2004 Topps, Eric Wedge

#275 Eric Wedge

Here is the fifth Eric Wedge card that I have posted on here. The one difference between this one and the other four is that this is the first Wedge card on here where he is a manager. He was a catcher on the previous four cards which can be seen here, here, here, and here. I got this card signed by the visiting teams dugout when the Indians were in Kansas City in 2008. The black Sharpie may not have been the best choice to use on this card.

I'm not sure if that is Tim Laker or Josh Bard that is about to pinkie-pick his nose, but I'm glad that Topps didn't put him in the small foil picture on the bottom-left corner of the card. Since the card is of Eric Wedge, why did Topps even bother to put the pitcher in that picture?

In case you haven't heard by now, Eric Wedge is returning to the Major Leagues as he is the new manager of the Seattle Mariners.

Five Eric Wedge autographs down, one more to go.

2004 Topps, Frank Catalanotto

#264 Frank Catalanotto

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2008. Frank was playing for the Rangers then and I was able to get this card signed by the visiting team dugout. I only had two cards of Frank at the time, but Frank is a one-per guy and he only signed the other card I had. Lucky for me, my buddy Dustin was with me and he was able to get this card signed for me.

I didn't realize it until I checked his stats, but Frank has been playing in the Major Leagues since 1997. He has played for the Tigers, Rangers, Blue Jays, Brewers, and Mets. His best years probably came while he was with the Jays as he had a career high 13 home runs for them in 2003 and a career high of 59 in 2003 and 2005. However, his highest batting average in a season was .330 and that came as a Ranger in 2001.

Frank represented team Italy in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic.

2004 Topps, Brian Lawrence

#184 Brian Lawrence

Here is another card in the long line of Padrographs that Rod sent me two years ago. This one features former Padre, Brian Lawrence.

Brian was drafted by the Padres in the 17th round of the 1998 draft. He advanced steadily through the Padres system and by 2001, he was pitching in the Major Leagues. From 2002-2004, Brian won at least 10 games each season including a career high of 15 in '04. Unfortunately, he also lost at least 10 games in each of those seasons. For those three seasons, he was actually four games under .500. In 2005, he went 7-15 with a then career high ERA of 4.83. After that season, Brian was traded to the Nationals for Vinnie Castilla.

Since then, Brian has bounced around the AAA circuit with a brief stop in the Atlantic League and briefer stint with the New York Mets. He pitched this past season with the Marlins AAA club in New Orleans and he went 11-8 with a 4.42 ERA. Brian's Minor League Baseball page lists him currently as a free agent.

This is the third post in a row that has been of a pitcher wearing Adidas cleats. I didn't realize Adidas cleats were popular in 2003.

2004 Topps, Mike MacDougal

#113 Mike MacDougal

Here is a card of former Royals closer, Mike MacDougal. I have a few balls signed by Mike, but this is the only card. While Mike was a Royal, I was more interested in tailgating in the parking lot than going in early to get autographs. Plus, I wasn't collecting cards then, so I probably didn't even have any cards of him. Lucky for me, Uncle Moe, from My 2008 Topps Set Blog, sent me this card last year after I got a few '08 Topps cards signed for him. So today, I am thankful for Uncle Moe and his blog!

Mike, the Royals first round pick in 1999, played for the Royals for parts if six seasons. His most memorable season for me was 2003 when he made his lone All Star team (that was the last season that more than one Royal made the All Star team) and helped the Royals stay in first place for most of the year. He recorded a career-high 27 saves that season. But in 2005, Mike was the Royals pitcher of the year when he recorded 21 saves and struck out 72 in 70.1 innings. The Royals obviously didn't have very good pitchers that season.

Since his days in Kansas City, Mike has gone on to play for the White Sox, Nationals, and Cardinals. He had 20 saves for the Nats in 2009 and those are the only saves he has recorded since being traded from the Royals. With the Cardinals this past season, Mike posted a 7.23 ERA in only 18.2 innings of work.

My dad and I have a history of going to the final Royals game of the season. Back in 2001 or 2002, we were at the final game. There was hardly anyone there, so we went down and sat right behind the Royals dugout. During the game, Carlos Beltran came up to bat and on one of the pitches, he got a little off balance and in front of the pitch and he ended up throwing his bat. That bat came straight at me. I watched on Sports Center later that night and you could see me trying to hide behind my scorebook as the bat came towards me. Luckily, the Royals dugout protected me. Mike MacDougal wasn't so lucky as Carlos' bat ended up hitting him in the head and fracturing his skull. How's that for a September call-up? Mike spent a few days in the hospital, but he still has lingering effects from the incident including numbness in some fingers on his throwing hand (at least he did as a Royal). But at least I got on Sports Center.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

2004 Topps, Kerry Lightenberg

#71 Kerry Lightenberg

Here is a card that I got signed at a Wichita Wingnuts game in 2009. Kerry was trying to mount a comeback that season withe St. Paul Saints and I was able to get this card signed while he was making his way to the dugout from the clubhouse. Unfortunately, this was the only card that I got signed by him because this was the only card I could find. I had bought a couple of cards from checkoutmycards.com for the game, but I completely forgot to look for cards of Kerry. Luckily, I was able to find one in my collection the day before the game.

