1989 Procards, Don Schulze

#753 Don Schulze

Here is the third and final card that I got signed by Don Schulze in 2015. Don was the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds at the time and he signed for me prior to an Omaha Storm Chasers game. The first card of him that I posted can be seen here and the second one here.

Don pitched for four different teams in the big leagues- the Cubs, Indians, Mets, and Yankees. Of those four teams, he has a few Indians cards and one Mets card. I did not have the Mets card in my collection, but I was lucky enough to find this card from the 1989 Procards set.

This was the first minor league cards set that I ever found in packs and I could only find them at one spot. It wasn't at one of the local cards shops or at a big card show. I found these packs at a local gas station. Granted, it was a gas station with a really nice selection of cards, including a case with singles. But it was still a gas station, nonetheless. I only got a few packs from this set and about the only cards worth noting were of Jay Bell and Mark McGwire. I never understood why McGwire was in the set since he last played minor league ball in 1986, but I still thought it was a cool card. I ended up getting the Jay Bell card signed through the mail in the early '90s.

This is the fifth card of the Columbus Clippers that I have posted on here. I am not going to check, but that has got to be the most posts that I done for a single minor league team.

1989 Columbus Clippers Police, Dave Eiland

#2 Dave Eiland

Here is the first of about a half dozen cards that I have got signed by the Royals pitching coach in 2012. 2012 was Dave's first year with the club and he was my go-to guy for an autograph when I was striking out with everyone else. Dave was always hanging out at the Royals bullpen when I needed him and he has yet to turn me down, though I have only asked him twice.

Speaking of getting turned down, I came home empty handed today from the Wichita State game. The reason I went to the game was to get Jason Isringhausen's autograph. Jason is the pitching coach for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. However, he was nowhere to be seen today, so maybe he does not travel with the team. This year's 'graphing is starting out just like it did last year.

As for the game, it was interesting. We left after the fifth inning with the Shockers up 21-1. That was two hours ago and that game is probably still going on. SIE couldn't do much of anything with their pitching or hitting. Maybe Jason should have made the trip. They could have used him on the mound.

This card was put out by the Columbus Police Department and Cracker Jack. That is why it has the Cracker Jack border. When I first saw this card, though, I thought the border was dirt. Silly me.

1998 SP Top Prospects, Ricky Ledee

#RL Ricky Ledee

Wow, Ricky Ledee played for ten seasons with seven different teams? I had no idea that he lasted that long. I guess I saw him play in 2006 when he was a Dodger playing in Miami. Luckily, I kept score or I wouldn't have been able to recall that. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that Rickey was such a promising prospect as a Yankee, that that is the team that I mainly remember him playing for. I guess playing in the Fall Classic after your first and second Major League season will do that to some players.

I got this card from checkoutmycards for $1.25. Looking at his stats now, I kind of wonder why I bought this card. I guess that I thought he played in a few more fall classics than he actually did. I think that I may have imagined a player that was made up between Ricky and Shane Spencer. That explains my delusion. Either way, it is still a great looking card of a player that played in 855 games with the Yankees, Indians, Rangers, Phillies, Giants, Dodgers, and Mets.

I didn't realize it until I saw the scan, but this happens to be a minor league card. The Columbus Clippers logo is how I figured that out. I apparently missed the minor league baseball logo on the back.

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.

1990 CMC, Jeff Datz

#507 Jeff Datz

Here is an autograph from the Indians bench coach, Jeff Datz. I got this card signed the day before Astros Fanfest while the Tribe was taking batting practice. Jeff signed this card and the '09 Topps Heritage coaches card for me. Those are the only two cards that I had of him since he only played in seven Major League games. The only card of him as a Major Leaguer can be seen here (if you have the time, read about his short time in the big leagues; it's interesting). If you want to see another cool minor league card of him, click on his name at the top.

1990 was the final year in Jeff's playing career and he only got into 28 games with the Yankees AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

As for the Clippers, they are still around today and even got a new ballpark. But, their longtime affiliation with the Yankees ended a couple of years ago and they are now with the Indians organization after a two year stint with the Nationals.