2004 Upper Deck Play Ball, Freddy Guzman

#230 Freddy Guzman

Here is another Padrograph that Rod sent me over two years ago. When I first saw this card, I thought to myself "this is a neat card that I had never seen before, but I have no idea who Freddy Guzman is". And I still didn't know who Freddy was until the 2009 playoffs. Then he magically appeared on the New York Yankees playoff roster and I said "hey, I have that guys autograph".

Freddy has had an interesting career. He started playing pro for the Padre organization in 2001. By 2004, he had eared his first cup of coffee and it lasted all of twenty games. He then missed all of 2005 before resurfacing in '06 for another cup. This cup lasted nine games and it was with the Rangers. He got another cup with them the following season and it lasted eight games. He wouldn't play in the Majors again until the Yankees called him up in 2009 for ten games.

But Freddy's 2009 season was a little more interesting than just ten games for the Yankees. Freddy started the season playing for the Mariners AAA team in Tacoma. He got released in May and was picked up by the Red Sox and assigned to their AAA team. Then the Sox released him in July and he was signed by the Orioles and placed on their AAA team. He remained with them until they traded him to the Yankees on the 31st of August. He was assigned to the Yanks AAA team before he got called up in the middle of September and now he has a World Series ring.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I always thought that you could not appear in the post-season unless you were with the team before the start of September. Is there some kind of loophole that I am missing or am I completely off base?

According to Wikipedia, Freddy signed with the Phillies in the off-season. But, I can find no record of him playing in 2010 besides his recent winter ball stats.

2004 Upper Deck, Tim Hamulak

Here is a card that I got signed in Des Moines, Iowa in 2008. But the story about this autograph starts in Omaha. I was at the College World Series at the time and I had spent so much time getting free autographs from Gaylord Perry and Orel Hershiser that, by the time I got inside the ballpark, all of the general admission seats were full. So, my dad and I stood in a walkway for about an inning watching the game before I called it quits. We had planned on going to Des Moines after the game and I was expecting to get there right when the game started at seven o'clock. So, I figured that if we left early, I could get to Des Moines in time to rake in the autographs before the game started. That was the plan at least.

But, unknown to me was the fact that the Iowa Cubs game the night before had been rained out and they were playing a doubleheader that day. So instead of getting to the park an hour before the gates opened, I got there as the PA announcer was reading off the starting lineups. I took a few quick snapshots of the ballpark and got the tickets and then went inside and found my seat. The game hadn't quite started yet, so I went down to the Omaha Royals bullpen to see who was out there. The only person I saw that I had cards of was Tim Hamulack, so I hurried down to him to see if he would sign before the game started. He acted like he shouldn't be singing autographs at that time and he even looked around to get the other reliever's thoughts and they were all shaking their heads as if saying "don't do it". But, he went ahead and signed all of the cards for me (I can't remember if it was two or three) and that was the extent of raking in the 'graphs before the game.

It turned out all right, though, as I was able to rake them in between games and after the games.

2004 Upper Deck, Mark Loretta

#433 Mark Loretta

Here is a card of the two-time All Star, Mark Loretta. This card falls into the long line of Padrographs that Rod sent me over two years ago.

Mark had a long career that spanned fifteen seasons and five teams- the Brewers, Astros, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers. His best season came as a Padre in 2004 when he had career highs in average (.335), home runs (16), RBI (76), doubles (47), and runs (108).

But what stands out to me the most is Mark's pitching line. Mark had the privilege of pitching in a Major League game not once, but twice. That doesn't happen to position players very often and the two appearances aren't usually separated by eight years like Mark's. He made his mound debut as a member of the Brewers in 2001. In that game, he pitched one inning and gave up one hit, one walk, and recorded two strikeouts. The two batters he struck out were the Reds Chris Nichting (a pitcher)and Ruben Rivera. His second mound appearance came in his final season in 2009 as a member of the Dodgers. He only threw a third of an inning in that game, but he did record his first hit batsmen when he beaned Matt Holliday with his first pitch. But, he got the next batter to fly out to end the game. So, for his career, Mark is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 1.1 innings of work with one walk, two strikeouts, and a hit batter. That is not too bad.

2004 Topps Total, Vito Chiaravalloti

#875 Vito Chiaravalloti

Here is the final 2004 Topps Total card and it is of a player that quite possibly has the coolest name in my autograph collection- Vito Chiaravalloti. I have no clue how to pronounce that last name. But, when you have a last name that stretches from armpit to armpit on the back of your jersey, you have a great name. Throw in Vito to go along with the last name and you are set.

Vito was a 15th round draft choice by the Blue Jays in the 2003 draft. He played rookie ball that summer for the Auburn Doubledays and he hit good enough there (.351 average with 12 homers in 68 games) to be named the Short Season A Player of the Year. He moved up to high-A the following year and his average dropped to .266 while he had 14 home runs in 122 games. He started out 2005 at AA, but after hitting just .236 in 45 games, he was bumped back down to high-A where he posted a .212 average in 42 games. He started off 2006 in AA again. But after hitting .190 through 42 games, the Blue Jays released him. He was picked up by the Orioles, but after hitting .075 for their high-A team, they released him as well.

