2008 Bowman, Darren Ford

#BCP3 Darren Ford

Two posts ago, I mentioned the ballpark roadtrip that my buddy and I made to the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama in 2010. The roadtrip was something we did nearly every year. But, he had a kid shortly after that and our roadtrips came to a stop. We managed a dual family roadtrip to Wrigley Field for its 100th anniversary in 2014, but it was pretty weak compared to how we used to do it.

In 2015, I jokingly texted him asking what parks we were going to check out that summer. He thought it was funny that I asked him that because he had to fly out to Seattle in a couple of months for a work seminar. The gears started turning and we managed to throw together a four day roadtrip. I flew up to Seattle to meet him and we hit up Safeco Field before renting a car and driving to Portland for a Hillsboro Hops game. We then drove down to a Sacramento River Cats game before finishing up with a Giants game. Even though the trip was on the short side by our standards, it was still the most unique one that we have had in that we flew there and back and had to rent a car. To date, that was the last trip we have been on. We might try to work out another dual family trip next year when the Rangers open their new ballpark.

Anyways, I bring all of that up because I got this card signed on that 2015 trip out west. Darren was playing for the Cats at the time and he was nice enough to sign three cards for me that evening.

Darren played in 33 games with the Giants in 2010 and 2011. Over those two short stints, he never started a game and he only got 14 at-bats. But, he did manage to get 4 hits, score 7 runs, and steal 9 bases.

Darren is still playing ball, but last season was spent in the Atlantic League. Speed is a big part of his game. He stole 36 bases last season, which gives him over 450 steals for his professional career.

Here is the updated 2008 Bowman map.

2008 Bowman, Will Rhymes

#BP108 Will Rhymes

Here is a card that I got signed outside of Kauffman Stadium in 2011. Prior to 2011, The K was a great spot for 'graphing as players arrived at the ballpark. Then, there was an incident involving Melky Cabrera and an idiot fan and the Royals made a lot of changes that made it not so great for getting autographs. The biggest change was that Royals players got shuttled into the park from their parking lot in a golf cart. I use to get a ton of 'graphs from Royals players as they arrived, but that is a thing of the past. Maybe five percent of the arriving Royals will stop to sign on the way in now.

Another thing the team did after the Melky incident was declare certain areas outside the park as "NO AUTOGRAPH ZONES". They had signs made up with that saying and everything. The signs only lasted a couple of seasons and they now have barricades set up where visiting players can walk into the park. At least with the barricade, you can still ask the player to sign at the barricade.

On the day that I got this card signed, I was breaking the rules. Will arrived in a cab and got dropped off at the "no autograph zone" (nowadays, they all show up in Ubers). I went over and asked him to sign anyways. I just had this one card of him and I was in and out. Now, if it was a big name player and he got mobbed, security would have come out. But, I had him one-on-one and it was quick, so there was no issue.

Will played parts of three seasons in the Majors with the Tigers and Rays. He appeared in 130 games and he hit .266 with 2 home runs and 29 RBI. His best season was his rookie campaign in 2010. That year, he got into 54 games and he hit .304 with a home run and 19 RBI. That first home run was off of Zack Greinke.

2008 Bowman, Sal Sanchez

#BP83 Sal Sanchez

Back in the day, my best friend and I would make yearly ballpark trip to parks around the country. Now we are both married and have kids and we are doing really good if we see each other three times a year. But before we got married, every summer we would plan a trip to see various parks. It started as just Major League venues, but we started incorporating minor league parks into our trips as a way to break up long drives. Then, in 2010, we did something that we have only done that one time. We did a ballpark trip exclusively of minor league parks.

That year, we decided to go to the Rickwood Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark in the United States and every year the Birmingham Barons play one game there. 2010 marked the 100th anniversary for the ballpark, so it seemed like a perfect time to go. On the trip, we also made stops to see games in Tulsa, Springdale (Northwest Arkansas), and Hoover, Alabama at what was then the Barons everyday ballpark.

This is one of the cards that I got signed at Rickwood. The Barons are the White Sox AA team and I was able to get Sal to sign this card after doing some soft-tossing by the dugout.

Sal never reached the Major Leagues, but he did do everything he could to try. Originally drafted as an outfielder, Sal spent five seasons trying to work his way up and he never made it past Birmingham. A .240 hitter at the time, the Sox decided to switch him to pitcher. In his third season as a pitcher, he was back in Birmingham and seemed to do okay. He was 2-4 with a save and a 3.38 ERA in 42.2 innings of relief work.

I guess that wasn't good enough and the Sox let him go. He pitched for a couple of independent teams in 2014 and then threw 16 frames in the PCL in 2015 before calling it a career.

