1990 Winter Haven Red Sox Star, Al Sanders

#24 Al Sanders

Here is a card that was given to me by Rod, of Padrographs. This is only the second time on here that I have featured a card that was given to me by Rod of a player that never played for the Padres. I know, it is pretty crazy. But, you had better get used to it because there are a few more on the way.

When I first saw this card, I thought that it was out of the 1989 set. I had no idea that Star turned this border out two years in a row without changing it. I don't think that Star produced a pack based set in 1990, only team sets.

As for Al, he never made it to the Major Leagues. His professional career lasted five seasons in the Red Sox organization as he advanced up to AA. In 1991 with the New Britain Red Sox, Al had the misfortune of finishing the season 4-15. While he led the team in losses, he was one of three pitchers that had double-digits in that category on a team that finished 47-93. His 4 wins were good enough to tie him for third on the team lead. He went on to pitch one more season at AA before calling it quits.

I know it is hard to see, but this card is autographed. It was signed in ballpoint and it looks like it might have faded a bit over time.

The Winter Haven Red Sox are no longer around. Their last season was 1992. They operated in the Florida State League and moved to Ft. Lauderdale for one season before moving on to Sarasota. After 2005, it looks like the Red Sox moved their high-A team to Lancaster, California. Currently, their high-A team is in Salem, Virginia.

1989 Star Durham Bulls, Andy Tomberlin

#23 Andy Tomberlin


Here is a card that I got signed at the Rickwood Classic last month. Andy is the batting coach for the Birmingham Barons. The only cards that I could find of him were minor league cards and when Andy saw them, he said "wow, you've got some old ones".

This card is actually out of a team set that I got at a card shop in the early '90s. The scan didn't come out too well, but the borders are actually orange and blue, like the Bulls colors. The only other notable names in the set (that I can think of) are Steve Avery and Kevin Costner. Unfortunately, the Costner card got lost in a TTM attempt. Other than that, the rest of the set is still intact.

I thought that it was kind of neat that Star changed up their borders between the team sets and the set that was available in packs. The two-toned team color border is a nice improvement over the single color borders.

Come back later tonight to find out how to get into the second and final phase of the CWS contest.

1989 Star, Steve Foster

#194 Steve Foster

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in April. Steve is the Royals new bullpen coach and I was able to get three cards signed by him in the bullpen prior to that game. It rained most of the day that day, so niether team took batting practice. Beacuse of that, Steve was the only person that I got an autograph from that day. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, but at least I didn't go home empty-handed.

On the day of that game, it was kind of cool after all the rain had passed. When I went over to the bullpen, I found Steve playing with some wierd-looking little green things. I called over to him and he came over to me still playing with the green thing. Have you ever seen "Cops" when they are trying to do their little test they do to confirm that a powder is a controlled substance? That is what it looked like he was doing. He crushed something and then started to flick it like the cops do. Before I could even ask him what it was, he told me to check it out and then threw it up to me. What he had was some fancy hand warmer called a Chilly Billy. I ended up checking out their website and the main thing they sell is a shoulder and arm ice pack for pitchers. The funny thing about it was that Steve was one of the guys endorsing the ice pack on the main page. So I'm guessing that he might be getting the hand warmers at a reduced price. Either way, it was still something neat that I have never seen before.

Steve is representing the Cedar Rapids Reds in this card. The Reds are no longer playing in the Midwest League, but there is a new team called the Kernals that are affiliated with the Angels.

1989 Star, John Hudek

#59 John Hudek

Here is another card that was obtained at Astros Fanfest. This is also another case of "why is this guy here?".

John Spent his first four years in the Majors as a reliever in Houston. In two of those years, he didn't even have 20 appearences. In the other two, he made at least 40. In his rookike season, he had 16 saves. That was a career high.

After his fourth year in Houston, he was traded to the Mets for Carl Everett. After 30 games with the Mets, he was traded to the Reds for Lenny Harris. He started the next year in Cincy, but got released after two appearances. The Braves picked him up for 15 games (and a few in Richmond) before letting him loose. The Jays thought that a third time might be a charm and signed him. He made three appearances for them (and a few with Syracuse) and was released after the season was over. The Cardinals signed him for the next season, but he must have been released during Spring Training since he has no stats for the season.

Anyway, does this sound like the type of alumni that you would invite to fanfest? I had a hard time just finding a couple of minor League cards of him. I couldn't find any Major League cards even though they do exist.

As for the team on this card, it is the Sarasota White Sox of the Florida State League. There is still a team in Sarasota and they are affiliated with the Reds. I bet you can't guess what their name is.

This is the third card that I have signed from this set. The first one is Moises Alou and the second one is Bill Masse.

1989 Star 2

#93 Moises Alou

This is the second card I've shown on here of an active player. Since he hasn't retired yet, I'm still considering him active. I got this card signed through the mail in the early '90s when Moises was with the Expos. Around that time, my Dad knew a salesman that would come around his workplace from time to time that was from Canada. Every now and then, my Dad would have him grab some Canadian stamps for me. That way I could write to Blue Jays and Expos by placing the proper American stamp on the main envelope to the players, and then affixing the Canadian stamp on the self-addressed stamped envelope to myself. My hockey card autograph collection grew immensely at this time (Roy, Sundin, Sakic, Selanne).

As for this set of Star, I don't have too many of them. I remember buying a few packs at a card show at the mall around 1989 or '90. Most of the players were in A-ball, so it took a little time for them to get to the big leagues (which most of them didn't). I also have two team sets from Star- the Durham Bulls (Steve Avery, Kevin Costner) and the New Britian Red Sox (Jeff Bagwell).

This card depicts Moises as a Salem Buccaneer of the Carolina League, part of the Pirates organization. Today, they are the Salem Avalanche and are affiliated with the Astros.

In my opinion, Moises is a good autograph to have. He's a .303 career hitter. I just wish that I would have sent a card that would have looked better signed. Oh well. Back then I looked at how cool the card was and not how it would look signed. I have a real good example of this when I get to Tim Raines.

1989 Star

#90 Bill Masse

This is the first card on here of a player that never made it to the big leagues. Billy played AAA for four seasons, all in the Yankee organization, before hanging it up. In his second season of AAA, he hit .316 with 19 homers and 91 RBI. I figured that kind of season would at least get him a September call-up, but it didn't. So close.

I got this card signed in San Antonio in August. Bill was the manager of the Missions. I tried to get him to sign after the game was over, before he left the dugout, but he didn't. So I waited outside the ballpark for him to come out. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Around eleven o'clock, I said to myself "I'll give him fifteen minutes, and then I'm leaving". Fifteen minutes later, I said the exact same thing. Fifteen minutes later, I said "screw it, I've waited this long" and sat out and waited until he came out. Finally, about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game ended (and nearly midnight), he came out and signed both of my cards. It wasn't like I had to be anywhere anyway. I was just going to leave the game, drive north for a few hours and sleep in my car at a truck stop. So, it didn't really matter if I left at ten or twelve.

Even though it is just a minor league card, this is the first card on here of a player from the Yankee organization.