2008 Grandstand Bowie Baysox, Mike Rodriguez

NN Mike Rodriguez

Here is another Oriole minor leaguer that was given to me by Ryan in 2013. This one features Mike Rodriguez.

Mike was originally drafted by the Astros in the second round of the 2001 draft. He played in the Astros system for seven seasons and reached AAA with them, spending two seasons at that level. Then, he joined the O's in 2008 and was demoted to AA. In 2009, he played in the Atlantic League before retiring at the end of the season.

Mike finished his career a .269 hitter with 34 home runs and 348 RBI.

With two Grandstand cards back-to-back, it is good to see they used different borders with the two sets. Many times, with so many minor league teams and so few card companies making team sets, borders get repeated among the various teams. I definitely like the border on this one better than the one on yesterday's card.

2008 Grandstand Aberdeen IronBirds, Joe Esposito

NN Joe Esposito

Here is a card that was given to me by Ryan, from The Great Oriole Autograph Project, in 2013. Ryan had sent me a little care package at the time and in it was some random signed minor league cards that he had acquired over the years. This is one of those cards and one more will be coming up in the next post.

Joe pitched in the minor leagues from 2007-2012. He spent the first three seasons in the O's system before joining the Phillies organization for two years and then finishing in the Atlantic League. Minus his Atlantic League time and 14 games in AA, he spent his time in some sort of A-ball.

For his career, Joe was 26-23 with 12 saves and a 3.74 ERA. His best stint in the minors was with the Delmarva Shorebirds in 2009. That season, he got into 18 games in relief and was 3-0 with 2 saves and a 2.43 ERA. He also recorded 52 strikeouts in just 33.1 innings. He was also about two and a half years older than the average player in the South Atlantic League that season and the O's cut ties with him when the season was over.

2004 Grandstand Midwest League Top Prospects, Sean Thompson

Here is a Padrograph that was given to me in 2015 when I met up with Rod in Hillsboro, Oregon. This one features Padre farmhand, Sean Thompson.

Leading up to this post, I was thinking that this was going to be my third post of Sean because I thought that Rod had given me a couple of autographs from him ten years ago. It turns out that this is the first post of Sean because those other two posts were of former Padre, Mike Thompson.

While Mike actually pitched in a handful of games at the Major League level, the same cannot be said of Sean. The highest Sean reached was the three games he pitched in AAA in 2007. Aside from the scoreless inning he accumulated at that level, he spent parts of three seasons in AA and was 19-23 with a 4.05 ERA.

In his All Star season with the Fort Wayne Wizards, Sean was 9-6 with a 3.65 ERA and had 157 strikeouts in 148 innings.

Fort Wayne joined the Midwest League in 1993 and kept the Wizards moniker until changing the name to the Tin Caps in 2009.

2003 Lancaster Jethawks Grandstand, Mike Aldrete

#25 Mike Aldrete

It took me two tries, but I finally got this card signed at Spring Training this year. I took it with me last year and I finally got Mike's attention right before the National Anthem. He was rushed and only signed two cards before tripping over the stairs to hit the field for the anthem. This was the one card he did not sign. But, I caught the A's in action this spring and I got Mike's attention with plenty of time to spare. He ended up signing this card and two more for me this go around.

I bought this team set ten years ago when I went to a Lancaster Jethawks game. They were having a clearance sale in the team store and I picked up three random team sets for cheap. Up to this point, I have only had one card from each set signed. But with this card, I now have two signed from the 2003 set. Lance Cormier is the other card from the set that I got signed.

Mike only managed the Jethawks for one season and the team did well under his leadership. They went 73-67. Despite the winning record, the team finished fourth in the five team California League South Division. They were two games out of second place and a trip to the postseason. That was the last time Mike managed a team.

2007 Granstand New Britian Rock Cats 25th Anniversary, Pat Neshek

#17 Pat Neshek

This is probably the longest title of any post I have done yet. I always thought the longest title would have Hollandsworth or Saltalamacchia in it. Turns out I just needed to post a minor league 25th anniversary card.

Earlier this year, right before Spring Training started, I sent Pat Neshek his 2014 Topps All Star card to sign. Since it is Pat, I included three signed cards that I had extras of. In exchange for those three cards, Pat sent back the signed All Star card was well as three minor league cards that he signed for me. This is one of those cards. I have already posted the other two and those can be seen here and here.

By Pat's standards, he is having an off year this season. He has pitched in 61 games and he has a record of 3-6 with a save and a 3.46 ERA. That ERA is about a half a run over his career ERA. It probably doesn't help that he has to pitch half of his games in little ol' Minute Maid Park. But, that is what he signed on to do. If the Astros do not blow it, at least he has a chance to pitch in the postseason this year.

2007 Grandstand Delmarva Shorebirds, David Cash

NN David Cash

The next few posts are all going to be minor league or winter ball cards and we are going to start off with this card of David Cash from the Delmarva Shorebirds Grandstand set. This card was sent to me by Ryan, from The Great Orioles Autograph Project, two years ago.

