The Missing Cub

The Missing Cub by Darcy Fast with Jonathan Kravetz; 2007; 239 pages; xulon press, Lakewood, FL; 978-1-60477-277-7; bought from Amazon when researching Darcy for another post; 12/29-12/31 God gave Darcy Fast a gift and a calling, he eventually figured out that they weren’t compatible.  Darcy wanted to be a major league for as long as he could remember, he never wanted to be a minister like his Dad.  The Yankees drafted him out of High School in Lacey, WA, but he did not sign.  He did sign with the Cubs, when they agreed to pay his college tuition and let him play when school was out.  He played 8 games in 1968 and then his major league became as he said “snakebit”, problems with draft boards and schools and teams lead him to retire voluntarily at age 24.  He felt Gods’ calling and for the last 30 years has been a Pastor in Centralia, WA.  This was an interesting read for several reasons,  Darcy is featured on a 1972 Topps cards with the Padres, even though he never played for them after being traded to them from the Cubs, he went to college at little Warner Pacific College, which we use to live within walking distance of,  to how his life took such a big swerve.  Good reading.

The Gonzalez Brothers

Adrian Gonzalez may be the among the best first baseman the Padres have had, better than Garvey and Willie McCovey while they were in San Diego.  Both of them were at the tail end of their careers while Adrian is just getting started in his.  I hope the Padres hang on to him, instead of like they have so many times before dealing someone just when they get good.  I wish the Padres could get an owner who had lots of money for payroll.  Adrian has hit 130 home runs for the Padres in just 4 years.  I would like to see him there much longer.  I got this signed through the mail, I can tell by the color pen I sent him.

Edgar Victor Gonzalez is five years older than his brother Adrian.  They are the sixth set of brothers to have played for the Padres and the fourth set of brothers to have played together for San Diego.  Edgar has only played 2 seasons in the majors, both with the Padres.  He is on the free agent market this winter so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.  He survived a scary beaning incident this season.  When I sent this card to Edgar to get signed I also sent him several extras I had and I received a nice note back from him.  I got this signed through the mail early in 2009. 

A Padre in 1962, but not in 1969

Jesse Lemar Gonder was Minor League Player of the Year in 1962 while playing in the Pacific Coast League for the San Diego Padres.  He made his major league debut in 1960 for the Yankees.  He played his final game for the Pirates in 1967, he played in the minors for the Giants in 1969.  I can't find why Topps put him on a 1969 Padres card, he wasn't chosen in the expansion draft, I can't find any evidence of him being traded to the Padres or even in there organization in 1969.  I got the signed card from eBay.

Christopher Cory Gomez had a much longer major league career than I ever imagined.  He started out as a starter with the Padres and in the end of his time in San Diego he seems to be a backup.  I got this signed through the mail years ago.  He was never high on my radar as a Padre, I remember seeing him play for Las Vegas.  He came to the Padres from the Tigers, and went to the Rays, he played for the Twins, Orioles, Toronto, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.  He retired after the 2008 season.

Patrick Alexander Gomez was a middle reliever for the Padres and the Giants for three seasons.  He pitched in 27 games for the Padres in 1993.  He was released by the Padres after the '93 season and signed as a free agent for the 1994 and 1995 seasons with the Giants.  I got this signed through the mail.

Pedro Martinez Gomez was nicknamed Preston because of his birthplace of Central Preston, Cuba.  He played for the Senators in 1944.  He was the third base coach for the Dodgers when Buzzie Bavasi became president and part owner of the Padres and named Preston manager of the team.  He managed the Padres for the first three and a half seasons.  He also managed the Astros and Cubs.  He was a special advisor to the Angels through 2008 and died in early 2009.  The Angels wore a black diamond with his name on it through the 2009 season.   I either got this through ebay or ABC Limited.

Giles to go before I Giusti

Brian Stephen Giles had a good couple of years in San Diego in 2005 and 2008 when he hit over .300.  But this last year he only hit .191 making it an easy decision for the Padres to let Giles hit the free agent market.  It will be interesting to see where he ends up, he vetoed a traded a trade to Boston earlier, citing a desire to stay close to his family.  I got this signed through the mail a few years ago. 

Marcus William Giles  is the younger brother of Brian Giles and played alongside him into 2007 with the Padres.  He didn't have a good year and was released by the Padres and picked up by the Rockies in a minor league deal but was released before the season and signed a minor league with the Dodgers, but changed his mind on the way to Las Vegas and did not report.  He signed another minor league deal this year with the Phillies but did not make the team and was released on March 30.  I got this signed through the mail.

