1951 Topps, Wally Westlake

#27 Wally Westlake

Around the same time I decided that I needed a signed '51 Bowman for the collection, I also decided that I needed a signed '51 Topps. So, I found this card of Wally Westlake at a reasonable price and dropped it in the mail. The beautiful, small, squarish piece of cardboard made it back home one month later. Wally even included three signed postcards commemorating highlights of his career.

Wally played in the Majors for parts of ten seasons with the Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, Indians, Orioles, and Phillies. He came up with Pittsburgh in 1947 at the age of twenty-seven and would go five straight seasons of hitting double digit home runs, including a single season best of 24 with the 1950 squad. Over that time, he also had two 90+ RBI campaigns and topped out at 105 in 1949.

Then, in June of 1951, Wally got traded to the Cardinals. Despite making his first and only All Star team that season, that trade signaled the beginning of the end for Wally's career. In 1952, Wally got traded twice more and eventually ended up in Cleveland. He stuck around there for for two and half seasons, but only as a part time player. It was with the Indians in 1954 where Wally played in his lone World Series. He got into just two games and went 1-7.

In 1956, Wally played in five games for the Phillies and then called it a career. Like many young men of Wally's generation, he lost three years of playing time to the War. That obviously delayed his Major League debut, but he had a fine start just the same. Besides playing in an All Star game and a World Series, he also hit for the cycle twice and was the first white batter ever hit by a black pitcher. That last part felt really weird typing, but is a true statement.

As for 1951 Topps, the set was actually some type of game. It consists of just 52 cards, just like a card deck. You can tell on the top of this card that the card has some perforation to it, so I have no idea how these cards were distributed. But, I am willing to bet that they did not come with gum. That is just a guess, though.

Here are the postcards Wally sent me.

Wally passed away a little over two months ago.

2008 Upper Deck, Zach Duke

#UDJ-ZD Zach Duke

My name is Zach and, whenever I run into a Zach (or Zack or Zac) that plays ball, I like to get a card personalized to me. It may be a little weird and a bit creepy, but I call it my "To Zach, From Zach" collection. This is the first card that I have posted from this collection.

I got this card signed by Zach at a Royals game in 2015. He was playing for the White Sox at the time. It was a Sunday day game in early September and it was super hot. The 'graphing sucked as all I got was Duke. But, he did sign all three of my cards in addition to personalizing this one. Mike Sweeney was at the game for Sweeney bobbleheads. But, by the time I realized he was there and signing at the Hall of Fame, they had closed the line off.

To make matters worse, my wife was five months pregnant and battling a terrible migraine. The sun and heat weren't helping her out at all, so we left the game about the time it started. It was not the way I envisioned the day going, but I was not about to jeopardize my wife's and unborn son's health for a ballgame.

As for Zach Duke, he pitched for the Reds for half of the 2019 season before getting released in July after going 3-1 with a 5.01 ERA. It is quite possible that his career is over and, if it is, he lasted fifteen seasons and pitched for the Pirates, Diamondbacks, Nationals, Reds, Brewers, White Sox, Cardinals, Twins, and Mariners. He has a 69-91 record with 4 saves and a 4.31 ERA. In 2009, he represented the Pirates on the National League All Star roster.

2008 Razor, Tanner Scheppers

#148 Tanner Scheppers

Here is a card that I bought off of COMC for a whopping $1.25. The only reason why I bought this card is because I had the pleasure of watching Tanner pitch in the American Association before he went to the Majors. While a couple of Wingnut players are currently playing in the Majors, I do not remember seeing them play in Wichita. But, I do remember Tanner pitching.

In 2008, Tanner was drafted in the second round by the Pirates. He and the Pirates could not agree to a contract before the deadline and Tanner re-entered the draft the following year. In order to stay fresh before the draft, Tanner signed with the St. Paul Saints. He pitched in four games with the Saints before getting drafted by the Rangers at the end of the first round. He signed that time around and his time in the American Association came to a close.

