The 33 Year Old Rookie

The 33 Year Old Rookie, How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After 11 years in the minors by Chris Coste; Foreword by John Kruk; 2008; 199 pages; Ballantine Books, New York, NY; 6/25/09-6/27/09

Chris Coste (pronounced Coast) finally caught his dream. That was to make it to the major leagues, he chronicles the journey that led him to be a World Series Champion in 2008. Any book that chronicles the brave knights journey to achieve or find requires a few things, a sidekick, a villian, a cast of supporting characters of all shapes and sizes. Coste had all of those things as he made his way to the greatest show on dirt. His Mom, Wife and Daughter fill the roles of Queen Mother, Queen and Princess as he strives towards his Holy Grail. He journeys through a country of Junior Colleges, Independent Leagues, Minor League Affiliates of several teams. His junior college coach, Smith, fills the role of villian who attempts to convince the knight that he is not worthy to wear the armor. His fellow knights are the ballplayers that he meets during his journey constantly encouraging him. The Wizards Simmy and Charlie Manuel guide him towards the Grail and then enable him to become a member of the round table. Then in 2008 he and his fellow knights were awarded the Grail after slaying the Rays. Coste writes well and communicates the emotions he felt at various stops along his journey. His wife Marcia has to be one of the most understanding and supportive women in the history of the world. I hope that Marcia and Chris are buying Casey all the toys they promised her she could have when Daddy made it to the big leagues. RRRR

Gerald Francis Coleman

Elephants in their natural habitat surrounded by men in the strangest colors. It sounds like Jerry Coleman would say. Jerry Coleman served in the US Military in both WWII and the Korean War. He played for 9 seasons with the Yankees, losing most of 1953 to the Korean Conflict, he was an All Star in 1950 and won the World Series MVP award that year also. He retired after the 1957 season. He started his broadcasting career in 1960 with the Yankees, he also did two years of Angels broadcast. In 1972 he started broadcasting Padres game and has been heard every year since except for 1980 when he came down out of the broadcast booth to manage the team. He went 73-69 that year and has never managed again, he went back to the broadcast booth the following year and has been there since. In 2005 he was given the Ford Frick award by the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he is one of three Ford Frick award winners who also played in the majors. I got the card through the mail by sending care of the Padres.

The first person to name the other two Ford Frick award winners who also played in the majors will receive a certified autograph card and some cards of their favorite team. So in the comments tell me who the other two award winners were and your favorite team.

Awesome Mail Day and Alexander Cole Jr.

When I arrived home I had mail from a Hall of Famer, a relief pitcher, a Dodger fan in Minnesota and a teacher who is enjoying his summer break. It only took Mike Adams 11 days to return the card I sent and he even signed it with the lovely green pen I sent him. I am really tired of cards only signed in blue and black.
Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr who only lives two hours away from me signed all three of the items that I sent him, although he missed the intent of one of the cards I sent him. Bobby is a former Padre player, he played for them in 1936. Story is the BoSox came looking to scout Doerr and happened to see a skinny kid in the outfield and the rest as they say is history. The card on the bottom right is one for my other website, readerman.net. I am an avid reader and am interested in what others are reading or have liked. I asked Bobby to tell me what his favorite book is and then sign the card. He failed to read the instructions completely and only signed the card, although the aforementioned teacher also failed to completely read the instructions and told me what his two favorite books were but didn't sign the card. I am still going to keep the readerman card and the Goudey. I will trade the Hall of Fame postcard for a really cool Padres cards or an extremely large number of Padres or a cool custom Padres card. Some of you have already or will receive the Readerman cards in with your packages. I am looking forward to hearing your recommendations.

