1999 Team Best, Vernon Wells

NN Vernon Wells

Here is the last of my checkoutmycards purchase. I was able to acquire this one for $1.25. I felt like that was a very good price for an autograph of a two-time All Star and three-time gold glover. I'm sure Vernon has some autographs in some newer sets that would cost at least five dollars, so I am very happy with my pick up. Plus, unlike most newer autographs, this one is on-card.

Vernon was an All Star in 2003 and 2006. 2003 was his best year and he had career highs in all of the major offensive categories, including average (.317), home runs (33), doubles (49), and RBI (117). After his All Star season of 2006, the Jays rewarded Vernon with a seven year, $126 million contract. I think that the contract is back-loaded, but it averages out to $18 million a year.

Since signing that contract, Vernon hasn't had more than 20 home runs or 80 RBI in a season. The one season that he hit better than his career average was 2008 and he missed a third of the season to injuries. Last year, he put up respectable numbers (.260, 15, 66), but nothing close to the numbers you would expect from someone making $18 million dollars a year.

According to Baseball Almanac, Vernon made just under $5 million in 2009. Maybe he is basing his stats on how much he is getting paid at the time. If that is the case, then he better have 50 homers and 140 RBI in 2014 while he is probably making close to $25 million.

1998 SP Top Prospects, Ricky Ledee

#RL Ricky Ledee

Wow, Ricky Ledee played for ten seasons with seven different teams? I had no idea that he lasted that long. I guess I saw him play in 2006 when he was a Dodger playing in Miami. Luckily, I kept score or I wouldn't have been able to recall that. Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that Rickey was such a promising prospect as a Yankee, that that is the team that I mainly remember him playing for. I guess playing in the Fall Classic after your first and second Major League season will do that to some players.

I got this card from checkoutmycards for $1.25. Looking at his stats now, I kind of wonder why I bought this card. I guess that I thought he played in a few more fall classics than he actually did. I think that I may have imagined a player that was made up between Ricky and Shane Spencer. That explains my delusion. Either way, it is still a great looking card of a player that played in 855 games with the Yankees, Indians, Rangers, Phillies, Giants, Dodgers, and Mets.

I didn't realize it until I saw the scan, but this happens to be a minor league card. The Columbus Clippers logo is how I figured that out. I apparently missed the minor league baseball logo on the back.

1996 Leaf Signature Extended Autographs, Mark Sweeney

#196 Mark Sweeney

Here is my last Leaf Signature Series card for the time being. I was able to pick this one up for a mere seventy-five cents. I was more than willing to fork over three quarters for an autograph of the second best pinch hitter ever.

Mark made the rounds in the National League. He made his debut in 1995 with the Cardinals. In his 14 year career, he also played for the Padres, Reds, Brewers, Rockies, Giants, Dodgers, and two other stints in San Deigo. He was a .254 career hitter and he finished his career with 175 pinch hits, second only to Lenny Harris who had 212.

In 2002, he was even involved in a trade for Lenny Harris. That is like Babe Ruth being traded for Barry Bonds. OK, it's not quite the same, but it's still neat and it's something that doesn't happen very often.

I believe that Mark retired during Spring Training last year and is now a coach in some capacity for the Dodgers.

1996 Leaf Signature Series, Rey Sanchez

#201 Rey Sanchez

Here is yet another checkoutmycards purchase. This one set me back one dollar. I bought this card because Rey was the Royals starting shortstop when I started following them in 2000. He wasn't much of a signer at the ballpark and I am pretty sure that this is the only autograph that I have from him.

Rey had a long career with a few different teams. He broke in with the Cubs in 1991 and played for them until they traded him to the Yankees in 1997. He signed with the Giants in 1998 and the Royals in 1999. He stuck around in Kansas City until they traded him to the Braves in 2001. Then from 2002 to 2005, he bounced around to the Red Sox, Mets, Mariners, Devil Rays, and Yankees. He finished his career as a .272 hitter and a .983 fielding percentage. That is not too bad for a shortstop.

