benjamin, Mike Birkbeck, Ray Heyward, Lars Davis, and Chris Valaika. Considering that I have been going to the CWS every year for a dozen years now, you can see that autograph chances with guys that have cards are pretty scarce.

Blake pitched in the Majors for three seasons with the Cardinals and Dodgers. Over that span, he was 10-13 with a 4.07 ERA in 183.1 innings of work. His best season was with the Cards in his rookie season, 2009. That year, he was 4-0 in 30 appearances out of the pen and had an ERA of 2.03.

Cal State Fullerton seems to go through pitching coaches pretty rapidly. The year before Blake was the pitching coach, Chad Cordero had the role and some other guy had the job this season. Right now, the Titans do not even have a pitching coach listed on their website.

1989 Fleer, Ray Hayward

#521 Ray Hayward

Here is the third and final card that Ray Hayward signed for me at the College World Series in 2014. Ray was the pitching coach for Texas Tech and he signed for me on the field as he was watching his guys get loosened up. You can see the first card I posted of him here and the second one here.

Ray started 12 games for the Rangers in 1988, his last season in the Majors. Over those starts, he went 4-6 with a 5.46 ERA. He lasted 62.2 innings and gave up 63 hits while walking 35 and striking out 37. The highlight of that season was the complete game shutout he hurled in Toronto. Over the 9 innings, he scattered just 6 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5. That win improved him to 3-0 on the year. His ERA was 1.63 after that contest.

Ray began his tenure at Texas Tech in 2013. Under his tutelage, the Red Raiders pitchers have lead the team to the College World Series twice and won the Big 12 championship in 2016. On top of that, prior to the 2017 season, seventeen Tech pitchers have gone on to get drafted or sign free agent minor league contracts with clubs.

It looks like Ray will be taking on a new role next season. Though he will still be with Tech, he will no longer be their pitching coach and is instead listed as a special assistant.

I am glad that I got this card signed in black. Since I rarely get autographs from Royals anymore, I hardly bother with a black Sharpie. But, I was still carrying one around in 2014 and it came in handy on this card.

1988 Topps, Ray Hayward

#47T Ray Hayward

Here is the second card that Ray Hayward signed for me at the College World Series in 2014. Ray is the pitching coach for Texas Tech and I got him to sign on the field during pregame. I posted the first card of Ray a couple of months ago and that one can be seen here.

It is not too often that you can get baseball cards signed at college games. Off the top of my head, the only former Major Leaguers that I have gotten are Ray, Darin Erstad, Vance Law, Tim Stoddard, Robbie Wine, Ed Sprague, Troy Percival, Mike Benjamin, Chris Valaika, and Blake Hawksworth. Ten guys doesn't sound too bad. But, with all of the colleges that are out there, it is a very tiny percent compared to minor league ball. One trend that I have noticed the last few years is that a guy will take a position at a school and do that for a year or two before getting a gig in the minors. Some of the guys that I have seen do that are Valaika, Ryan Garko, and Chad Cordero. All three of them coached at California schools and all three now coach in the minor leagues.

Besides those guys, there are a few others coaching in college that I either haven't seen play or got turned down from. Kirk Saarloos is the pitching coach for TCU. He turned me down once. Andy Stankiewicz is the head coach at Grand Canyon and Andy Cannizaro is the head coach at Mississippi State. Shawn Marcum is the pitching coach for Missouri Southern State, a DII school.

1987 Topps, John Kruk

#123 John Kruk

Here is the fifth and final card of John Kruk that I got signed at the College World Series in 2014. I posted three cards of him with the Phillies later that year and those can be seen here, here, and here. I posted one other Padres card of him last month and that one can be seen here.

John played for San Diego for three full seasons. After hitting over .300 for his first two seasons, John's average dipped to .241 in his third season. In his fourth season, he got off to a slow start and was hitting just .184 over 31 games and the Padres decided to make a change. They shipped him and Randy Ready to the Phillies in exchange for Chris James. John finished his tenure with the Padres hitting .281 with 36 home runs and 179 RBI.

