The Letter A, Sheet 5

Aurilla, Rich-2004 Bowman Heritage; Rich played part of the 2004 season for the Padres.
Ausmus, Brad-1994 Upper Deck Collectors Choice; Brad played for the Padres from 1993-1996.
Azocar, Oscar-1991 Topps; Oscar played for the Padres in 1991 and 1922.

One letter down, twenty five to go.













Cumulative Cards
Cards-29
Players-26
Hall of Famers-1
Executives-1
Coaches-2
Set of Brothers-1
Players who haven't actually played with the Padres-2

The Letter A, Sheet 4

Arias, George-1999 Keebler; George is not related to Alex; George played for the Padres from 1997-1999.
Arlin, Steve-1973 Topps; Steve played for the Padres from 1969-1974.
Armstrong, Mike-1981 Fleer; Mike played for the Padres in 1980 & '81.
Asadoor, Randy-1987 Donruss; Randy played for the Padres in 1986. What's up with his finger?
Asencio, Yeison-2013 Bowman; Yeison has played in the Padres minor league system since 2010.
Ashby, Andy-1998 Mothers' Cookies; Andy played for the Padres from 1993-1999.  I got this card signed last June when Travis Peterson and I went to a Padres game.
Ashford, Tucker-1979 Topps; Tucker played for the Padres from 1976-1978.



Cumulative Count
Hall of Famers-1
Executives-1
Coaches-2
Players who haven't actually played with the Padres-2
Players-23
Cards-26

The Letter a, sheet 3

Alou, Matty-1974 Topps; Matty played for the Padres in 1974.
Altman, Bryan-2012 Topps; Bryan played in the Padres minor league system from 2010-12.
Alvarez, Gabe-1997 Bowman; Drafted by the Padres in 1995; played for the Padres in 2000.
Amalfitano, Joe-1977 Padres Schedule card; Joe was a coach for the Padres in 1976-1977.
Amarista, Alexi-2013 Turkey Red; Alexi has played for the Padres since 2012.
Andersen, Larry-1992 Fleer; Larry played for the Padres in 1991 & '92.
Antonelli, Matt-2006 Bowman; Matt played for the Padres in 2008.
Arcia, Jose-1969 Topps; Jose played for the Padres in 1969& '70.
Arias, Alex-2001 Keebler; Alex played for the Padres in 2001.





Cumulative Count
Hall of Famers-1
Executives-1
Coaches-2
Players-16
Sets of Brothers-1
Players who didn't actually play with the Padres-1
Cards-19

The Letter A, Sheet 2

Alonso, Yonder-2012 Topps Gold Rush Certified Autograph; Yonder has played for the Padres in 2012 and '13.




















Cumulative Count-
Hall of Famers-1
Executives-1
Coaches-1
Players-8
Cards-10

The letter A, sheet 1

Abner, Shawn-1988 Score, Shawn played for the Padres from 1987-1991.
Acosta, Ed-1972 Topps, Ed played for the Padres in 1971 & 1972.
Adams, Mike-2009Upper Deck, Mike played for the Padres from from 2008-2011.
Akerfields, Darryl-2002 Keebler; Darryl was the bullpen coach for the Padres from 2001 until his death in 2012.
Alderson, Sandy-2005 Bazooka and a USPS stamp of Chesty Puller since Alderson is a former Marine.  He was the CEO of the Padres from 2005-2009.
Almanzar, Carlos-2000 Crown Pacific; Carlos played for the Padres in 1999 & 2000.
Almon, Billy-1980 Topps; Billy played for the Padres from 1974-1979.
Alomar, Roberto-1989 Donruss; Roberto played for the Padres from 1998-1990.  Elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011.
Alomar, Sandy, Jr.-1989 Fleer; Sandy played for the Padres in 1988 and 1989.


Hall of Famers-1
Executives-1
Coach-1

The Padres 1969-2013, Part 5

2005-Tim Stauffer.  Tim played for the Padres from 2005-2007 and from 2009-2013 and is in Spring Training right now.
2006-Paul McAnulty.  Paul played from the Padres 2005-2008.
2007-Cla Meredith.  Cla played for the Padres from 2006-2009.
2008-Randy Wolf. Randy got into 12 games in 2008 for the Padres.
2009-Edgar Gonzalez.  Edgar played with his brother for the Padres in 2008 & 2009.
2010-Tony Gwynn Jr..  Tony is the brother in law of a previous signee in these years and the son of another signee.  Tony played for the Padres in 2009 & 2010.  Go to Youtube and put in his name for a great video.
2011-Heath Bell.  Wanted to use the sliding card put it didn't come out until 2012.  Heath played for the Padres from 2007-2011.
2012-Kyle Blanks.  Kyle signed what I thought was the best card of 2012.  Kyle has played with the Padres since 2009.
2013-Cameron Maybin.  Cameron has been with the Padres since 2011.  This is the second card I got signed by him, the first one was a card I had made.

