2007 Tristar Prospects Plus, Josh Smoker

#FH-JS3 Josh Smoker

When I was pondering this post a couple of days ago, I thought it was going to be an short and easy one. I have had this card for a while and I was pretty sure that Josh had not played in the Majors yet and I was right. Since this card is about nine years old, I just assumed that Josh was out of baseball since he hasn't made it to the top yet. Turns out I was wrong there. Though he has yet to play ball above the AA level, and has only pitched in 21 innings of AA ball, Josh is still going strong. In fact, he is currently rated as the twenty-fourth best prospect in the Mets system.

A former first round pick by the Nationals, Josh pitched in their system for six seasons. He never got above high-A and was plagued with injuries that cost him much of the 2012 season. The Nats released him and he missed all of 2013. He pitched in the Frontier League in 2014 and did good enough to get signed by the Mets last season. With them, he pitched at three level, culminating in AA, and dominated at every stop. He pitched in 49 innings last season and went 3-0 with 6 saves, a 3.12 ERA, and 60 strikeouts. Not too bad for a guy out of the Frontier League.

This card was sent to me by Matt, from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius, many years ago. Until recently, I assumed Josh was a position player because he was wearing Oakleys in the picture. I was a bit off on that one.

According to the Mets website, Josh can hit 98 mph on the radar gun and he is currently on their 40 man roster.

On a side note, I got my first TTMs from Spring Training back today. I got a card signed by White Sox number one prospect, Carson Fulmer, and a card by Nationals number eleven prospect, Blake Perkins.

2007 Bowman Heritage, Mike Thompson

#SG-MT Mike Thompson

This is the second Mike Thompson autograph that I have posted on here and both of them were given to me. I posted the first card of him back 2011. That card was given to me by Rod, of Padrographs. This one was given to me by Matt, from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius. I sent him some random cards way back when and he repaid me by sending me a couple of random autographs.

I have mixed feelings about this Signs of Greatness insert set. The design isn't bad for a signature set with the obvious white signing area. But, this Bowman Heritage set looks great signed, so the white signing area may be a little overdone. It probably comes in handy for a card of a player in a darker jersey. But, it is unnecessary on a card with a white or grey. Still, I like the look of this card better than the first Mike Thompson card I posted.

Mike last pitched professionally in 2010. After being out of baseball for a year, he joined the Atlantic League's Somerset Patriots for one season. He started 11 games for them and went 4-3 with a 4.29 ERA.

If I did not know any better, I would think that the first letter in Mike's name started with a "Z".

2005 Topps, Manny Parra

#UH303 Manny Parra

Here is a card that was sent to me by Matt from Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius. A couple of years ago, I sent him some random cards for his collection. Three weeks later, Matt sent me a random package that included three autographed cards that he got out of a lot off of Ebay.

Manny has been pitching in the big leagues since 2007 and he has spent the entire time with the Brewers. He has started and relieved, but he has spent more time as a starter. He has had two seasons where he has had 10 or more wins and two seasons of 10 or more losses. His career ERA is 5.13 while his win-loss record is 24-30. His highest strikeout total for one season came in 2008 when he struck out 147 batters.

Manny has yet to pitch this season in the Majors. He began the season on the disabled list and he is currently doing a rehab assignment for the Brewers AAA team, the Nashville Sounds. Through 10.1 innings with them, Manny is 0-1 with a 6.10 ERA with 5 walks and 8 strikeouts.

2004 Bowman, Jon Knott

#222 Jon Knott

This is a rarity at Autographed Cards. This is an autographed Padres card that was not given to me by Rod, of Padrographs. This one was actually given to me by Matt of Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius and A Pack to be Named Later fame. If I remember correctly, he got this card in a lot that he bought off of Ebay.

Jon has 31 Major League at-bats on his resume and they were spread over three seasons and two teams. Jon made his Major League debut with the Padres on May 30th, 2004 and he popped out to the catcher. He finished the season 3-14 with two doubles and an RBI. He spent all of 2005 in the minors, but he got another call up from the Padres in September of 2006. He only got three at-bats during that call up and he went 0-3. Following that season, Jon became a free agent and he took his skills to the Orioles organization.

It was with the Orioles that he got his final Major League stint and he probably had his biggest highlight with them. In his first game as an Oriole, Jon hit his lone Major League home run. It was a pinch hit three-run shot off of Brian Stokes of the Devil Rays in the eighth inning. It didn't win them the game or anything, but it certainly got the team back into it and gave them a chance to come back (which they didn't do). Jon ended up finishing the season 3-14 with 3 runs and 4 RBI.

After that, Jon played a couple more seasons at AAA for a couple of different teams. It looks like 2009 might have been his final season since I cannot find any 2010 stats for him anywhere. He spent last year split betwwen the Pacific Coast League, the Mexican League, and the Atlantic League (where he spent most of the season).