1992 Classic Draft Picks, Brant Brown

#58 Brant Brown

Here is the 45th, and hopefully final, post of the month. That may seem like chump-change to some of you hardcore bloggers, but I haven't had this many posts in a single month since December of 2008. But, I guess doing about a post and a half a day and running a drawn-out contest can do that to a person.

Anyway, here is the first of three Brant Brown signatures. I got this card signed in Springdale, Arkansas earlier this month while I was on my annual ballpark road trip. Brant is the batting coach of the Frisco Roughriders, the AA affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

By just looking at Brant's signature, it is easy to assume that this is just a hurried ballpark sig. While it is a ballpark sig, it was in no means hurried. Brant was very slow and deliberate in deciding where to sign each name on the card. I know that it looks like he signed the same thing for his first and last name, but he sure seemed to take his time about it and he tried to have the same spacing on all three cards. It may not be the best looking signature, but at least all three cards were consistent.

I now have two Classic draft pick cards signed (this one and a 4-Sport) and both of them feature a player from Fresno State. Since the College World Series just ended yesterday, I am going to throw out this tidbit of info- The 2008 CWS champions, Fresno State, were the lowest ranked team to ever win a national championship in any NCAA sport. They barely made it into the 64 team field. How 'bout that?

1991 Classic Four Sport, Bobby Jones

#82 Bobby Jones

Here is another autograph that I got through the mail right after he was called up. I probably got this in 1993 or maybe even 1994. Bobby pitched for ten years in the Majors, eight with the Mets and two with the Padres. In his first full year in the big leagues ('94), he went 12-7 with a 3.15 ERA. In '97 he was 15-9 with a 3.63 ERA and he made his only All-Star appearance. Then in '99 and 2000, he had ERAs that were over 5 and the Mets let him walk via free agency. The Padres picked up his services for $625,000 and he went 8-19 that season. Some how, the Padres brought him back the next year for $4 million. I didn't realize that 19 game losers were entitled to 300% raises. He made 19 appearances that year and went 7-8 with a 5.50 ERA and he was done.

This card came from the first ever set of Classic Four Sport. The set included nothing but draft picks from the four major sports. I liked the look of them, even though they had some thick borders. At least they allowed the player's photo to overlap the border. This is the only card from the set that I have signed, but I hope to get one of the hockey cards signed by March.

Also, I added a couple of players to my want list.