Ryan, the aforementioned teacher, who I hope is enjoying his summer break sent me the cards above with a bunch of other Padres. Three swatch cards is truly awesome but the other cards are some that he sent that I didn't have. The Mark Davis painting card is one that I actually have a print of. Someone won it in a contest and then I bought it on Ebay. Thanks Ryan and the whole crew at I Heart Halos.
Jim, of GCRL fame, sent me the bunch of cards above in with a bunch of others. This is the first ever graded card that I have ever owned. I don't really see the point in getting a card like this graded. I think grading should be reserved for cards that are from 1979 or before. I scanned the top two cards to see how they would they would come out. The blue sky around Trevor is semi clear plastic. Matt Clement was in the news as he got hired to be a basketball coach. Eddie Williams was playing in a adult hardball league when the Padres signed him. Thanks Ryan and Jim. Hey Night Owl I think Alex is rockin a really cool pair of specs. Alex Cole was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the 1985 draft. He was traded to the Padres in April of 1990 along with Steve Peters for Omar Olivares. In July of that year he was traded to the Indians for Mitch Vaughn and changed his named to Willie Mays Hays, OK he was actually traded for Tom Lampkin. In Cleveland he played in 226 games over three seasons before being traded to Pittsburgh for Tony Mitchell. He played part of 1992 for the Pirates, but then became a charter member of the Rockies in the expansion draft. In 1994 he signed with the Twins as a free agent and played two seasons there before signing with the Red Sox in 1996. He played in 1996 for the Red Sox and then seemingly retired. I got this card off of eBay earlier this year. My work here is done, now I have to head over to readerman.net to review Baseball Eccentrics by Bill Lee, yes the Spaceman.

Nathan Colbert Jr.

Nate had a monster day in 1972 against the Atlanta Braves, in a double header he hit 5 homerun and had 13 RBI's. That day is remember on this 1977 Topps Turn Back the Clock card.

Nate was originally drafted by the Cardinals in 1964 as an amateur free agent, he was then drafted by the Astros' in the Rule V draft in 1965, then in 1969 the Padres drafted him in the expansion draft. He played in San Diego for six years hitting 163 HR, with a .253 average and 481 RBI's, and playing in the 1971, '72 and '73 All Star game. After the 1974 season he was part of a three team trade that saw him go to the Tigers and several players from the Cardinals end up in San Diego. He split the 1975 season between Detroit and Montreal, and split the 1976 season between Montreal and Oakland. At the end of the 1976 season he retired because of back problems. I believe I got the card from a ebay dealer.

TTM Success Times 5

I sent this card through the mail 5 different times to get all the signatures on it. Each time I would send it out I would hold my breath until it came back. I mailed it to each of the coaches on the card and they each signed it and returned it. I got to meet Jack Krol when he was managing the Las Vegas Stars and they came to Portland to play the Beavers. Each of these coaches has a pretty amazing story.

The Jack Krol award is given each year to the best player development person or scout in the Padres organization. Jack played 13 years in the minor leagues playing at A,B,C,D, and AA between 1954 and 1966. He managed for 17 years in the minors in the Cardinals and Padres organizations, including 1987 at AAA Las Vegas. He is credited with managing three games for the Cardinals, two in '78 and one in '80. He died in 1994 of cancer.

Harry Dunlop in the minor leagues caught three no-hitters in 14 days. One of them took 28 outs because of a passed ball, the amazing thing is the other 27 outs were all strike outs. He played 14 seasons in the minors at A,B,C,D,AA, AAA between 1952-1968. He play in the Baltimore, Pittsburgh and California organizations. He manage 14 seasons in the minors including 1983 for Las Vegas, in the Baltimore, California, Cubs and Milwaukee organizations.

Deacon Jones never played in the National Football League, but he played 11 seasons in the White Sox organization from 1955-1967. He played parts of the 1962, 1963 and 1966 seasons with the White Sox. He managed Appleton for the Sox one year going 44-76.

When the Ohio State Buckeyes football team won the National Championship in 1957 Galen Cisco was the captain of the team. In 1995 he was inducted into the Ohio State Athletic Hall of Fame for both baseball and football. He has become a respected pitching coach, after playing for 9 seasons in the minors and managing for 7 seasons in the minor league. He played and managed in the Boston, Mets and Royals organization.

Osvaldo Virgil Airport opened in 2006 in the Dominican Republic to honor Ozzie Virgil Sr.. He was the first Dominican to play in the major leagues, which he did after serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1950-1952. He played nine seasons in the majors starting and ending with the Giants, although they were on opposite coasts, starting with the New York Giants and ending with the San Francisco Giants. In between his stints with the Giants he played with the Tigers, Kansas City A's, Baltimore, Washington and Milwaukee.

Patrick Brian Clements

In 1990 I got this card signed at Civic Stadium when the Las Vegas Stars came to town to play the Portland Beavers. I couldn't find an 8X10 photo of him so I blew the card up to photo size and had him sign it. He was impressed and asked me to blow up some for him, several of the guys on the team had the same request. I think I got several signed balls from players and even a team signed bat.