Tanner pitched in the Majors for parts of six seasons with the Rangers. During that time, he was 12-7 with 3 saves and a 4.23 ERA. His best season came in 2013 when he logged a career high 76.2 innings and responded with a 6-2 record with a save and a 1.99 ERA. That was his only Major League season with an ERA under 4.00.

Tanner pitched in Japan last year and it looks like is not playing right now. He could be injured or he might not have a team to play for. I do not know. I bet that the Saints would take him back, though.

Even though it does not mention a team anywhere on this card, I am chalking this up as a Pirate card because they drafted him in 2008.

2008 Razor, Jordy Mercer

#82 Jordy Mercer

Here is another card that I got signed at the Wilmington Blue Rocks playoff game in 2009. Jordy was playing for the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats at the time and I was lucky that my buddy was able to get this card signed for me and that it came out looking this good. I mention that last part because it was kind of raining when he got this card signed and one of the cards Jordy signed got hit with a rain drop and kind of ruined the signature. The third card he signed looked like it might not have got prepped and got pelted with two rain drops. But, at least this one came out looking great!

Looking back at my lone trip to a baseball game in Delaware, I am kind of surprised by the percentage of autographs that I got that went on to appear in the Majors. Minus a couple of Rocks that I got for my Burlington Bees team set, I would guess that at least 85% of the players that signed for me that day at least appeared in the Major Leagues. That seems pretty good for an A ball game.

As for Jordy, he is currently playing for the Tigers, but is on the IL right now (I might never get used to saying/typing IL). This is his eighth season in the Majors and he has been rather consistent so far in his career. His numbers are a bit down right now, but he typically is good for a .255 average with about 10 homers and 50 RBI.

I am pretty sure that Jordy is pictured in his Oklahoma State uniform here, which means that I most likely saw him play in college. I went to a Wichita State game in 2007 where they hosted the Cowpokes, so there is a good chance that Jordy played in that game.

That is two posts in a row of current players. That is unheard of on here. Just wait until the next post when it makes it to three straight. Just for fun, if anyone actually makes it down this far in the post, leave a comment on who you think the next player is. Here is a hint- the card is from this set. There may be prizes involved just for making a guess.

2008 Playoff Contenders, Chase d'Arnaud

#65 Chase d'Arnaud

This is a card that I got signed at a Wilmington Blue Rocks game in 2009. Chase was playing for the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats at the time. The game I attended was a Carolina League playoff game that almost got rained out. They got the game in, but pregame was a little soggy which made the 'graphing rough. That day, I 'graphed the home team and I entrusted a buddy to get the Hillcats for me. I guess I didn't stress to him enough to not bother getting the players to sign if it was raining because he got me a few smeared autos. This one, however, came out unscathed and looks rather nice.

To date, Chase has played parts of seven seasons in the Majors with the Pirates, Phillies, Braves, Red Sox, Padres, and Giants. Over that time, he is a .222 hitter with 5 home runs and 40 RBI over 236 games. His best season was with the Braves in 2016 when he got into a career high 84 games and responded with a .245 average and a home run with 21 runs driven in.

Chase is currently playing for the Rangers AAA affiliate in Nashville and is off to a rough start. Through 17 games, he is hitting just .193. Considering that he played in the Majors as recently as last year, there is still time for him to get it going and get called up again.

2008 Donruss Elite, Shelby Ford

#160 Shelby Ford

How is that for a name? It is certainly better than being named Taurus, Escort, or Focus. Ranger might have been cool, though.

I got this card signed by Shelby in 2017 at a Wingnuts game. He was the hitting coach for the Grand Prairie Airhogs at the time. The 'Hogs had a rough season that year and got a little short on players. Because of that, they had to activate Shelby. He played in just two games for them and went 1-4 with his lone hit being a single.

Shelby was drafted by the Pirates in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft out of Oklahoma State. He reached AAA in 2009 and struggled mightily at the level, hitting just .188 in nearly 300 at-bats. Despite hitting .285 in AA the previous season, that stint in AAA seems to have broke Shelby. He got demoted to AA in 2009 and would hit just .233 there. He went back to AA in 2010 and he hit .245. In AA in 2011, he could only muster a .194 average through 62 at-bats (though he hit .304 in 23 AAA at-bats). The Pirates cut him loose.

