2008 Tristar Projections, Jordan Brown

#170 Jordan Brown

Here is a card that I got signed at an Iowa Cubs game in 2011. Jordan was playing for the visiting Nashville Sounds at the time and was nice enough to sign three cards for me that day.

Jordan spent parts of two seasons in the Majors. He saw time with the Indians in 2010 and the Marlins in 2013. During those two seasons, he hit .225 with 7 RBI. Though he never hit a dinger at the Major League level, he did manage to swat 8 doubles and those made up a quarter of his hits. Jordan last played professionally in 2014.

For whatever reason, it seems like the Nashville Sounds are the minor league team that I have seen play the most, with the exception of Omaha. And I have never been to a game in Nashville. That will all change next year when the Baby Cakes move to Wichita. They should pass Omaha and Nashville unless the 'graphing their is just terrible. They are going to have netting from foul pole to foul pole, so who knows.

Speaking of Wichita baseball, they are slowly releasing seven finalists for the team name. The first one came out last week and it is the Wichita River Riders. While I do not hate the name, AAA baseball already has the Rail Riders and I don't think it needs another name that sounds so similar. To make matter worse, the River Riders have an awful logo that looks more like a logo for the River Festival than a professional sports franchise.

As for the Akron Aeros, whom Jordan is pictured with here, they are still the AA affiliate for the Indians. But, they changed their name and are now the Rubberducks. In case you didn't know that Rubberducks was one word, now you know.

The Rest of 2008 Topps, Part II

#208 David DeJesus
#237 Eric Wedge
#302 Horacio Ramirez
#313 Kameron Loe
#318 Ned Yost
#333 Jayson Nix
#342 Matt Belisle
#403 Nate Robertson
#404 Cecil Cooper

David DeJesus- This is another one that I got signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008. This one was done a month before the German and Gload cards from the previous post.

Eric Wedge- I got this one signed by Eric during Indians batting practice in Kansas City in 2008. In case you haven't heard, last month Eric was named the new head coach at Wichita State. Hopefully he can bring some luster back to a once proud baseball institution.

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

Kameron Loe- I got Kameron after an Oklahoma Redhawks game in 2008.

Ned Yost- Ned yosted this card for me after Royals batting practice at The K in 2011. Normally, you can't see the Royals take batting practice at home. But, you can buy early bird stadium tour tickets that get you in just in time for Royals BP. They cost about $10-12 a person and you still need a separate game ticket. In all actuality, all the early bird ticket is good for is getting a great 'graphing spot.

Jayson Nix- I believe this is the third card I have posted of Jayson. There should be three more coming and all six of them came from the Kansas Stars game I attended at the 2016 NBC Wolrd Series.

Matt Belisle- Outside of The K in 2010. That was about the time that it really started to suck 'graphing outside that ballpark. Since then, it has primarily been about hitting up the visiting team as they straggle in.

Nate Robertson- Here is the third card of Wichita native, Nate Robertson, that I have posted on here. The first one came from a Wichita card show and the second was from a Stars game. This one was obtained at the same card show as the first card. That show was at Rock's Dugout in Wichita. Rock usually hosts six shows a year, but I think he cut back to four this year. He always either brings in someone to sign or he has Beckett there grading cards. Unfortunately, Rock hasn't had a baseball player there signing in quite some time and, because of that, I don't think that I have attended a show there in three years.

Cecil Cooper- I posted that first card of Cecil way back in 2009. That card was obtained through the mail, just like this one. But, this card was signed about a year ago when I was getting a bunch of Senior League cards signed. I needed Cecil for that set and sent this one along, too, just so I could have a manager card signed by him.

2008 Bowman, Frank Herrmann

#BCP170 Frank Herrmann

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2010. Frank spent the second half of that season on the Indians roster and I was able to get him to sign the lone card I had of him at a late September game I attended.

Frank spent parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Indians and Phillies. Over that time, he appeared in 109 games and was 5-3 with a save and a 4.72 ERA. The last time he appeared in the Majors was with the Phils in 2016. He had a rough go in the National League, posting an 8.40 ERA in 15 innings of work.

After that season, Frank signed with Japan's Rakuten Golden Eagles and has done well in his two seasons there. This past season, he was 2-3 with 18 saves, a 1.99 ERA, and nearly a strikeout an inning. Those 18 saves lead the team and ranked fifth in the Pacific League.