I remember when Rey first came up with the Cubs and Harry Caray would call him "Rey Sancheez". I miss Harry.

Rey's signature looks like it says Nerf.

1996 Leaf Signature Series, Curtis Pride

#184 Curtis Pride

Here is another checkoutmycards pick-up. This one set me back $1.25. When I saw this card on the site for so cheap, I could not pass it up. For those of you who do not know, Curtis was the first deaf player to play in the Major Leagues since 1945.

Curtis was such a good athlete that the Mets drafted him in the tenth round of the 1986 draft, even though Curt did not play college baseball. He went to school at William and Mary, but he only played collegant basketball. After six less than stellar years as a Met minor leaguer, Curtis got released. He was picked up by the Expos and he made his Major League debut with them a few months later. After that, he bounced around from team to team and spent a lot of time in the minors. He did, however, play in 421 Major League games with the Expos, Tigers, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees and Angels in a eleven year span. He is a .250 career hitter.

2008 was Curtis' last season playing ball. He spent the season playing for Southern Maryland of the Atlantic League at the age of 39. The season before, I got to see him play in a game in Wichita, Kansas. He was with the Arkansas Travelers at the time. I thought that it was pretty cool since it was a name that I actually recognized. You don't see a whole lot of former big leaguers at the AA level. I wasn't into autographed cards at the time, so I didn't even bother trying to get his autograph. Luckily, checkoutmycards was able to help me out on that front.

According to wikipedia, Curtis is the head coach at Gallaudet University.

1996 Leaf Signature Series, Alex Fernandez

#67 Alex Fernandez

Here is another checkoutmycards purchase. I was able to pick this beauty up for one dollar. This is one of the first cards that I have had from this set and I must say that Leaf did a really nice job on this card design. These cards were made for autographs. I wish Topps, Upper Deck, and Tri-Star would take notes.

I remember Alex being a popular player when he first burst onto the scene. Most of his cards had some value and they always seemed to find their way into my albums rather then the common bins. 1993 was probably his best year and he went 18-9 with a 3.13 ERA. Unfortunately, those numbers weren't even good enough for one Cy young award vote.

Alex played for the Marlins for his final three seasons. He won 17 games for them in 1997. He must have hurt his arm at the end of the season since he only made one disastrous start in the NLCS and didn't appear in the World Series. He then missed all of the '98 season. But, his 7-8 record in 1999 was good enough for the Comeback Player of the Year Award. In 2000, Alex made eight starts for the Fish before calling it quits.

1994 Classic, Brooks Kieschnick

NN Brooks Kieschnick

Here is a card that I picked up from checkoutmycards for ninety-nine cents. Brooks was a Cubs first round pick that never really panned out. He played in a handful of games at the Major League level with the Cubs, Reds, and Rockies. Realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere as an outfielder, he reinvented himself as a pitcher.

Here is why I wanted his autograph. In 2003, I was watching a Brewers/Cubs game on WGN. Brooks was warming up in the bullpen. It then showed him sprinting into the dugout where he grabs a bat and helmet and then heads to the on deck circle. The batter made the third out of the inning and Brooks went back out to the bullpen to continue warming up. The Brewers pitcher made it though the inning alright, so Brooks went back to the dugout afterwards and then pinch hit for the pitcher and stayed in the game as the pitcher. I had never seen anything like it and that is the reason I wanted this card.

Brooks played for the Brewers for two seasons as a hitter/pitcher. In his first season, he posted a 5.26 ERA in 53 inning pitched while batting .300 with 7 home runs. In his second season, Brooks had a 3.77 ERA in 43 innings and hit .270 with 1 home run. I think every National league team could use a player like that.

For some reason, the Brewers released Brooks after only two seasons. The Astros picked him up for the 2005 season, but they kept him in the minors all year. That was his last season in baseball.

Brooks is playing for the Orlando Cubs on this card. I don't think Orlando has had a minor league team since 2003.