He would go on to play parts of five seasons in the independent ranks before calling it a career after the 2015 season and then again after 2017. He finished his affiliated minor league career a .253 hitter with 30 home runs and 203 RBI.

2008 Bowman, Kent Sakamoto

#BP42 Kent Sakamoto

In 2009, I flew out east to visit an Army buddy that was living in Maryland at the time. The visit just happened to coincide with the Carolina League playoffs that were taking place up the road in Wilmington, Delaware. Being a Royals fan, I was determined to make my buddy take me up there to watch the Blue Rocks in action.

We almost didn't go to the game as it was raining a ton when I got out there. My buddy was convinced they were not going to play, but he really didn't want to go anyway. After considering not going, I figured it was worth a shot and we made the drive.

It was not the best 'graphing conditions with the wet weather, but we managed to snag a few dry autographs. I focused on the Wilmington side and made my buddy do the Lynchburg side. He did surprisingly well for not being a baseball fan. In fact, he did a little too good and was out 'graphing in the rain and ended up with a few autos that smeared from rain drops. But, this is one of the the ones he got and this one came out looking great.

Kent played in the Pirates organization for just four seasons and never advanced above high-A Lynchburg. In 2009, he was repeating high-A and having a dreadful season. In 72 games, he hit just .189 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI. That was the end of the road for him in affiliated ball and he then jumped to the American Association for two seasons before calling it a career.

Delaware is now added to the 2008 Bowman map.

2006 Upper Deck, Oliver Perez

#365 Oliver Perez

It has probably been over two years since I have posted a card of a current player. But, here is one now. To be honest, I had no idea that Ollie was even pitching this year until I was getting cards ready to see the Indians play in Kansas City. I had to do some digging to find three cards of him, but I found them. Ollie signed two of them at the late August game I attended, but not this one. I then saw the Indians again in Kansas City a month later and was able to get this one signed.

Ollie had an amazing season this year with the Tribe. The LOOGY got into 51 games and pitched 32.1 innings with a 1.39 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Those are some good numbers for a 38 year-old reliever that does not throw gas.

Just like the last two guys I posted on here, my three cards of Ollie all featured him with a different team. This one showcases his time in Pittsburgh, which lasted about three seasons. Over that time, he was 21-28 with a 4.59 ERA.

His best season was with the Pirates in 2004. That year, he was 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA and a career high 239 strikeouts. Those 239 K's ranked fourth in the National League and his 10.975 K's per nine lead the league.

2005 Topps Total, Jack Wilson

#145 Jack Wilson

Here is the fourth card of Jack Wilson that I got signed at the Kansas Stars game last summer. While it isn't the last card of Jack that will be posted on here (I hope), it will be some time before I post another one since the next one in line is from 2011.

Jack spent parts of nine seasons with the Pirates from 2001-2009. Over that time, he hit .269 with 60 home runs and 389 RBI. In 2004, he was an All Star and won the Silver Slugger for National League shortstops.

In the last post about Jack, I talked about the new chapter of AAA baseball coming to Wichita. Since that time, the city has officially closed the books on the Wingnuts and they are no more. But, thanks to an auction and a farewell ceremony at Lawrence Dumont Stadium, I have acquired some neat memorabilia from the team and ballpark.

Two weeks ago, the Wingnuts held an auction and were getting rid of everything in the park that was not bolted down. Items varied from all the team store merchandise to grills and coolers to ladders to equipment to paper towel dispensers to office supplies to furniture used to furnish player apartments. There was quite an array of things to be bought. Here is a picture of the cool stuff that I came home with- a couple of section signs and a game-used batting helmet.

Then, three days ago, the city held a farewell ceremony for the park where fans could buy some of the seats. I had to work, but my wife, dad, and kids took a trip to Wichita and came home with four stadium seats.

