2009 Tristar Projections, Daniel Hudson

#123 Daniel Hudson

Here is a card that I got signed at a Spring Training game in 2014. Daniel was with the Diamondbacks at the time and he stopped along the third base line to sign some 'graphs before getting to the dugout. He signed two out of three for me that day, including his 2012 Topps Heritage card.

Out of all the cards that I could have picked to blog about today, I picked this one for two reasons. The first is that it was in the album that I happened to grab to look for cards to scan. Once a came across this card, I knew I had to pick it because this is the lowest numbered card that I have got signed.

If you are unfamiliar with this 2009 Tristar product, this particular card happens to be a gold parallel. The difference is pretty subtle with just the two slivers of gold foil in the border. These parallels are numbered out of 25. To date, I have yet to get a lower numbered card signed. I have a Mike Moustakas card numbered to 10 and a Josh Hamilton printing plate that I thought I had decent chances of getting signed, but I was never able to get them done.

Josh finished out last season strong. After getting picked up by the Nationals in a deadline trade from the Blue Jays, he would go 3-0 with 6 saves and a 1.44 ERA to finish off the regular season. He then threw 9.2 innings of relief in the postseason, going 1-0 with 4 saves and 3.91 ERA en route to a World Series Championship.

1952 Topps, Howie Judson

#169 Howie Judson

Here is another recent through the mail success of mine. I sent this card to Howie in September and I had it back two weeks later.

Howie pitched in the Majors for seven seasons with the White Sox and Redlegs. He both started and relieved, but spent the majority of his career coming out of the bullpen. Over his career, he went 17-37 with 14 saves and a 4.29 ERA. I didn't even realize they tracked saves in the '40s.

It is so odd to me to see the strikeout and walk numbers from guys that played in Howie's era. Just like Carl Sheib, Howie finished his career with more walks than strikeouts. He walked 319 batters while just striking out 204 over 615 innings of work. That is good for a about three K's per nine innings of work. Nowadays, a pitcher with that kind of K/9 wouldn't even sniff the Majors, especially as a reliever. It is crazy how the game changes.

I noticed that Howie and Eddie Robinson, who are both pictured with the Sox in this set, are rocking two different hats. According to Dressed to the Nines, this hat was last used in 1945. The hat Eddie is wearing was last used in 1950. I wonder how accurate that site is as Howie didn't make it to the Majors until 1948.

1952 Topps, Eddie Robinson

#32 Eddie Robinson

A few months ago, I decided to start a new project. My leads on 1981 Donruss were drying up and I needed a new excuse to send out some TTMs. So, I came up with my Topps Prime Nine project. The goal of the project is to get nine cards from every Topps base set signed, starting with this one. I picked nine because there are nine slots in a sheet and all of these are going in their own album. It is like the history of Topps, but with autographs added.

With the exception of the early Topps sets, it was going to be an easy task to accomplish. But, I made one stipulation and that has proven to make the task much more difficult than I anticipated- a player can only appear in the album one time. So, while my log says that I have thirteen 1976 Topps cards signed, a few of those guys are Royals alums that I have many autographs from. Then I have to choose if I use that player for that set or if he is needed to fill up a page in another set. Because of that, some Royals greats are in my Prime Nine album in uniforms other than the Royals just so I can fill up a page. John Mayberry is a Blue Jay and Willie Wilson is a Cub. That isn't right, but that is the way it is for now.

Anyways, the Prime Nine album is why I got this card signed. Before I started it, I had just two 1952 Topps cards signed. I figured I had better start sending out some cards for this set because there are not too many guys from it still around. Eddie, for instance, turns ninety-nine in three weeks. I sent this card to him in September, along with ten bucks, and I had it back in eight days.

Eddie played in the Majors for parts of thirteen seasons with the Indians, Senators, White Sox, A's, Yankees, Tigers, and Orioles. He was a big first baseman that could really swing the stick. The .268 lifetime hitter had four straight seasons in the early '50s with 20 or more homers and three straight years of 100+ RBI. He made the All Star team in each of his 100 RBI campaigns as well as the 1949 season. Eddie's best year was with the Sox in 1951 when he hit .282 with 29 homers and 117 RBI. Besides the four All Star games, he also played in the World Series twice.

