The Rest of 2008 Topps Heritage, Part I

#7 Joey Gathright
#42 Jason Jennings
#96 Mark DeRosa
#123 Sam Fuld
#144 JR Towles
#152 Brian Bannister
#211 Mike Sweeney
#269 Horacio Ramirez
#417 Nate Robertson

Joey Gathright- I got this card signed by Joey by the Royals parking lot in 2008. Back then, he was signing just his initials. I got him five years later at an American Association game and he was signing his full last name at that point.

Jason Jennings- Speaking of the American Association, Jason did some time there in 2011. He signed this card for me at an Amarillo Sox game in 2011 while he was a member of the Grand Prairie AirHogs.

Mark DeRosa- I got this card signed at a Royals game in 2009. Mark was with the Indians at the time and he signed during batting practice.

Sam Fuld- Sam signed this card for me between games of a doubleheader in Des Moines, Iowa in 2009. He was playing for the Iowa Cubs.

JR Towles- JR signed this card for me after a Round Rock Express game in 2008.

Brian Bannister- I got this card signed at a Royals game in 2008.

Mike Sweeney- This card was given to me by Uncle Moe in 2009. I probably sent him some cards for his 2008 Topps set and he hooked me up with a few autos in return.

Horacio Ramirez- Horacio signed for me from the Royals parking lot after a game in 2008.

Nate Robertson- I got this card signed by Nate at a card show in Wichita in 2015.

The rest of 2008 Goudey

#86 Brian Bannister
#88 Billy Butler
#170 Wladimir Balentien

When I was originally mapping out how I was going to post my '08 Goudey cards, I thought that there was going to be seven cards crammed into this post. Well, it did not turn out that way. I ended up giving the three Hall of Famers their own posts rather than lumping them in with these guys.

All of these cards were signed in 2008 and it shows because they are in black Sharpie. I used to always take a black Sharpie with me, but not any more. Now it is always blue. But, I will say that the black actually looks better on this set than blue does. The black is nice and bold and really stands out. On a couple of the ones I posted that were done in blue (Ian Kennedy and David Murphy), the blue blends in with the team name on the jersey.

Brian Bannister- Brian signed this card for me before a game at The K. Prior to signing this card, he was out on the field tossing curve balls to Kyle Davies from about 120 feet away.

Billy Butler- Billy signed this card from the Royals parking lot after a game.

Wladimir Balentien- This is the first card from Wladimir, but he is going to be featured in his own post next week. He signed this one for me during batting practice at a Rangers game. The signature on this card looks like "BaSS".

1997 Ultra, Darryl Strawberry

#103 Darryl Strawberry

Here is the Yankees card that I picked out to get signed by Darryl two years ago when he came to Wichita to preach at a local church. I already posted a card of him with the Mets and Dodgers and I did not have a Giants card of him to get signed.

Darryl spent his last five seasons wearing Yankee pinstripes. Those five years were riddled with injuries and his treatment for colon cancer, but the Yankees kept bringing him back every year. The reason for that was because, unlike his Dodger days, he did real well.

Darryl played in 231 regular season games with the Yankees and he hit .255 with 41 home runs and 114 RBI. That is a 162 game average of 29 homers and 80 RBI. Who wouldn't want that in their lineup? That is even more impressive considering that Darryl played for the Yanks in his age 33-37 seasons.

Though past his prime during his second go-around in New York, Darryl still accomplished some feats. He had a three home run game in 1996, which was only the second of his career. He hit 24 homers in '98, he next to last season. He got to play in the postseason three more times and came home with a ring each time. Though his postseason numbers with the Yankees were not that great, he was red hot during the 1996 ALCS. In the four games he played against the Orioles, Darryl was 5-12 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI.

1991 Topps, Ozzie Canseco

#162 Ozzie Canseco

Here is Ozzie Canseco card number three. This one, however, was signed by him in 2016, a year after the first two. Ozzie was the hitting coach for the Sioux Falls Canaries at the time and I got the cards signed by him at a Wichita Wingnuts game.

