A Giants autograph from Padrographs

We have been hosting Japaneses exchange students for 10 years now.  Some have only stayed for a weekend, or a week or a month, but several have come and stayed the entire school year.  Some of them have been more memorable than others.  The first one back in 1999 Norimasa Ogi of Fujinomiya, down near Mt. Fuji.  Nori had a plan for while he was here and afterwards, he wanted to work for a re-seller of American goods in Japan. He had catalogs of all kinds of things, he could tell when a pair of Levis' had been made by the stichting in them, he could tell when a t-shirt had been produced by the hang tag in it.  Over the course of the year he was with us he probably sent 15-20 boxes home and at one point the gentleman that he was purchasing them for came and visited he and us.  Nori knew of my interest in all things baseball and managed to secure a autograph of a rookie in the league in 1999 named Tomohiro Nikoa.  I had lost track of the autograph and some cards that I had of Tomohiro.  Well the past week was supposed to be my annual reading vacation, but I made the fatal error of asking my wife if she would rather I didn't go and stayed home.  She said the shed and the attic need organizing, I would like you to stay home and do that.  So in one day I and my son, David straightened and reorganized the shed.  I spent the rest of the week going through many of my boxes in the attic, where I found many old pictures that I posted on facebook and some cards and things that I hadn't seen for ages.  One of the things I found was the autograph and cards of Tomohiro.  I didn't know if he was still playing so I asked Deanna, who has an awesome blog about Japanese baseball, Marinerds, etc, and she connected me to his current stats.  It was good to see he was still playing.  If you haven't ever read Deannas' blog she is an english teacher in Japan who is a huge baseball fan, and has gone to many games and become part of the cheering section for the Nippon Fighters, it is really interesting stuff.  Now if you thought I was going to write a lot and not show you a picture you are sadly mistaken. First is the autograph and then a couple of cards. 

 

American Heritage Heroes Edition

Way back in 1957 when I was born, Dwight Eisenhower was the President of the United States.  Ever since I can remember I have been collecting things related to him.  I am glad to see that there was a card of him in the 2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes Edition, I want to know if there is a card of him in the Goodwin Champions.  I bought a set of the cards and several of the insert sets, but I have also bought packs so I have a few extras to trade.  I need some of the Medal of Honor cards and some of the Obama-Lincoln cards.

Needed
Medal of Honor Cards 15, 24, 46
Obama-Lincoln SP 126,127,129,131,132,133,134,135,137,138,140,141,142,143,145,146,147,148,149,150

Have to Trade
Base Cards 1,2,4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,14,15,16,19,20,23,25,27,28,29,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,43,44,45,46,48,49,50,
51,52,53,54,55,57,59,60,61,62,63,65,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,85,90,91,92,93,95,96,97,98,
99,100,101,103,105,108,111,113,114,115,117,118,123,124,125
Medal of Honor
1,4,5,7,9,12,17,22,26
Medal of Freedom
7,17,23
A Heroes Journey
2,8
Heroes of Sports
5,10,18,21,23
Obama Lincoln SP
128
Heroes of Spaceflight
14,20, 27
Chrome
C94 Nellie Bly

A Womens Place is at home...right after she rounds third

Stolen Bases, Why American Girls Don’t Play Baseball by Jennifer Ring; 2009; 200 pages; University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, IL; 978-0-252-03282-0; 9/17-9/23
Did you know there was a World Cup of Baseball in 2008 and Japan won it.  It started in 2004 and was won by the United States in 2004 and 2006.  The MVP in 2004 was Laura Brenneman of the USA and in 2006 it was Donna Mills of the USA and last year it was Kasumi Noguchi of Japan.  That’s right it’s women’s baseball.
Jennifer Ring has presented a conclusive case of how the game of baseball has been stolen from women twice.  Once when the game grew from rounders and girls were no longer allowed to play and again when softball became a ‘women’s’ game.  She provides ample evidence of how men have tried to make manliness the essence and have sissified softball.  However there are women making inroads.  She takes what could have been a very dry treatise on the subject and made it accesible and thoughtful.  I wonder who will be the first women to play professionally in the American Major Leagues and when it will be.  If you want more information on Womens’ baseball check out the American Women’s Baseball Federations site.  When a women makes it to the major leagues I hope all baseball fans will be there cheering her on.  I would like to see everyone who wants to play baseball be able to.  Jennifer Ring has opened my eyes.  RRRR

Edwards to Embree

David Leonard Edwards was one of three brothers to play in the major leagues.  He had twin brothers Marshall and Mike Edwards who also played, Dave had the longest major league career at 5 years.  He was drafted by the Twins in the 7th round of the 1971 draft.  After three years with the Twins he was traded to the Padres before the 1981 season for Chuck Baker.  In two seasons with the Padres he hit .204 with 3 home runs, but that was in only  129 games over two seasons.  I don't recall how I obtained this signature. 