John went on to play for the Phillies for five and a half seasons. Over that time, he made three All Star teams and helped the club to the 1993 Wolrd Series. After the 1994 season, John signed with the White Sox and played his final season with them that year. John finished his career a .300 hitter with 100 home runs and 593 RBI. His best season was with the Phillies in 1991 when he hit .294 and had career-highs in homers (21) and RBI (92).

1987 Fleer, Steve Carlton

#635 Steve Carlton

Here is a fun card of Steve Carlton that I got signed at the College World Series in 2014. This is the third and final card that I got signed that day. The first one, his '81 Donruss, can bee seen here and the second one here.

On August 5th, 1986, Steve struck out Eric Davis to record his 4,000th career strikeout. In my opinion, that is quite a milestone. At that point, he was just the second pitcher to ever record 4,000 strikeouts. Yet, for some reason, this is the only base card of Steve commemorating that feat. While Donruss never really had a subset for milestones or record breakers, Topps did at that time and this one went unrecognized by them. I think it is funny that Steve broke the record while with the Giants, but us shown with the White Sox on this card, though.

In case you are wondering, Steve is now fourth on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 4,136 K's. Nolan Ryan is first, followed by Randy Johnson and then Roger Clemens.

It is so strange seeing Steve with the White Sox. It is about as strange as seeing Tom Seaver with them.

1987 Fleer, Dennis Eckersley

#563 Dennis Eckersley

Here is the second of three cards that I got signed by Hall of Famer, Dennis Eckersley, at the College World Series in 2014. Those were the good days when they brought in former players to sign autographs. I got a lot of great signatures over the years while they were doing that. But, on the other hand, it is kind of nice that they don't do it anymore. The signings were kind of a distraction and made it hard to watch baseball. I would leave games early to get in line or hang out in line while the people I was with went into the game to get a seat. Now I just get to relax and watch competitive college baseball. And not get autographs from Hall of Famers.

My wife actually got this particular card signed for me. In fact, she got two signed. I gave her this one and an A's card and told her to pick one out. Being indecisive, she was unable to do that, so Eck went ahead and signed both for her. Since he signed two, he did not add the Hall of Fame inscription like he did with the '81 Donruss he signed for me.

Dennis pitched for the Cubs for two and a half seasons. He was dealt to Chicago for Bill Buckner during the '84 season. After starting the season 4-4 with the Red Sox, he went 10-8 with the Cubbies and posted a 3.03 ERA. The next season, he was 11-7 with a 3.08 ERA. In 1986, he went 6-11 with a 4.57 ERA. The Cubs traded him to Oakland right before the start of the '87 season for three minor leaguers that would never play in the Majors. Eckersley would never start a game again and would go on to punch his ticket to Cooperstown as the A's closer.

1987 Donruss, Ray Hayward

#632 Ray Hayward

Here is the first of three cards that I got signed by Ray Hayward at the College World Series in 2014. Ray is the pitching coach for Texas Tech and was nice enough, and a little surprised, to sign for me before the Red Raiders opening game of the series.

This is the only Padres card of Ray that is out there. He made three starts for San Diego in 1986 and did not fare too well. He only lasted 10 innings and went 0-2 with an ERA of 9.00. He gave up 16 hits, walked 4, struck out 6, threw 5 wild pitches, and even balked once.

Two of those three starts were really bad. But, he did have one quality start in there against the Dodgers where he pitched six innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out six. The Padres were down 3-1 when he came out, but he got the no-decision when they rallied for a 7-6 victory.

Ray made four relief appearances with San Diego in 1987 and posted a 16.50 ERA in 6 innings of work.

1986 Topps, John Kruk

#56T John Kruk

Here is the first John Kruk card that I have posted on here in three years. I posted three Phillies cards of him the last time around and now I finally have a Padre card to show off. This card, like the previous three, was signed at the College World Series in 2014. That was during the good old days when corporate sponsors brought in former players to sign autographs.

