Obscure Custom-Vance McHenry

Vance McHenry's major league career consisted of eighteen games for the Mariners in 1981 & 1982.

Custom Obscura-John Hairston

John Hairston played 3 games for the Cubs in 1969, one at catcher and two in the outfield.  He was drafted by the Cubs in 1965.  He played in the minors for two years following his three games with the Cubs with the Cleveland and Oakland systems.  He is the son of Sam Hairston, the brother of Jerry Hairston Sr. and the uncle of former Padres Scott and Jerry Hairston. 

Custom Obscura-Ron Allen

Ron Allen is the brother of Hank Allen and their other more well known brother, Dick Allen.  Ron never actually played for the Phillies in the majors, although he was in their system from 1965-1972.  Ron was a basketball star at Youngstown State, he is enshrined in their Hall of Fame.  He is also enshrined in the Reading Phillies Hall of Fame. 

Custom Obscura-Rupe Topping

Rupe Toppin was signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent before the 1960 season.  His major league career consisted of two games in the 1962 season.  He played in the minors until 1969.  He only played in two organizations, Kansas City and Washington.  This was my first attempt at a 1962 card. 

Padrographs #1066 & #1067 and an upgrade

Padrograph #1066, Ronny Cedeno split 2013 between Houston and San Diego.  He played in 38 games for the Padres, hitting .268 with 2 Home Runs.  He also played for the Cubs, Mariners, Pirates, Mets and Phillies.  I got the card from a dealer in Venezuela. 

Padrograph #1067, Alex Torres pitched in 70 games for the Padres in 2014.  He went 2-1 with an 3.33 ERA.  He also played for the Rays and the Mets. 

I had made a Carlos Baerga card and got it signed through PastPros, I made it to look an 1989 Donruss Rated Rookie.  Then I saw that Topps had a card of Carlos in the Archives Snapshots.  So now I have a certified auto of Carlos.  I thought he was going to be the Padres third baseman for years before he got traded.  I had watched him at AAA Las Vegas.

Padres Custom-Van Kelly

My next find was Van Kelly.  Van was signed by the  Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before the 1964 season.  In June of 1969 he, Andy Finlay and Walt Hriniak were traded to the Padres for Tony Gonzalez.  He played in 111 games for the Padres in 1969 and '70.  After that he went back to the Braves organization, he also played in the White Sox and Expos organizations.  He managed the Lethbridge Expos in 1975.  I googled him and read some articles and found out he lived in North Carolina and was able to find an address for him.  I made nine cards of him and sent them to him and asked him to sign one and return it to me in the SASE I included.  He signed 4 for me.  I have one and the others have gone to other Padres fans.  He also sent me a note that said he didn't know why Topps had not made a card of him, and that he appreciated the card.  All of these custom cards have full backs also. 

Padres Custom-John Sipin

I started looking for other players from the 1969 Padres who didn't have cards.  Next I found John Sipin.  John had been drafted by the Cardinals in 1965 and played in their minor league system until being traded to the Padres with Sonny Ruberto for Bill Davis and Jerry Davanon.  John played in 68 games for the Padres in 1969, hitting .223 with a .319 slugging average.  In 1970 and 1971 he played in the Padres minor league system.  After that he went to Japan and played nine seasons there.  In '72 and '73 he won the Japaneses Gold Glove becoming the first foreigner to ever win that.  He played his best season in 1975, hitting 34 home runs and 82 RBIs with a .295 batting average. I found an address for him and sent him several copies of the card and asked him to sign one for me.  I have never heard back from him. 

Padres Custom -Leon Everitt

Leon pitched in 5 games for the Padres in 1969 going 0-1. That was the extent of Leon Everitt's  major league career.  He had been drafted by the Dodgers in 1965.  He was traded to the Padres in 1969 with Tommy Dean for Al McBean.  1969 was his final year in organized baseball.  After baseball he worked as a taxi driver, insurance agent and in construction in his home town of Marshall Texas, where he passed away in 2016. I got a copy of this signed through an autograph dealer. 

Diary of an offseason

November 2, 2017

            Last night the Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series.  First time in their 55-year history.  Probably the first team to have played in more than one World Series and represented both the National and American Leagues. 

            A few former Padres played in the series Logan Forysthe, Luke Gregerson and Brandon Morrow. Astro pitching coach Brent Strom played for the Padres in the late 70’s and LA Manager Dave Roberts (the third Padres Dave Roberts) played for the Padres.  Even the son of a former Padre was involved Lance McCullers, Jr, whose Dad played for the Padres from 1985-1988.

            Today the Padres made several minor league transactions releasing two guys I have never heard of and assigning nineteen players to the various winter leagues. 

            In the past week the Padres have named a new hitting coach, Matt Stairs, who played with the Padres in 2010.  They also named a new first base coach, Skip Schumacher, who never played with the Padres but has been in the front office for the last two years.

            The big questions between now and April 2018 are will Brad Hand still be the closer, will Yangy still be a Padre and who will be playing shortstop?  What will A.J. Preller do this offseason.