David Leonard Eiland bleeds Yankee blue, he was drafted by them, played 5 seasons with them and is currently the pitching coach for them.  He was drafted in 1987 and made his major league debut in 1988, he played 4 years for the Yankees before being released and signing as a free agent with the Padres.  He pitched two seasons with the Padres, never winning and having an ERA over six, before being released by the Padres.  He then played 3 seasons with Tampa Bay, before retiring in 2000.  He was then named a pitching coach in the Yankees minor league system, he was named the Yankees pitching coach in 2007.   I think I picked this up on ebay.

Michael Alexander Ekstrom was the 600th signed card of a Padre that I obtained.  Mike is from the Portland Metro area and went to school with the sons of a friend of ours.  I got him to sign an photo this year at one of the Beavers games.  His signature is small and compact no matter what he is signing.  Mike was drafted by the  Padres in the 12th round of the 2004 draft and made his major league debut in 2008 as a relief pitcher and has made several appearances this year for the Padres.  I obtained this signature through the mail last year.

Donald Glenn Elliott was drafted by the Phils in the 1987 draft, he moved through their system and also through the Mariners and Braves before making his major league debut with the Padres in 1994.  He didn't have a great career but is credited with teaching Trevor Hoffman the change up that Trevor has used so effectively.  Donnie was a high school teammate of Andy Petite.  He is currently the baseball coach at South Houston High in Pasadena, Texas.  I got this signed through the mail a couple of years ago.

Alan Duane Embree is another player from Oregon, he has missed the second half of this season after having his leg broken by a line drive.  On July 7 of 2009 Embree was the winner in a game without ever throwing a pitch, just picking a runner off first.     He pitched for the Padres in 2002 as a reliever.  I got this signed through the mail in the last couple of years.

Take from the Troll

A long time ago, just the other day the Collective Troll had a Hall of Fame Contest and I won.  Thanks to the Troll and the legendary Esther Gin N Juice I got all kinds of cool stuff.  Cards and everything, the cards have already been sorted, but there was great stuff that wasn't cards that I thought I would share it with you.  It includes stamps, programs, big cards, breakfast cereal and an autograph of one of my favorite authors. 

Three autographed index cards of a Tiger, an Indian and a Padres Manager.

Michael Jack Schmidt one of my all time favorite players, who played his AAA ball in the same baseball stadium in which I graduated.

This is a page from the program for the 1988 Hall of Fame induction, in which Willie "Pops" Stargell was the only inductee.  This page combines one of my favorite artist, Leroy Nieman with one of my favorite players of my youth.

Theodore Samuel Williams one of the all time greats of the San Diego Padres.

Things that make you go Huh?

Two of the greatest hitters of all time and they were both San Diego Padres.

An autograph of one of the best signers of all times who will sign almost anything you send him, but better do it quick.  The story is the Red Sox went to San Diego to scout Bobby Doerr and saw Ted Williams and the rest is history.  I wish I could find a card or picture of him in a Padres uniform. Or maybe one of the talented photoshop/MS paint bloggers out there could make one.  I think this is a challenge.

And lastly but not leastly, the Troll included an autographed index card of the author of  a book that combines two of my very favorite things, baseball and laughing out loud.  The author of the book Baseball is a Funny Game, Joe Gargiola.

Thank you Troll and Esther.  Watch this space at the end of the month for a contest celebrating one year of Padrographs.

Eaton to Eichelberger

Adam Thomas Eaton was drafted by the Phillies with the 11th pick in the 1996 draft.  However before he appeared with them he was traded to the San Diego Padres, where he played six seasons between 2000-2005.  During that time he had Tommy John surgery and stabbed himself in the stomach with a paring knife while opening a DVD.  He was 47-41 with a 4.34 ERA while he was with the Padres. Since 2006 he has bounced around the league playing for the Phillies, Rangers, Rockies and Orioles.  I got this signed through the mail while Adam was with San Diego.

Kevin M. Eberwein was drafted by the Padres in the 5th round of the 1998 draft.  He climbed through the Padres minor league organization between 1998 and 2002.  He played in Portland at AAA in both 2001 and 2002 and at the age of 25 seems to have retired.  I got this card from Heaven Sent Sports Cards from a traded set.

