2006 Bowman, Chase Fontaine

#BP9 Chase Fontaine

Here is a card that I got signed in 2009 in Wilmington, Delaware. I was out that way visiting an old Army buddy and the Wilmington Blue Rocks happened to be hosting the Carolina League finals the weekend I arrived. Even though it rained a lot that weekend, we still ventured up to a game and did okay getting autographs.

Chase was one of the final players that signed for me before the game and I probably would have been shut out by him if it wasn't for my buddy. When Chase was walking back to the dugout after warming up, I called out his name twice and I was ignored both times. My friend didn't think that was right and he yelled out "HEY CHASE" loud enough to be heard on the opposite side of the field. That finally got Chase's attention and he then came over and signed for me.

Looking at the pre-printed signature on the card, it appears that Chase had a neat looking autograph at one time. Unfortunately, he has shortened it a great deal and all that can really be made out now are his initials.

2006 Bowman, Brian Bannister

#BDP4 Brian Bannister

Here is a card that I got signed by the Royals parking lot back in the summer of 2008. Renovations were in high gear that summer and many areas were blocked off for construction. Because of that, they had to move the players parking lot a bit. When they moved the lot, they also made another change- they fenced in the lot for the first time. While the fence was a minor inconvenience, it was short enough to easily hand stuff over to get signed.

That players lot was just a temporary lot and it moved to its current location the following year. 2008 was the first time I had 'graphed outside of The K and, to date, it was the best year. It has been a downhill slide since then, kind of like Brian's career.

But, I will say this about Brian. First, he has one of the best and most consistent signatures I have ever seen. This was one of the first cards I ever got signed by him. When I gave him my book with three cards to sign, he signed the first one so slowly that I thought there was no way he was signing more than one. But, he did sign all three and it took him about ten seconds a card to sign. He is one of the few players I have met that take their time with each and every signature.

Also, Brian was the best signer on the Royals when he was there. He was always signing for everybody and he only turned me down once. When he did turn me down, he made sure to point out that he was late for a meeting and he would get me inside the park. And he did exactly that.

I wish things would have worked out better with Brian and the Royals, but that is just the way it goes. Nevertheless, Brian is a class act and I wish him the best.

I know he pitched in Japan last season, but he left his team after the earthquake/tsunami and did not pitch the rest of the season. I am assuming that he is a free agent this year, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

2006 Bowman, Edwin Bellorin

#B12 Edwin Bellorin

Here is a card that I got signed at a Wichita Wingnuts game this past summer. Edwin was the Nuts starting catcher and, on that night, I somehow missed him before the game started.

This is the game that Mike Bacsik started for the visiting team and he exited the game after just one inning of work. Since he was my main target for the game, I went to the outfield so I could be by the clubhouse in case he came out. He eventually did come out and signed all three cards for me and I got Edwin to sign my two cards for me when he got to the clubhouse. That was the first time I had ever 'graphed at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium from the outfield and it will only be a last resort spot from now on. There is tall chain link fence separating the general public from the clubhouse and it is an imposing obstacle for getting cards signed. Luckily, I found a low spot on the ground and was able to get my cards through by going underneath the fence. It wasn't ideal, but it worked.

Edwin got into eight Major League games, but none of them were with the Dodgers. He made all eight appearances with the Rockies and they were spread out over three different seasons. In those eight games, Edwin went 3-13 with a run, a strikeout, and an intentional walk.

2006 Bazooka, Mark Buehrle

#5 Mark Buehrle

Here is a card that I got signed through the mail in 2009. I sent this card to Mark at the White Sox Spring Training compound in February and I had it back in the first week of March. I don't send out too many cards to Spring Training anymore, but it obviously pays to send them out around the reporting day. That way you can get it to them before the bulk of the mail hits and before they get into the actual games. In other words, it gets to them when they have more free time to answer fan mail.

I was kind of surprised to see that Mark has never been a twenty game winner. He won nineteen in just his second full season in the Majors and has not been able to win more than sixteen since then. In fact, he hasn't even won sixteen since the Sox World Championship season in 2005. Mark has been pretty consistent over the last three seasons, though, as he was won thirteen games in each of them.