Lawrence Dumont is going to be missed, but she had to go. The park was so out of date, fans couldn't even bring sunflower seeds in because they would clog up the drainage. While not having any minor league baseball nearby next summer is going to make for a long summer for me, it will be made up for when the Pacific Coast League comes to town the following year.

2005 Bowman Heritage, Brad Corley

#290 Brad Corley

Two posts ago, I showed off the Gio Gonzalez auto that I got in a trade with a random reader for a pair of '05 Bowman Heritage Cesar Carrillo cards. When we made the deal, he gave me a list of cards that he had available for trade. I picked the Gio card and told him to throw in an '05 Bowman Heritage card that he had dupes of. This is that throw-in card.

Brad played in the minors for five seasons, never making it above AA. The second round pick out of Mississippi State reached the AA level in just his third year of pro ball, but could never get any higher. Despite hitting .262 in his first full season there, the Bucs cut ties with him in 2009 and he finished the season playing for the Rockies AA team. That was Brad's last year in baseball.

In parts of three season in AA, Brad hit .249 with 18 home runs and 81 RBI.

In my last post, I poked fun at the pose that Drew Butera was in. This one isn't much better, but it looks much cooler thanks to the Heritage effect.

2004 Upper Deck Vintage, Joe Beimel

#222 Joe Beimel

Here is a card that I got signed after the Kansas Stars game I attended last year. I didn't have any cards of Joe prior to him being put on the roster, so I had to buy a couple online. Anymore, I am pretty weary of buying cards just to hope that I can get them signed. But, on some lesser known players, especially relief pitchers, I will still do that now and then and it payed off with Joe. I couldn't get him before the game, but I got his attention afterwards and he came and signed the two cards I had of him.

In case you are wondering, Joe Beimel cards are hard to come by. Even though he pitched for thirteen seasons in the Majors, from 2001-2015, and logged almost 700 innings, there are hardly any cards of Joe. There is one Dodger card of him that Upper Deck made in 2007 and the rest of his cards are Pirate cards that came out between 2001 and 2004. This is just another example of the relief pitcher getting the shaft from card companies.

Joe pitched for the Pirates for four seasons. In 23 starts and 176 relief appearances, Joe was 11-20 with a 5.03 ERA. Those four seasons include the first three of his career and a fourth in 2011.

I once asked for Joe Beimel's autograph when he was playing for the Rockies. The only problem was that I did not have any cards of him and I gave him a card of Matt Belisle to sign.

2004 Topps Total, Jack Wilson

#91 Jack Wilson

Here is Jack Wilson card number three from the Kansas Stars game last year. Jack stopped to sign after the game we were at and signed all six cards for us and he did it super-fast. He was speed signing on his way out to the paid autograph signing. I wonder if he signed just as fast for that signing. The first two cards I posted of Jack were both 2004 cards, too, and they can be seen here and here.

Since I still have three more Jack Wilson cards to post on here, I am going to mix it up a bit today. In case you haven't heard, Wichita is going to be getting a AAA team. The New Orleans Baby Cakes are going to be relocating to Kansas in a couple of years, once a new ballpark is built. That is huge news for the area and, while I appreciate the effort of the Wingnuts while they bridged the gap of affiliated ball, I cannot wait for the Cakes to get here. It is going to be a brand new autographing scene in Wichita when that happens and I am really excited.

Here is a first look rendering of the new ballpark.

This is a new development and many details are still unannounced. They haven't even set a date on when the team will start play in Wichita. The Cakes lease on their current ballpark runs through 2021, but they make it sound like the new place will be ready for the 2020 season. I am assuming they will buy out the final year on the lease so the new park doesn't go unused for a summer.

2004 Topps, Jack Wilson

#204 Jack Wilson

Here is the second card of Jack Wilson that I have posted on here. Jack signed six cards for my dad and I last summer after a Kansas Stars game at the NBC World Series. I posted the first card just last week and it can be seen here.

For me, Jack was a household name during his years with the Pirates. The Pirates were a little lean while he played and that might have helped him stand out more. But, for whatever reason, I would have thought that he would have been on more All Star teams than the shortstop I posted two days ago, Jason Bartlett. But, that is not the case. Both guys made one All Star team.

