1991 Line Drive, Mike Butcher

#428 Mike Butcher

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game last summer. Mike is the pitching coach for the Angels and he was nice enough to sign a couple of cards for me before the game.

Mike seems to have a friend that lives around Kansas City because I was able to get the cards signed as they were talking it up by the fence. I mention that because he did it again this past Sunday. It looked like Mike was getting interviewed on the Angels pregame show and then he went into the camera bay area and talked up his friend for a good twenty minutes. I would have got some more cards signed then, but I got them all signed last year. I apparently need more Mike Butcher cards as he is an easy autograph in Kansas City.

Looking at Mike's minor league stats, I am surprised that he ever made it past AA. He spent three seasons in the Texas League and he posted ERA's of 6.55, 6.21, and 5.22. I guess getting his ERA under six earned him a promotion to AAA. He responded there with a 3.07 ERA and stint with the big league club. Shows how much I know.

1993 Fleer Procards, Erik Bennett

#314 Erik Bennett

Here is another card that I got signed in Colorado Springs this past July. Erik was the pitching coach for the visiting Salt Lake Bees and he was nice enough to sign this card for me after the game.

Colorado Srpings has a nice setup for graphing the visiting team. The visiting team clubhouse is behind third base, but on the same level as the concourse. In order for the players to get to the field, they have to go down the same steps that a fan sitting in the first row would go down to get to his seat. That makes them very accessable to the fans. Surprisingly, very few people were taking advantage of this fan-friendly environment. Most of the people that wanted autographs were hanging out on the Sky Sox side of the field where there was a direct route from the clubhouse to the field.

As far as I can tell, Erik Bennett has only one Major League baseball card and it is from the 1996 Leaf Signature Series set and it is, of course, already signed. Lucky for me then that I was able to find this card on checkoutmycards.com for less than a buck and then get it signed. Of course, I could have just bought his signed Leaf card for just four cents more and then saved money by not going out to Colorado Springs this summer. But, what fun would that have been?

Erik pitched in the Major Leagues for parts of two seasons and that is putting it genorously. In 1995, Erik pitched one third of an inning for the Angels. The strange part about it is that his Major League Debut came in May and not September. He came into a game against the Twins with two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the eigth and got the pinch hitter to fly out to center. That was the only game he got into as an Angel.

The Twins must have liked what they saw that game because they signed him to a deal after the season was over. With the Twins, Erik got into 24 games and he went 2-0 with a save and a lofty 7.90 ERA in 27.1 innings of work.

After that, it was back to the minors for Erik. He continued to pitch until 2001, spending his final three seasons in the now defunt Western League.

Erik dosn't have much for an autograph, but at least he dots his imaginary "i" and crosses his "t's".

Erik is playing for the Midland Angels in this card. While Texas League ball is still being played in Midland, they are no longer called the Angels or even affiliated with them. The team is now called the Rock Hounds and the A's are their parent club.

1991 Classic/Best, Damion Easley

#121 Damion Easely

I got this card signed through the mail in either 1992 or 1993. That was the cool thing about minor league cards back then. First, remember that this was the time before the internet and before Topps started putting out First Year Cards. So, what I would do was watch the transactions in the newspaper when I could. Most of the big name players wouldn't sign through the mail and it was damn near impossible to find addresses to all of the minor league teams back then. So, this was the next logical step- buy minor league cards and wait. Then when that player gets called up, you could send them a card to sign that week and maybe beat the rush. This is how I got this card signed. Sure, he wasn't the next Ernie Banks or Cal Ripken Jr., but, he deffinitley lasted much longer than most people thought that he would.

I forgot all about Easley after his 2002 season. Four years after hitting 27 home runs, he only hit 8 in '02 to go along with a .224 average. Then I saw him in 2004 pinch hitting for the Marlins against the Braves and thought "he still plays?". Then I saw him pinch hit this past season for the Mets in Denver and again thought "wow, he still plays?"

For his career, he seems to have been one of the longer lasting super-utility players. He was a full-timer for four seasons in Detroit, but since then, he has seemed to adapt to any roll that would keep him in the Big Leagues. Throughout his career, he has played every position except pitcher and catcher. This past season with the Mets, he started at second base 60 times. It takes a certain type of player to go from part time player (at the age of 38) to starting everyday to fill in for injuries. Plus, overall, he hit .269 this past season. I guess what I am trying to say is that this card means much more to me now than it did in 1992 (or 1999).

Also, I have a couple of thanks to put out tonight. The first one goes to Mark at Stats On the Back. He was threatening to throw away a bunch of cards, but luckily I was able to save about 300 Royals cards (maybe more). I got tons of cards of many Royal greats, including Bo Jackson, Willie Wilson, Frank White, Dan Quisenberry, Dick Howser, Amos Otis, Kevin Appier, Wally Joyner, Joe Randa, Kevin Seitzer, Brian and Hal McRea, Dennis Leaonard and Tom Gordon. He even included some Brett's and a 1987 Donruss Bo Jackson rookie. If you have never been there, this might be a good time to check it out. You might even be able to save some cards from eventual destruction.

The second thanks goes out to Dave at Goose Joak for linking to this blog. If you have never been to his site, you should check it out as well. He makes his own original cards that usually consist of current players on older style cards and occaisonally older players on current cards. His latest concoction is of Carlos Pena on a 1990 Fleer Soaring Stars insert that he found here. This is the first card that he has ever done of a card style that he has neve seen in person and he did a Hell of a job.