1992 Fleer, Cedric Landrum

#385 Ced Landrum

Here is a card that I got signed at the lone Kansas City T-Bones game I attended this summer. Ced was the batting coach for the visiting Joliet Jackhammers and I was able to get this card and two others signed after the game.

Ced's Major League career was pretty brief. He played in 56 games with the Cubs in 1991 and 22 games with the Mets in 1993. In those 78 games, he got 105 at bats and he hit .238. He had no home runs and only four extra base hits. In fact, he even finished his career with more runs scored than hits. But, he did steal 27 bases in '91 as a Cub while only getting thrown out 5 times.

One of the cards that Ced signed that day has already been posted at Auto-Matic For the People by Paul. It's his '92 Donruss card that shows him sliding into second. Paul noted that it was a good photo to use for Ced since he had most of his success on the base paths. This photo is probably just the opposite and is probably the last photo you would want used on one of the few cards issued of you. It looks like Ced just accidentally hit the ball on a check swing and is about to try to beat it out. But, I guess a card with a bad shot on it is better than no card at all.

1992 Fleer, Scott Radinsky

#96 Scott Radinsky

Here is the second of the three cards that Scott signed for me earlier this month. Yesterday, Ryan left a comment on the first Radinsky post saying that he didn't even see the signature on the card at first and that it was strange that he signed it where he did with all of the open space on the card. Based off of that card and this one, it looks like Scott just likes signing cards in that spot. It looks good on this card with his foot about to land on the signature.

Scott pitched for the White Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Indians during his 11-year Major League career. He spent five years with the Sox and had his best season with them in 1991. That year he had a career high in innings pitched (71.1) and ERA (2.02).

I have one more Radinsky card to post tomorrow and I'll have another card up later tonight, as well.

1991 Topps, Scott Radinsky

#299 Scott Radinsky

Here is the first of three Scott Radinsky cards that I have to post this week. I got them all signed at Kauffman Stadium a week and a half ago while Cleveland was in town. Scott is the Indians bullpen coach.

The game I went to was a Sunday day game, so there wasn't any batting practice. Luckily, most of the Indians pitchers were out on the field getting their work in. There was even two guys out there with catchers mitts on that I was hoping were the two catchers on the staff. Then I noticed that one of the "catchers" was left-handed and realized that he wasn't an actual catcher. The left-handed one turned out to be Scott Radinsky. I wonder how many former Major Leaguers own a left-handed catchers glove.

If you click on Scott's name at the top of the post, you will be redirected to Scott's Baseball Almanac page. On that page, there is a signed '93 Fleer card of Scott and he is wearing a left-handed catchers mitt on it. What are the odds?

1986 Donruss, Gary Ward

#20 Gary Ward

Normally, when I send out an '81 Donruss card to get signed through the mail, I will only send out that one card. I do that in case they might be a one per person type so that I get the card signed that I need signed. But, every now and then, I will send out an extra card or two with the '81 Donruss if that person is a really good signer and I have another card that I want signed by that person. That is why I sent this card to Gary with the '81D. I just can't pass up a signed Diamond King, even if it is on the worst looking set in the '80s. I now have a whopping three signed Diamond Kings from the '86 set.

Check back later tonight and I will have a new card posted.

1982 Topps, Denny Lewallyn

#359 Denny Lewallyn

Here is a card that I got signed the day before the Rickwood Classic. We got to Birmingham a day early so we could see the Barons play in their current home, Regions Park. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting on the highway for an hour after there was an accident between a car and a tractor's mower and we didn't get to the ballpark as early as I had hoped we would. But Denny, who is the Tennessee Smokies pitching coach, was down in the bullpen watching the starting pitcher warm up and I was able to get this card signed when he made his way to the dugout. It was one of only four cards that I got signed at that game. That's not too good for a minor league game.

Denny's stats are pretty interesting. He pitched in the Majors for parts of eight seasons with the Dodgers, Rangers, and Indians. The interesting part is that he only appeared in 34 games for his career. That averages out to just over four games a year. He had one season that he appeared in one game, one season that he appeared in two, three seasons that he appeared in four, one season that he appeared in five, and two seasons that he appeared in seven games. He finished his career 4-4 with 1 save and a 4.48 ERA.

Denny doesn't have too many cards. In fact, this is his only card from a major card company. All of his other cards are either minor league cards or team issued cards. I didn't have this card originally and I couldn't find any on checkoutmycards.com. Luckily, Scott, from Hand Collated, saw that I was needing this card and he sent it and some '81 Donruss cards to help me out. Thanks Scott!

1981 Donruss, Gary Ward

#594 Gary Ward

Here is the card that Gary signed for me through the mail earlier this summer. I sent this card to him on the 4/28 and I got it back on 6/2. Gary was the batting coach of the Charlotte Knights this past season and I sent the card to the team. All three coaches on the Knights have '81 Donruss cards, but I never got around to sending one to Richard Dotson. I guess I'll have to give him a try next year.

Gary played in the big leagues for parts of 12 seasons. He played with the Twins, Rangers, Yankees, and Tigers. He was a two-time All Star (once as a Twin and once as a Ranger) and his best season came early in his career in 1982. That season, he had career highs in home runs (28) and RBI (91). He finished his career a .276 hitter with 130 home runs.

Gary only played in 13 games with the Twins in 1980, so I guess I'm lucky that Donruss even made a card of him.

This is the last '81 Donruss that I have to post for now. Hopefully, I will be sending a new batch of cards out in the mail sometime soon. Otherwise, it might be a long winter.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 80/100

1981 Donruss, Ken Oberkfell

#583 Ken Oberkfell

Here is the card that I got signed through the mail from Ken Oberkfell. Ken managed the Buffalo Bisons this season and I sent the card to the team on 4/26 and I got it back on 7/13. I had sent the same card to him about a week before the season ended last year and never saw the card again. So, it was a good thing that I had a few of these.

Ken played in the Majors for parts of 16 seasons. He spent the majority of the time with the Cardinals and Braves, but he bounced around a bit towards the end of his career. During that time, he also played with the Pirates, Giants, Astros, and Angels.

I remember Ken from his days with the Braves, but I remember him by name only. He has some interesting stats, though. He wasn't a power hitter by any means and he didn't drive in runs. What Ken did excel at was getting on base. He is a .278 career hitter who has an on-base percentage of .351. He only struck out 356 times in 4874 at-bats while walking 546 times. You just don't see enough players today that can do that.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 79/100