2003 Topps, Dustin Yount

#T208 Dustin Yount

Here is a card that I got signed by Robin Yount's son in 2008. Dustin signed this card in Souix City, Iowa at a Souix City Explorers American Association game. That was the first independent league game I ever went to and Dustin was playing for the Lincoln Saltdogs at the time. I got Dustin to sign it after the game was over and he looked long and hard at the card like he had never seen it before. I guess it might have been the first time that he saw the gold version.

Prior to that game, while the teams were warming up, there was a man walking around in the stands in some Brewers gear. He had on a Mitchell & Ness early '80s style Brewers jersey with Robin Yount's name and number on the back, as well as the Brewers old glove hat. Dustin must have appreciated the gesture because he sent the bat boy into to the stands to give the guy a baseball that he had signed. I thought that was pretty neat.

Unfortunately, Dustin's career has not come close to mirroring his father's. He was drafted out of high school by the Orioles in 2001. He slowly moved up the ranks, despite his lack of hitting. Hit didn't hit over .250 until his fourth season in the minors and that was after repeating low A. He struggled in his first stint at AA in 2006 and in 2007, he was reassigned to the O's high-A team. In 13 games there, he went 1-33 (.030) before the O's released him. He played with three different independent teams over the rest of 2007 and 2008. Last year, he did not play at all.

But, this year, the Dodgers gave him a shot and assigned him to AA. In 34 games there, he was hitting .229 before recently being sent down to the Dodgers high-A team. There, he is teammates with his younger cousin, Austin Yount.

I think that this is the first card I have posted on here of a player in shorts.

2003 Topps, Jason Dubois

#T129 Jason Dubois

Here is another card that I got signed in Des Moines, Iowa last year. Jason was playing for the Iowa Cubs and I was able to get him to sign this card before he left the ballpark for the night.

Jason has played in 86 Major League games with the Cubs and Indians, but he hasn't appeared in a game since 2005. Right now, he is a career .233 hitter that has 10 home runs and 29 RBI in 210 at-bats.

Since 2005, Jason has bounced around the AAA circuit. He has played in the Indians, Orioles, Nationals, and Mets systems, as well as two different stints with the Iowa Cubs. He is still playing for the I-Cubs and he is currently hitting .245 for them with 12 home runs and 30 RBI.

2003 Topps, Carlos Febles

#94 Carlos Febles

Here is the third and final Carlos Febles autograph that I have to share on the blog. This one, like the first one, was obtained in 2008 in Lancaster, California while Carlos was the batting coach for the Lancaster Jethawks. The second one was sent to me by Brian from The Play at the Plate.

I can't really think of anything to say about Carlos that I hadn't said in the first two posts, so instead, I am going to talk about 2003 Topps.

For whatever reason, I really like this set. The inset picture reminds me of the good ol' days of '83/'84 Topps. But the thing I probably like the best is the blue border. It is so unusual and unique that it just stands out and defines the design. I'm sure that there are some other blue-bordered cards out there ( '86 and'87 Fleer comes to mind, different shades though), I just haven't seen any this color.

But, in the grand scheme of things, the blue border could become this set's downfall. Just look at most of your '71 Topps to see what I mean. Once these cards start to get roughed-up a bit, you are going to start seeing white spots on the blue border. Luckily, today's cards are a little more durable than they were in '71, so it will be interesting to see how they (and just about every modern Bowman set) stand the test of time.

2003 Topps, Roberto Hernandez

#23 Roberto Hernandez

Last December, I got a random package in the mail from Arizona. It came from Uncle Moe, of My 2008 Topps Set Blog. In it were three random Royals autographs that he had sent me as a thank you for helping him out with a few cards for his blog. The best part about it was that the three cards were of three known Royals players (at least to Royals fans) that I did not have any signed cards from. How Moe could just randomly pull out three signed Royals cards from his collection of players I needed signed cards from is beyond me, but he obviously did a great job.

Ramon represents an interesting era of Royals baseball. In 2000, the Royals had the best offensive season in the history of the franchise. It was a fun team to watch and it would have been a legitimate contender if they had decent pitching. But they didn't. Instead, they had a merry-go-round bullpen that ended with the closer, Ricky Bottalico. Rickey finished the season 9-6 with 16 saves. How many teams have closers that have almost as many decisions as saves?

Luckily, the Royals GM, Allard Baird, came up with a solution during the offseason. He decided that the Royals needed a legitimate Major League closer and that was all that was standing between them and the playoffs. So, in a three team deal, he traded Johnny Damon for Roberto Hernandez, Angel Berroa, and A.J. Hinch. That was the beginning of the end of the great Royals offense and, except for a fluke 2003 season, the end of competitive Royals baseball.