1999 Fleer Sports Illustrated, Bob Feller

NN Bob Feller

Here is a card of Bob Feller that I won in a contest three years ago. Brian, from Play at the Plate, picked up some cards and happened to get a couple of autographed cards from Hall of Famers. All you had to do to win one of them was guess who he got. I threw Bob Feller out there and came home a winner.

I have actually posted an autograph from Bob Feller on here before. In 2009, I stopped at Van Meter, Iowa to visit the Bob Feller Museum. Back then, I had a lot more time on my hands and I actually did a write-up on the visit and my trip to the Metrodome. You can read about it and see the signed card of Bob that I bought there here.

I thought I had heard rumblings about the museum closing after Bob passed away in 2010. But, it looks like it is still up and running.

Bob pitched for the Indians for eighteen seasons. During that time, he went 266-162 with 21 saves. He was a 20 game winner six times and had a career high of 27 in 1940. In 1946, he struck out 346 batters and was the first pitcher to hit the 300 strikeout mark in over thirty years. He finished his career with 2581 Ks and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962.

1993 Classic/Best, Pete Rose, Jr.

#17 Pete Rose, Jr.

Here is the second card of Pete Rose, Jr. that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in November and that one can be seen here.

Pete was the manager for the Wichita Wingnuts the last two seasons and I got this card signed at a game in 2016. Pete's contract with the Wingnuts did not get renewed, so he is moving on this year.

I mentioned in the last post of Pete that I was excited to see who the new Wingnut manager was going to be. I was hoping that it was a former player that had Major League experience and I got what I had hoped for. The only problem is that the new manager played for the Winguts for three or four seasons and I have four cards signed by him already. So, that did not got the way I had wanted.

I absolutely love the photo on this card. With the dust yet to settle, it just screams Pete Rose.

1992 Stadium Club, Tony Perezchica

#454 Tony Perezchica

Here is the second and final card that I got signed by Tony Perezchica this past season. Tony is the third base coach for the Diamondbacks and he stopped briefly to sign after getting off the team bus. I posted the other card in November and it can be seen here.

I find it amusing that I have four Major League cards of Ozzie Canseco, who played in 24 Major League games. Tony, on the other hand, played in almost three times as many games as Ozzie. They have about the same number of base cards made, but this is the only non-minor league card of Tony that I have.

Tony got into 35 games with the Indians in 1991 and '92. In those games, he got 44 at-bats and he hit .238 with 3 doubles and an RBI. He finished his career as a .228 hitter.

1991 Line Drive AAA, Charlie Manuel

#99 Charlie Manuel

Here is another random card that was given to me by Rod, from Padrographs. This sucker is a little bent out of shape. But, it is an autograph from a World Series winning manager, so I don't really care.

Did you know that Charlie Manuel managed the Indians for parts of three seasons? I'm not sure what I was doing those three years, but I do not remember that at all. He is ingrained as a Phillie in my mind and that is all I can picture him as.

But, before managing in the Majors for twelve seasons and making the playoffs six times, Charlie spent six seasons managing AAA ball with four different clubs. Over those six seasons, his teams made the playoffs twice.

Before becoming a manager, Cornbread Charlie played in the Majors for parts of six seasons with the Twins and Dodgers. During that time, he hit .198 with 4 home runs and 43 RBI.

With this card, I have autographs from the manager and two coaches of the Sky Sox in this set. Jim Gabella and Rick Adair were the coaches and you can see their dual signed card here.

1987 Topps, Don Schulze

#297 Don Schulze

Here is the second card that Don Schulze signed for me at an Omaha Storm Chasers game two years ago. Don was the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds at the time and he signed three cards for me while heading to the field. I posted the first card in June and that one can be seen here.

I can't believe that I was posting cards from 1985 in June. It is halfway through September and I haven't even made it through 1987 yet. If I ever get caught back up and get to posting my cards from 2008, it might take me three years to get all the way through them.

Don played for the Indians for three seasons and in each season, he pitched in 19 games. He started most of those and over his time in Cleveland, Don was 11-20 with a 5.30 ERA and 109 strikeouts.

On the last card of Don I posted, I complained about him being in the dark Indians batting practice jersey and how sigs on dark jerseys do not always work out. The sig on this card is obviously a lot easier to make out. It turns out that this is Don's only Indians card where he is not wearing the dark jersey. The other five Indians cards that he graces all have him in the warm-up jersey.

