HUH! Ooh, Look something shiny

The other day my son and I went to the local Goodwill, while killing some time.  As usual I looked in the ball bin and found four balls that I bought.  First I found a shiny Disneyland Star Tours baseball.  Then I found a unsigned South Atlantic League ball, which is kind of unusual, since I live in Portland, Oregon.
 

Then I found a couple of signed balls that I have no idea who they are.  They are both on California League Balls.  Any help would be appreciated.  Oh and I spent 99 cents for each ball.

 

 

Freisleben to Furmaniak, the end of the letter F

David James Freisleben was drafted by the Padres in the 5th round of the 1971 draft.  He made his major league debut in 1974 and pitched 3.5 seasons before being traded to the Indians. He pitched half a season for the Indians and a season for the Jays.  This card is from the 1975 SSPC set, I think this ranks as one of my favorite sets.  I got this card signed through the mail a few years ago.

Ernesto (Guiterrez) Frieri was signed as an amateur free agent by the Padres in 2001.  He made his major league debut this year, skipping AAA. He was the Texas League Pitcher of the week one this year and made the Texas League All Star Game.  I got this signed through the mail last year.

Rigberto (Peat) Fuentes was signed by the Giants as a amateur free agent in 1962. He was one of the last players signed out of Cuba before the U.S. put it's trade embargo into effect with Cuba.  He played many years before being traded to the Padres for Derrel Thomas.  He played two seasons for the Padres and finished out his career with the Tigers and Oakland.  I got this signed through the mail in 2008, I sent it to Tito and he sent it back request a cash payment.  I think it was $10, so I sent it back with the $10.  I got it and a signed 1978 Topps card and a letter from Tito.  He said that I was  the only fan who had sent a card back with the $10 that he knew I really wanted his signature and enclosed the 78 card as a thank you.  That card went to a good friend who is a Tigers fan.

Jason Joseph Furmaniak was drafted in 2001.  He never made it to the majors with the Padres, but did with the Pirates and A's.  He even played in Japan for a season and then spent 2009 in the Phillies organization.  He was a big fan favorite when he played for the Beavers.  I never noticed before but the two guys in the dugout are sporting Cincy and LA uniforms.  I got this signed through the mail while JJ was in Portland.

That wraps up the letter F.  Now I need to scan the G's. Hopefully by the time I get to the end of the Gs' I will have signed cards from three members of the Gwynn family, right now I have two out of 3.

Florie to Folkers

Bryce Bettancourt Florie was drafted by the Padres in 1988 and made his major league debut in 1994.  He pitched for three seasons before beginning a tour of the major leagues.  He may be best remembered for taking a line drive off the face when he was pitching for the Red Sox in 2000.  He made a comeback and played a couple of more seasons, he is currently the pitching coach for the River City Rascals of the Independent Frontier League.  I bought the card at Heaven Sent Sports Cards in Tualatin, Oregon.

Richard Nevin Folkers played for four teams in his 7 year major league career.  His best time was with the Cardinals, after he came over from the Mets.  The Cards traded him to the Padres as part of a three team deal between the Tigers, Cardinals and Padres.  He played two seasons for the Pads before the Brewers claimed him off waivers.  He played his final game in 1977.  I got this card signed through the mail in 2005, the only other person that I have ever gotten a signature from who date it was Frank Shorter on a photograph.

John Logan Forsythe was drafted by the Padres in 2008 and finished last season at AA San Antonio.  The way things seem to be headed in SD I expect to see him starting at Petco this season.  I obtained the card from the bay earlier this year.

 

Alan Benton Foster was drafted by the denizens of Chavez Ravine in 1965 and made his major league debut in 1967.  During his career he played for the Dodgers, Padres, Cardinals, Indians and Angels, completing the SoCal Trifecta.  He played two seasons for the Padres at the end of his career.  I am not sure how I got this card.

