2006 Grandstand Aberdeen IronBirds, Jason Berken

#26 Jason Berken

Here is a card that was sent to me last year by Ryan of the Great Orioles Autograph Project. Prior to going to Orioles Fanfest last year, Ryan did a post offering up some free autographs for a couple of players that he did not need signatures from. All his readers had to do was post a comment on who they wanted and then send him a card of that player.

There were a couple of people that I wanted autographs from, but unfortunately, I did not have any cards of them. So, I ended up working out a trade with Ryan where I would get a Jamie Quirk Orioles Crown card signed at Royals Fanfest in exchange for an autograph from one of the players on his list.

But Ryan, being the class act that he is, sweetened up the deal and I ended up getting two autographed cards for the Quirk Crown card. And as if that was not enough, Ryan emailed me which cards he had and he let me pick out which two I wanted. How cool is that?

So in the end, I ended up with this card and a Dick Hall Crown card. Thanks again, Ryan!

2006 Fleer Tradition, Ryan Shealy

#165 Ryan Shealy

Here is a card of Ryan Shealy that I got signed outside of the Royals parking lot in 2008. I am pretty sure that this is the only Shealy card that I owned at the time, so this is the only autograph that I have from him.

Ryan used to be a big name prospect that never really panned out. He was drafted by the Rockies in the eleventh round of the draft in 2002 and then tore up the Pioneer League that season by hitting 19 home runs in 69 games. He moved up to the California League the next season and he hit 14 dingers there. In 2004, he was promoted to AA and he hit 29 homers in the Texas League. He was promoted to AAA the following season and he hit 26 home runs in the Pacific Coast League. Ryan also saw some big league action that year and he hit .330 in 91 at-bats for the Rockies.

The only obstacle standing in Ryan's way was Todd Helton. Ryan was a first basemen by trade and there was no way he was going to get any significant playing time with Colorado. So, the Rockies traded him to the Royals during the 2006 season and, as a Royals fan, I was ecstatic.

In Ryan's first season with the Royals, he hit .280 with 7 home runs in 51 games. It was a good start and I am sure that most Royals fans were looking forward to see what he could do over a full season. Unfortunately, that never happened.

Ryan broke camp with the Royals in 2007 and was basically the everyday first baseman through June. By the end of that month though, he was only hitting .220 with 3 home runs. I can't remember if he was hurt or battling an illness, but the Royals shut him down and he finished up the season in AAA.

He played most of the 2008 season in AAA, only getting called up to the Majors when the rosters expanded in September. He then had a hot September for the Royals and he hit .301 with 7 home runs in 20 games. Unfortunately, the Billy Butler era had started in Kansas City and Ryan never played another game as a Kansas City Royal.

He played for the Royals AAA again in 2009 and was released after the season was over. He was picked up by Tampa Bay and he played for their AAA team before getting released in June. Two days later, he was signed by Boston and assigned to their AAA team. He did get a brief call-up to the Red Sox and he went 0-7 in the five games he played for them. Last season, he was with the Blue Jays AAA team and he hit .272 with 11 home runs in 62 games. According to Baseball Reference, Ryan is currently a free agent.

2006 Fleer Tradition, Tim Hamulak

#69 Tim Hamulak

Sorry about the lack of posts recently, but work tends to get a little hectic this time of year. Luckily, I have today off and am able to get a quick post in.

Here is a card of Tim Hamulak that I got signed in Des Moines, Iowa in 2009. Tim was pitching for the Omaha Royals at the time and I was able to get this card signed by the O-Royals bullpen just before first pitch. In fact, it was so close to game time that I didn't think Tim was going to sign for me. He looked at all of the guys in the pen to see if he should sign or not and they were all shaking their heads for him not to sign. But, he relented and signed all three cards for me.

The game the previous night got rained out and was being played as part of a double header that day. Since I was on the road for the College World Series and didn't own a smart phone or laptop, I had no idea that I was going to be attending a double header. Because of that, I arrived at the game just before first pitch instead of at least an hour prior. So, the three cards that Tim signed for me were the only cards I got signed before the game started. Luckily, I got a few more signed between games and after the games.

Merry Christmas!!