Kerry had an interesting career. He went undrafted out of Minnesota and began his pro career playing for the Minneapolis Loons of the North Central League and the Prairie League. The manager of the Loons was the former Braves backstop, Greg Olson, and he got the Braves to give Kerry a shot. So Kerry was sold to the Braves for $720 worth of equipment.

Kerry started his career in affiliated ball in 1996 with the then high-A Durham Bulls. He appeared in 49 games that season and he posted a 2.41 ERA while racking up 20 saves. He started the next season in AA and did good enough that he finished it in the Majors. In 1998, Kerry took over the Braves closer role and he went on to save a career high 30 games that year.

Kerry missed all of the 1999 season due to injury, but was able to come back in 2000. He lost his closer role that season to John Rocker, but he still finished the season with 12 saves. He played for the Braves for two more seasons as a middle reliever before joining the Orioles as a free agent in 2003. He played one season there before going to Toronto for a year. In 2005, he played in seven games with the Diamondbacks and that was his last foray at the Major League level. He played one more season of AAA ball before calling it quits.

He made his comeback last year with the Saints and he had an 3.00 ERA in 36 inning of work while striking out 29 and saving 15 games. He retired towards the end of the season with a knee injury.

2004 SP Prospects, Christopher McConnell

#251 Christopher McConnell

Here is the third and final 2004 ninth round draft pick from the SP Prospects set. I got this card signed this past season and the one difference between Chris and the prvious two guys that I posted from this set is that, as of the end of the 2010 season, Chris is still in affiliated ball. I got this card signed in Springdale, Arkansas at a Northwest Arkansas Naturals game while I was on my way back home from the Rickwood Classic. Chris was playing for the Naturals, the Royals AA team.

Chris was drafted by the Royals out of high school with the 265th pick of the 2004 draft. Chris' pro career got off to a slow start and it was 2007 before Chris advanced to high-A. It would be two more years before Chris got to AA and he would have to repeat that level in 2010. Last season with the Naturals, Chris hit .231. Yet, he somehow managed to be one of nine or ten Naturals that made the Texas League All Star team.

Until I started to post the cards from this set, I had no idea that the three guys that I have cards signed from were all drafted within six spots of each other. Trevor Lawhorn was number 258, Jim Fasano was 261, and Chris was 264. Normally, a weird coincidence like that could take years to accomplish. But I was able to stumble across the three players in less than a months time. What are the odds?

I was pretty disappointed in Chris' signature. It looks like he signs his first and last name the same. I could understand that if you are Randy Ready and there isn't much difference between you first and last name. But Chris' names don't even begin with the same letters.

In case you are wondering, only three out of the thirty players taken in the ninth round of the 2004 draft have reached the Major Leagues.

2004 SP Prospects, James Fasano

#248 James Fasano

Jim has spent the past three seasons playing in the now apparently defunct Northern League. He spent the entire time with the Kansas City T-Bones and I got this card signed when the Bones visited the Wichita Winguts for a pre-season game earlier in the year.

Jim was drafted by the Rangers in the ninth round of the 2004 draft out of the University of Richmond. He began his pro career that summer playing for the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League and he hit .266 in 300 plate appearances. He was bumped up to the Midwest League's Clinton Lumber Kings in '05 and he hit .302 there in 394 plate appearances. He got promoted to the California League the following season, but he only played in 14 games before getting moved up to AA. At AA, Jim played in 96 games and batted .244.

2007 was much like 2006 for Jim. He started out in the California League and played in 18 games before moving back up to the Texas League. That season for the Frisco Roughriders, Jim hit .284 (the highest he had hit since 2005) with 9 home runs and 39 driven in. Once that season was over, Jim was without a job.

I guess the Rangers just gave up on Jim because he didn't figure into their future plans. He must not have fit into any other teams plans since he ended up in the Northern League. But, he was done well in Kansas City by hitting 20 home runs twice and hitting a career high .319 this past season. It will be fun to see what the future holds in store for Jim.

Interesting to me is that Jim was the 261st overall pick in the '04 draft. That is three picks after yesterdays player, Trevor Lawhorn. Of the two people that were drafted between those two, neither one has played pro ball since 2007. So these two must be doing something right. I actually have one more 2004 ninth round draft pick coming up tomorrow. The only difference is that this one is of a guy that is still playing affiliated ball.