David Cash had a short professional baseball career. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 40th round of the 2006 draft out of Florida. The O's had drafted him three years prior to that in the 21st round, but he obviously chose the college route. His draft stock sure did drop over that time.

He made his professional debut in the New York Penn League in 2006 and did well. He hit .297 in the 30 games he played in and had a home run and 12 RBI. He was bumped up to Delmarva the next season and hit .262 with a home run and 51 RBI. He must have got hurt the next season as he was limited to just 17 games, all with Delmarva. In 2009, he was bumped up to High-A Frederick and he hit just .219 in 69 games. That was the last season David played ball.

Over four seasons, David hit .255 with 3 home runs and 89 RBI.

David sure has an interesting signature. His first name looks pretty normal. But, I have no idea what is going on with his last name.

2004 Grandstand New Britain Rock Cats, Pat Neshek

#22 Pat Neshek

Here is one of my more recent autograph additions. Last month, I sent Pat his 2014 Topps Update All Star card to get signed. Since Pat is an autograph collector himself, I included three random autos with the card. I am pretty sure the ones I included were doubles that I got signed at Wingnuts games that were either on Bowman or Tri Star cards. In exchange for those cards, Pat sent me three signed minor league cards of him and signed my '14 Topps.

That is just the way Pat Neshek rolls. If you want an autograph from him, send him a card. He will sign it. Do you not own a card of him? That is not a problem either. Just send him any signed card and he will trade you for a signed card of him. Pat is by far and away the best current player in the autograph community. He is the best of all that greats that have come before him all rolled into one. He truly is an asset that everyone should take advantage of at least once. This just happened to be the second time that I have written to him. The first card I sent him was an '08 Allen and Ginter.

Like I said, Pat collects autographed cards. He recently finished a complete signed set from 1985 Topps. He is currently working on the '70 Topps set and the 2006 and '07 Topps 52 Rookies sets. You can see how he is doing on those sets, and possibly help him out, but checking out his website, On The Road With Pat Neshek. You can also follow him on Twitter: @PatNeshek.

Speaking of Twitter, I finally caved in and jumped on board. You can follow me @zmills40.

With pitchers and catchers about to report, now would be a good time to send out a card to Pat. He is with the Astros this year, so send your cards to Kissimmee, Florida.

2006 Grandstand Aberdeen IronBirds, Jason Berken

#26 Jason Berken

Here is a card that was sent to me last year by Ryan of the Great Orioles Autograph Project. Prior to going to Orioles Fanfest last year, Ryan did a post offering up some free autographs for a couple of players that he did not need signatures from. All his readers had to do was post a comment on who they wanted and then send him a card of that player.

There were a couple of people that I wanted autographs from, but unfortunately, I did not have any cards of them. So, I ended up working out a trade with Ryan where I would get a Jamie Quirk Orioles Crown card signed at Royals Fanfest in exchange for an autograph from one of the players on his list.

But Ryan, being the class act that he is, sweetened up the deal and I ended up getting two autographed cards for the Quirk Crown card. And as if that was not enough, Ryan emailed me which cards he had and he let me pick out which two I wanted. How cool is that?

So in the end, I ended up with this card and a Dick Hall Crown card. Thanks again, Ryan!

2005 Midwest League Top Prospects, Kevin Melillo

#12 Kevin Melillo

If you have never heard of Kevin Melillo before, don't feel bad. I hadn't either. But, after checking out his career stats, I found that Kevin has an interesting stat line. For his career, Kevin has a 1.000 on-base percentage.

On June 24, 2007, the A's were in New York during an interleague series against the Mets. The Mets were cruising along with an 8-2 lead when the A's came to bat in the eighth. With the pitcher's spot due up to lead off the inning, A's manager Bob Geren inserted Kevin Melillo into the lineup as a pinch hitter. Kevin worked the count full against Guillermo Mota before taking ball four. Kevin ended up stranded at first and he was replaced by a pitcher in the bottom half of the inning. To date, this is the only Major League action that Kevin has experienced.

My buddy, Adam, got this card signed for me when we were in Colorado Springs this summer. Kevin was playing for the Salt Lake Bees at the time and he signed this card before the game started.

I bought this card from checkoutmycards.com, so it is the only card from the set that I own. But, I wonder if all the cards in the set have the same strange shaded area along the border of the card. I thought at first that the shaded area might have been set to kind of outline Kevin's batting stance. But it goes too far out in front of him and then both of his feet are in shaded areas, so I doubt that is the case. If only I had another card from the set to compare it to.

Kevin is playing for the Kane County Cougars in this card. The Cougars are still around, but they are now affiliated with the Kansas City Royals.