David John Giusti, Jr.  never pitched for the Padres, never even went to Spring Training with them.  The picture is at least a year old and is an Astros uniform, where Giusti played in 1968.  On October 11, 1968 Giusti was traded to the Cardinals, on October 14, 1968 the Padres claimed him in the expansion draft.  On December 3, 1968 the Padres traded him to Saint Louis, where he played in 1969 before going on to play for 7 years with the Pirates.  I got the card off of ebay several years ago.

My Haul

Every year I fill all the stockings including my own.  So I always make sure to buy lots of packs for myself and this year I went all and even got a Sweet Spot.  Here are some of the hits.  Out of about 12 or 15 packs I got three Padres.  All of the rest of the cards are available for trade, except for Rick Rude and Gorilla Monsoon.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to All

Beardy's Baseball Blog is having a holiday card contest and I made one.  Go on over and vote for your favorite.

  But of course you can't have a card these days without having variations and gimmicks so I did some of those also.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Since it's Christmas time, I thought I would feature a guy in a red and white costume.  Okay so it is mostly red and yellow, this card is feathered in the G's, because of the name of the man in the suit.Ted Giannoulas has been doing the chicken gig since 1974 when he started by handing out Easter Eggs at the San Diego Zoo.  After that gig he volunteered to make appearances at the Padres game. And as they a legend was hatched.  I don't think I have any cards signed by Ted, but I do have a couple of photos signed with both of his names. The first time I asked him to sign his name he said that would be like asking Santa Claus to sign Ralph.  I have seen the Chicken perform from A to MLB, and have always laughed very much and loudly.  I got this signed through the mail 26 years ago.  That was exactly half a lifetime ago now.   This could be one of the oldest signatures that I have in my collection.

San Diego to Toronto via ATL and PIT

Clarence Edwin Gaston is better known as a manager than he ever was a player.  One of his roommates in the majors was Hank Aaron, who Cito credits with teaching  him to be a man, how to stand on his own.  During his eleven year career he only played for two teams, Atlanta and San Diego, unless you count playing two games with the Pirates in 1978 at the end of his career.  He played for 6 years in San Diego, and 5 years in Atlanta and never got to the World Series.  He won two World Series as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.  I got this signed card off of ebay.

Joshua Brent Geer was drafted by the Padres in 2005 and made his major league debut in 2008.  He is not one of the aces on the staff but did start 17 games in 2009.  I got this signed through the mail a few years ago while Josh was still in the minors.

Robert Peter Geren was drafted in the first round of the 1979 draft, but did not play for the Padres until 1993.  He made his major league debut in 1988 for the New York Yankees, where he had been signed as a free agent in 1985.  Had been traded to the Cardinals in 1980 as part of a 10 player deal.  I thought that he had been playing for many years but he is only credited with 5 years in the majors. He is currently the manager of the Oakland A's.  I got this signed through the mail in 2008 while he was managing the A's.

Justin William Germano broke Mark McGwires' home run record.  Ok it was the Claremont Little League home run record.  Justin was drafted by the Padres in 2000 and made his major league debut in 2004, he was traded to the Reds for Joe Randa in 2005 and pitched for the Reds in 2006 then was traded to the Phillies, but was released before he could play for them.  He then resigned with the Padres and pitched for them in 2007 and 2008, he pitched in Japan in 2009.  I got this off of ebay, but I have several autos that I got while he was playing here for the Beavers.

Joseph Gerut was signed by the free agent before the 2008 season and played for the Padres until May 21, 2009 when he was traded to the Milwaukie Brewers for Tony Gwynn, Jr.  I got this off of ebay from an autograph dealer who sometimes makes his own cards. 

Padrograph update

The Padres have been in the news, Adrian Gonzalez perhaps being traded to the Red  Sox Nation for Clay Bucholz and Jacoby Ellsbury.  That would be cool, since Jacoby is from Oregon and I watched him play at Oregon State University.  The Padres haven't been too busy but here in the Padrograph household it has been  busy.   We went out to a brothers in law house for Thanksgiving and had a great time.  The next day our 20 year old son, David was involved in a five car accident.  A gentleman, 82 year old, rear ended our mini van and pushed it into the three cars in front of him and then denied responsibility.  So we have been playing with insurance companies for the last couple of weeks.  Then the weekend of the 4th our furnace decided to stop working.  It got down into the teens that weekend, so we slept fully clothed with lots of extra blankets on the bed, the fireplace going most of the time and a couple of space heaters.  We were five days without heat in a house built in 1952 with no insulation.  We got our heat back on the 9th and everything was good, then on the 12th as we came back from a Christmas dinner, we hit some ice as we were turning into our driveway and ran into the rock wall in front of our house.  We were driving a rental car with no extra insurance, so we had to put out the $500 deductible.  Our church came to our aid and helped us out.  So it has been very busy the last couple of weeks here in the Padrograph household.  Thanks for those of you who have emailed and sent trades.  I will get posting again soon.

