1990 CMC, Ed Sprague

#345 Ed Sprague

Here is the second Ed Sprague card that I got signed at a Kansas State baseball game two seasons ago. Ed is the head coach of the Pacific Tigers and he was nice enough to sign three cards for me after the game. The first card, which I posted two years ago, can be seen here.

Ed played in the Majors for eleven seasons, playing with the Blue Jays, A's, Padres, Pirates, Red Sox, and Mariners. He spent his first seven and a half seasons with Toronto before bouncing around ever year for the final four seasons. He was primarily used as a third baseman and, for his career, he hit .247 with 152 home runs and 558 RBI.

In the 1992 World Series, Ed, who had played in only 22 games during the regular season, hit a pinch hit two-run home run in game two against the Braves. The dinger came in the top of the ninth and put Toronto in the lead. They won the game to tie the Series before winning it in six games.

1992 Skybox AAA, Doug Linton

#228 Doug Linton

Here is the second and final Doug Linton card that I was able to get signed in Colorado Springs over the summer. Doug was the pitching coach for the Sky Sox and I got this card signed just prior to the game.

For some reason, I did not buy nearly as many of these Skybox cards as I did of the Line Drive cards that looked similar and came out the previous year. I'm not sure if that was because my local supermarket did not carry these or if it was because I was about to enter high school and collecting was about to hit the back burner. Either way, it kind of sucks because I have few of these cards to search through when looking for cards to get signed.

If you haven't already, you need to head over to The Great Orioles Autograph Project and enter his second annual postseason contest. It is real easy to enter and you could come out with cool and unique prizes. The deadline to enter is at first pitch tomorrow (Friday).

1990 CMC, Doug Linton

#331 Doug Linton

Here is a card that I got signed in Colorado Springs over the summer. Doug is the pitching coach for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and I was able to get this card signed just before the game started (and right after I got the previous post to sign).

Doug pitched in the Majors for parts of seven seasons, but I was unable to find a single Major League card of him. I bought a bunch of cards to get signed on that trip, but I did not bother to buy any cards of Doug. I had dug up two minor league cards of him and I thought for sure that I would be able to find a Major League card in my collection. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Doug's Major League career only lasted seven seasons, but those seven seasons spanned over twelve years. He made his debut with the Jays in 1992 and he pitched a few games with them in '93 before being claimed by the Angels early on that season. He then pitched for the Mets in '94 before playing for the Royals in '95 and '96. After that, he disappeared to the minors for a few years before appearing for the Orioles in '99 and then the Jays again in 2003.

For his career, Doug was 17-20 with zero saves and a 5.78 ERA.

I really like Doug's signature. His last name isn't exactly readable, but it sure looks cool.

1990 CMC 4

#350 Mark Whiten

I got this card signed through the mail in 1993 when Mark was playing for the Cardinals. In September of that year, Mark had a four home run, twelve RBI game (both record tying). The game was game two of a doubleheader. In the first game, he had one RBI. So, for the day, he had thirteen RBI which tied the National League mark for RBI in a doubleheader. I probably sent this card to him the very next day.

On a side note, a got a random package in the mail today. Matt, from Heartbreaking Cards, sent me a package with three autographed cards in it. They are fairly new cards, so it will be a little while before I get to them on here. But, I wanted to give a shout out to Matt and tell him thanks.