2006 Topps, Ned Yost

#600 Ned Yost

Remember when Topps reserved every 100th card in its set for the best players in the game? Well, it looks like they had discontinued that practice by 2006.

Here is a card that I got signed at Royals Fanfest last year. I have posted a handful of Ned Yost cards on here as a player, but this is the first one of him as a manager. When I got this card signed last year, I had no idea whatsoever that I was getting an autograph by the guy that was going to manage the Royals to the World Series and be the manager of the this year's American League All Star team.

But enough about Ned as a Royal. He was with the Brewers when this card came out, so I'll talk about his tenure with Milwaukee. Ned joined the Brewers for 2003 and guided them to a 68-94 record and finished last in the NL Central. The Brewers finished last the next year, too, with another 94 loss season. Things took an upswing in 2005 when the Brewers finished at .500. It was their first non-losing season since 1992. The team regressed a bit in 2006 before putting it together for a great run in 2007. The team finished 83-79 and ended up just two games back of the division leading Cubs.

The Brewers were poised to finally get over the top and make the playoffs in 2008, and they did just that. But, they did it without Ned, who, with a 83-67 record, got fired with twelve games left in the regular season. The Brewers were in a slump, having lost seven of eight, and the powers that be decided a change needed to be made. With the exception of the strike-shortened 1981 season, it is the only time a manager had been fired in August or later while his team was still in the playoff hunt.

Talk about getting Yosted (yes, that is a real word).

2006 Topps, John Rodriguez

#491 John Rodriguez

Here is the fourth and final card of John Rodriguez that I have to post on here. I posted the first one two and a half years ago shortly after I got it, and this one, signed at a Wingnuts game. John was in his first of two seasons with the 'Nuts and they were two highly productive seasons at that.

In 2012, John hit .332 with 16 home runs and 81 RBI. He then nearly repeated those numbers the following year when he posted a .337 average with 19 home runs and 86 RBI. John was supposed to rejoin the team for the 2014 season, but it never materialized. I thought he was going to go back to the Atlantic League to be closer to his family, but he has no stats for 2014. So, it would seem that John may have retired.

Nonetheless, John made it to the Show. He spent parts of two seasons with the Cardinals and hit .298 with 7 home runs and 19 RBI. Most of his playing time came in the 2006 season, yet it doesn't seem like he got a card in a 2007 set.

John made the Cardinals postseason roster in each of his two seasons in the big leagues. He did not do too well in October, though, as he went 0-9 with 1 run and 2 RBI. He did get one World Series at-bat, but he struck out against Detroit's Fernando Rodney. It all worked out, though, as the Cardinals won the World Series and John got his ring.

2006 Topps, Jason Botts

#298 Jason Botts

Here is the third and final card that Jason Botts signed for me at a Wichita Wingnuts game last season. Jason played for Grand Prairie. You can see the first card here and the second one here.

I still have not heard or read any news about Jason playing this year. He is not back with the AirHogs and he is not playing in the Atlantic League or Mexico. So, if nothing else changes, Jason's career may very well be over.

On a totally unrelated note, I am officially going on a ballpark tour this summer. Though my buddy and I took our families to Wrigley last year, we haven't been on one of our officially sanctioned ballpark trips since we hit up Target Field, and a couple of minor league parks, in 2011. This summer, we are headed to some uncharted territory as we fly out to the Pacific Northwest to see Safeco Field and the Seattle Mariners. We are then driving south with stops in Hillsboro, Oregon (Hillsboro Hops) and Sacramento (Grizzlies) before making our final stop at AT&T ballpark to see the Giants play.

I will probably try to get some 'graphs at the first three stops. I don't think I want to deal with 'graphing AT&T on the weekend. I plan on getting to Seattle early enough to 'graph outside as the players arrive. Since I have obviously never been there, any tips to help me out would greatly be appreciated.

It is still a few months out, but I am pretty pumped up about it.

2006 Topps, Xavier Nady

#102 Xavier Nady

This is the third time I have posted a card of Xavier Nady on here, but the last two times were five years ago. Those two cards were Padrographs given to me by Rod. This one I got in-person in 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa when Xavier and his Omaha Storm Chasers were visiting the Iowa Cubs. Xavier was really good about signing, which you do not always get from a veteran Major Leaguer spending the year in AAA. But, he signed a bunch that day and signed all three cards that I had of him.