2006 Fleer, Clint Barmes

#324 Clint Barmes

Here is a card that I got signed outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2010. I went to the game because the Royals were hosting the '85 Classic that day. The Classic was a one time event that pitted some of the '85 Royals against some of the '85 Cardinals. I wanted to get to the ballpark a little earlier than usual to get some signatures from former Royals. Unfortunately, that did not work out as all of the '85 Royals showed up on a bus and did not sign any autographs while entering the ballpark. Lucky for me that I was still there early enough that some of the visiting Rockies players were still arriving and Clint was nice enough to sign a few cards for me.

I remember Clint mostly for his hot start in the 2005 season. He hit .410 through the first month of the season and became just the third player in MLB history to hit over .400 through in March/April. I was deployed to Iraq at the time and I still remember my tank commander and myself wondering how long he would be able to keep it up.

Unfortunately, he did not keep it up too long. He hit a bit of a slump after the first month was over and then he had a freak injury. He initially said that he broke his left collarbone while carrying groceries up the stairs to his apartment. But, he later revealed that he broke it in a fall while taking a package of deer meat, given to him by Todd Helton, up to his apartment. Seems like the same thing to me.

Clint finished the season hitting .289. Since then, he has only topped that average once, when he hit .290 in 2008.

2006 Fleer, Kerry Wood

#103 Kerry Wood

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2009. Kerry was with the Indians then and he signed this card for me by the visiting team dugout right after batting practice got over.

Another 'grapher had asked Kerry to sign and he didn't respond at all. I just figured he was ignoring him as he kept on walking to the clubhouse. But, he passed up the clubhouse entrance and came over and signed for a few people. For some reason, I felt like Kerry was going to skip signing for me. That obviously was not the case, though I was the next to last person he signed for. I was even more surprised when he signed two out of my three cards.

Kerry might not be the pitcher that he once was, but he is still in the record book for striking out twenty batters in a nine inning game as a rookie in 1998. Since that season, though, it has been a bumpy ride for Kerry as he been on the disabled list many times for arm troubles. It got to the point that he was taken out of the starting rotation and moved to the bullpen. He closed for a couple of seasons, but he spent this past season as a set-up man for the Cubs.

Kerry is a free agent right now and the only rumor I have heard is that it is the Cubs or retirement. We'll have to wait and see how that pans out.

2006 Fleer, Jarrod Washburn

#9 Jarrod Washburn

Here is a card that I got signed at a Royals game in 2008. Jarrod was with the Mariners at the time and he signed this card from the dugout as his team was taking batting practice. I had three cards for Jarrod to sign, but he would only sign two of them. The guy beside me didn't have a card of Jarrod and he asked him to sign an index card. Jarrod said that he didn't sign index cards, so I offered up my unsigned card to the guy. But, for whatever reason, he wouldn't except the card. I still don't get some players refusal to sign index cards and/or the "autograph card". I asked one AAA player why he wouldn't and all he said was "identity theft".

This card is a welcome change from all of the photo shopped Topps cards. So what if Jarrod was signed by the Mariners in December. There are no pictures of him playing as a Mariner. Just put a picture of Jarrod from the previous season on the card and let people know that he is now with the Mariners. What is so wrong with that?

Jarrod has been retired since the end of the 2009 season. I posted my other signed card of him about a year ago and it can be seen here.

2006 Diamond Signatures, Ned Garver

#14 Ned Garver

Almost one year ago, I posted a couple of vintage cards that Ned Garver signed for me through the mail (a '49 Bowman and a '52 Bowman). I bought the cards to get signed at the Kansas City A's reunion that the Kansas City T-Bones hosted the previous summer, but I missed Ned at the event. So, I sent the two cards to him and he returned both of them signed and he even included two more cards.

The two cards he sent me were two different Diamond Signatures cards. These are the first Diamond Signature cards that I have ever seen, but I had heard about the cards before. If I am not mistaken, these cards were made to be given away to older retired ballplayers so that they would have stuff to sign for people. How accurate that statement is is unclear, but it seems like a plausible one. If anyone else knows anything about these cards, feel free to chime in.

The only problem with this card is that Ned misspelled my name. My name is spelled with an "h", not a "k". But, that is only a minor problem. If I had sent one card and it came back with a misspelled personalization, I might be a little ticked off about it. But Ned signed both of my cards I sent him without a personalization and then included two more, that he didn't have to include, with the misspelled name. How can I get mad about that? He could have made the cards out to Tom, Dick, or Harry and I would have been just as happy to add them to my collection.

Thank you, Mr. Garver!