Follow me on Twitter to see all of the Prime Nine TTMs as they arrive in my mailbox. @zmills40

2008 Upper Deck, Matt Thornton

#284 Matt Thornton

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2008. It was a Sunday day game, so the best chance for getting autographs in the ballpark that day was going to be from the pitchers. Anymore, when the pitchers are out getting their work in, they only wear tees or jackets with no number on it. Because of that, I personally have a tough time identifying players at the park. But, it is always a little easier with the lefties because there are less of them to sort out. That was how I got Matt ID'd.

Matt pitched in the big leagues for thirteen seasons with the Mariners, White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, Nationals, and Padres. Over that time, he appeared in 748 games and logged 662.2 innings. He was the definitive LOOGY. For his career, he was 36-46 with 23 saves and a 3.41 ERA. He appeared in the postseason twice and he made the American League All Star team in 2010.

I am very surprised that I got this card signed in blue instead of black. Black seems like it was my go-to in 2008.

The Rest of 2008 Tristar Projections

#83 Darren Ford
#90 Josh Horton
#198 Mitch Einertson
#256 Josh Vitters
#320 Salvador Sanchez
#399 Desomd Jennings

Darren Ford- Unlike the last card of Darren that I got signed at a Sacramento River Cats game, this one was pulled out of a pack. I actually bought the pack at the Kauffman Stadium gift shop for eight bucks just because it also came with an Eric Hosmer card. It worked out well as I eventually got the Hosmer card signed and I got an auto in the pack.

Josh Horton- I love the way this card looks. Josh's loopy blue signature just looks like it was made for this card. It is perfect. It definitely came out a lot better than the last card of him I posted when I had him sign in black. This card was signed at a Tulsa Drillers game in 2010 while he was playing for Midland.

Mitch Einertson- Mitch played for the Wingnuts for parts of two seasons and I was able to get this card signed at one of their games in 2012.

Josh Vitters- I got this card signed in Hoover, Alabama in 2010 while Josh was playing for the visiting Tennessee Smokies.

Salvador Sanchez- Sal signed this card for me the day after I got Vitters to sign. This time, though, it was in Birmingham at historic Rickwood Field for the 100th anniversary of the ballpark.

Desmond Jennings- I got Desmond to sign at the 2009 Futures Game in St. Louis.

2008 Topps, Gavin Floyd

#293 Gavin Floyd

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2009 while Gavin was still with the White Sox. That game was a Sunday day game, so the only real chance of getting autographs that day was from pitchers. I had three cards of Gavin to get signed, but this was the only one he did for me. After his successful 2008 season, I was more than happy to just get him on one.

Gavin pitched in the Majors for parts of thirteen seasons with the Phillies, White Sox, Braves, Indians, and Blue Jays. Over that time, he amassed a 74-76 record with a 4.37 ERA. He never made an All Star team and he only pitched in the postseason once. He reached double digit win totals with the White Sox in five straight seasons from 2008-2012. Unfortunately, he only had a winning record during one of those seasons.

Those five years were a great stretch for Gavin. During that time, he had a 4.12 ERA and averaged 151 strikeouts a season. But, then 2013 came and he was only able to make five starts that season before getting shut down and having Tommy John surgery. He would go on to pitch in 44 more Major League games before calling it a career after the 2016 season.

2008 Just Minors

#27 Chris Getz
#46 Daniel Mayora
#60 Derrick Robinson

I only have three cards signed from this set and all three feature players that have been posted on here before. So, I get an easy day today.

Chris Getz- This card was signed at Royals Fanfest in 2013.

Daniel Mayora- I got this card signed at Dodgers Spring Training in 2014. To my surprise, Daniel is still playing ball. He is playing in Mexico, where he has played since 2017.

Derrick Robinson- Derrick signed this card for me in 2009 while he was a member of the Wilmington Blue Rocks. Derrick last played pro ball in 2017. In 2016, he played in the American Association and I was bummed that I could not find his 2013 Topps Update card to get signed at a game. It was in my collection, but missing in action.

I find it strange that this is a minor league set, but it really doesn't focus on the minor leagues. I know three cards is a small sample size, but only one of the three shows a definitive minor league uniform. While the other two could possibly be minor league unis, they could just as easily be Spring Training shots. The backs have no mention of the minor leagues and don't even tell you where the players played the previous season when the racked up the stats that are listed.