Starting next week I will be presenting the alphabetical cards.

The Padres, 1969-2013 Part 4

1996-Trevor Hoffman.  Played for the Padres from 1993-2008. Eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2016.
1997- Dario Veras.  Played for the Padres in 1996 & 1997
1998-Mark Kroon.  Played for the Padres in 1995, 1997 & 1998.  Son in Law and Brother of Law of two other players in the year by year autographs.
1999-Ben Davis.  The next big thing.  Played for the Padres from 1998-2001.
2000-Wiki Gonzalez.  Wiki played for the Padres from1999-2003.
2001-Sean Burroughs.  The next really big thing.  Sean played for the Padres from 2002-2005
2002-Mark Kotsay.  Mark played for the Padres from 2001-2003 and then again in 2012 & 2013.
2003-Jake Peavey.  Jake played for the Padres from 2002-2009
2004-Jon Knott.  Jon played for the Padres in 2004-2006.  I got this signed at a Portland Beavers game.

The Padres 1969-2013, Part 3

1987-Shane Mack.  Shane played for the Padres in 1978-1979
1988-Bruce Bochy.  Bruce played for the Padres from 1983-1987 and then managed them from 1995-2006.  He has since taken the Giants to 2 World Series Championships.
1989-Tim Flannery.  My all time favorite Padre player.  Tim played for the Padres from1979-1989.  He coached third base for the Padres from 1996-2002, since 2007 he has coached third base for the Giants.
1990-Roberto Alomar.  Roberto played for the Padres from 1988-1990.  He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.
1991-Mark Parent.  Mark Parent played for the Padres from 1986-1990.  I remember talking to him alot when he was in the minors and would come to Portland.
1991-Paul Faries.  Paul played for the Padres from 1990-1992.  He is a another player that I remember talking with a lot when the Padres AAA club would come to Portland.
1992-Andy Benes.  Andy played for the Padres from 1989-1995 when he was traded to the Mariners.  I got this while he was with the Mariners.  I remember thinking that his signature had gone downhill.
1993-Scott Livingstone.  Scott played for the Padres from 1994-1997

The Padres 1969-2013, Part Two

1978-Gene Richards.  Richards was drafted by the Padres in 1975 and made his major league debut in 1977, playing with the Padres through 1983.
1979-Tucker Ashford.  Tucker was drafted by the Padres in 1974, made his MLB debut in 1976 and played with the Padres through 1978.
1980-Jay Johnstone.  Jay played in 75 games for the Padres in 1979.  Read his books if you get the chance.
1981-Steve Mura.  Steve Mura played for the Padres from 1978-1981
1982-Broderick Perkins.  Broderick Perkins played for the Padres from 1978-1982.
1983-Tony Gwynn.  The first non Topps card featured.  The first Hall of Famer to be featured.  The first in person autograph featured.  Tony Gwynn his entire career in San Diego and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame the first time he was eligible.
1984-David Francis Dravecky.  The player my youngest son is named after, since my wife didn't like the name Tony.
1985-Andy Hawkins.  Andy played for the Padres from 1982-1988
1986-Kurt Bevacqua.  I have almost this whole team set signed.  Kurt played on the Padres two different times.

The Padres 1969-2013

 For the next five days I will be sharing my year by year autographs with you.  Then I will start in on the alphabetical sheets.
1969-The original Padre Ollie Brown.  Ollie was the first player taken by the Padres in the expansion draft. He played for the Padres until 1972.
1970-Walt Hriniak.  Walt didn't actually play for the Padres in 1970.  His last major league game was September 30, 1969.
1971-Rod Gaspar. Gaspar was just 2 years removed from winning the 1969 World Series with the Miracle Mets.  He played with the Padres until 1974.
1972-Dave Campbell.  Played for the Padres from 1970-1974
1973-Dave Roberts.  The reason I am a Padres fan.  Dave was the brother of one of my high school classmates.  Dave went straight to the majors and played with the Padres from 1972-1977.  One of three players named Dave Roberts that have played for the Padres.
1974-Bill Greif.  Greif played for the Padres from 1972-1977.  He and Dave Roberts are wearing my second favorite Padres uniforms.
1975-Dave Freisleben.  Appeared on 3 variation cards in 1974 Topps.  Played for the Padres from 1974-1978
1976-Brent Strom.  Played for the Padres from 1975-1977.
1977-Gene Tenace.  Gene escaped from Charlie O. Finley and signed with the Padres as a free agent before the 1977 season and played there through 1980