2003 Lancaster JetHawks Grandstand, Lance Cormier

#18 Lance Cormier

Here is a card that I got signed before the Royals final game of the season. Lance was pitching for Tampa Bay at the time and I was able to get him to sign all three cards that I own of him before the game.

Lance has pitched for the Rays for the past two seasons and he has had some of his best success with them. Last year, he posted a career-best ERA of 3.26 and even recorded a career-high 2 saves. He wasn't quite as sharp this year, but he still posted his second best ERA of 3.92. That's not too bad for a guy that has a career ERA of 4.93.

Unfortunately, Lance was not on the Rays postseason roster this year.

Lance might not have a readable signature, but it is a good-looking one in my opinion. His "L" looks nothing like an "L", but it is stylish nonetheless.

I got this card out of the 2003 JetHawk team set that I bought in Lancaster a couple of years ago. This is the first card that I have gotten signed from that set.

Edwards Air Force is right outside of Lancaster and that is the usual landing site for NASA's space shuttles. That is why Lance has the Columbia patch on his sleeve that looks similar to the one that the Astros wore that year. The JetHawks, however, were affiliated with the Diamondbacks at the time.

2001 Quad City River Bandits Grandstand, Terry Tiffee

#24 Terry Tiffee

Here is the second card that Tiffee gave me when he came by my house while I was in college. You can read about that here.

Surprisingly, these are the only two cards that I have signed by Terry. I have two of his 2003 Topps cards (one regular and one gold), but I have been unable to get those signed so far. I had planned on getting the regular issue one signed at a Oklahoma Red Hawks game in 2008. Terry was with the Las Vegas 51s at that time. But, he got picked to represent Team USA in the summer Olympics that year. It worked out well for him, though, as he was able to capture the bronze medal at the games. I do, however, have a few signed balls from him and an autographed bat that looks great.

Terry made his "#" sign on his "ff" on this card and then forgot to add his number.

2001 Appalachian League Top Prospect Grandstand, Justin Hileman

#16 Justin Hileman

I'm pretty sure that this is the longest title I have had since I started this blog.

Here's a card that Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff, sent me last September. The coolest thing about it is the card itself. I have never been to an Appalachian League game before and as a result, I do not have any cards from he league. So, I thought that it was neat that I got my first card from the league and it was also signed.

As for Hileman, he didn't make it too far in baseball. He played for five seasons in the Cardinals system but never made it above high-A ball. After that, he played four and a half seasons of independent ball, mostly with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League. He did really good in the Atlantic League and his best season was in 2007 when he hit .287 with 17 homers and 82 RBI. His average drooped to .236 in 2008 and he retired after the season.

The Baseball Cube page for him lists his first name as Jutt and he appears to have signed this card that way as well. This is the first time that I have ever seen Justin shortened to Jutt.

Jutt is playing for the Johnson City Cardinals on this card. The JC Cards are still around today and are still affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. The team is located in Johnson City, Tennessee.

2000 Lancaster JetHawks Grandstand, Willie Bloomquist

#4 Willie Bloomquist

Here is a card that I got signed at Royals Fanfest last year. At that time, I was a Royals partial season ticket holder. For that years event, season ticket holders were let into Fanfest an hour before the general public. The first thing I did when I got inside was to get in an autograph line.

Shortly thereafter, four Royals came out to sign and Willie was the first player in the line. I had my autograph book with me and to keep it simple, I always alphabetize it by the players last name. For that occasion, I could only find two Bloomquist cards. So I had those two cards and one John Buck card on the same page. When I got up to Willie, he says "I see that you have the two best looking guys on the same page". I probably just gave him a blank stare and maybe a "huh". He then went on to tell me that he is always being told that him and Buck look the same. I think I replied to that with a "really?" since I wasn't seeing it. He then asked Mike Jacobs what he thought about it and Mike said that he couldn't think what John Buck looked like. Obviously, it was an interesting way to start off the event.

I got this team set at a JetHawks game two years ago.

1999 Grandstand Hudsen Valley, Derek Anderson

#1 Derek Anderson

Here is a card that I got just before Christmas. Out of the blue one day, I got a random package in the mail from Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff. In it were about ten autographs and a heathy stack of Royals. Obviously, it was a very welcome surprise.

The wierd thing about this card, or Derek Anderson actually, is that I cannot find anything about him. My usual go-to place for minor leaguers is The Baseball Cube. On Derek's page there, all they have for him is that he was drafted by the Royals in 1994 and that he pitched for Somerset in 2005. Yet, here is a card of him from 1999 that shows him playing for the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League. The back of the card talks about him being a non-drafted free agent and mentions some of his stats through the first half of the season. So, he obviously pitched professionally beofre 2005.

As for the Renegades, they are still active in the New York-Penn League. They are also still affiliated with Tampa Bay, just like they were when this card came out.

I think that the coolest thing about this card is that it is from a short-season A ball team set. There can't be a ton of these out there. So, to randomly get a signed one is pretty neat.