1986 Topps, Joe Carter

#377 Joe Carter

Here is the second card of Joe Carter that Rod, from Padrographs, gave me at a Hillsboro Hops game in 2015. I posted the first one earlier this month and it can be seen here.

After looking at these last two cards of Joe, I might be starting to doubt their authenticity. The reason for that is because of the star shaped "t" that is scribbled on each card. The two cards that I got signed by Joe in-person had nothing like that. In fact, those two cards had two distinct letters after his "t", while the signature on this one stops after the star shape. Plus, I looked at a bunch of Carter autographs on COMC and I did not see anything that resembles the star shape.

But who knows? My cards were signed in a controlled environment. Maybe these newer ones are actually hurried ballpark sigs from Joe's playing days. Or, maybe they are not.

When I was about five or six years old, my grandparents bought me a Cleveland Indians helmet as a souvenir from their trip to Disneyland. I thought it was pretty cool except nobody in my family really knew which team it was from. I didn't figure it out until I saw the Indians hats on an '85 Topps card.

Speaking of Joe's autographed cards on COMC, they must be a hot commodity. COMC has sold over thirty different autographs of Joe Carter. But right now, there is only one for sale and it is listed at $65.25. It is numbered 2/2, though.

1985 Topps, Joe Carter

#694 Joe Carter

Nearly two years ago to the day, I had the privilege of doing a West Coast ballpark tour with my best friend, Dustin. On the first day, we went to a Mariners game at Safeco Field. For day two, we drove down to the Portland area to take in a Hillsboro Hops game.

Prior to going on the trip, I was in contact with Rod, from Padrographs, to see if he wanted to meet up in Hillsboro. He obliged and I was able to meet another blogger in person to take in a game. Being Rod, he arrived at the park with a bag of goodies for me to take home. This was one of those goodies. In fact, I think he gave me four signed Joe Carter cards that day. If I had to guess, I would think that he got a good deal on a lot and only needed the Padres cards out of it.

This is now the third Carter card that I have posted on here. I met him at the College World Series one year and got his '84 Donruss rookie card signed as well as a '94 Pinnacle. So, this is the first card of him as an Indian. I am pretty sure the next three will have him as an Indian, too.

1985 Fleer, Don Schulze

#454 Don Schulze

Here is the first of three cards that Don Schulze signed for me in 2015. Don was the pitching coach for the Nashville Sounds and he signed the cards for me before an Omaha Storm Chasers game.

Don pitched in the Majors for parts of six seasons with the Cubs, Indians, Mets, Yankees, and Padres. He was mainly a starter in the bigs and he compiled a 15-25 record with 5.47 ERA. He never won more than four games in a single season, but he did reach ten losses with the Indians in 1985.

I hate getting cards signed where the player is wearing a dark jersey. But, in this case, I was having a hard time fining three cards of Don. I was pretty happy with the first two I found and I ended up just settling on this one for lack of better options. It turns out that Don was in the '88 Topps set as a Met, and I never bothered to look for that card.

For a dark jersey card, though, the sig on this one actually came out looking fairly decent. It is not much of a signature, but there is not much that can be done about that.

1983 Topps, Jack Perconte

#569 Jack Perconte

Here is the second of three cards that Tom, from The Angels In Order, sent me for helping him out with some 'graphs from Royals Fanfest.

Jack played in the Majors for parts of seven seasons with the Dodgers, Indians, Mariners, and White Sox. He did not see a lot of playing time until he ended up in Seattle in 1984. He was then a regular there for two seasons before ending his career with the White Sox in 1986.

For his career, Jack was a .270 hitter with 2 home runs and 76 RBI. His best seasons was with the M's in 1984. That year, he had a career-best average of .294 with 24 doubles and 31 RBI. He even stole 29 bases that season.

1981 Donruss, Bo Diaz

#517 Bo Diaz

This is the fourth and final card that my wife bought me for Christmas this past year. All four cards were slabbed '81 Donruss autographs from deceased players/managers that were all DNA/PSA certified. While Dan Quisenberry was my favorite of the bunch because of the Royals connection, this one was probably the coolest just because Bo passed away less than ten years after this set came out.

Bo died in 1990 while adjusting his satellite dish on his home in Venezuela. He was only 37 years old at the time.

