2005 Topps, Jeff Niemann

#682 Jeff Niemann

Here is a card that I got signed at Kauffman Stadium last year on the final day of the season. It was a Sunday day game, so the hitters didn't take batting practice. Luckily, though, the Rays were heading to the playoffs and their pitchers were out on the field getting their workouts in.

That day also happened to be "bark at the park" day, so there were a bunch of dogs at the ballpark. Prior to the start of the game, the dogs and owners got to take a lap around the warning track and Jeff waited paitiently for them all to go past so that he could sign some autographs for the fans. Jeff must be a dog person because it looked like he enjoyed seeing some of the dogs that paraded past him.

I never realized how big Jeff was until I saw him that day. He is 6'9" and he towers over the rest of the Rays pitching staff.

So far this season, Jeff is not off to the start that he wanted. He is 1-5 through 6 starts with a 5.74 ERA.

2005 Topps, Vicente Padilla

#630 Vicente Padilla

Here is the second of three cards that Vicente Padilla signed for me at a Royals day game in 2008. Padilla was with the Rangers at the time and I was able to get the cards signed before the game while the pitchers were getting their work in. The first card I posted can be seen here and I never would have guessed that this unprepped glossy card would come out looking better signed than the UD Vintage card did. The signature is still unreadable, but at least it shows up better on this card.

I was surprised to see that Vicente is pitching out of the Dodgers bullpen this season. He spent his first three Major League seasons pitching out of the bullpen, but he had been a starter since 2002. He is off to a good start, though, as he is 0-0 with 2 saves and a 2.57 ERA. Those two saves doubled Vicente's career total.

2005 Topps, Miguel Olivo

#618 Miguel Olivo

Here is the second 2005 Miguel Olivo card that I have posted recently. The other one can be seen here. If you are wondering where I got this card signed, read the other post. This card was signed at the same time. It is worth noting that Miguel hit a home run that night after signing my cards. I think that signing autographs and good karma go hand in hand.

When I posted that last Olivo card, Miguel was hitting just .182 with no extra-base hits. He has picked it up a little bit since then and his average has risen to .212. He has also added two doubles and two home runs.

I picked this card up from the garage sale where I bought the Val Majewski/John Maine card.

2005 Topps, Dave Roberts

#604 Dave Roberts

Here is a Padrograph of Dave Roberts. Dave is one of four players in Major League history to be named Dave Roberts.

Dave played in the Majors for ten seasons with the Indians, Dodgers, Red Sox, Padres, and Giants. He never made an All Star team and he never played in a World Series. But, he did swipe a bag that ultimately propelled his team to the World Series. In case you forgot which team that was, it was the Boston Red Sox in 2004. Even though he only played in 48 games with the Red Sox, I'm sure that Dave will forever be remembered as the guy that stole the base that helped the Sox "reverse the curse".

Dave is currently the first base coach for the Padres.

I thought it was kind of funny that this card was first signed with a silver sharpie and then gone over with a black one. That pretty much sums up my experience with the silver sharpie. I have tried it twice and was unhappy with the results and had the player try again in a different color. I'm glad that I am not the only one that has gone through that.

2005 Topps, Zack Greinke

#564 Zack Greinke

This may be the third Grienke autograph that I have posted on here, but this is actually the first Grienke 'graph that I ever got. This is the third and final TTM that I got in 2005 while deployed to Iraq. I wrote to Zack at some point during the season and I got this card back in November. It is a good thing that it came back when it did because I was back in the States less than two months later and I doubt that it would have ever made its way back to me if that had happened.

It looks like Zack doesn't sign TTM anymore, so it was good that I sent this card when I did. Although, it didn't seem that good when I got it considering that Zack finished the 2005 season 5-17 and then missed most of '06 with social anxiety disorder. But, that is how the ball bounces.

Zack made his Brewer debut last night and he pitched 4 innings and allowed 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits while walking 1 and striking out 6. It wasn't a horrible debut, but I'm sure it wasn't quite what Brewer fans were wanting.

Speaking of debuts, the Royals called up their 2008 first round draft pick, Eric Hosmer, today. Eric was tearing up the Pacific Coast League this past month to the tune of a .439 batting average. While I am sure he is not going to hit like that in the Majors, it is still exciting that he is getting called up so soon. It's just too bad that I have to work tomorrow night since it has already been announced that he is going to be in the starting line-up.

2005 Topps, David DeJesus

#474 David DeJesus

Here is a card that I was able to get signed at a Royals Caravan appearance in 2008. The Caravan had a good selection of players as David, Joey Gathright, Billy Butler, John Mayberry, and Frank White all made the trip here. The event was held at Wal-Mart of all places, but it worked out great and I had a good time. Unfortunately, the last two Caravans have scrapped my town from the schedule, so there is no telling if will ever attend another one.

This is the first DeJesus signature that I have posted on here and this is one of the better looking DeJesus autographs that I have. I've seen about four different versions of David's signature and they don't come much better than this, especially on a card.

DeJesus, who was traded to the A's this past offseason, was a fan favorite while in Kansas City. Most fans referred to him as DDJ and I am sure most of them were sad to see him get traded. They are probably even more sad with the fact that the main player we got for him has a 4.66 ERA in four AAA starts. But, we just have to trust "the process", or so we are told.

So far this season, David is off to a slow start. He is hitting just .227 through 26 games and he only has three extra-base hits. He had a start similar to that in 2009 and he finished the season hitting .281. I wouldn't expect anything less than that out of him this season, as well.

2005 Topps, Ross Gload

#468 Ross Gload

Here is the first of a couple of cards that I got signed by Ross Gload during his tenure with the Royals. I got this card signed by the Royals parking lot in 2008. That year, the Royals were in the midst of their stadium renovations and the Royals parking lot was set up in a different area than it is now. These days, the players parking lot is is a little less accessible than it was during the renovation years.

When I got this card signed, I was standing by the players exit from the parking lot with a small group of graphers. I asked Ross if he would sign for us and he said "for you kids, sure, since kids don't even collect cards anymore". I told him that most cards were too expensive for kids to collect these days and he said "I suppose you're right". It was certainly an interesting interaction.

I enjoyed the time Ross spent with the Royals. He was primarily the starting first baseman and, though he was small for a first baseman, he had a good stick and a good glove. He is not the type that is going to club a lot of bombs, but he always seemed to put the ball in play.

Before he went to the Royals, Gload's White Sox teammates had nicknamed him Ichigload because he was able to hit about anything.

Ross is playing for the Phillies now and through 14 games, he is 4-16 with one RBI. It looks like he is primarily being used as a pinch hitter.