2008 PCL Top Prospects, Mark Saccomanno

#27 Mark Saccomanno

Here is the card that I got signed the day I bought it. After seeing a couple of people getting cards from this set signed pregame, I went and bought the set during the game in the hopes that I could get some signed afterwards. This is the one card that I got signed after the game.

I bought this card and got it signed in August of 2008. Less than a month later, Mark would get called up to the Astros for a brief cup of coffee. He made it into ten games during his September call-up and went 2-10 with a double and home run. That .200 lifetime average and on-base percentage doesn't look too hot, but he makes up for it with a .600 slugging percentage.

As for the home run he hit, he got it in his first Major League at-bat. He pinch hit for the pitcher in the bottom of the fifth inning and hit the very first pitch he saw from Ian Snell for a dinger to put the 'Stros up 1-0. Houston tacked on two more runs that inning and pulled off a 3-2 victory. All three runs were scored with two outs.

Mark was back in Round Rock the next year. His numbers slacked off a bit from his '08 season and he never got called up again. The Astros released him after the season and the Marlins picked him up. He played one season in their organization and called it a career after the season ended.

2008 Choice Newark Bears, Tim Sweeney

#23 Tim Sweeney

Yesterday, I posted four Choice minor league cards that were given to me by another blogger. Today, I have one more. This one is from Paul, from Paul's Random Stuff fame. He sent this to me a few years ago with some other goodies.

Tim had a really short professional career. He was drafted by the Expos in the 20th round of the 2002 draft and he was out of baseball after the 2003 season after just playing 105 games and hitting .201. He then emerged with the Aiken Foxhounds of the South Coast League in 2007 before joining the Atlantic League's Newark Bears in 2008. How he managed to not play for three seasons before coming back to a league that I had never heard of and then playing a season in the Atlantic League is beyond me.

The Atlantic League is the cream of the crop of independent baseball with many former Major Leaguers playing in it. In fact, MLB just signed an agreement with the league to try out possible new rule changes there before implementing them at the Major League level. The funny thing is that this guy, that hit .201 in lower A ball, did well in the Atlantic League. Though he played in just 37 games, Tim managed to hit .273 with 12 RBI. He even pitched a scoreless inning.

Tim hung up the cleats for good after that one season with Newark. But, we have this cool card of him to commemorate his last season playing professional ball.

1997 Collector's Choice, Rex Hudler

#422 Rex Hudler

Here is one of my newest Rex Hudler autographs. My older son got this card signed for me at Spring Training this year. The two of us had the same arrangement as last year where I would give him a dollar for every card that he got signed. Unfortunately, he had a rough time this year and only netted five bucks. Three dollars of it was courtesy of Rex.

A couple of years ago, I found out that a work colleague of mine used to collect cards. We had worked side-by-side daily for a year before she transferred to another store. Somehow, during that whole year, I had no clue that she had ever collected cards. I didn't even realize she knew anything about baseball. The only reason I found out about it was that she gave a few cards for Christmas one year. When she told me that they came from her collection, my mind was blown.

Last year, she dropped off a container of cards that were from 1995-1998 and she told me to take anything I wanted. There were a lot of star cards from the day in the box, but those weren't the ones I was looking for. I was looking for cards that I could get signed. That is where this card came from.

I like the vague position listed on this card- IF/OF. In case you were wondering, The Hud played mostly second base in 1996 and he appeared at that position 53 times. He also played first 7 times, center field 15 times, and left field 8 times. I think that they probably could have just listed him as a second baseman.

1996 Collector's Choice, Steve Scarsone

#718 Steve Scarsone

Here is the second of two cards that I got signed by Steve Scarsone in 2015. Steve was the skipper of the Nashville Sounds at the time and he signed for me at an Omaha Storm Chasers game. I posted the first card last month and it can be seen here.

Steve played in the Majors for parts of seven seasons with five different clubs- the Orioles, Phillies, Giants, Cardinals, and Royals. Over that time, he was a .239 hitter with 20 home runs and 86 RBI.

The Giants were the only team that Steve saw any significant time with. He played with them for four seasons. He never played in more than fifty games with any other club and played in less than a dozen games with three clubs. With San Francisco, Steve played in 281 games and hit .247 with all 20 of his home runs and 80 of his RBI. Even though he got into 103 games with the 1996 squad, 1995 was his best season. That year, he hit .266 with 11 home runs and 29 RBI.