Jack made the team in 2004. That season was a good one for him. He hit over .300 for the only time in his career. He also had single season highs in doubles (41), triples (12), and hits (201). In the All Star Game, he went 0-2 after entering the game in the sixth inning.

I have seen this card referenced as something like "turning two on Tatooine"

2004 Fleer Tradition, Jack Wilson

#291 Jack Wilson

Here is the first of six cards that Jack Wilson signed for my dad and I after the Kansas Stars game last year. Unlike the previous year, we actually stuck around for the whole game since there were fewer people and I thought that I could get a few cards signed. I am glad I did as I was able to add Jack to the collection. Even though there was a paid autograph session after the game, Jack still made his way down the line, hurrying as many free signatures as he could. Being in such a rush, I really did not expect him to sign three for each of us.

The signature is really hard to make out, but he signed the cards in record time. I tried to find a newer, authentic auto from Topps to compare these to, but it appears Jack hand't had an autograph insert since 2005. The ones from '05 are definitely easier to read, though. I am just curious if all of his signatures look similar to this now or if this is just a super-rushed version.

You have got to love the retro uniform on this card. It would be much better, though, if it wasn't so baggy. It looks like this photo is from a contest against the Phillies at old Veterans Stadium.

1992 Classic/Best, Marcus Hanel

#242 Marcus Hanel

Here is the second of two cards that Marcus Hanel signed for my older boy at Spring Training last year. Marcus is the bullpen catcher for the Brewers and my boy, with the help from some other 'graphers, was able to get him before a game at Goodyear Ballpark.

It just so happened that the three games we were going to see last year all had the Brewers as the visiting team. Since my boy could care less about autographs, and there is usually less for him to do at a Spring Training park than a Major League park, I put him to work 'graphing the Brewers for me. To make it worth his while, I told him I would give him a dollar for every autograph he got. For some reason, he thought he was going to make $50. But 'graphing is not his thing, and we only made it to two games, so he was only able to get fourteen cards signed. I was more pleased than he was and gave him twenty bucks for his efforts.

As for Marcus, he never made it to the show. He spent eleven seasons in the minors with Pirates, Braves, and D-Backs. He made it to AAA, playing in 37 games at the level over three different seasons. For his career, he was a .193 hitter.

If you check out Hanel's bio on the Brewers coaching staff page, you can learn some interesting fact about him. For starters, he has been the bullpen catcher for the Brewers for eighteen seasons. But, more importantly, he can hold seven baseballs in one hand and he holds the record for the most cheesesteaks consumed in the Phillies visiting team clubhouse over a three and four day stay. In 2015, Marcus smashed 18 cheesesteaks in three days. He had five more on the fourth day for 23 for the four game set. This makes me want to look up the Royals bullpen catcher's bio to see if he even compares to Marcus.

Back in the day, I really loved this set. I am pretty sure I even bought a box of it. But, for whatever reason, I do not have very many cards from the set signed. This one is just the eighth card from it that I have signed and the first one I got signed since 2009. I guess the main drawback for the set is that it does not feature any AAA players, so most of the guys never made it to the Majors. That is my theory at least.

1990 Pucko Welland Pirates, Marcus Hanel

#17 Marcus Hanel

Here is kind of an oddball minor league team set that I have laying around. I mentioned in a post from a couple of weeks ago that I stocked up on holiday card stockings a few years back. In each stocking was an older update/traded set, a minor league team set, and some junk wax. This card came out of one of those random team sets.

Before I got this set, I had never heard of the Welland Pirates before. I hadn't even heard of Welland before. It turns out that Welland is in Ontario and the Pirates played in the New York-Penn League for six seasons in the early '90s. The team never finished above .500 and ended up moving to Erie and joining the AA ranks.

My son got this card signed for me at Spring Training this year. Marcus is the bullpen catcher for the Brewers and he signed for us before a games against the Reds at Goodyear Ballpark. We never would have got this card signed if not for another father/son duo that spotted Marcus and got him to come over and sign for my kid. I was busy 'graphing the home team that day and I put the kid to work for me. He got paid a dollar an autograph.

