Padrographs, Superstars, Astrophysists and new collection

 I added a few new Padrographs. I have decided to add some of my favorite WWE Superstars to my collection.  I added a signature of one of the foremost, or at least well known of the scientists in the United States. And I started a new collection, an idea I stole from Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown.
Josh Naylor, Padrograph #1071, Josh was the 12th overall pick in the 2015 draft by the Marlins.  In 2016 he was traded to the Padres as part of a six player trade. I got this 2017 Bowmans Best Card from Ebay.
Mark Wasinger, Padrograph # 1072, Mark was drafted by the Padres in the 3rd round in 1982.  He was traded to the Giants in 1987 after playing 3 games for the Padres in 1986.


Luis Sardinas, Padrograph #1073, Luis played in 63 games for the Padres in 2016 & 2017 before being selected off waivers by the Orioles in May of 2017.
MacKenzie Gore, Padrograph #1070, MacKenzie was the 3rd overall pick in the 2017 for the Padres.
Blake Hunt, Parograph #1069, Blake was drafted by the Padres this year.
Luis Campusano, Padrograph #1068, was drafted in the second round in 2017.
I have decided to collect autographs of some of my favorite WWE Superstars.  I already have a Daniel Bryan autograph and I have added Mick Foley and Braun Strowman. 
Neil DeGrasse Tyson is married to my officemates college roommate.  I sent this to him at the Hayden Planetarium, it took about six months to come back.
Gavin has his 12/25 collection for his birthday.  My birthday is September 13 and it is difficult to find cards that are 9/13 but I finally found one.  Cool that it was a Padre to start the collection.

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. 

Padrographs #1056-1064

I recently sent eighteen customs I made to an autograph dealer I know and last week I got nine of them back.  The top three are amazing uniform transformations by Travis Peterson, aka Punk Rock Paint.
Paul Siebert is part of another set of brothers that played for the Padres.  His brother Sonny played for the Padres in 1975 and Paul pitched in four games in 1977.
Mike Fiore finished his major league career in 1972 with 7 games in San Diego and 17 games in St. Louis.
Steve Fireovid made his major league debut in 1981 with the Padres against the Pirates.
Patrick Kivlehan made his major league debut with the Padres in 2016 before being waived.  The Reds got him off the waiver wire and he played in 115 games for the Reds in 2017.
Evan Scribner pitched in 10 games for the Padres in 2011.  He  played for the Mariners in 2017.
David Lee pitched in 41 games for the Padres in 2001 between two years in Colorado and two years in Cleveland.
Cody Decker made his major league debut for the Padres in 2015, he played in the Mets organization in 2017.
Dusty Coleman played in 27 games for the Padres in 2017 after making his major league debut with the Royals in 2015.
Ricky Stone pitched in 27 games for the Padres in 2004.

Now here are the backs for the nine cards.

Padrographs #1052-#1055

Memo Luna played for the Padres in 1952 & 1953, he pitched in 77 games for the Padres.  He did well enough that he earned some time in the major leagues in 1954 for the St. Louis Cardinals.  He pitched in 2/3 of an inning vs the Reds.  This is a custom card that I made based on a 1952 card. 

Brandon Maurer pitched for the Padres in 2015, 16 and part of 2017.  He was traded with Ryan Buchter and Trevor Cahill to the Royals. 

Ryan Buchter pitched for the Padres in 2016 and this year before being traded to the Royals with Brandon Maurer and Trevor Cahill.

Luis Urias was signed as an amateur international free agent before the 2013 season.  He has played up to the AAA level in the Padres organization.

 

Padrograph #1052

Tony Hawk was born and raised in San Diego.   This is his second appearance on a card as a fan of the Padres. Someone in St. Louis got this signed when Tony was there for the opening of a skatepark. This is the second first pitch card in my collection, the other is Agness Mckee.

Padrographs #1049-#1051

Jorge Ona is a 20 year old Cuban outfielder who signed with the Padres in 2016.  He spent this year at Ft. Wayne.  I got the card in a case break of Bowman Chrome.

Duanel Jones was signed by the Padres in 2010, he was released after 2017. I got this 2011 Elite Extra edition on Ebay.
Chris Paddack was drafted by the Marlins in 2015 and was traded to the Padres for Fernando Rodney.  He underwent Tommy John surgery on August 15, 2016. He is expected back at the start of the 2018 season. I also got this card from the case break of Bowman Chrome.