Unlike Pete Incaviglia in the previous post, John played some minor league ball before making his Major League debut. And I am sure that there was much less hype around his debut than Inky had. Nevertheless, John had a solid, yet unspectacular, rookie campaign with the Padres in 1986. He got into 122 games that year, but only started 68 of those. The rest of them he entered as a pinch hitter. He only had 4 home runs and 38 RBI, but he did hit .309. Surprisingly, John received a vote for Rookie of the Year while Pete did not.

On a side note, I recently chose to become unemployed. So, I am hoping that this downtime will allow me to do some catching up on this blog and get a card a day posted until I find a new job. But, I am so far behind on here that, even if I go forty days without finding work, I will only be posting cards from the early '90s at that point.

1983 Topps, Steve Carlton

#406 Steve Carlton

With regional play starting today, the first phase of the College World Series contest is closed off. Phase two will start in about ten days and you can get back into the contest then.

Speaking of the College World Series, here is a card that I got signed there in 2014. While I always get autographs when I make it to the opening weekend, I do not always get cards signed. Quite a few of the players will only sign the 8x10s provided. I got lucky in 2014 and got 8x10s and cards signed by both Steve Carlton and Dennis Eckersly.

I really like the 1983 Topps set. Having the second inset picture was a cool addition, in my opinion. Even though the All Star cards lack the inset picture, I still love the way they came out looking. I miss when the days when Topps had a redesigned All Star subset. Nowadays, they just add a logo to what basically looks like a base card.

I'll be heading up to Omaha two weeks from Friday. I am already getting a little anxious to see who AT&T is going to bring in for autograph sessions. I hope it is someone new that signs cards and is a need for the '81 Donruss set.

1981 Donruss, Steve Carlton

#481 Steve Carlton

Here is a card of Hall of Fame pitcher, Steve Carlton, that I was lucky enough to get signed at the College World Series in 2014. Steve was signing at the always popular AT&T tent and was one of the few Hall members that would sign anything. Most of the guys in that tent will only sign the provided 8x10.

Steve was the first big name player that I had seen there more than once. I had the pleasure of getting an 8x10 signed by him at the CWS in 2007. That was my first trip to the CWS in ten years and I had no idea that they brought players in to sign. But, the big names that show up are one of the main reasons I keep going back every year.

Steve has two cards in the '81 Donruss set, his base card and this Cy Young card. I unfortunately do not have his base card, so I got a couple other random cards signed by him. Still, it would have been nice to have knocked off both of his cards from the set in one setting. All the more reason I need to put a want list up and get the set knocked out. One of these days.....

'81 Donruss Tracker: #217

1981 Donruss, Dennis Eckersley

#96 Dennis Eckersley

Here is a rarity for me these days with the '81 Donruss set. It is a card that was actually signed in-person. I got this card signed at the College World Series in 2014. AT&T always brings in former ballplayers to sign autographs during the opening weekend of the series. Most of the time, the player will only sign the 8x10 photograph that AT&T provides. I got lucky with Dennis, though, as he was signing everything that was given to him.

Some of the guys that I am missing from the set, that signed only 8x10s at the College World Series, are Dave Winfield, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Jim Rice, Bruce Sutter, Ozzie Smith, and Fred Lynn.

When I think of Dennis Eckersley, I do not think of him as a member of the Red Sox. He played for them from 1978-1984 and was a starter the entire time. He had four double-digit win seasons, including a career high of twenty in 1978. During his tenure in Boston, Dennis was 88-71 with a 3.92 ERA and 771 strikeouts and one All Star Game appearance in 1982. Those numbers include the final season of his career, which happened to be with the Sox in 1998.

In May of 1984, Dennis was traded to the Cubs in the deal that brought Bill Buckner to Boston.