This is the only base Topps card of Ozzie, which is kind of surprising. While Ozzie had a very short Major League career (24 games), he had a decent amount of cards made of him. I am sure that it mostly because of his name. Upper Deck and Score each made two base cards of Ozzie. Every other brand made just one, except for Fleer. Fleer only had an Update card of him. Sure, Ozzie appeared in a Bowman set and Stadium Club, but this his only regular issue Topps card.

Ozzie played in just nine games with the A's. In those games, he got 19 at-bats and only 2 hits. One of those hits was a double and he also drove in a run. The downside to his limited Oakland days were his strikeouts. Ozzie fanned 10 times. That was the main reason for his .105 batting average.

The A's released Ozzie after the 1990 season and he spent '91 playing in Japan.

1980 O-Pee-Chee, Willie Aikens

#191 Willie Aikens

To date, I have posted three cards of Willie Aikens on here. I thought it was much more than that. But, as it turns out, I have got a small handful of cards from the last two Royals Fanfest that I have yet to post. So, here is the first of those. This one was obtained at the 2014 Fanfest.

The first three cards I posted showed him with three different teams. There was one of him as a Royal, a Blue Jay, and an Explorer from the senior league. Since I had a card signed by him from the Royals and Jays, naturally I needed a card of him with the Angels signed. This O-Pee-Chee card was the best I could do on short notice in 2014. So even though it clearly says Royals on the card, Willie is still in an Angels uniform and that counts for something.

Willie's tenure with the Angels lasted just parts of two seasons. After being drafted by the Halos in the first round in 1975, he made his debut with them in '77. He got into just 42 games and hit .198. He spent the next season in the minors, but returned to the Angels in '79 and did real well. That year, he hit .280 and clubbed 21 homers while driving in 81 runs.

After that season, the Angels traded him and Rance Mulliniks to the Royals for Al Cowens and Todd Cruz.

The Blue Jays card I linked to above was signed by Willie at Fanfest in 2013. That card was signed Willie Mays Aikens. Willie apparently dropped the Mays out of his signature shortly after that.

2007 Turkey Red, Billy Butler

#45 Billy Butler

Here is the third card of Billy Butler that I have posted on here. I got this one signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008. I am not sure who sent me this card, but I do know that it was from a fellow blogger.

This card cracks me up just because it shows Billy bunting on it. I have only seen Billy attempt to bunt in a game one time and it was not pretty. It was early in his Major League career and you could tell bunting was not something he worked on in the minors. If I remember correctly, he stabbed at the first two pitches, without any luck, before having to swing away. For his career, Billy has zero sacrifice bunts. But, he does have five stolen bases.

For those of you that are not Royals or A's fans, here is a fun fact for you. Billy's nickname is Country Breakfast. True story.

I just realized that this set does not list positions on them. I guess I will get to pick his position for the label and it is not going to be outfield like it was on the last card of Billy.

1996 Leaf Signature Series, Joe Vitiello

#232 Joe Vitiello

This card set me back all of ninety-five cents. Like the Sal Fasano and Ricky Bottalico cards I also posted from this set, I got this one just because Joe is a former Royal. The only difference, though, is that I never saw Joe play.

Joe was drafted by the Royals in the first round of the 1991 draft out of Alabama. He signed quickly and was assigned to Eugene in the Northwest League. He tore up that circuit over the 19 games he played there (.328 avg, 6 HR, and 21 RBI). He was then bumped up to AA where he struggled. He hit just .219 there over 36 games.

The next season was spent entirely in the Florida State League before spending all of 1993 in the Southern Association (AA). In 1994, he was moved up to AAA Omaha and that became Joe's home for the next six seasons. Over that time, he was called up to Kansas City yearly from 1995-99. But, he could never stick with the Big League club.

As a Kansas City Royal, Joe played in 205 games and hit .235 with 21 home runs and 83 RBI. With the Omaha Royals, though, Joe played in 431 games and hit .304 with 80 homers and 312 RBI. Joe Vitiello was essentially a AAAA player.

After his time with the Royals, Joe played five more seasons, mostly at AAA. He did spend one season in Japan and did have a couple of call-ups with San Diego and Montreal. He did real well with the Expos, too, hitting .342 over 76 at-bats. But, it was back to the minors the next season which ended up being his last.