Padrograph #1048

Allen Cordoba was a Rule 5 draftee from the St. Louis Cardinals who made the Padres opening day roster and played in 100 games this year.  I got this 2017 Heritage Hi Number Rookie card on ebay.

Padrograph #1047

Adam Russell pitched in 27 games for the Padres in 2009 and 2010. This is a custom I made and then got signed through an autograph dealer I know.

Padrograph #1046

Matt Szczur, Matt was obtained in a trade with the Cubs earlier this year.  The Cubs got minor leaguer Justin Hancock.  Matt has played in 102 games for the Padres this year.  This is a custom I made and sent to Matt earlier this year and got back yesterday.

Padrograph #1045

Jose Pirela was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 2006.  The Yankees traded him to the Padres in 2015.  He has played in 98 games for the Padres in 2016 and 2017.  I got the card from a dealer from Venezuela on eBay.

Padrographs #1041-1044

 #1041-Sean Henn, Sean pitched in four games for the Padres in 2008.

#1042-Glendon Rusch, Glendon pitched in 12 games for the Padres in 2008.

#1043-Matt Palmer, Matt pitched in 3 games for the Padres in 2012.

#1044-Von Joshua, Von played in 53 games for the Padres in 1980.

Padrograph #1040

Dennis Blair pitched in 5 games for the Padres in 1980 to finish his major league career.

Padrograph #1039

Jon Jay, Jon played in 90 games for the Padres in 2016.  The Padres granted him free agency in November and he is currently playing with the defending World Champion Cubs.

Padrograph #1038

Doug Dascenczo played in 21 games for the Padres in 1996 at the end of his career.  He was a roving minor league instructor for the Padres, and coached at various levels in the Padres organization and managed in the minors for the Padres.  He was named Texas league Manager of the Year in 2011.

Padrograph #1037

Carlos Asuaje played in seven games for the Padres last year and has played in twenty six games this years.  Got this off Ebay.

Padrographs #1035 & #1036

Angel Bravo is Padrograph #1035. I found a dealer in Venezuela who has signed cards of various players from that country.  Angel Bravo played in fifty two game for the Padres in 1971.

From the same dealer in Venezuela comes Padrograph #1036, Jose Rondon played in 8 games for the Padres in 2016 and is currently playing in their minor leagues system.

an upgrade and two new Padrographs

I had a photo of Josh Spence that was card sizedbut I made a card of him and got it signed at a Salem-Keizer Volcanoes game.  They were playing the TriCity Dust Devils, the Padres short season rookie team. Josh is the pitching coach for TriCity.  He was quite friendly, told me to let him know if the bullpen misbehaved.  He signed the card and I gave him a copy of it.  Josh pitched in 51 games for the Padres in 2011 and 2012.  Josh is Padrograph #989.  

  

At that same game I got Oscar Salazar, the hitting coach to sign the card I made for him.  He was pleased that I had a card of him and even more pleased when I gave him a copy.  Oscar played in 140 games for the Padres in 2009 and 2010.  Oscar is Padrograph #1033.

I went to the game mainly to get this 2017 Bowman card signed.  Adrian wasn't in the bullpen with the rest of the pitchers.  I thought I had missed him after the game, but someone else had stopped him to get a bunch of 8X10 photos signed (wonder when they will show up on ebay) so I was able to get my one card signed.  Adrian is an 18 year old from Cuba that the Padres signed.  I gave him some extra cards that I had of him.  I had to use my rudimentary Spanish to let him know that the cards were for him, I didn't need them signed.  I only needed one signed.  Adrian is Padrograph #1034.

Padrograph #1032b

#1032 (you may notice that the number is repeated.  That's cause I had doubles of someone).
Edwin Jackson, pitched in 13 games for the Padres last year.  He is with the Orioles this year.

Series Preview Art

Art Courtesy of Travis Peterson

Game Highlight 5.25.17 (18-31, 13 GB, 5th place)

Game Recap 5.24.17 (17-31, 14 GB, 5th place,

Game Recap (16-31, 14 GB, 5th Place)

I was away from home for awhile and missed several days of Padres baseball, not sure if that is a good or bad thing.  Had a great time on the Oregon Coast with my wife and 5 year old granddaughter.  I am back to chronicle this years tank.  

Game Recap 5.17.17(15-27, 11 GB, 5th place)

Game Recap 5.16.17 (15-26, 10.5 GB, 5th Place)