From what I can tell, all of Steve's Major League cards are of him as a Giant, except for two. There is one of him as a Phillie and one as an Oriole.

The signature on this card came out looking much better than I ever would have expected. The black warm-up jersey and shadowy backdrop are usually not a good combo, but I guess I got lucky on this one.

1994 Fleer, Steve Scarsone

#701 Steve Scarsone

Here is the first of two cards that I got signed by Steve Scarsone when I was in Omaha in 2015. Steve was the manager for the visiting Nashville Sounds and he stopped to sign for me on the way out to the field.

Omaha's Werner Park has a cool set-up where both the home and visiting clubhouses are in left field. To get to the field, both teams use a ramp that leads down under the concourse to the field. Because of that, it is one of the best spots in baseball to do some 'graphing because you can get players from both teams in one area. It can get a little hectic, though, when there are a bunch of guys heading to the field at once, so you have got to be real organized there. But, other than that, it is a great set-up that is rivaled only by the Round Rock Express, who have a similar set-up.

As for Steve, he is no longer with the Sounds. But, he is still in the A's organization. He is currently listed as their coordinator of baserunning/defense.

1991 Orioles Crown, Rex Hudler

#201 Rex Hudler

Here is the lone card of Rex Hudler as an Oriole. Wonder Dog played in just 14 games with the O's in 1986. In the 14 games, he either entered the game as a defensive replacement or a pinch runner. Because of that, he only came to the plate one time in an Orioles uniform and he flew out to center. But, he did manage to steal a base and score a run. On top of that, Baltimore was 12-2 in the games that Hud played in.

Rex signed this card for me two years ago at Royals Fanfest.

This is the second card from this set in my collection. The first one was given to me by O's super-graph collector, Ryan, from The Great Orioles Autograph Project. It featured Dick Hall.

I really like the concept of this set. I believe it was a stadium giveaway and it features every player that had played with the team up to that point. It looks like it came in sheets and you probably had to attend a few games to get the complete set.

As far as I have noticed, there are a few other teams that have done a set like this. I know the Brewers, Dodgers, and Rangers all have and I believe that the Mets and Yankees did sets as well. Unfortunately, I have yet to acquire a card from any of those sets.

Speaking of Royals Fanfest, the initial list of players to appear has been released and it is looking really bleak this year. There are currently three players that I have no cards for that are scheduled out of the nineteen. Since they never tell you who is going to be signing when and where, it really sucks sitting in line for an hour just to find out that Cam Gallagher is the person you have been waiting on.

1990 Upper Deck, Chip Hale

#475 Chip Hale

Here is another card of Chip Hale. I just posted a card of him last week that I got in-person this past spring. This one, on the other hand, was given to me two years ago by Rod, from Padrographs. If you look at the two cards side by side, you will notice something. The signatures do not look similar in any way, shape, or form.

Usually, that is not a good thing. I got him in-person, so I know that card is good. So, I start to wonder about this card. But, after a quick peek at COMC, I find Chip's 1996 Leaf Signature Series card and that card is signed like this one. That makes me feel better. At some point, Chip drastically changed his signature. Or I just got the super hurried up ballpark version.

Merry Christmas!

1990 Upper Deck, Rex Hudler

#411 Rex Hudler

By my best count, this is the sixth card of Rex Hudler that I have posted on here. Rex is the color commentator for Royals broadcasts and is a fairly easy autograph to get if you see him. That is why I have posted cards of him six times and still have a few more to post.

I got this card signed at Royals Fanfest this year. We were standing in line waiting for the doors to open and Rex was just walking around and talking to fans waiting. When he came by our area, everyone was trying to get a picture with him. I finally got up to him and asked for him to sign this card. He jokingly asked me something to the effect of "Why would you want me to sign this card and bring down its value? It's only worth a couple of cents as it is." That was just Rex being Rex as he was more saying it to get a reaction from the crowd around him than making a comment to me.

I will say that this is probably the best-looking signature that I have ever got from him, though. Some of his signatures are little more than his initials.

1990 CMC, Tony Perezchica

#547 Tony Perezchica

Here is one of my most recent additions to my collection. Tony is the third base coach for the Diamondbacks and they finished off their regular season in Kansas City this year. I was able to make it up to two of those games and I got him to sign for me outside of the ballpark on the final day of the season. He made it be known to me that he was in a hurry for a meeting, but he still stopped and signed both of the cards I had of him.