I love that Dennis included the Hall of Fame inscription to the card. I do not remember asking for it, but I probably did considering that I did not get one on the 8x10s or the other cards that he signed.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #186

2006 Topps, Kenny Lofton

#97 Kenny Lofton

Here is the fifth and final card that I got signed by Kenny Lofton last year at the College World Series. Kenny signed at the Capitol One tent and, for some reason, there was a much smaller crowd there than at the main signing area at the AT&T tent. Because of that, I was able to go through the line three times. I could have gone through more, but I ran out of cards.

Here are the previous cards that I posted.

Minor League card

Astros

Indians

Yankees

Even with the addition of this card of Kenny with the Phillies, I am still missing some of the teams he played on. I do not have signed cards of him as a Brave, White Sox, Giant, Pirate, Cub, Dodger, or Ranger. Kenny sure got around over the final few years of his career.

With the Phillies, in 2005, Kenny had a really good season. He hit .335 with 22 stolen bases. That was the second highest batting average he ever had for a season. His best average took place eleven seasons earlier while with Cleveland.

Kenny played in the playoffs every season except for one from 2001-2007. The one season he did not appear in the postseason was his year in Philadelphia.

2004 Topps Cracker Jack, Kenny Lofton

#28 Kenny Lofton

Here is the fourth card that I have posted from the Kenny Lofton signing at the College World Series Fanfest last year. Kenny was signing at the Capital One booth and I was able to make it through the line several times. Because of that, this is not the last of the cards that Kenny signed for me that day. I think that there is still one more to post.

The last card I posted of Kenny was of him as an Indian, the team I think of when I think of him. After his final season in Cleveland in 2001, Kenny became quite the journeyman. He played six more seasons after that and managed to play on nine different teams. He played for the White Sox, Giants, Pirates, Cubs, Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Rangers, and finished up an Indian. He played in the postseason every year during that journey, except for 2005.

Kenny spent all of the 2004 season with the Yankees. He got into 83 games that season and he hit .275. He stole a career low 7 bases that season. In the playoffs, the Yankees went to the ALCS and Kenny played in four games in the two series. He hit .285 that postseason with a home run and a stolen base.

After the season, Kenny was traded to the Phillies for Felix Rodriguez.

I like this set. I know you cannot tell by the scan, but this card is a mini. The weird thing about the card is that the text is upside down on the back. Are all of the cards from this set like that?

1995 Upper Deck Minors, Aaron Boone

#95 Aaron Boone

This is the second of three cards that I got signed by Aaron Boone at the College World Series this past summer. I posted the first one about a month ago and it can be seen here.

This is only the second signed card from this set that I own, and the first one that I have gotten in person. That is kind of a shame, because for a minor league set, this one really sets itself apart. Upper Deck did a good job with this one, even if they only copied their '95 base set look.

Aaron was working for ESPN when I got this card signed. He is still with them and you can hear him tonight working the World Series for ESPN Radio.

Speaking of the World Series, I made it to game one last week. The game did not turn out the way I wanted, but I still had a great time and enjoyed the experience. Since the Royals lost badly, the highlight of my day was getting a ball signed by Big Papi, David Ortiz.

I had to camp out by the Fox booth for over an hour to get the ball signed, but it was definitely worth it. Here was my view from the field while I was waiting.

Here was our view from the seats. Not too bad for just $165.

1995 Ultra, Kenny Lofton

#38 Kenny Lofton

Here is the third card that I have posted from the Kenny Lofton autograph line at the College World Series this year. It was an interesting autograph session as it was billed as hitting lessons and autographs. He was teamed up with Capital One and, before he started signing, he was over at the wiffle ball field Capitol One had set up. Normally, kids would be out there taking turns hitting a few balls and then shagging them. Then Kenny showed up and started giving lessons. It was pretty neat and he was really interactive with the kids. I told my then-fiance to take our kid over there, but he was way too deep in line to get to hit when Kenny was there.

While that was all going on, my dad and I were standing in line for autographs. There was a large monitor set up that was airing Kenny's hitting critique to everyone at Fanfest. I though it was pretty cool. My dad, on the other hand, thought otherwise. He was annoyed that he was over there and not signing and was worried that would be cutting into his time signing. I told him to chill out and that was how it was scheduled and that everything was going to be alright. As usual, I was right and I went through the line several times.