After that, it was on to the Atlantic League. He played his first season there with the Road Warriors and he hit .296 with 19 home runs. That seems pretty good for a guy that did not play a single home game that season. He must have impressed someone because in 2008, Vito got to play half of his games at home as a member of the Somerset Patriots. His average dipped to .234 with them and he moved on to the Camden Riversharks in 2009. That was the season that I got this card signed. And me getting it signed consisted of me putting this card in an envelope and sending it to New Jersey where Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff fame, was nice enough to get it signed for me. With Camden, Vito raised his average back up to .272.

For the 2010 season, Vito only played in a handful of games with the Patriots and Riversharks. By a handful, I mean twenty. He hit .233 in his seventeen games with Camden and then went 1-7 in three games with Somerset. So, unless he got injured, it appears that Vito Chiaravalloti's career might be done. [Edit: Turns out the Vito had pretty much retired to become a school teacher, but he came back for a few games when the teams were short on help. Here's the article. Thanks Paul!]

There are still some free packs of football and wrestling/racing cards up for grabs in my previous post. Free free to snag them.

Free Cards!!

For Christmas, my best friend got me a repack stocking that included an '85 Fleer Update set and an '89 Louisville Redbirds team set, along with some other goodies. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought four more of them the next day. Now I have some extra packs that I don't want and I figured I would start the new year by giving them away. Here is what I have.



Here are the basketball packs- two 93-94 Topps, four 98 Press Pass, one 93-94 Fleer, two 91-92 Fleer, one 05-06 Fleer Hoops, one 93-94 Stadium Club, and one 94 UD USA Basketball.



Here are the football packs- 91 Fleer, 91 Paific Plus, 06 Fleer, 91 Classic 4 Sport Draft Picks, 94 Gold Standard (another four sport pack), and a mini '96 UD pack that looks like it might have been included in a box of cereal.



Here are the baseball packs- two packs of '89 Bowman and '89 Topps Stickers, one pack each of '88 Donruss (that looks like it has been resealed), '87 Topps, and '90 Topps Stickers as well as a 1989 Star Canton Akron Indians team set that includes Joey (AKA Albert) Belle.



I don't know why this picture got turned sideways, but here are the soccer cards- three packs of 92 Pacific MSL cards, one pack of 94 World Cup cards, and a some weird World Cup cards from the '80s.



Here are some wrestling and racing packs- two packs (one card each) of Pinnacle Checkers racing cards, three packs of '99 Smack Down cards, and one pack of '91-92 WCW cards.

All you have to do to get the cards is claim them. It is first come, first serve. You get all of the cards in the picture just by leaving a comment saying that you want the baseball lot, the basketball lot, the football lot, the soccer lot, or the racing/wrestling lot. One lot per person, but if you want more than one, you can make a second request and, if no one else claims it, it will be yours. If you have any questions, just ask in the comments.

Also, I picked up a bunch of these baseball coins from the late '80s. If anyone wants these, I will include them with the other cards.



Now, if these cards are not new enough or shiny enough for you, head over to My 2008 Topps Set Blog. Uncle Moe is giving away a box of 2010 Bowman Chrome and you have about four days left to get in on that contest. Make sure you check it out!

2004 Topps Total, Tommy Murphy

#847 Tommy Murphy

Here is a card that I got signed in Des Moines, Iowa in 2009. Tommy was playing for the visiting Omaha Royals at the time and I was able to get this card signed between games of the doubleheader.

At the time, I hadn't realized that Tommy had some Major League service time. It appears that Tommy got called up by the Angles in 2006 and 2007. He played in 48 games the first year and 20 in the second. His career totals are a .213 batting average with a home run, 8 RBI, and 4 stolen bases in 5 attempts. His lone home run was hit off of Baltimore's Adam Loewen.

After the 2007 season, the Angels granted Tommy his free agency. He played for three different organizations in 2008, including the independent New Jersey Jackals, before landing with the O-Royals in 2009. The O-Royals released him about a month after he signed this card and he hasn't played professionally since.

Only one more '04 Topps Total to go!

2004 Topps Total, Carl Loadenthal

#838 Carl Loadenthal

Unlike the last four "first year" cards that I posted on here, Carl never made it to the Major Leagues. He was picked up by the Braves as a non-drafted free agent in 2003 after playing college ball at Rider University. He moved steadily up the ranks and by the end of 2006, he had reached AA. He stayed in AA for all of '07 and he started out '08 there as well before getting promoted to AAA. At the AAA level, Carl hit .278 in 240 at-bats. That was not good enough for the Braves and they released him after the season. The Mets gave him a shot in '09, but he hit just .239 in 59 games at AA before he got released.

After that, it was on to the Atlantic League and that is where this card got signed, courtesy of Paul, of Paul's Random Stuff. Carl played for Newark and York that season and I have no idea who he was playing for when Paul got the card signed. Carl hit .200 with York and .317 with Newark, but it wasn't enough to keep him in the Atlantic League. In 2010, he played for the Sussex Skyhawks of the CanAm League and he hit .315 there. It will be interesting to see where he plays in 2011.

Personally, I think Carl should take Warner Madrigal's route and become a pitcher. He made his pitching debut in college in 2001 and in two game and one inning of work, he allowed nine hits and seven earned runs. He next pitched in 2004 in the Appalachian League and he gave up six hits and five earned runs in two innings of work. He made his next mound appearance in 2006 in the Carolina League and he pitched his first scoreless inning. Sure, he gave up two hits and two walks, but none of them scored. Now, if that isn't improvement, than I don't know what is.

Happy New Year!