For his career, Joe was a .248 hitter with 26 home runs and 104 RBI.

1993 SP, Chili Davis

#20 Chili Davis

Here is another card that I was able to get signed at Spring Training this year. Chili is the A's hitting coach and he was nice enough to sign this card for me before the visiting A's took on the White Sox. He just signed one of the three cards, but he definitely signed the best of the three.

Chili had a long Major League career. He broke into the league with the Giants in 1981 and played his final game in the World Series for the Yankees in 1999. Over the course of his career, he also saw time with the Twins, Angels, and Royals. During those eighteen seasons, Chile accumulated 350 home runs and 1,372 RBI to go along with his .274 batting average. He was a three time All Star that also won three World Series rings- two with the Yankees and one with the Twins.

Chili had just one 30 home run season, though he had 20 or more nine times. He also eclipsed the 100 RBI plateau just once while having 90-plus five times. While he started out his career as an outfielder in the National League, he spent the second half of his career almost exclusively as a designated hitter. He did quite well in that role and was the best DH in 1991 when he won the Outstanding Designated Hitter Award (now the Edgar Martinez Award).

Chili was such a good hitter that in his final season, at the age of thirty-nine, he hit .269 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI.

It is hard to make much out of Chili's signature. But, if you compare it to the one on his Baseball Almanac page that is linked above, you can make a little more sense of it.

1991 Score, Pete Incaviglia

#3T Pete Incaviglia

It has been almost five years since I last posted a card signed by Pete Incaviglia. I got a trio of cards signed by him in 2008 when he was managing the Grand Prairie AirHogs in the American Association championship. Pete still manages in the Am-Ass, but he is now with the Laredo Lemurs. They are in the Southern Division, so I get the chance to see them play a few times in Wichita. That is how I got this card signed. Laredo made the trip to Wichita early in the season and I was able to get three more cards signed then.

Last time I got Pete to sign, I got Rangers, Astros, and Phillies cards signed by him. This time around, I was able to add him on a Tigers card. He also played for the Orioles and Yankees, but I do not have a card of him with either team. Since he only played five games for New York, there probably isn't even a card of him as a Yankee.

Pete had two stints with Detroit. The first one came in 1991 and lasted all of one season. That year, he hit just .214 in Motown while clubbing 11 home runs and driving in 38. He resurfaced in Detroit seven years later and went 1-14 before getting released.

As a college baseball fan, I have to point out that Pete is still the NCAA leader for home runs in a season (48) and career home runs (100). Even with the juiced bats from the late '90s and early 2000s, nobody could top Pete. With the way the college game is played right now, his records may never be broken.

For some reason, the signature on this card is a little off compared to the rest of my Pete signatures. The big looking "C" thing is not normal from him. When he was signing these cards, some guy was chatting him up and he may have been a little distracted at the time. None of the other cards he signed this go-around looked this way. But, I have seen some certified cards that look similar, so that may be a slower signature he uses rather than the rushed ballpark sig that I usually get from him.

I am hoping to see Pete again next month and was wondering if anyone might be able to help me out with a couple of cards. Pete has a couple of cards out that depict him as an Oriole and an Oklahoma State Cowboy and I would like these to add to my collection. If anyone has them and would like to trade, let me know.

2005 Carolina-California All Star Choice, Mario Delgado

#9 Mario Delgado

Here is a cool card that I got signed at a Wichita Winguts game last season. Mario was a member of the 'Nuts most of last season and I was able to get this card signed just prior to a game last July. A special thanks goes out to Ryan, from The Great Orioles Autograph Project, who just happened to have this card in his collection and was nice enough to send it my way.

Mario was drafted by the Phillies in the 14th round of the 2001 draft. He spent just two years in the Phillies system before having to find work in the independent leagues. He caught on with Schaumburg of the Northern League and he played there for two seasons before getting picked up by the Orioles. He then spent two seasons in the Orioles system (and was a Carolina League All Star) before heading back to the independent circuits.