Just because it's called Baseball doesn't mean it's the same game

The Chrysanthemum and The Bat, Baseball Samurai Style by Robert Whiting; 1977; 247 pages; Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, NY; 0-396-07317-4; Interlibrary Library Loan from Bellingham Public Library; 11/6-11/11 This was the first inside look at baseball as played in Japan.  Robert Whiting has lived in Japan for years and is the only American who writes for one of the Japanese daily sports newspaper.  He shows how Japanese culture and the Samurai code of Bushido have changed the game of baseball in Japan, to be something than how we know the game.  He shows why it is difficult for Americans to really make an impact in Japan, no matter how well they do.  I should have read this before I read You Gotta Have Wa*, a lot of that built on what is here.  I am looking forward to reading more by Robert Whiting. I wonder how much has changed in the way the game is played in Japan in 32 years.

I 've been tricked and treated!

I recently got a package from the midwest and when I opened it this is what fell out. I knew what that meant, I was getting a Kenny Lofton Studio card amongst other things.  Here is what I found when I pulled the sleeve out of the package.

Kenny Lofton looking around a Cardinals and Padres sticker.  For all the clubs Kenny has played for over the years the Padres where not one of them.  So I emptied out the sleeve and this is what I found in the sleeve.

9 Checklist.  To quote the great Stan Lee 'Nuff Said

The same day I got a package from Night Owl, and there were no checklist included.  He sent me some stuff that I had never seen before.

Rickey Henderson having fun is always appreciated especially in a Padres uniform, Andy Ashby seems to be throwing a pitch while skydiving, I think this might actually be a physical impossibility.  The Adrian Gonzalez (soon to a Red Sox, I think) is an OPC box bottom.  The Padres are going to have no Gonzalez brothers on the team next year, Edgar has filed for free agency and Adrian is not featured on any of the promotional stuff for next year including the website.  Maybe the club will overachieve next year with out Giles or either Gonzalez.  The Ryan Klesko is a Gold Reserve card, which I have never seen before, I don't know if that was the name of the issue or it is some kind of parallel set.  Mat Latos is from the decidedly underwhelming Ticket to Stardom set.  And featured finally is the 1984 Donruss Luis Deleon, all 1984 Donruss cards are greatly appreciated, one of the truly great sets of the 1980's.  This is just a small sample of the goodies Greg sent.  I still have a couple of trades from a couple of Orioles fans.  

Contest Winners

My favorite Padres player of all time is Tim Flannery.  Tim is much younger than I am, 16 days to be exact.  Way back in the day for his birthday I sent him a mix tape of surf songs and he responded, one year I got him a book on surfing and one year he got me a CD that he had made, his second out of nine.  I have all but the first one and the new one, which I will order when I get done with this post.  Tim played 11 major league seasons with the Padres after he was drafted in 1978.  He hit 9 home runs, drove in 209 runs, walked 277 times and struck out 293 times, he had a .977 fielding percentage.  He originally wore 6 with the Padres, but in 1983 when the Garv came from LA, Tim switched to 11.  He wore 11 while he played, managed and coached in the Padres organization.  When he began coaching third for Bruce Bochy in San Francisco he started wearing 6 again, which he has worn for all but one day.  JT Snow appeared in one game in 2008 and wore 6 so Tim wore 60 that day.

The picture above was taken at Eugenes' Civic Stadium after a game between the Eugene Emeralds, a KC affiliate, and the Spokane Indians, a SD farm club, that Tim was managing.  Prior to the game Tim asked me for matches and I went and found some, he then lit and threw into the Spokane dugout a smoke bomb and then proceeded to go off on the Indians players for goofing off and throwing smoke bombs when they should be concentrating on getting ready for the game.  The Indians won the game. 

Here is the card of Tim that I have in my collection.  He told me that when he held the board none of the logos were on it and were added later by the photographer, whose brother or brother-in-laws name is on the board. I got this signed through the mail, I only have one item that Tim signed in person.

This morning I wrote all the names of the entrants on pieces of paper and placed them in a Padres hat.  There were 4 entrants 3 of whom had multiple entries.  My lovely wife Bunny then drew them out of the hat, and here are the winners in order.

1st Place; Zach-Autographed Cards

2nd Place, Tim-Great Sports Name Hall of Fame

3rd Place-Travis-Punk Rock Paint

4th Place-Brian-Play at the Plate

 Send me your prize choice at padrographs@live.com, Zach, you just need to tell me which one you want.  Tim, Travis and Brian send me a list of the prizes in the order you would like them and I will give you your highest choice possible of the remaining prizes.