Even though Tony only played in the bigs for four seasons and 69 games, he still had seven base cards printed of him between 1989 and 1992. I looked in my collection for every single one of those cards and I only had one. Luckily, I had this card of him and was able to get two cards signed.

Tony made his Major League debut with the Giants in 1988. He played in 34 games with them over three seasons and he hit .220 with no homers and 4 RBI.

Back in the day before the Diamondbacks came around, Phoenix hosted the Giants AAA team, the Firebirds.

1989 Upper Deck, Randy Ready

#474 Randy Ready

Here is another card of Randy Ready that was given to me by Rod, from Padrographs. Like the last one I posted a month ago, this one was also slabbed by Historic Grading and Authentication. So, according to their services, this is an authentic signature from Randy Ready. Why someone felt the need to pay eight bucks to get this card authenticated is beyond me, but that is how much HG&A charges.

I got Randy to sign three cards for me in 2008 while he was the manager of the Portland Beavers. He held that position for a season and a half before being promoted to the Padres hitting coach during the 2009 season. He had that role through the 2011 season. But, with the Padres finishing the season last in the league for home runs and average, he was let go.

After coaching in the Rangers and Braves organization for a few years, Randy found himself working for the Marlins last season. He started as the manager of their Florida State League team, the Jupiter Hammerheads, before moving to the AA Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this past season. The Shrimp made the playoffs this season after winning the second half, but were swept in the first round.

1985 Blue Jays Fire Safety, Willie Aikens

#24 Willie Aikens

Here is another oddball that I was able to get signed at Royals Fanfest in 2014. This is a very blue set that was distributed by the Toronto Star and Midas. I cannot find any info about the set, but they are readily available from COMC, where I got this card. It is fun to note that the only positions listed on the cards are pitcher, catcher, infielder, and outfielder.

By the time this card came out, Willie Aikens Major League career was pretty much over. He only played in 12 games in 1985, hitting .200 with a double, a dinger, and 5 RBI. That home run that he hit was pretty memorable, though. It was of the pinch hit variety in the top of the ninth to tie the game. The Blue Jays went on to win in the tenth and Willie never played another game in the Major Leagues.

The College World Series field is set. Every team that is in was picked by at least one entrant. There were six number one seeds that advanced. There was one two seed and one three seed. Both the two and the three seeds were picked by BMan, who happens to be in the lead. Here are the standings heading into the Series.

B Man- 8 (2CSF, LSU, 3Texas A&M, TCU, pimped)
Greg Z- 2 (OSU, TCU)
Lost Collector- 4 (FSU, LSU, Louisville, Florida)
Rod- 1 (OSU)
NMC- 3 (FSU, TCU, pimped)
Joey- 5 (OSU, FSU, LSU, Louisville, Florida)
Wilson- 5 (OSU, LSU, Louisville, TCU, Florida)

The bracket portion of the contest will be up shortly. If you see any errors I might have made, let me know in the comments.

1981 Donruss, Mick Kelleher

#513 Mick Kelleher

This card is one of my longer waited TTM returns for this set. I sent this card to the Yankees, whom Mick was a coach for, in 2013. I got it back three days shy of a full two years later. The only other card I got signed from this set that was out for that long was my Paul Molitor card. Unfortunately, I do not know exactly how long that one took to come back.

Mick played in the Majors for eleven seasons with the Cardinals, Astros, Cubs, Tigers, and Angels. He was a light hitting middle infielder that never hit a Major League home run in just over 1,000 at-bats. He was a .213 hitter for his career.

Since most of the photos used for the '81 Donruss set were shot in Chicago, it is rare to see a Cubs road uniform. That is too bad since the Cubbies were rocking some powder blue road unis in 1980. I am pretty sure this is the only instance of a road Cub that I have posted from this set on here. It looks like the photo was taken at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, but I might be wrong.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #221

1981 Donruss, Bob Picciolo

#357 Bob Picciolo

Back-to-back light-hitting A's infielders. Based off of the last two cards, you would think that the 1980 A's were not a good ball club. You would probably think that even more after my next post on here, which also happens to be an Athletic. But, the '80 A's finished in second place in the AL West that season. Sure, they were fourteen games back of the first place Royals. But, that second place finish was thirty wins batter than the previous year and helped springboard their playoff team in the strike-shortened '81 season.