Pat Clements was drafted by the Yankees in the 32nd round of the 1980 draft but did not sign. In 1983 he was drafted in the 3rd round by the Angels. In 1985 he was traded to the Pirates, then in 1986 he was traded to the Yankees, then in 1988 he and Jack (Bleech) Clark were traded to the Padres. He played in 71 games over 4 seasons going 7-2 with a 3.60 ERA. In 1992 he was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles and he finished his career with them.

The next card will be one of my favorites in my collection.

That is the sound of me asking you for help!

One of the players I have been trying to get to sign a card for two years is Brennan Boesch. He was drafted by the Tigers in 2006. 2007 Bowman came out with him in a Padres uniform and I had never heard of him so I started going through all the Padres minor league teams looking for him and couldn't find him. I googled him and found that he is and always has been in the Tigers system. I have written him twice, once in 2007 and once in 2008, I have never received anything back from him, I have explained to him why I wanted his signature and explained that I realized he has never been in the Padres system, but his card would make a great story for my collection. I even sent him extra cards to keep not just this one, but others in a Tiger uniform. I am asking for your help if you ever go to Erie Sea Wolves game, if you might be able to ask Brennan to sign the card or why he won't. If you could do this for me I would really appreciate it and even send you some cards to get signed.

Matthew Paul Clement

Matt Clement was drafted in the 3rd round in 1993 by the Padres, he made it to the majors in 1998 and went 25-29 for the Padres in three seasons with 4.28 ERA. He then played for the Marlins, Cubs and Red Sox. He appeared in the 2005 All Star Game for the Bosox subbing for injured Roy Halladay. While he was with the Red Sox he was struck in the head with a line drive off the bat of Tampa Bays' Carl Crawford during the 2005 season, he recovered from that and started the 2006 season before having shoulder surgery. He never seemed to have recovered from that although he tried in 2008 with the Cardinals and in 2009 with the Blue Jays. I bought the card from a dealer on eBay.

Jerald Dwayne Clark & Phillip Benjamin Clark

Jerald and Phil Clark are one of several sets of brothers that have played for the Padres, although they never played together for the Padres. Jerald was born in 1963 and Phil 5 years later.
Jerald played for the Padres from 1988 to 1992, before being chosen by the Rockies in the expansion draft. In 1992 Jerald stole home against the Dodgers when Tommy Lasorda and Mike Scioscia went to the mound to confer with the pitcher. Jerald realized that they had failed to call time out and sprinted home for a run. While with the Padres he hit .237 with 28 home runs. He played for the Rockies in 1993 and the Twins in 1995 and then retired. Phil played for the Padres from 1993-1995, playing for the Tigers for one year before coming to the Padres and one year for the Red Sox after playing for San Diego. In San Diego he hit .263 with 16 home runs. After his year in Boston he played for Kintetsu in Japan, winning the equivalent of the Silver Slugger three years in a row, twice at first base and once as DH. I got both of these cards signed through the mail. I remember seeing Jerald play for Las Vegas when they would come to Portland.

Jack Anthony Clark

Don't like him, never did, never will, whiny, mean, and Gwynn hater. $11 million in debts, only $4 million in assets, bankrupt but owned 18 cars at the time. 4 time all star. still don't like him. Hung Tony in effigy. Unlikable for me.

Only 4 more cards before one of my favorites.

Thanks to Sooz at A Cardboard Problem for the great package I received today, especially the lovely 88 Donruss Chris Brown card. Thanks also to Phungo for the batch of cards especially the Phungo pack with the great card of Thomas Jefferson waiting in the on deck circle.

Jeffrey Howard Cirillo

In his 14 year major league career Jeff Cirillo played every position except catcher. He pitched an inning for the D'backs in 2007, his final year in the major leagues, against the Brewers, walking 2, allowing no runs and striking out Craig Counsell. He played for Milwaukee, Colorado and the Mariners before joining the Padres for the 2004 season. He only played 33 games for San Diego and hit .213. After leaving the beautiful city of San Diego he played for the Diamondbacks, Brewers and Twins. He is now an analyst on FSN Wisconsin for Brewers game, I believe that I obtained this signature from an eBay dealer.

Only five more cards to go before one of my favorite cards in my Padrographs collections.