The G in GCRL and a few friends

Jeffrey Scott Gardner had a 4 year major league career, playing half of it with the Padres. His most complete season was the 1993 season when he played in 140 games.  After his playing days he managed in the Padres minor league system from 2001 to 2003.  I got this in person at Eugenes' Civic Stadium when Jeff was managing the Eugene Ems.

Stevenson N Garrison was part of the deal that sent Scott Linebrink to the Brewers.  He pitched this year at AA San Antonio.  I got this signed through the mail last year.

Steven Patrick Garvey was one of only two players to ever be elected to the All Star Game which he did in 1974.  He is part of the classic infield of the Dodgers of Garvey, Cey, Russell and Lopes, GCRL.  He played 19 seasons in the Major Leagues all of them in the National League West, 14 years with the Dodgers and 5 with the Padres.  I got this signed through the mail several years ago, it is one of the few cards that I have from him that is not signed up the side.

Rodney Earl Gaspar is a part of two parts of my collection.  Guys named Rod and my Padrographs, I thought he had a long career but he only played parts of 4 seasons in the majors. One of those was an incredible year, he was part of the Miracle Mets who won the World Series in 1969.  He is the centerpiece of my guys named Rod collection, since our first two names are the same.  I told him in a letter that I was named for my grandfathers and asked him who he was named for.  He  signed the card but did not answer my question.

Jacob Nelson Gautreau drafted by the Padres in 2001 and played at the highest and lowest levels of the minor leagues in his first season of professional ball.  He played at both Eugene and Portland his first season of pro ball.  He played at AAA for the Padres, Indians and Mets.  He played in 2008 in an independent league.  I couldn't find anything out about him after 2008,  I got the card signed through the mail a couple of years ago.

A Hall of Famer and a Manager

Dave Garcia managed for the Padres in the minor leagues in their inagural year, and made it to the show in 1970 as Popeyes' third base coach.  He coached in San Diego through 1973, before going on to manage the Angels and Indians.  I got this signed through the mail, I also have signatures of all the other guys on individual cards.

Ralph Garcia is in the Hall of Fame, The Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame that is.  He was 0-0 in the majors in 2 seasons.  The Los Angeles native was 147-81 in his 22 years in the two Mexican leagues.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005.  I got the card signed through the mail and Ralph also enclosed a signed card from the Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame and wanted to pick up as many of this card as possible.  

A Hard Act to Follow

You may have already read the special announcement over at Phungo that I have been approved as a franchisee in the Spot the Signature contest.  I thought this might give me a chance to move beyond just showcasing Padres signatures, even though they are the best my favorite team.  I will warn you that the signatures will not all be Padres, or necessarily even all baseball some of my favorite signatures (and most incomprehensible) and from non sports people.  Most of the signatures will not be as clear as this Hall of Fame signer, who lives about 2 hours away. 

The rules will remain the same, and will be posted on the initial Padrographs Spot the Signature post which will be posted on January 3, unless Phungos' Spot the Signature goes into extra innings.  I will post each weeks signatures on Sunday evening, which will be a different time from Phungo since we are on different coasts.  Thanks Phungo for letting me play along.   I wonder whose signature that is on the Krukkie card at Phungo.  Phungo alluded to my love of books if you want to know more about that check out my website, Readerman.net

An Afro and an ATV

Oscar Charles Gamble played 126 games for the Padres in 1978 as shown in this wonderfully airbrushed card from 1978 Topps.  Legendary Negro League player Buck O'Neil scouted Oscar and convinced the Cubs to draft him.  Oscar is best known to baseball card collectors for some of the biggest Afros' ever seen.  He played 17 seasons in the major leagues.  I don't remember how I acquired this card.

Ronald Edwin Gant played in 102 games for the Padres in 2002.  He is one of three players Goose Gossage admits to intenionally hitting.  I remember Gant best as a member of the Braves. After signing one of the biggest contracts in Braves history, he broke his leg in an ATV accident and the Braves ended up releasing him.  This card was one of my longest outstanding cards that I needed.  I think I got this through the mail after several tries.