I sent this card to Rob in 2013 and he had it back to me in less than two weeks.

Rob was a .234 hitter throughout his career that drove in 109 RBI and blasted 17 home runs over his nine year career with the A's, Brewers, and Angels. He saw regular playing time during his rookie season of 1977, but was mainly a utility infielder every year after.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #207

1981 Donruss, Art Howe

#258 Art Howe

We go from a player turned manager for the '81 Donruss set to a player from the set that later became a manager. I wonder how many future managers are in this set. Off of the top of my head, I can only think of Bruce Bochy, Jim Tracy, Clint Hurdle, Bob Baylor, Dusty Baker, and Bob Boone, but I am sure there has to be a few more.

Art played for eleven seasons with the Pirates, Astros, and Cardinals. He got some regular playing time with the Astros, but was mainly a utility infielder throughout his career as he could man all four positions. He spent he most time at third base during his career while batting .260 with 43 home runs and 293 RBI.

After his playing days were over, he managed the Astros, A's, and Mets for fourteen seasons. Over that span, he had a 1129-1137 record. He made the playoffs three times with the A's and came in second place for the AL Manager of the Year Award for four straight seasons.

The Astro cards from this set look great when they are signed with a blue Sharpie.

Other players from the set that would go on to manage that I just looked up- Alan Trammell, Bill Russell, Cecil Cooper, Pete Rose, Larry Bowa, Paul Molitor, John Wathan, Jerry Narron, Dave Lopes, Hal McRae, Jim Essian, and Ken Macha. There might be a few more in there, but that is all I could come up with from my list of autographs from the set.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #197

1996 Best, Mendy Lopez

#40 Mendy Lopez

Here is a card that I picked up from Checkoutmycards for sixty cents.

Mendy's Major League career spanned parts of seven seasons with the Royals, Marlins, Astros, and Pirates. He was a utility infielder that played all four spots and a bit of outfield. He saw the most significant playing time as a rookie for the Royals in 1998. That season, he got into 74 games and had 206 at-bats. That was the only season that he ever had more than 100 at-bats. He hit .243 that year with 10 doubles and 15 RBI.

Mendy would play in just 117 games over the next six seasons. The only time he got decent playing time was when he came back to the Royals in 2003. That year, he got into 52 games and had 94 at-bats. He had career highs in home runs (3) and average (.277) that season.

While Mendy was never a star player, or even a regular, he is held high in Royals lore. On Opening Day in 2004, Mendy hit a three-run pinch hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the ballgame. The Royals went on to win the game. It was supposed to be the home run that was going to jump start the team's season, as they were picked as the favorites by most people. But, the team never got it going and Mendy was sold to the Korean League after playing in just 18 games.

Even though Mendy hasn't played in the Majors since '04, he kept on playing in Mexico through last season.

1994 Fleer, Rex Hudler

#U17 Rex Hudler

Here is the fifth and final card of Rex Hudler that I have to post. And by final, I mean that it is currently the last one. But, that will hopefully change at some point as I have a couple more that I want signed by him. I have got an Orioles Crown card that I need signed and then I need to obtain a Yankee and Phillie card of him to get signed. If I can make that happen, I will then have all of those to go along with a signed Expos, Cardinals, Swallows, and this Angels card. But, first I need a Yankees and Phillies card of him.

Rex played for the Angels for three seasons. Like the rest of his career, he was a utilityman. But, he saw most of the time at second base. Over those three seasons, he hit .293, his best average with any franchise. He also had 30 home runs, including a career high of 16 in 1996, his final season in Anaheim.

For some reason, I seem to have a lot of signed Angels cards. This is the sixtieth one that I have posted. That is the third most of any team, behind the Royals and the Padres.

It was a good month of posting for me. Somehow, I was able to post twenty-three cards. That is the most I have posted in a single month since early 2011. Hopefully I can keep that up.

Wingnuts game today! Hopefully I can bring home a dozen more signed cards for the collection.

1993 BBM, Rex Hudler

#327 Rex Hudler

This is just the second Japanese card that I have gotten signed. The first one had some Royal ties and it was obtained five years ago. This one was acquired this Spring Training.