In 2007, Sal made a case for this card by hitting .343 in the Pioneer League.

Here is the new and updated 2008 Bowman map.

2008 Bowman, Alex Burnett

#BP64 Alex Burnett

Here is a card that I got signed at a Wingnuts game in 2014 while Alex was playing for Sioux City. It was about 95 degrees that day and he came out of the clubhouse in a hoody and with his hood up. I asked him what was up with the hoody and he was curious if it was too hot for that or not.

Alex played parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Twins, Orioles, and Cubs. Over that time, he appeared in 177 games in relief and racked up a record of 8-11 with a 4.69 ERA. His best season was probably the 2012 campaign with the Twins. That year, he appeared in a career-high 67 games and 71.2 innings. While his WHIP was well over 1.00 and his K/9 was around 4.5, he held opponents to a 3.52 ERA, which was nearly two runs less than his previous career-best. But, that was the beginning of the end for Alex. The next year was spent with four different franchises and he would only log 2.2 innings of work in the Majors, which was evenly split between the Orioles and Cubs. Then it was on to the American Association in 2014.

In 2015, Alex pitched 8.2 inning in Mexico before calling it a career. Nonetheless, encounters with players like Alex were definitely the highlights of 'graphing Wingnut games. While I am going to miss that franchise, especially this coming year when there will be no minor league ball in Wichita, I am sure I will forget about the American Association pretty quickly once AAA ball comes to town.

2008 Bowman, Alex Liddi

#BP63 Alex Liddi

Here is a card that I got signed by Alex Liddi at the Futures Game in St. Louis in 2009. If you are unfamiliar with Alex, he does have a claim to fame. He is the first born and raised Italian to play in the Major Leagues.

It was cool having an Italian in the Futures Game that year. The Futures Game pits the USA against the World, but the World mainly consist of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, a couple of Asians, and the token Canadian. It was cool to have a European in the game just to help give it a real worldwide feel.

Alex played in 61 Major League games with the Mariners from 2011-2013. Over that time, he hit .208 with 6 home runs and 16 RBI. Even though he hasn't played in the big leagues for five years, he is still playing baseball. He spent this past season playing AA ball in the Royals organization. It was a rough year for him as he hit just .247. But, he did jack 23 home runs and drove in 72. Considering he was playing AA last year at the age of 29, five years removed from the Major Leagues, one has to wonder how much he has left in the tank. It looks like he wants to keep playing, though, as he is currently playing in the Mexican Winter League.

2008 Bowman, Luis Durango

#BP52 Luis Durango

Here is a Padrograph that was given to me early on in my blogging days. Rod and I started our blogs around the same time and he once sent me stack of over 100 signed Padre cards. This is one of those.

Luis is kind of a rarity in this set based on the fact that he actually made it to the Major Leagues. Okay, maybe it is not that rare- nearly half the prospects that I will be posting on here made it to the Show.

Luis played in 39 Major League games with the Padres and Astros from 2009-11. In his limited work, he actually did real well. In 2009, he played in just nine games, but went 6-11 at the plate. Then, in 2010, he got into 28 games and went 12-48 with 5 steals. In 2011, he got into just two games and was 1-6. So, all in all, he finished his career a .292 hitter. All 19 of his hits were singles.

This past season, Luis was playing in the American Association and I happened to catch him at a Wingnuts game where I got three more cards signed by him. He has a cool looking sig that has changed a bit since this one was signed.

2008 Bowman, Kent Sakamoto

#BP42 Kent Sakamoto

In 2009, I flew out east to visit an Army buddy that was living in Maryland at the time. The visit just happened to coincide with the Carolina League playoffs that were taking place up the road in Wilmington, Delaware. Being a Royals fan, I was determined to make my buddy take me up there to watch the Blue Rocks in action.

We almost didn't go to the game as it was raining a ton when I got out there. My buddy was convinced they were not going to play, but he really didn't want to go anyway. After considering not going, I figured it was worth a shot and we made the drive.

It was not the best 'graphing conditions with the wet weather, but we managed to snag a few dry autographs. I focused on the Wilmington side and made my buddy do the Lynchburg side. He did surprisingly well for not being a baseball fan. In fact, he did a little too good and was out 'graphing in the rain and ended up with a few autos that smeared from rain drops. But, this is one of the the ones he got and this one came out looking great.

Kent played in the Pirates organization for just four seasons and never advanced above high-A Lynchburg. In 2009, he was repeating high-A and having a dreadful season. In 72 games, he hit just .189 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI. That was the end of the road for him in affiliated ball and he then jumped to the American Association for two seasons before calling it a career.

Delaware is now added to the 2008 Bowman map.