David Mark Eckstein has two World Series rings and is not going to get another this year, maybe next year, since he signed a extension with the Padres for next year.  He was with the Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006 when they he each won the Series, he was named the MVP of the '06 World Series.  He gave the Corvette that came with being named MVP to his brother Rick, the Nationals hitting coach, cause David can't drive a manual transmission (neither can I).  He signed a discounted contract with the Padres before the 09 season on the condition that he would play primarily second base.  I got this card signed through the mail by David earlier this year.

James Patrick Edmonds was a teammate of David Ecksteins in 2006 with the Cardinals when they won the World Series.  He was traded from the Cardinals to the Padres for Prospect David Freese.  In 90 AB for the Padres hit only one home run, and he was released and signed with the Cubs, where he had a decent season before being released. I got this signed through the mail, I remember looking for signed cards of Edmonds on ebay and then the card came back.  

Juan Tyrone Eichelberger pitched for San Diego for 5 seasons between 1978-1982, going 20-25 with a 3.88 ERA.  He was traded to the Indians  in 1982 for Ed Whitson.  He pitched for the Indians in '83 and then bounced around the minors before resurfacing with the Braves in 1988 for his final season.  I believe I got the card from ABC Unlimited. 

Finishing the Ds'

Thomas Earl Dukes was orginially signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent prior to the 1962 season. Through a series of trades he ended up making his major league debut with the Astros in 1967, before being picked by the Padres in the expansion draft.  He played in 1969 and 1970 for the Padres before being traded to the Orioles, where he finished his career. I obtained the card from ebay.

Michael Dennis Dunne was drafted by the Cardinals in 1984 and after a series of moves ended up with the Seattle Mariners.  Dunne was selected by the Padres in the 1989 Rule V draft and spent 1990 with them pitching in 10 games and going 0-3 with a 5.65 ERA.  He was released by the Padres in March of 1991.  He finished his career with the White Sox in 1992.  I got this signed through the mail a couple of years ago when I sent him the card along with a red Sharpie.

Luis A Durango has been with the Padres organization since 2005, since he played in the Venezuelan Summer League.  He made his major league on September 15, 2009 in the Padres outfield.  I got this signed through the mail last year when he was with the Fort Wayne Wizards (now Tincaps).

I have been missing because I have had to climb under the house to shore up and repair the bathroom floor.  Also our computer shut down for awhile and work has been insanely busy.  However I have been reading all the blogs and really enjoying them. 

David Francis Dravecky

On November 13, 1989, David Francis Dravecky announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.  I didn't see the announcement but was told about it later.  The reason I didn't see the announcement was that my wife was giving birth to David Francis Richards.  We had one son named Daniel already and when we found out that we were having another we decided to name him David.  Here is where the baseball cards come in.  Donruss back in the day, put full names on the backs of cards.   We were wondering what other people had combined with David for names.  This was my chance to name to a son for a baseball player, I had wanted to name our first Anthony Keith Richards, but my wife doesn't like the name Tony, so that was a no go.  We paged through the notebook and we got to the 87 Donruss and saw David Francis Dravecky.  We had been following the saga of Daves' cancer and broken arms and such and we were very impressed with how he used this painful (emotionally and physically) problem to share his Christian testimony, so we decided to name our second son after Dave Dravecky.  So we have always collected oddball Dave Dravecky items.  Somewhere in my stuff I have a Padres that Dave sent me detailing how he became a Christian.  Once when I was a once younger collector I asked players if they knew where I could get an 8X10 of them to get signed.  Steve Garvey sent me a signed photo from a calendar shoot he did and Dave Dravecky sent me a signed limited edition Christopher Paluso print of himself.  We have met Mr Dravecky once as shown on the commerative cachet cover below.  This was at a book signing here in Portland. This picture was taken around the time David turned 7,  he will turn 20 in November of this year.  I used to make these for my sons for there Birthdays but for some reason I stopped.  This one I made 4 of so that Mr. Dravecky could have one. 

Dave Dravecky played for nine years in the majors, including 6 for the Padres in which he got to the World Series.  He was traded to the Giants in 1987 along with Kevin Mitchell and Craig Lefferts for Craig Comstock, Mark Davis, Mark Grant and Chris Brown.  He pitched in '87, '88 and '89.  I will never forget the sound and the agony of his arm breaking as he pitched against the Expos'.  I remember Will Clark saying that he thought that Dravecky had been shot.  We have corresponded a couple of times and I hope to invite him to Davids' 21st party.

PS.  I dont know why the first part of this is underlined, no matter what I did I couldn't get the underlining to go away.