The Rest of 2008 Playoff Contenders

#8 Byron Wiley
#32 Josh Vitters

That is it, just two posts from Playoff Contenders. There was just one new guy and two repeats.

I never bought any packs of this product. I just bought a few singles in the hope that I could get them signed. Overall, they are not bad cards to get autographed. The lack of a background helps out by making the auto that much easier to see.

But, one thing that I do not like about these cards is that they say "ROOKIE" in big font right across the front of the card. I think that just looks tacky and takes away from what is only an average looking card at best. Plus, and I know it is a small sample size, none of the three guys I posted were even rookies in 2008. Two are in their college unis and the other is maybe in a Spring Training uniform and sporting a snap back. The earliest any of the guys made the Majors and officially became a rookie was Chase d'Arnaud in 2011.

Byron Wiley- I got this card signed at a Wingnuts game in 2014. I believe Byron was playing for the Laredo Lemurs at the time. I like this card just because he is rocking his Kansas State digs in the photo, though it is not quite as cool as the card I linked to.

Josh Vitters- This card was signed at the same time as the last two cards of him I posted- at the 2009 Futures Game. Those were all the cards I had of him at the time, but I would eventually run into him a couple of years later and add two more signed cards by him to the collection.

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.

2003 Playoff Prestige, Mitch Wylie

#198 Mitch Wylie

Here is the third and final Mitch Wylie card that I got signed at the lone Wichita Wingnuts game I attended last season. You can see the first post here and the second one here.

Mitch was an eighth round draft pick by the White Sox in the 1998 draft. He moved steadily up the ranks for the Sox until he reached AAA in 2002. He only pitched in six games that season before missing the rest of 2002 and all of 2003. He came back in 2004 at AAA and posted a 5.74 ERA in 28 games (all but one was in relief). But, it must not have been good enough for the Sox and Mitch split the next season between the Giants AAA team and Sioux City of the Northern League. He then pitched the 2006 season with the Norfolk Tides before sitting out the 2007 season. He came back in 2008 with the St. Paul Saints before hurting his arm again. He stayed on with the Saints as their pitching coach for the rest of the season before rejoining the starting rotation in 2009. Like I said in the last post, I have no idea what he is up to these days.

Speaking of Wingnuts games, I have been to four this year (counting the American Association All Star game) while I have only been to three Royals games. At my current job last summer, I had weekends off. But, they moved me up and I can only take one weekend a month off, which has greatly reduced my out of town road trips this summer. I get jealous when I read the posts on Paul's Random Stuff and I see that he has already attended more than thirty games. But, I guess I'm fortunate to have gone to as many as I have with my wacked-out work schedule. So far this summer, I have been to 15 games- 3 college (2 KSU, 1CWS), 3 Royals, 4 American Association games, 1 Northern League game, and 4 AA-level games. I guess I have gravitated more to the Wingnuts since I can head down there after work and still get my autograph fix in. While it is still fun and all, it just doesn't compare to getting 'graphs at Kauffman Stadium.

I bought this card from checkoutmycards.com just because it was a Playoff card and I did not have any Playoff cards signed. I just recently realized what an ugly card it is. I just don't see the point in having two versions of the same photo on the same card. What purpose does that serve?