But, Roberto did a decent job as Kansas City's closer. In his two seasons in that role, he recorded 54 saves. But with the loss of Damon and then Jermaine Dye at the 2001 trade deadline, the Royals offense had lost a lot of its punch and Roberto didn't get as many save situations as Baird thought he was going to get when he acquired him.

After the 2002 season, the Royals granted Roberto his free agency. He went on to pitch five more seasons in the Majors, but not as a closer. The former two-time All Star only recorded six saves after his Royals tenure. But, for his career, he amassed 326 saves, which ranks him at number twelve on the all-time list.

I believe Moe got this card signed during Spring Training. Thanks Moe!

2003 Playoff Prestige, Mitch Wylie

#198 Mitch Wylie

Here is the third and final Mitch Wylie card that I got signed at the lone Wichita Wingnuts game I attended last season. You can see the first post here and the second one here.

Mitch was an eighth round draft pick by the White Sox in the 1998 draft. He moved steadily up the ranks for the Sox until he reached AAA in 2002. He only pitched in six games that season before missing the rest of 2002 and all of 2003. He came back in 2004 at AAA and posted a 5.74 ERA in 28 games (all but one was in relief). But, it must not have been good enough for the Sox and Mitch split the next season between the Giants AAA team and Sioux City of the Northern League. He then pitched the 2006 season with the Norfolk Tides before sitting out the 2007 season. He came back in 2008 with the St. Paul Saints before hurting his arm again. He stayed on with the Saints as their pitching coach for the rest of the season before rejoining the starting rotation in 2009. Like I said in the last post, I have no idea what he is up to these days.

Speaking of Wingnuts games, I have been to four this year (counting the American Association All Star game) while I have only been to three Royals games. At my current job last summer, I had weekends off. But, they moved me up and I can only take one weekend a month off, which has greatly reduced my out of town road trips this summer. I get jealous when I read the posts on Paul's Random Stuff and I see that he has already attended more than thirty games. But, I guess I'm fortunate to have gone to as many as I have with my wacked-out work schedule. So far this summer, I have been to 15 games- 3 college (2 KSU, 1CWS), 3 Royals, 4 American Association games, 1 Northern League game, and 4 AA-level games. I guess I have gravitated more to the Wingnuts since I can head down there after work and still get my autograph fix in. While it is still fun and all, it just doesn't compare to getting 'graphs at Kauffman Stadium.

I bought this card from checkoutmycards.com just because it was a Playoff card and I did not have any Playoff cards signed. I just recently realized what an ugly card it is. I just don't see the point in having two versions of the same photo on the same card. What purpose does that serve?

2003 Fleer Tradition, Kevin Hooper

#U340 Kevin Hooper

Here is a card that I bought off of checkoutmycards.com recently and got signed this past Tuesday at the American Association All Star game in Wichita, Kansas. The managers and coaches for the game are the staffs from the two teams that played in the championship the previous year. The Wingnuts didn't play in the championship, but since they were the host team, I figured Kevin would be at the game and I was right.

Kevin was coaching the bases for most of the game. Prior to the game, he was the North's pitcher during the home run derby. He and the three Sioux Falls Pheasants that he was pitching to got off to a slow start and each batter only had one home run in the first round (five outs). But, after three rounds and three tie-breakers, Sioux Falls' Beau Torbert ending up winning the derby. So, I guess that makes Kevin Hooper the winning pitcher, as well. I got Kevin to sign this card for me shortly afterwards.

This card is a little different than the last three Fleer Tradition cards I have posted. For some reason, this card is glossy and numbered 10/100. I am assuming that these cards were just random inserts into packs, but I do not know for sure. Either way, after some prepping with baby powder, the signature came out just as good as the previous three.

So far, this is the second Kevin Hooper card that I have posted on here. You can see the first one here.

2003 Fleer Tradition, Damian Rolls

#367 Damian Rolls

Here is the second of three cards that Damian signed for me at a Kansas City T-Bones game last year. You can see the first one here.

Damian is from Kansas City and I got this card signed after Damian got done hanging out with a group of people in one of the picnic areas at Community America Ballpark. While he was signing my cards, I asked him if he was starting that night and he started going on about starting second base that night and that he hadn't played second in over a month. That night also happened to be the night that Willie Wilson was the starting centerfielder for the T-Bones and I asked Damian his thoughts on that and he didn't sound too pleased. He said something to the effect that "management was getting on us to get into the playoffs and then they go and do this; so I really don't know what to think of it". I thought about bringing up the game we played against each other at the state tournament in 1994, but he has played so many game since then that I doubt he would remember. Overall, Damian seemed very personable and it was fun talking with him.

I really like this Fleer Tradition set. It is a good-looking set that is not glossy and is perfect for autographs. I wish I would have bought a few of these while they were out.