Mark is currently a free agent right now and, according to MLB Trade Rumors, there are at least thirteen teams interested in him. It seems like the Nationals have made the biggest push to land him, but anything can happen during the off-season. The Royals are reportedly in the mix, as well, but I would be shocked if that happened. Frankly, it is hard for me to picture Buehrle with anyone but the White Sox. But, that could change.

Even though I have been sending out TTMs since 1988, I really wasn't that good at it until recently. I don't know how many cards I have sent out that were so dark that the signature was almost invisible or were too glossy and the signature bubbled up. But, by 2009, I had finally figured it out. As a result, I sent this beauty to Mark and I could not be any happier with the results.

2006 Bazooka, Charlton Jimerson

#209 Charlton Jimerson

Here is a card that Paul, from Paul's Random Baseball Stuff, got signed for me in 2009. That year, Paul had 'graphed so many Atlantic League games that he had autographs from about everyone that he needed. Being the gracious blogger that he is, he offered to get stuff signed for other people over the course of the remainder of the season. So, I sent some cards out to Paul and he did a great job of getting most of them signed for me.

Charlton has an interesting career stat line. He appeared in thirty-one games over a four year span with the Astros and Mariners. He must have been used mostly as a defensive replacement because he only had nine at-bats in those thirty-one games. But, in those nine ABs, Charlton had four hits and two of them were for home runs. That is not a bad career stat line. Four out of nine is good for .444 career average. But, if Charlton hadn't got that one at-bat with the M's in 2008, he would be a .500 hitter. I don't care if it is only eight at-bats, but four for eight would be something to brag about. Heck, I'd even brag about .444, but that is just me.

In Paul's Thanksgiving post today, he mentioned this blog as one of the things he was thankful for. Obviously, this is a two way street here and I am thankful for all the cards and autographs Paul has thrown my way.

While I am giving thanks, I also want to thank Ryan, Brian, Greg, Rod, Marck, and all of the other bloggers that help make this community what it is. I don't post as much as I would like any more. But, without you all, I probably wouldn't be blogging at all. Thanks, guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2006 Bazooka, Zack Greinke

#129 Zack Greinke

Here is the third card of Zack that I have posted on here. I said that the last time I posted a card of him, but I am pretty certain that this actually is the third card of him.

I got this card signed by the Royals parking lot in April of 2009. That was the day I went to Kansas City to 'graph the parking lot and the game, but the weather was colder than I anticipated. Being under-dressed for a chilly night game did not sound like fun, so I called it quits after 'graphing the parking lot. But, I got over twenty cards signed, so it was a good trip.

When Zack signed this card for me, he was in the midst of his 38 inning scoreless inning streak. But, he was still nice enough to sign a couple of cards for me. It was misting at the time, so the "G" is a little smudged from a small drop of rain.

Zack is not the most personable guy in baseball. But for whatever reason, once the Sports Illustrated with him on the cover came out in 2009, he was signing for everybody after games. That is unusual behavior for a guy that suffers from social anxiety disorder. He didn't talk much or smile while he was doing it. But that fact that he was doing it said a lot about him.

2006 Bazooka, Coco Crisp

#46 Coco Crisp

For some reason, I thought that this was the first Coco Crisp card I have posted on here and I had a nice write-up in my head for it. Turns out that I posted my first Coco card back in May and I used that write-up then. What's this world coming to?

In my last Coco post, I talked about how he had battled injury plagued seasons in 2009 and 2010. It looks like he stayed pretty healthy this year and he appeared in 136 games, which was the most he had played since 2007 with Boston. This season, he finished with a .264 average with 27 doubles and a career high 49 stolen bases, which tied him for the lead league with Brett Gardner. It seems strange that an Oakland Athletic would lead the league in stolen bases.

Coco is a free agent now and it will be interesting to see where he ends up next season. I haven't heard any rumors about him yet, but it is still early.

I really like these blue bordered Bazooka cards. I think they were a one per pack parallel just like Topps Total did with their grey bordered cards. The blue just accents the card better, especially if the signature is in blue as well. The fortune on the bottom is dumb, though.

This card was signed at Royals Fanfest in 2009, just like yesterdays card.