2008 Bowman, Chris Getz

#BDPP81 Chris Getz

Here is a card that I got signed outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2013 while Chris was with the Royals. That was about the time that the Royals became bad signers at home, so Chris was the only Royal I got that day. The Rangers were in town that afternoon and I did much better with them.

Chis played in the Majors for parts of seven seasons with the White Sox, Royals, and Blue Jays. Over that time, he hit .250 with 3 home runs, 111 RBI, and 89 stolen bases. His best season was with the White Sox in 2009. That year, he hit .261 with 18 doubles, 2 dingers, and 31 RBI. He did so well that season that Topps named him to their All-Rookie Team. The White Sox rewarded him by trading him to the Royals for Mark Teahan. I am going to call that trade a push.

These days, Chris is back with the White Sox as their director of player development.

Based off of a couple of other autographs that I have gotten from Chris, it would appear that Chris only signed his first name on this card. I guess that is just how his hurried ballpark signature comes out.

2008 Bowman, Brent Morel

#BDPP49 Brent Morel

Here is a card that I got signed at an Omaha Storm Chasers game in 2015. Brent was playing for the visiting Nashville Sounds at the time and I asked him to sign when he came out of the clubhouse. He was one of the last guys out and running a little late, so he told me he would get me after the game. I have heard that line, or one similar, hundreds of times and it is very rare for a player to uphold his promise. But, low and behold, Brent actually came through. I was quite amazed.

That was the second time I tried to get this card signed. The first one was at the Rickwood Classic in 2010. I didn't have a smartphone at the time, so I printed off rosters for the teams I would be seeing before I left for my trip. When I got to Birmingham, the Barons were wearing throwback uniforms without player names on them. So, I found his number and kept calling out for Brent and he kept ignoring me. After a bit, he finally turns around and tells me that he wasn't Brent and that Brent had been promoted to AAA. D'oh!

Brent's Major League career spanned parts of six seasons with the White Sox and Pirates. He played in 219 games during that time and he hit just .227 with 13 home runs and 59 RBI. His best season was with the Sox in 2011. That season, he got into 126 games and he hit .245 with 10 dingers and 41 driven in.

2015 was the last time Brent played in the Majors and in the States. He took his game to Japan for two seasons before apparently calling it a career after the 2017 season.

Nebraska has been added to the 2008 Bowman map. This is the last addition to this map for now. It looks like the final tally is that I got cards signed in fifteen cities and twelve states.

2008 Bowman, Christian Marrero

#BCP235 Christian Marrero

Here is a card that I got signed in Birmingham, Alabama at the 2010 Rickwood Classic. Christian was playing for the hometown Birmingham Barons that day and he was nice enough to stop and sign my lone card after hitting some soft toss on the field.

Christian played minor league baseball for a dozen years, all the way through the 2017 season. During that time, he played in the White Sox, Braves, Pirates, and Phillies organizations and even got in some Mexican League and independent baseball.

The crazy thing about Christian's career is that out of his twelve seasons of professional baseball, he only played 80 games in AAA. Christian was basically a career AA player. He spent parts of nine seasons at that level including four and a half seasons with the Barons.

In his twelve years of service, Christian was a .277 hitter with 107 home runs and 577 RBI. His best season at AA was his first taste of it, the half season in Birmingham in 2009. In just 65 games, Christian hit .301 with 11 homers and 40 RBI.

2008 Bowman, Sal Sanchez

#BP83 Sal Sanchez

Back in the day, my best friend and I would make yearly ballpark trip to parks around the country. Now we are both married and have kids and we are doing really good if we see each other three times a year. But before we got married, every summer we would plan a trip to see various parks. It started as just Major League venues, but we started incorporating minor league parks into our trips as a way to break up long drives. Then, in 2010, we did something that we have only done that one time. We did a ballpark trip exclusively of minor league parks.

That year, we decided to go to the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the United States and every year the Birmingham Barons play one game there. 2010 marked the 100th anniversary for the ballpark, so it seemed like a perfect time to go. On the trip, we also made stops to see games in Tulsa, Springdale (Northwest Arkansas), and Hoover, Alabama at what was then the Barons everyday ballpark.

This is one of the cards that I got signed at Rickwood. The Barons are the White Sox AA team and I was able to get Sal to sign this card after doing some soft-tossing by the dugout.

