1998 Best, Braden Looper

NN Braden Looper

This card of former reliever/now starter, Braden Looper, is one of the few cards from 1998 that wasn't sent to me by another blogger. In fact, I got this card in one of the strangest places. You know those packages of cards from Target that has 100 random cards in it and a couple of junk wax packs? I actually bought one of those once and I got this card in it. I was so happy about it that I went and bought another one. I wasn't so lucky on the second one and I never bought any more.

Looper, a Wichita State alum, used to close for the Marlins and Mets. As a Met in 2004, he recorded a career high 29 saves. He then went to St. Louis and pitched in relief for a year before Tony LaRussa decided to turn him into a starter. He has started since 2007 and his numbers aren't that great. He is 38-33 with a 4.76 ERA and 295 strikeouts. His career ERA is 4.15, so it was probably under 4 as a reliever.

This is actually my fourth card that I have posted of the Prince William Cannons. The previous three were of Yankee farmhands. This one is from their affiliation with the Cardinals.

I probably don't have to say it because it is so obvious, but I will anyway. Braden Looper has one of the worst signatures that I have ever seen.

1992 Classic/Best, Tim Garland

#222 Tim Garland

Here is another player that never made it to the Majors. Unlike the previous two that I have shown who didn't make it, Tim Garland didn't even get close. His first pro season was 1989. By 1992, he was still playing A ball. I don't know if he wasn't very good or if he got hurt all the time, but he never played in more than 71 games in a season. After 1992, he was out of baseball until 1996. In 1996, he went back to A. In 1997, he stole 85 bases for the San Jose Giants. Then, in 1998, he had finally made it to AA. He was probably the oldest player in the league. He played in AA in 1999, too. After that, he was out of baseball again until 2003. Then he reemerged in the independent Atlantic League. 2004 was his last season playing, for now.

I got this card signed last summer in Lancaster, California. Tim was the hitting coach for the Stockton Ports.

Looking at his stats from the year before this card came out, I am surprised that he even got a card made of him at all.

1991 Classic/Best, Sam Militello Jr.

#150 Sam Militello

I got this card signed through the mail in 1992, I believe. I got this one in the same fashion as the Easley card I posted yesterday (waiting for a call-up).

The thing that stands out to me on this card is the inclusion of Jr. on the card. It would make sense to include that if his father had played baseball professionally, like Pete Rose or Ken Griffey. But he didn't. Orel Hershiser is technically Orel Hershiser IV, but I've never seen the IV added to any of his cards. Apparently Classic thought that Sam was a special case that needed the Jr. tag added. Maybe Classic was located in Florida (Sam's home state) and Senior was a big-time lawyer or carpet store owner or something. Either way, it is still kind of weird.

I was checking out Sam's minor league stats and they look very impressive. His first season in pro ball was 1990, and by 1992 he got a call-up to the Big Leagues. In that call-up, he posted a 3-3 record in 9 starts, with a 3.45 ERA. The next season, he must have tore his arm up since he only made 10 appearances (7 in AAA and 3 in the Majors). In the three seasons after that, he only made 11 starts and didn't fair too well. That is too bad. He was on the fast-track and it all fell apart.

I like to post a summary for the previous minor league teams that I've done, so here is this one. The first one from this set featured the Harrisburg Senators. They are still alive and kicking and are in the same league and with the same parent club, kind of. They were with the Expos and now they are with the Nationals (same organization, different name). The second card featured the Miami Miracle. With the Marlins in town, this team moved to Ft. Myers and is affiliated with the Twins, I believe. Yesterday's card showed off the Midland Angels. That team is now the Midland RockHounds and they are affiliated with the A's. Today's card is a Prince William Cannon. This team is still around, but they are now called the Potomac Nationals and are obviously affiliated with the Nats.

Another cool thing about this card is the pose. Off of the top of my head, I can't think of too many posed shots of pitchers where he is lifting his lead leg. They are usually just toeing the rubber or have their hands over their heads like the 1976 cards.

1989 Star

#90 Bill Masse

This is the first card on here of a player that never made it to the big leagues. Billy played AAA for four seasons, all in the Yankee organization, before hanging it up. In his second season of AAA, he hit .316 with 19 homers and 91 RBI. I figured that kind of season would at least get him a September call-up, but it didn't. So close.

I got this card signed in San Antonio in August. Bill was the manager of the Missions. I tried to get him to sign after the game was over, before he left the dugout, but he didn't. So I waited outside the ballpark for him to come out. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Around eleven o'clock, I said to myself "I'll give him fifteen minutes, and then I'm leaving". Fifteen minutes later, I said the exact same thing. Fifteen minutes later, I said "screw it, I've waited this long" and sat out and waited until he came out. Finally, about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game ended (and nearly midnight), he came out and signed both of my cards. It wasn't like I had to be anywhere anyway. I was just going to leave the game, drive north for a few hours and sleep in my car at a truck stop. So, it didn't really matter if I left at ten or twelve.

Even though it is just a minor league card, this is the first card on here of a player from the Yankee organization.