Nonetheless, Bo had a successful Major League career. He played in the league for thirteen years with the Red Sox, Indians, Phillies, and Reds. He was a .255 hitter that slugged 87 home runs and drove in 452 RBI. He played in one World Series and two All Star Games.

His best season was with the Phillies in 1982. That year he hit .288 and had career highs with 18 dingers and 85 RBI.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #222

1981 Donruss, Andre Thornton

#198 Andre Thornton

Here is a card of Indians slugger, Andre Thornton, that I got signed through the mail in 2014. It took Andre about three weeks to get this card back to me.

Andre played in the Majors for fourteen seasons with the Cubs, Expos, and Indians. The bulk of that time came in Cleveland as he was a regular there for most of his ten seasons on the team. Over his career, Andre had three 30 home runs seasons and two 100 RBI seasons and all of those came with the Indians. Since he was in Cleveland during the '80s, he obviously was on some bad clubs. Nevertheless, he continually put up good numbers on a regular basis there.

For his career, Andre logged 253 home runs and 895 RBI. He made two All Star teams and was 1-2 in his two at-bats in those games. He struck out against Steve Carlton in the '82 game and singled against Fernando Valenzuela in the '84 game.

Andre's best season was probably his 1982 season when he hit 32 home runs while hitting .273 with 116 RBI.

I haven't got a clue what is going on with Andre's signature. For a guy that played in the '70s and '80s, it is unusual that all, or at least part, of his signature is not legible. I think I see the last letter of his first name and a "t" in the last name.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #193

1978 Topps, Al Fitzmorris

#227 Al Fitzmorris

Here is the second card of Al Fitzmorris that I have posted on here. The first card was posted back in 2013 after a chance run-in with Al at a Royals game where I had to buy the card from a fellow collector. This card, too, was also signed at a Royals game. This time, it was at the Royals Sunday alumni signings that they host in their Hall of Fame at every Sunday home game. Since I know that someone is going to be signing there every Sunday, and the Royals do not release who it is going to be, I always have a fat stack of Royals alumni cards with me. After getting this card and one other signed by Al in 2015, I think I need to buy a couple more cards of him for the next time I run into him there.

Al pitched for the Royals for eight seasons before being picked by the Blue Jays in the expansion draft. He never pitched for the Jays, though, as they traded him to the Indians right after picking him. He was coming off of three consecutive double digit win seasons with the Royals, but he could not continue that in Cleveland. In fact, he really struggled there going 6-11 with a 5.60 ERA through a season and a half.

I love where Al signed this card. As you can see by the Jim Kern card I last posted, cards with those dark Indians jerseys could be a pain to get signed. But Al picked the best possible spot on the card to apply his signature. Not everybody does that, but it sure is appreciated when they do.

1977 Topps, Jim Kern

#41 Jim Kern

About seven years ago, I started buying packs of cards on ebay. That was how I got addicted to '81 Donruss. I bought a box of it for about $35. I would only buy packs that were from 1986 or older and I was really looking for good deals on packs from before I started collecting. During the two months I was buying those packs, I came across a pack of 1977 Topps. I had never bought or opened a pack from the seventies, so it was a fun purchase. I have no clue how much I paid for it, but the best card out of the pack was Goose Gossage. That pack also contained this card and I felt obligated to send it to Jim when I sent him his '81 Donruss card to get signed. I mailed those two cards out to him in this past February and I had them both back three weeks later.

Jim pitched in the Major Leagues for parts of thirteen seasons with the Indians, Rangers, Reds, White Sox, Phillies, and Brewers. He broke into the big leagues with the Tribe in 1974 and pitched for them for four solid seasons. During that time, he went 29-30 with 46 saves and 363 strikeouts. His performance was good enough to get him on two All Star teams as an Indian and he pitched 1.2 perfect innings over those two Mid-Summer Classics while striking out three.

After the 1978 season, the Indians traded Jim to the Rangers for Bobby Bonds and Len Barker.

Jim signed this card with a marker of some sort that had seen better days. Add that to the dark warm-up jacket that he is wearing in the photo and you have got a bad combo. But,I got a card that I got out of a pack of '77 Topps signed and I could not be happier.