Sal never reached the Major Leagues, but he did do everything he could to try. Originally drafted as an outfielder, Sal spent five seasons trying to work his way up and he never made it past Birmingham. A .240 hitter at the time, the Sox decided to switch him to pitcher. In his third season as a pitcher, he was back in Birmingham and seemed to do okay. He was 2-4 with a save and a 3.38 ERA in 42.2 innings of relief work.

I guess that wasn't good enough and the Sox let him go. He pitched for a couple of independent teams in 2014 and then threw 16 frames in the PCL in 2015 before calling it a career.

In 2007, Sal made a case for this card by hitting .343 in the Pioneer League.

Here is the new and updated 2008 Bowman map.

2005 Bowman, Giovanny Gonzalez

#158 Giovanny Gonzalez

Every once in a while, I will get a random email from somebody that I do not know who wants to trade for a card they found on my blog. More often than not, it is somebody working on a set and they discovered that I posted a card that they needed. That is how I ended up with this card. Somebody noticed that I had some '05 Bowman Heritage cards that they needed and gave me some signed cards to pick from. This is the one that I chose. In order to land this card, I had to pony up two different Cesar Carrillo cards from that set. I think I did OK with that trade.

When I first saw this card, I was not expecting Gio to be pictured with the White Sox. I had no idea he was ever in their organization. Well, it turns out that he was also in the Phillies organization, too, before making his Major League debut with the A's in 2008.

Since making that debut, Gio has pitched eleven seasons and is currently 126-97 with about ten days left in this season. His best season was with the Nationals in 2012 when he was 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA and 207 strikeouts. He has never won more than 16 games any other season in his career, but he has run off a string of eight straight seasons with double digit wins and is one win away from his ninth straight.

Gio is currently hurling for the Brewers and is 2-0 in three September starts with a 1.65 ERA. With nine games left and a 3.5 game lead for the wildcard, Gio is trying to help his club reach the postseason for the fourth time in his career.

1994 Upper Deck, Jason Bere

#146 Jason Bere

Here is the third and final card that Jason Bere signed for me at Kauffman Stadium in 2016. Jason was the bullpen coach for the Indians at the time. You can see the first card I posted of him here and the second one here. Out of the three, this one is my favorite because Jason isn't wearing a black jersey in the photo and the signature is more visible because of that.

Even though Jason got released by the White Sox midway through the 1998 season, he would still go on to pitch for another six seasons. He bounced around a bit, seeing time with the Reds, Indians, Brewers, and Cubs. He never was able to regain the magic he had with the Sox during his first two seasons in the Majors, but he did have one more good season.

That was with the Cubs in 2001. His arm must have been feeling good that season as he started more games and threw more innings than any other season he ever pitched. He posted an 11-11 record to tally his third double-digit win season and his 4.31 ERA was the lowest he had had since his second season in the Majors. On top of that, he struck out a career-high 175 batters.

Jason finished his career with a 71-65 record with a 5.14 ERA. He pitched in one playoff game and one All Star Game.

1994 Stadium Club, Jason Bere

#212 Jason Bere

Here is the second card that Jason Bere signed for me at a Royals game in 2016. Jason was the Indians bullpen coach at the time and he signed for me from the visiting team's bullpen.

Jason pitched with the White Sox for the first five and a half seasons of his career. Over that time, he was 39-32 with a 5.21 ERA. His career got off to a great start with Chicago. In his rookie season, Jason went 12-5 with a 3.47 ERA. He followed that season up with a 12-2 mark and a 3.81 ERA the next year and earned himself his lone All Star Game invite. But, the wheels fell off the next season and Jason went 8-15 with a 7.19 ERA. He started having arm problems after that and would make only eleven appearances over the next two seasons. He was back for the 1998 season and had a 3-7 record and a 6.45 ERA when the Sox released him mid-season.

Jason got to pitch in the All Star game that he made in 1994 and it did not go too well for him. Jason got the nod in the tenth inning of a 7-7 game. He gave up a lead-off single to Tony Gwynn (who started the game) and followed that up with a double to Moises Alou that scored Gwynn. Game over.

1994 Leaf, Jason Bere

#241 Jason Bere

Here is the first of three cards that I got signed by Jason Bere at a Royals game in 2016. Jason was the Indians bullpen coach at the time and he was the lone signer for me on a warm July afternoon.

Even though Jason pitched in the Majors for eleven seasons with five different clubs, I could only find White Sox cards of him to get signed. Plus, all three cards were from 1994 sets. So, there will be a nice little dose of Jason on here over the next four posts.