odds and ends

I have been trying to get a signed card of Todd Hutcheson for many years.  I have even made cards and sent them to him.  Never heard back.  He has been a Padres trainer for many years and is now the head trainer.  I met him about the time this card came out in 1986.  I would go to Civic Stadium in Portland any time the Las Vegas Stars (Padres AAA affiliate) would come to town.  I would go to the whole series and talk with players, once and I while I would give them rides around town.  One series my friend Dan Fields and I made up a sign with blown up cards of Todd on it and dubbed ourselves the Todd Hutcheson Fan Club and hung it on the railing above the Stars dugout.  It was a hit with the whole team and Todd invited Dan and I down to the clubhouse after the game and showed us around.  This card brings me to 842 different signatures.  I will start showcasing the cards again next week, a page at a time.

I have bought about 10 packs of Topps Series 1, which is probably all I will buy.  I bought several team sets so I could have cards to send to those I don't have signatures of yet.  I got this in one of my packs.  It looks like it had been folded multiple times and left in someones wallet and sat on many times. I took it into the LCS and showed the owner, who has been in the same location since 1982, he said he would be embarrassed to even give that to someone, as would I.  What does Topps think that collectors are so desperate for old cards that we don't care about the condition.  Many of the cards I have seen on eBay are in the same condition.  It's like they gave some one $100 and said this is your budget get as many cards as you can and we don't care about the condition.

I sent off my first cards of the year yesterday.  It has probably been a year or more since I sent out cards to anyone.  I sent to Nick Hundley, Robbie Erlin, Tommy Medica, Eric Stults and Tyson Ross.  I already have Hundley but I am thinking I might use him for my yearly collection.  I sent two cards, a letter, a sharpie and an SASE to each player.  See who I get back.  I still need to send out a few cards of guys that were on the team last year and only had cards in the update set.

I collect cards of several basketball players rather haphazardly, Lakers mainly.  I collect one player zealously at least one card of that player.  Several years ago Jeff Pendergraph (now Jeff Ayers of the Spurs)  played for the Trailblazers and my son and I were impressed with his enthusiasm and my son started collecting his cards.  One card was this one, it came out in Panini Update 2010/11.  There are 499 of this card, this is #105/499.  This is the 50th copy of this card we have and we want the other 449.  I check eBay, COMC and the Beckett Marketplace regularly.  Any other places you can think of.  If you local card shop has it for less than $5 buy it and I will reimburse you.  I bought this one for $4.95 including ship.  If it is more than $5 let me know and I can work something out with you.

Next week, Signed Padres cards year by year 1969-2013

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I mailed this 8x10 to Clayton Richard toward the end of the 2012 season.  I got it back two weeks ago.  Wondering what the longest you have ever gone between sending something out and getting it back.  Believe it or not this is not the longest for me.  Kurt Bevacqua once took 3 years to get a baseball back to me.  Several players have taken a couple of years to send cards back and we had moved a couple of times. Luckily I have friends who have lived in the same house for thirty years or more so I used them for a return address and they get my returned mail.  Better than it sitting in a dead letter office somewhere.

Clayton Richard has been one of my favorite Padres since coming over in the Jake Peavy trade.  He has had a couple of good seasons and a not so good one and an injury filled one.  He is currently a free agent whom I hope will return to Petco Park.

I have gotten overwhelmed once again by the hobby, even though their is only one company making baseball, sorry I don't recognize the logoless gentlemen from Panini, they make too much stuff that is just the same design over and over with just a small difference.  Right now I am going to concentrate on my Heritage team sets, Padrographs and Jeff Pendergraph Christmas cards.  Oh and any new Bip Roberts cards.  Travis "Punk Rock Paint" Peterson, soon to be father is now the holder of the Gospel of Bip.  I also spend a lot of time on my other blog, Readerman.us, where I review everything I read.  Last year I read 136 books, not hard when you have a one hour commute each way. I hope to be back on a more regular basis at least once a week.