1959 Topps, Dick Stigman

#142 Dick Stigman

Here is the next card in the line of 1959 Topps Sporting News rookies and it features Dick Stigman. Like the previous three cards from the subset, I sent this card to Dick at the beginning of 2013 and I had it back about a month later.

Dick pitched in the Majors for seven seasons with the Indians, Twins, and Red Sox. He bounced back and fourth from the rotation to the bullpen his entire career, never settling in one spot for too long. In 1962, he lead the American League in winning percentage when he went 12-5 (.706). That year, he started the season in the pen and was 3-2 with 3 saves over the first three months of the season. He was then moved to the rotation and he went 9-3 over 15 starts to finish off the year. His strong finish landed him a starting spot the next season and he stayed in that role the entire season, going 15-15 with 193 strikeouts with a 3.25 ERA.

For Dick's career, he was 46-54 with 16 saves and a 4.03 ERA.

The College World Series Contest results will be up shortly.

1958 Topps, Hal Naragon

#22 Hal Naragon

Here is a card of Hal Naragon that was also signed through the mail in 2013. I sent this card to him in February and I had it back about five weeks later.

Hal played in the Majors for ten seasons with the Indians and Senators/Twins. Like the previous three cards I posted, that all happened to be catchers, he too was a back-up throughout his career. The one season he saw some significant playing time was 1959, the year he got traded to Washington. That season, he played in 14 games for Cleveland before getting into 71 games as a Senator. The most games he played in before or after that was 57, a feat that he accomplished three times.

For his career, Hal was a .266 hitter that had 6 home runs and 87 RBI. None of his seasons really stand out as being a career year, but he did have career-highs in homers and average in 1956 when he had 3 jacks and 18 RBI. That was one season after hitting .323.

Hal did have the privilege of playing in one World Series. It was with the Indians in 1954 and he got into one game as a defensive replacement that did not get to hit. Unfortunately, the Tribe was swept by the Giants in the Series.

When Hal was dealt to the Senators, he was traded for Ed Fitz Gerald. I posted a card of Ed earlier this week.

2007 Bowman, Jonathan Van Every

#SOF-JV Jonathan Van Every

It has been a while since I posted last. Since then, I made a trip out west and saw games in Seattle, Hillsboro, OR, Sacremento, and San Francisco. Then, after I made it back home, I went to the AAA All Star Game in Omaha. I did not do quite as well as I had hoped on the autograph front out west, but I still got a little over thirty cards signed. Rod, from Padrographs, helped make up for that by meeting me at the game in Hillsboro and handing over a nice lot of Padrographs. That was very cool of him. Then, in Omaha, I did pretty well as I got twenty-seven cards signed there. So, overall, it was great little vacation and a much needed break from work.

Here is a card of Jonathan Van Every that I pulled out of a pack in 2008.

Jonathan played for parts of three seasons with the Red Sox. He was a .255 career hitter with 2 home runs and 9 RBI over 47 at-bats. He had the privilege of pitching in two games for the Sox, as well. He pitched a scoreless 2/3 of an inning in 2009. Then, in 2010, he pitched an inning against the Yankees and gave up a two run home run to Mark Teixeira, which happened to be Mark's third home run of the day. But, he did get Brett Gardner looking for his only strikeout. So, in 1.2 innings pitched, Jonathan had a 10.84 ERA.

Jonathan retired from baseball after the 2011 season.

2004 Topps Total, Jeremy Guthrie

#757 Jeremy Guthrie

Here is a card of a current Royal that I got signed at Royals Fanfest last year. To date, that is the only time that I have got any 'graphs from him, but I did get three signed that day. I got this Indians card, an Orioles card, and a Royals card. I still have a Rockies card that I need signed.

Jeremy Guthrie, aka "The Real J-Guts", was drafted by the Indians in the first round of the 2002 draft out of Stanford. He pitched in their system for just a few seasons before making his Major League debut with the Tribe in 2004. He made appearances with the club over three seasons, but never started a game and never pitched more than 20 innings in a season. With Cleveland, Jeremy was 0-0 with a 6.08 ERA. He was claimed off waivers by the Orioles prior to the 2007 season.

Jeremy is a unique individual. Though he has made millions of dollars as a professional ballplayer, he routinely arrives at the ballpark in his Toyota Prius or Chevy Volt. Those vehicles tend to look out of place in the Royals parking lot where a majority of the players drive pimped-out SUVs or jacked-up trucks.