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.

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.

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.

1997 Best Lancaster Jethawks, Jim Slaton

#2 Jim Slaton

Believe it or not, this is actually the third Jim Slaton card that I have posted on here. I got all three cards signed at an Oklahoma Redhawks game in '08 while Jim was the pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51s. The first two cards were posted in this blog's infancy over a year ago. The first one was posted in August of '08 and the second one was done in October of '08. So far, that is the biggest gap between cards that were signed together.

I didn't say much about Jim in the first two Jim Slaton posts, so I will take care of that now. Jim had a 16-year career with the Brewers, Tigers, and Angels. He made one All Star team as a Brewer in 1977 as he went on to record a career high 17 wins. After the season, the Brew Crew shipped him to Detroit for Ben Oglivie and then was able to sign as a free agent the following season. He had a career 4.03 ERA and he is the Brewers all-time leader in wins, innings, starts, and shutouts. He started coaching after his playing days and he was still the Dodgers AAA pitching coach this past season.

As for this card, I got the team set for cheap at a Lancaster JetHawks game last year. The 'Hawks revamped their logo prior to last season and they were trying to get rid of anything with an old logo on it in their gift shop. So I was able to pick up two or three old JetHawk team sets and a California/Carolina League All Star set for a buck or two each. It is hard for me to believe that it takes a logo change to drop the prices of old team sets. It amazes me that some teams keep trying to sell five to ten year old team sets for the usual eight or nine dollars. You would think that they would drop the price after a year or two.