My family went to Arizona for the second straight year to watch some spring ball. We of course hit up a Royals game and I decided to 'graph the Rangers side. But, to not miss out, I sent my fiance and kid to see what they could get on the Royals side. None of us were doing very good, but I noticed that Rex was out on the field doing a pregame show. I called my soon to be better half to let her know because I really wanted this card signed. She said that she would do what she could.

So, she kept an eye on Rex while watching out for any other Royals that came her way. While trying to flag down a player, Rex started to leave the field. At the last second, she noticed this, and sent our kid over to the dugout. He is just nine-years old, but he was able to get Rex to sign before heading up to the booth and Rex signed two cards for him/me.

Rex spent just one season in Japan and he did really well. He hit .300 while hitting 14 home runs and driving in 64. He did good enough there to get a job back in the states the following season.

This card is slightly smaller than a normal card. It it no where near mini-card small, but it is not quite full sized. The border on the card reminds me of some early '90s Pro Set football cards.

1992 Upper Deck, Rex Hudler

#670 Rex Hudler

A couple of weeks ago, I had back-to-back posts of Dave Eiland. Now it is time for back-to-back posts of Rex Hudler.

This is the third Rex Hudler card that I have posted on here. Like the previous two, this one was signed outside of Kauffman Stadium prior to the Royals final game of the 2012 season.

Rex joined the Cardinals early in the 1990 season after being traded there by the Expos. That first season in St. Louis was was Rex's finest season at that point. He had career highs in average (.281), home runs (7), and RBI (22). He played two more seasons with the Cards, but his numbers slipped enough in 1991 that he only saw 98 at-bats in 1992.

Like I mentioned in the previous Rex Hudler posts, he is the color commentator for the Royals TV broadcasts.

1991 Line Drive AAA, Razor Shines

#194 Razor Shines

Seeing this card makes me realize that Impel got a little carried away with their "Pre-Rookie" label for this set. By the time these cards came out, Razor Shines Major League career was over. He had made his Major League debut eight years earlier and then played in his final game in 1987. I realize that the "Pre-Rookie" label is part of the card and cannot be taken away from certain player's cards. Maybe they should have just dropped the label for the AAA set.

Razor signed this card, and one other, for me on this years Spring Training trip to Arizona. He is the manager of the Dodgers AA team in Chattanooga and he signed for me after the minor leaguers morning practice.

Razor played in the minors for sixteen seasons and nine of them were spent with the Indianapolis Indians. That has got to be some kind of modern day record. Even when the Indians changed affiliation from the Expos to the Reds in 1993, Razor stayed with the club. He ranks fifth in games played for the franchise, third in home runs, fourth in doubles, and second in RBI. The Indians all-time leader in games and RBI played for the club ninety years ago.

The Indians hosted "Razor Shines Day" in 1993 and there is apparently a suite named after him at Victory Field. The Indians even gave out a bobblehead of him in 2003.

1991 Fleer, Ken Oberkfell

#511 Ken Oberkfell

Here is the fourth and final card that Ken Oberkfell signed for me last summer. Ken is the manager of the Lincoln Saltdogs of the American Association and he signed the cards for me and my kid before a game in Wichita. I got a card signed by him as a Cardinal, a Brave, a Giant, and now an Astro. Now I just need to get a Pirate card signed by him to have all his teams covered. Or at least all his teams where he got a card since there does not appear to be an Angels card of him.

Ken's tenure in Houston lasted a season and a half. He played in 130 games with them, but hit just .213 with a home run, 10 doubles, and 26 RBI. He was released in July of 1991.

Nobody picked him up after his release until the off-season when the Angels gave him a shot. He went on to .264 in the 41 games he played with the Angels in 1992. That was Ken's final season in the Majors.

Ken started managing in 1997 in the Phillies organization. He managed for them for four seasons and then managed for the Mets for ten seasons, including six years at the AAA level. He has been managing independent teams for the last two and a half seasons. Right now his Saltdogs are 15-19.

On the College World Series contest front, Virginia cliched a spot in the finals today. They will take on the winner of tonight's Texas/Vanderbilt game. So far, seven people have picked Virginia to be in the finals. Five people have Vanderbilt picked to advance and six people have picked Texas. For the ones that got Virginia right, three of them picked Vandy to face them and one picked Texas. This thing is still up for grabs.