When I think of Kenny Lofton, I think of him as an Indian. He played for seventeen seasons and parts of ten of those were in Cleveland. He was with the franchise on three separate occasions and it is the only team, out of eleven, that he played with for more than one season. He ranks in the top ten for all time Indians players for hits (ninth), sac flies and WAR for position players (fourth), runs (third), and stolen bases (first). His 452 stolen bases is 173 more than second place, who happens to be Omar Vizquel.

On an unrelated note, I was supposed to be at game three of the ALCS tonight. Unfortunately, rain washed out the game and I was only an hour and ten minutes away from the stadium when I found out about postponement. But, I have it covered and, although I have to burn a day of vacation, I will be at the park tomorrow. I can't wait. Go Royals!!

1994 Ultra, John Kruk

#7 John Kruk

Here is the last card for some time that John Kruk signed for me this summer. John was at the College World Series with ESPN and he was nice enough to do two free autograph signings during the opening weekend of Fanfest. I made my way through each line once and I must say that John was one of the most talkative guys I have seen at CWS Fanfest. It really was a pleasure to get to meet him.

This card certainly fits the bill of one of my more fun cards that I got signed this summer (right along with his Collector's Choice checklist card). If you have never seen one of these cards before, it might be because you are not a Phillies fan. The Phillies Finest insert set was a small one dedicated to two players with bad haircuts- John Kruk and Darren Daulton. The set included twenty-four cards, twelve of each player. There were ten cards in each series and four cards were available as a wrapper redemption. Fleer even included 1000 signed cards by each player. Pretty rad, huh?

The back of each card chronicles the career of each player. This one talks about what lead to John being dealt to Philadelphia.

I am pretty sure that I had that exact same pair of cleats that John is wearing, but in black. They just don't make them like they used to.

1994 Signature Rookies Draft Picks, Aaron Boone

#62 Aaron Boone

Here is a card that I got signed at the College World Series this summer. Aaron works for ESPN and he was in town to work the games. All State took advantage of him being there and had him at their booth signing autographs the day before the games started. His line went rather quick and I was able to get all three of my cards signed, and a few 8x10s, while I was standing in line for John Kruk.

I had a really hard time finding cards of Aaron to take to get signed. My card storage system is rather lacking. I need to spend some serious time getting my stuff together and sorted. I can find stuff for all of the current players and all of my cards pre-2004 are pretty well sorted. But, I have to do some major digging to find cards of any player that has retired in the past ten years.

That is how I came to get this card signed. It would not have been my first option, but I could not find anything better. I found this card, a minor league card, and an '08 Topps Heritage card. Do you know what team he is playing for on the Heritage card? The Astros. Do you know how long his career as an Astro lasted? Thirteen at-bats. I could not find a single Reds card of him, or even a Yankee or Indians card. I need to get my stuff together.

Even though this was not my first choice, I am still glad I got it signed. It was at the College World Series and it shows him playing for USC. The 8x10s they handed out also depicted him as a Trojan.

1994 Collector's Choice, John Kruk

#326 John Kruk

Here is the second card that John Kruk signed for me at the College World Series this summer. The first one can be seen here.

Most of the time, when I am trying to find cards for a signing, I will hit up checkoutmycards. I don't usually go there to buy cards. I mostly got there to look at the pretty pictures. Basically, I use the site to give me a general idea of where I need to look when starting my card hunt. While there are better sites available as a card database, I choose COMC for the large pictures. I go on there to see which cards look the best to get signed and then I start digging through my cards for the ones I like.

That is how I came to choose this card to get signed. I saw it on COMC and it looked familiar, so I figured I had it in my collection. Turns out I was right. I do not usually go out of my way to find checklists to get signed, but I could not pass this card up. And, I must say that I am extremely happy with the results.