After three seasons as the Tribe's bullpen coach, Jason has moved on to other things this year. What those other things are, I do not know. But, I do know that the new bullpen coach in Cleveland is Scott Atchison. It looks like Scott only has two cards and I do not have either one.

To my surprise, this is the only card from the '94 Leaf set that I have signed.

1993 Topps, Gene Lamont

#504 Gene Lamont

Here is the second card that Gene Lamont signed for me at a Royals game in 2016. Gene was a coach for the Tigers at the time and he stopped for me outside of the ballpark to sign my two cards. I posted the first card back in November and that one can be seen here.

Gene managed in the Majors for parts of eight seasons with the White Sox and Pirates. Over that time, his clubs went 553-562. That record is better than I thought it would be considering that he managed in Pittsburgh in the late '90s.

Gene's 1993 White Sox team won the AL West with a 92-70 record before losing the ALCS to the Blue Jays in six games. The Sox had a good team the following year, too. But the strike ruined any hope of a chance at a championship. The team then came out flat in the 1995 season and Gene was replaced after an 11-20 start. Gene finished his tenure in Chicago with a 258-210 record.

Gene is no longer with the Tigers organization. He was a holdover from the Jim Leyland days. But, he was ousted with Brad Ausmus after this last season. He is now working with the Royals as a Senior Adviser to the GM.

Sadly, Don Baylor passed away before I got around a finishing this card off.

1992 Score, Don Wakamatsu

#814 Don Wakamatsu

Here is a card of Don Wakamatsu that I got signed outside of Kauffman Stadium last season. Don was the bench coach for the Royals at the time.

That was the second time that I got Don to sign outside of The K for me. I got him to sign a manager card for me the previous season. I didn't have this card at the time, though, so I ended up buying it just to have a card from his playing days signed. This is the only base Major League card of him ever made from when he was playing.

Don got just a cup of coffee with the White Sox in 1991. While he spent well over a month in the big leagues, he was limited to just 18 games with 9 of those being starts. Over those 18 games, he hit .226 with no extra base hits or RBI. He walked once, struck out 6 times, and scored 2 runs. Then that was it as a Major League player.

Don will not be returning to the Royals this coming season. They let him go and Dale Sveum got promoted from hitting coach to bench coach. Don will now be the bench coach for the Rangers.

1989 Topps, Mark Salas

#384 Mark Salas

Here is the seventh and final card of Mark Salas that I have to post for now. Mark is the bullpen catcher for the White Sox and I have got him to sign three times at Kauffman Stadium over the years. This particular one was signed in 2015, the last time he signed for me.

Here are all the rest of the cards he has signed for me.

1988 Topps, Mark Salas

#99T Mark Salas

Here is the last card from 1988 Topps that I have to show, for now. But, it is not the last card of Mark Salas. Mark is the bullpen catcher for the White Sox and I have got him to sign for me three times in Kansas City. This one is from the second time he signed for me in 2014.

This is the first card I have posted of him as a member of the White Sox. Add that to the Twins and Tigers cards I have of him and I have three out of the five teams he has cards from covered. Now I only need a Cardinal card (he has one) and a Yankee card (he has two) to have all of his teams covered (he does not have a card as an Indian).

Mark played with the Sox for just the 1988 season. That year, he played in 75 games and he hit .250 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI. While it was not his worst year in the Major Leagues, it definitely was not his most productive either.

1987 Fleer, Steve Carlton

#635 Steve Carlton

Here is a fun card of Steve Carlton that I got signed at the College World Series in 2014. This is the third and final card that I got signed that day. The first one, his '81 Donruss, can bee seen here and the second one here.

On August 5th, 1986, Steve struck out Eric Davis to record his 4,000th career strikeout. In my opinion, that is quite a milestone. At that point, he was just the second pitcher to ever record 4,000 strikeouts. Yet, for some reason, this is the only base card of Steve commemorating that feat. While Donruss never really had a subset for milestones or record breakers, Topps did at that time and this one went unrecognized by them. I think it is funny that Steve broke the record while with the Giants, but us shown with the White Sox on this card, though.

In case you are wondering, Steve is now fourth on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 4,136 K's. Nolan Ryan is first, followed by Randy Johnson and then Roger Clemens.

It is so strange seeing Steve with the White Sox. It is about as strange as seeing Tom Seaver with them.