Though not as well traveled as Kenny Lofton, who I posted yesterday, Xavier did move around quite a bit. He started out with the Padres and spent parts of four seasons with them. That was his longest tenure with any franchise. Then it was off to the Mets for half a season before being dealt to the Pirates. He spent two seasons in Pittsburgh before being traded to the Yankees. He then played for the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Nationals, and Giants in a three year span before spending 2013 in AAA. Last year, he made it back up to the big leagues for a bit with his original team, the Padres. It currently looks like Xavier is not playing this year, so he might have called it a career. The most recent news article on him that I can find is about him opting out of a contract with the Mariners last season.

So, if his career really is done, here are his final numbers. 12 seasons, .268 average, 104 home runs, and 410 RBI. His best season was his 2008 season that was split between the Pirates and Yankees. That year he hit .305 with career highs in homers (25) and RBI (97).

2006 Topps, Kenny Lofton

#97 Kenny Lofton

Here is the fifth and final card that I got signed by Kenny Lofton last year at the College World Series. Kenny signed at the Capitol One tent and, for some reason, there was a much smaller crowd there than at the main signing area at the AT&T tent. Because of that, I was able to go through the line three times. I could have gone through more, but I ran out of cards.

Here are the previous cards that I posted.

Minor League card

Astros

Indians

Yankees

Even with the addition of this card of Kenny with the Phillies, I am still missing some of the teams he played on. I do not have signed cards of him as a Brave, White Sox, Giant, Pirate, Cub, Dodger, or Ranger. Kenny sure got around over the final few years of his career.

With the Phillies, in 2005, Kenny had a really good season. He hit .335 with 22 stolen bases. That was the second highest batting average he ever had for a season. His best average took place eleven seasons earlier while with Cleveland.

Kenny played in the playoffs every season except for one from 2001-2007. The one season he did not appear in the postseason was his year in Philadelphia.

2006 SP Aunthenic, Tom Gregorio

#WBC-50 Tom Gregorio

Here is the second card that Tom Gregorio signed for me at a Royals game in 2013. Tom is the Angels bullpen catcher and he was nice enough to sign the cards for me on the way to the bullpen before the game. It was a slow day of 'graphing, so I was glad that spent a couple of bucks to buy the two cards of him from COMC. The first card I posted of him can be seen here.

This is the first World Baseball Classic card that I have ever posted on here. I have posted some Team USA cards before, but they were all from National or Olympic team sets. Come to think of it, I don't think I have any USA WBC cards signed. Off of the top of my head, I believe I only have two other WBC cards signed- one Canadian and another "Italian".

I was pretty excited when the WBC was first announced. I followed the 2006 event pretty closely and I kept tabs on the 2009 edition. But, I barely noticed the last installment in 2013. I watched a couple preliminary games with the new teams like Isreal and Spain, but I didn't follow the actual tournament at all. Even more surprisingly was the fact that there were very few cards out for the event. Topps did put out a Tribute set for the event, but I don't know if they were only available as a set, online, or hobby only. I just know that I never even knew of the set until I saw some singles on COMC a year later.

As for my personal interest in the event, I think it has waned for a couple of reasons. The first is because the US does so poorly in it. But, more importantly, is the timing of the games. They play them way to early and, as a result, have stupid pitch count restrictions. Many players, especially pitchers, balk at playing because they are not ready to play at that high of a level in the first week of March. Because of that, it is not the best players a country has to offer representing them. It is the best players who are willing to play, which is not the same.

The WBC is a great concept, but it definitely needs some tweaking to become the premier global event it is intended to be.

Despite the rant about the WBC, I do like this card. Take away the "Future Watch" strip along the side and you have a really simple, yet great looking, card set.

2006 Fleer, Scott Feldman

#292 Scott Feldman

Here is a card that I got signed outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2013. Scott was playing for the Orioles at the time and he signed this card for me after arriving to the ballpark in a cab. He actually signed three cards that day. I had gotten him about five years before that and he only signed one, so I was pretty happy to get three from him in 2013.

Scott has been pitching in the Majors since 2005 and spent most of the time with the Rangers, though he also played with the Cubs, O's, and is currently an Astro. He pitched out of the bullpen during his first three years before becoming a starter in 2008. In 2009, he had a great year, winning 17 games and striking out 113, both career highs.

Last year was his first season in Houston and he did really well. Though he was just 8-12 for a young Astros team, he did record a 3.74 ERA and had his second 100 strikeout season. So far this year, Scott is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA. After a rough second start where he allowed 7 earned runs in 5 innings, he settled down yesterday and yielded just 2 runs over 6 innings to record his first win of the year.