1990 Leaf, Don Slaught

#354 Don Slaught

Here is a card that I won in a Twitter contest a couple of years ago. This card, and a couple of others, were being given away by Autograph Rob and I was fortunate enough to win. I believe this is the only contest Rob ever held and his Twitter account has been dormant for the last eight months. To date, this is the only thing I have ever won on Twitter.

With the Milt Thompson 1990 Leaf and this one, I now have four whole cards signed from this set. Dan left a comment on the Thompson card and he hit it on the head- these cards were expensive in 1990. Because of that, I do not have a ton of cards from this set. Back then, I could buy one pack each of Topps, Donruss, Fleer, and Score, or I could buy one pack of Leaf. When I was eleven years old and on a budget, that was an easy decision to make.

I always thought it was odd that they just called this set Leaf. For all of the '80s, Leaf was to Donruss what O-Pee-Chee was to Topps. They were just a Canadian clone. You would have thought Leaf would have came up with a better name, something flashy that justified the price increase.

Don played in the Majors for sixteen seasons with the Royals, Rangers, Yankees, Pirates, Angels, White Sox, and Padres. Over that time, he was a .283 hitter with 77 home runs and 476 RBI. His best season was with the Pirates in 1993. That year, he hit .300 with career highs of 10 home runs and 55 RBI.

1981 Donruss, Chuck Tanner

#257 Chuck Tanner

Here is the second of four '81 Donruss cards that my wife bought for me for Christmas this past year. This one features long time manager, Chuck Tanner, who passed away in 2011.

Chuck had played in the Major Leagues for parts of eight seasons with the Braves, Cubs, Indians, and Angels. He appeared in just 396 games over that time and hit .261 with 21 home runs.

Chuck got into managing after his playing career and managed four different clubs over nineteen consecutive seasons. He lead the White Sox, A's, Pirates, and Braves. Over those nineteen seasons, his clubs had five second place finishes and his 1979 Pirates team won it all. For his career, his clubs posted a 1352 and 1381 record. He won American League Manager of the Year with the White Sox in 1972.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #196

1981 Donruss, Kent Tekulve

#254 Kent Tekulve

I got this card signed through the mail, but I went about it in a different way than usual. Rather then send this card to Kent's residence, I mailed it out last year to the Pirates Spring Training complex. I saw some returns coming from him from there and I gave it a shot and got my card back ten days later. While I have mailed cards to Spring Training for coaches and managers, this was the first time that I had ever sent one to a former player and got it back signed. Let's hope I can repeat that success this year with Ron Guidry.

Kent pitched in the Majors for sixteen seasons with the Pirates, Phillies, and Reds. He spent most of that time in Pittsburgh and became a staple in the Pirates bullpen. During his time with the Bucs, he went 70-61 with 158 saves and a 2.68 ERA. He won one World Series with them and made one All Star team.

For his career, Kent was 94-90 with 184 saves and a 2.85 ERA.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #195

1981 Donruss, Grant Jackson

#15 Grant Jackson

It has been about three weeks since I last posted a card thanks to my computer's power supply taking a dump. Luckily I was able to gt it fixed without encountering any damage. It just took a little longer than I had hoped. But, all is well now.

Here is the second card of Grant Jackson that I have posted on here. I posted the first one, his '71 Topps, two months ago and it can be seen here. The two cards were both signed through the mail in 2015. Obviously, this card was the main reason for writing to Grant.

Grant pitched in the Major Leagues for eighteen seasons with the Phillies, Orioles, Yankees, Pirates, Expos, and Royals. The lefty spent most of his career pitching out of the bullpen and he racked up a 86-75 record with 79 saves and 889 strikeouts. His winning record is surprising considering he was 23-43 through his first six seasons.

Grant had the privilege of pitching in three World Series during the '70s. He was with the Orioles in '71, the Yankees in '76, and the Pirates in '79. He came out of those Series with one ring and a 2.00 ERA over nine innings pitched.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #177