1993 Classic/Best, Pete Rose, Jr.

#17 Pete Rose, Jr.

Here is the second card of Pete Rose, Jr. that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in November and that one can be seen here.

Pete was the manager for the Wichita Wingnuts the last two seasons and I got this card signed at a game in 2016. Pete's contract with the Wingnuts did not get renewed, so he is moving on this year.

I mentioned in the last post of Pete that I was excited to see who the new Wingnut manager was going to be. I was hoping that it was a former player that had Major League experience and I got what I had hoped for. The only problem is that the new manager played for the Winguts for three or four seasons and I have four cards signed by him already. So, that did not got the way I had wanted.

I absolutely love the photo on this card. With the dust yet to settle, it just screams Pete Rose.

1992 Classic/Best, Marcus Hanel

#242 Marcus Hanel

Here is the second of two cards that Marcus Hanel signed for my older boy at Spring Training last year. Marcus is the bullpen catcher for the Brewers and my boy, with the help from some other 'graphers, was able to get him before a game at Goodyear Ballpark.

It just so happened that the three games we were going to see last year all had the Brewers as the visiting team. Since my boy could care less about autographs, and there is usually less for him to do at a Spring Training park than a Major League park, I put him to work 'graphing the Brewers for me. To make it worth his while, I told him I would give him a dollar for every autograph he got. For some reason, he thought he was going to make $50. But 'graphing is not his thing, and we only made it to two games, so he was only able to get fourteen cards signed. I was more pleased than he was and gave him twenty bucks for his efforts.

As for Marcus, he never made it to the show. He spent eleven seasons in the minors with Pirates, Braves, and D-Backs. He made it to AAA, playing in 37 games at the level over three different seasons. For his career, he was a .193 hitter.

If you check out Hanel's bio on the Brewers coaching staff page, you can learn some interesting fact about him. For starters, he has been the bullpen catcher for the Brewers for eighteen seasons. But, more importantly, he can hold seven baseballs in one hand and he holds the record for the most cheesesteaks consumed in the Phillies visiting team clubhouse over a three and four day stay. In 2015, Marcus smashed 18 cheesesteaks in three days. He had five more on the fourth day for 23 for the four game set. This makes me want to look up the Royals bullpen catcher's bio to see if he even compares to Marcus.

Back in the day, I really loved this set. I am pretty sure I even bought a box of it. But, for whatever reason, I do not have very many cards from the set signed. This one is just the eighth card from it that I have signed and the first one I got signed since 2009. I guess the main drawback for the set is that it does not feature any AAA players, so most of the guys never made it to the Majors. That is my theory at least.

1992 Classic/Best, P.J. Forbes

#376 P.J. Forbes

I got this card signed at the Wilmington Blue Rocks playoff game. PJ was the manager of the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats. At the game, I was trying to get autographs from the Rocks. I had my buddy getting autographs from the 'Cats for me. He wasn't able to get PJ's before the game because he didn't know which one he was. I was able to get the card signed after the game. It was easier to spot him then since he still had on his coaching helmet.

PJ had a long minor league career. He had two brief call-ups to the Majors. The Orioles called him up in 1998 and he got 10 at-bats in 9 games and got one hit. The second call-up came in 2001 with the Phillies. With them, he only got 7 at-bats in 3 games with 2 hits. That was it for his Major League career. He played one more year of AAA ball and that was the end of his playing career.

I like PJ since he played for Wichita State and was on their lone NCAA championship team in 1989. This is the fifth player from that team that I have an autographed card of.

On this card, PJ is playing for the Quad City River Bandits. The Bandits are still around even though they changed their name to the Swing of the Quad Cities for a few years. They play in a beautiful ballpark in Davenport, Iowa that gets flooded from the river occasionally.

1994 Classic/Best Gold, Bill Masse

#43 Bill Masse

This is the second Bill Masse autograph that I have posted on here. The first one was posted way back in November. If you would like to see it and read a little about Bill and the long wait I had to endure to get this card signed, just go here.

Like the last Masse card, I got this one signed after a San Antonio Missions game last August. Bill lead the Missions to the Texas League playoffs last year but was not retained as their manager (Bill's hitting coach from last year took over the team this year). This year, Bill is in the Mets system and was the hitting coach for the AA Binghampton Mets before getting promoted to the AAA Buffalo Bisons last month.

I don't know much about these cards. The only place I ever found them in 1994 was at the KB toy store in the mall. It didn't seem that I got too many good players in the packs. They had too many Gulf Coast League players in it. It also seems strange that this is a Classic/Best product, but the card I posted yesterday was just Classic.

Since this is the last card that I got signed in San Antonio, I figured I would show a couple of ballpark pictures. Here is the best picture of the exterior that I could get (there was too many trees to get a good one).



And everyone knows that you can't have a ballpark in San Antonio without some reference to the Alamo.



Here is a view of the seating area.

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!

1991 Classic/Best, Brian Williams

#14 Brian Williams

Here is the second Brian Williams card that I got at Astros Fanfest. This is also the second card that I got signed there that featured an Osceola Astro on it. This picture must have been taken in Spring Training, though, since Brian has an "H" on his cap rather than the "O".

Luckily, I am almost done with all of these catch-up posts. On Saturday, I will be starting the 1994 cards. I'm looking forward to that because I am tired of showing the same people on here three times in a week or two. Plus, I am looking forward to getting back to doing one post a day. And to kick off the fact that I am finally getting to my 1994 cards, I will be having a one of a kind contest. So stay tuned for that.

1993 Classic Best, Joel Chimelis

#161 Joel Chimelis

Here is the latest card on here of a player that never made it to the Majors.

I got this card signed at a Brooklyn Cyclones game last summer. Joel was the hitting coach for the visiting Tri-City Valley Cats. He was nice enough to sign the one card I could find of him, but he didn't say much. He did still have the same style mustache.

Joel played nine years in the minor leagues before calling it quits. He spent most of the time in the Giants organization. He played part of four seasons in AAA, but never got the call.

When I was getting ready for my New York trip, I was rounding up cards of some of the coaches I was going to see. Somehow, I came across this card. I was pretty lucky to find it since I don't have too many from this set. I probably have only three or fours packs worth. The funny thing about this set is how closely they resemble '93 Fleer. But, I'll get into that more next week.

As for the Phoenix Firebirds, they were forced out of town by the Arizona Diamondbacks. So, they moved to Tuscon and became the Sidewinders. I've seen Firebird jerseys and hats before, but I have never seen the ones depicted on this card. I don't know if they changed their logo of if the team had a turn back the clock game. I'll go with changing the logo. I wish I had a better picture of the jersey front. They look retro.

1992 Classic/Best, Cliff Floyd

#380 Cliff Floyd

Here is another card that I got signed through the mail around 1994. I was just looking at Cliff's stats and I was a little disappointed in them. I guess that I was expecting bigger numbers from someone that has been around as long as he has. He has played 16 years in the big leagues, but he has only topped 30 homers twice, and he has only topped 20 homers five times. I guess that I was expecting a some bigger numbers there. Plus, he has only broken the 100 RBI plateau once.

To me, the coolest part about this card is the team, the Albany Polecats. How sweet of a name is that? Their logo is basically a skunk. They only played in Albany, Georgia for four years before packing up and moving to Maryland to become the Delmarva Shorebirds.



This is the last card of the '92 Classic/Best set. Tomorrow, I'll be moving on to some Dunruss cards.

1992 Classic/Best, Lance Painter

#313 Lance Painter

I got this card signed a few days before the Tim Garland card I posted yesterday. I was on my west coast trip at the time and I got this card signed at a Rancho Cucamonga Quakes game. Lance was the pitching coach for the visiting High Desert Mavericks.

I just checked his stats page and the only thing that really stood out to me is that Lance was born in England. I did not know that. This is probably the only card that I have signed by an Englishman.

What I love about this card is that the picture is taken at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. That is the closest professional ballpark to me. According to a postcard that I received from the Wranglers in 2003, LD Stadium is the eighth oldest ballpark still being used in minor league baseball. It was built in 1934 and has hosted AA and AAA baseball (and probably lower levels) and even the 1949 College World Series. The most unique feature of LD Stadium is the turf infield/grass outfield. You can kind of see it in the card at the top, but here is a better view. Interestingly, Wrigley Wax did a little tidbit on the turf and grass years at old Comiskey Park just a couple of days ago.

After the 2007 season, the Wranglers moved to Springdale, Arkansas, where they became the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. In 2008, the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association moved into LD Stadium and it is now the most annoying spot in America to watch a game. But, that is just my opinion. The 'Nuts drew better last year than the Wranglers did for years, so I must be in the minority.

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.

1992 Classic/Best, Phil Hiatt

#181 Phil Hiatt

I got this card signed through the mail, probably in 1993. This is the first baseball card that I ever had that was signed with a ballpoint pen and I hate it. I do not like ballpoint pen signatures unless it is on a ball. My Mark Fidrych card looks OK in ballpoint, but that is the one exception. You can barely even see this one.

Phil only played in 170 Major League games where he hit .216 with 13 home runs. But, he played in 1535 minor league games where he hit .270 with 334 homers. Phil is the definition of AAAA.

This is the second Memphis Chicks card that I have shown on here. When I was little, I thought that the Chicks had the girliest name in baseball. I didn't know at the time that Chicks was short for Chickasaws.

1992 Classic/Best, Aaron Sele

#175 Aaron Sele

Here is another card that I got signed through the mail. This will be a recurring theme here throughout my 1992 cards. I got this one when Aaron was a young pitcher with the Red Sox. He never did much with the Sox, but in his first season with the Rangers, he won 19 games and made his first All-Star team. The next three years, he won 18, 17, and 15 games and made another All-Star team along the way. He has been to as many All-Star games as Carlos Delgado. After that, he never reached double digits in wins again.

Aaron even personalized this card to me. It says "Zach God Bless!" Here is another instance when the autograph that I have and the one that Baseball Almanac has do not look even remotely similar.

This card shows Aaron as a Lynchburg Red Sox. The team in Lynchburg today is the Hillcats and the are affiliated with the Pirates.

1992 Classic/Best, Carlos Delgado

#90 Carlos Delgado

I got this card signed through the mail around 1994. Luckily, I had my Canadian stamps. When I started getting back into autographs last year, I went through my autograph album and saw this card. I had completely forgot that Delgado came up as a catcher. Apperantly, he only caught in two games in the Majors. The Jays tried to move him to left field before he finally stuck at first base. That turned out to be a good move.

Delgado is 31 home runs away from 500. If he stays healthy, he may reach it this year. I was suprised that he was only an All-Star twice (2000 and 2003). He has hit over 35 homers seven times and has had over 100 RBI nine times. I would have thought that he would have been to more All-Star games as a Blue Jay.

I have no idea if Delgado still signs through the mail. It would suprise me more if he did than if he did not.

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.

1991 Classic/Best, Damion Easley

#121 Damion Easely

I got this card signed through the mail in either 1992 or 1993. That was the cool thing about minor league cards back then. First, remember that this was the time before the internet and before Topps started putting out First Year Cards. So, what I would do was watch the transactions in the newspaper when I could. Most of the big name players wouldn't sign through the mail and it was damn near impossible to find addresses to all of the minor league teams back then. So, this was the next logical step- buy minor league cards and wait. Then when that player gets called up, you could send them a card to sign that week and maybe beat the rush. This is how I got this card signed. Sure, he wasn't the next Ernie Banks or Cal Ripken Jr., but, he deffinitley lasted much longer than most people thought that he would.

I forgot all about Easley after his 2002 season. Four years after hitting 27 home runs, he only hit 8 in '02 to go along with a .224 average. Then I saw him in 2004 pinch hitting for the Marlins against the Braves and thought "he still plays?". Then I saw him pinch hit this past season for the Mets in Denver and again thought "wow, he still plays?"

For his career, he seems to have been one of the longer lasting super-utility players. He was a full-timer for four seasons in Detroit, but since then, he has seemed to adapt to any roll that would keep him in the Big Leagues. Throughout his career, he has played every position except pitcher and catcher. This past season with the Mets, he started at second base 60 times. It takes a certain type of player to go from part time player (at the age of 38) to starting everyday to fill in for injuries. Plus, overall, he hit .269 this past season. I guess what I am trying to say is that this card means much more to me now than it did in 1992 (or 1999).

Also, I have a couple of thanks to put out tonight. The first one goes to Mark at Stats On the Back. He was threatening to throw away a bunch of cards, but luckily I was able to save about 300 Royals cards (maybe more). I got tons of cards of many Royal greats, including Bo Jackson, Willie Wilson, Frank White, Dan Quisenberry, Dick Howser, Amos Otis, Kevin Appier, Wally Joyner, Joe Randa, Kevin Seitzer, Brian and Hal McRea, Dennis Leaonard and Tom Gordon. He even included some Brett's and a 1987 Donruss Bo Jackson rookie. If you have never been there, this might be a good time to check it out. You might even be able to save some cards from eventual destruction.

The second thanks goes out to Dave at Goose Joak for linking to this blog. If you have never been to his site, you should check it out as well. He makes his own original cards that usually consist of current players on older style cards and occaisonally older players on current cards. His latest concoction is of Carlos Pena on a 1990 Fleer Soaring Stars insert that he found here. This is the first card that he has ever done of a card style that he has neve seen in person and he did a Hell of a job.

1991 Classic/Best, Mike Lansing

#45 Mike Lansing

The second card from the '91 Classic/Best set is of former Expos, Rockies, and Red Sox second baseman, Mike Lansing. I got this card signed through the mail. It was most likely in 1993, his rookie season. I always liked Mike because he played his college ball at Wichita State, which is about 80 miles south of where I live.

The autograph featured on this card is different than the one shown on the Baseball Almanac page. That one is a certified autograph, so it could have been the 2000th card that he signed that day. I looked for some autos from him on ebay and most of them look the same. The last names all looked similar to mine. But, none of them had the loop in the M of his first name like mine does. I got another card signed through the mail around the same time and it's signature looks just like this one. It's hard to imagine that a rookie in Montreal in the early '90s would have a ghost signer.

This card is cool because it features the old Miami Miracle. The Miracle were an independent team that played in the Florida State League. I guess that this was the time before indy leagues and there were a few teams that played in a minor league that weren't affiliated (the Peninsula Pilots were another). This is unheard of today, but this team spent seven seasons (four as the Miami Marlins) in the FSL as an independent team. Lansing is the only player from the '91 team to ever make it to the Majors. How about the teal and yellow uniform? That belt really stands out.

1991 Classic/Best, Chris Haney

#23 Chris Haney

I got this card signed at a Royals Caravan, probably around 1993. I think that it was in January of '93 because I got two cards signed, and he was an Expo in both of them (or in this case, an Expo minor leaguer). He made 7 appearances with the Royals the previous summer after coming over from Montreal, so I probably didn't have any Royals cards of him yet. This particular caravan, like most of the early ones, took place at the mall. This was how autograph collecting was for a 13 year old in central Kansas in the early to mid '90s. It was this once a year event and getting autographs through the mail.

I do like that jersey. That uniform is kind of a carry-over from the '80s with the belt-less pants and pullover jersey.