In 2007, he played with Kansas City of the Northern League before splitting 2008 between Lincoln of the American Association and Sussex of the Can-Am League. I actually saw Lincoln play that year and now that I think of it, I remember Mario. He did not play in 2009, but he resurfaced with the 'Nuts last season. He played in 68 games with them and hit .288 with 11 home runs before he got released when the Mexican League's season ended. He then moved on to Schaumburg for a second stint.

Mario was a bit of a fan-favorite in Wichita last year because of his body type. To put it nicely, he was the Latino equivalent to Mo Vaughn. Mario is a big dude. It was sad to see the 'Nuts let him go just so they could pad their roster with some Mexican League castoffs. But, that is baseball.

Thanks again, Ryan!.

I believe that this is the first card that I have posted of the Frederick Keys. The Keys are still the Carolina League affiliate to the Orioles.

1989 Score, Steve Balboni

#353 Steve Balboni

Here is the second and final Steve Balboni card that I got signed at Fanfest. The reason why I only got two autographs, and not three or more like most of the '85 Royals in Steve's line, is because I had a little bit of help in this line for Fanfest.

While I was waiting around in the golden ticket line, I started talking to the guy next to me. He was from Springdale, Arkansas, and has only been a Royals fan since the Royals AA team moved to his home town. While waiting around in that line, I had Springdale (yes, I saw Zombieland last week) hold my spot while I went around to check out some other things. One of the other things that I discovered was which line George Brett was going to be in for the next autograph session. After that, I went back to my spot in line and passed that bit of information to him and my dad. My dad went and grabbed a spot in the George Brett line. Shortly afterwards, Springdale's wife showed up and he asked if it was alright if his wife went and stood with my dad in line for George. I said that that was fine.

After we got our stuff signed by Cone and Grienke, we got in line with my dad and Springdale's wife. While in line, names started trickling in for who was going to be singing with George. Turns out that Springdale had never heard of any of them. He asked me if there was anyone else up there that was any good. I told him Steve Balboni (since he is the single season home run champ in KC) and Bud Black (since he is the manager of the Padres). Based on my bit of info, he decided that the only autographs that he wanted from the line was Steve Balboni and George Brett. So, I asked if he would get a few cards signed for me from the other guys (Motley, Farr, Black, and Beckwith) and he was more than happy to do so. So, thank you, Springdale!

This is my third signed Balboni card and all three feature a different team. This one has him as a Mariner and you can see him as a Yankee here and a Royal here.

1995 Classic 5 Sport, Todd Greene

#109 Todd Greene

I got this card signed in Baltimore last month. Todd was a coach for the Rays at the time. Unfortunately, the Rays recently chose not to bring him back for next season.

Todd seems like a great signer. I got this card and one other one signed in Baltimore. I also got a card signed by him outside of Kauffman Stadium when the Rays were in Kansas City this summer. I would have gotten all three signed in KC, but I didn't know that I even had this card then. It was hiding in a small binder of mid-90s minor league cards. I guess that I should go through my binders more often.

This is the first 5 Sport card on here. I posted one 4 Sport card on here last year, but we are not talking about 4 Sport. We're talking 5. For some reason, Classic thought that they should include NASCAR drivers in this set. That is the 5th sport.

1989 Donruss 3

#442 Cecil Fielder

I got this card signed through the mail when Cecil was mashing home runs for the Tigers in either 1990 or '91. I was pretty excited when I got this one back because I never had too much success with sluggers through the mail. I wish he would have signed it with a black Sharpie, though. The blue doesn't contrast well with his blue jersey.

Speaking of blue, this is the first Blue Jays card on here.

1978 Topps part 2

#95 Jamie Quirk

I got this card signed this past winter at Royals Fanfest. I was surprised he was there since he is the bench coach with the Rockies. I have a ton of Quirk cards from the 80s. But, a couple of days before Fanfest, I was at the card shop looking for players that I didn't have, and I stumbled upon this baby with the sweet hat and I couldn't pass it up.

Quirk used to be the answer to this trivia question: What player has the most homers whose last name starts with Q? Then Mark Quinn passed him a few years ago and Carlos Quentin just passed Quinn last week.