Rant

I was excited when I heard that Topps had gotten Chris Speakman to do propaganda style posters for an insert set.  I hoped the Padres would not be ignored, but when I looked at the prints available there was none for the Padres.  So I figured I got screwed again.  But then I typed in eBay propaganda Padres and there was an Adrian Gonzalez card. YEAH!  Then I began to look at the card, right colors, right player, but whiskey tango foxtrot, why the hell is there a Brewers logo right in the middle of the flippin' card.  Speakman didn't do this, Topps did, they gimmicked it up to do who knows what.  Topps you people can be freakin idiots sometimes, all this does is show that you are either too dumb, too lazy or just plain stupid to think that this would be exciting to anyone who is either a Brewers fan or a Padres fan.  It is just an insult to the fans of both teams.  I like my Adrian Gonzalez card, but thanks to you, it's just another screwed up card. 

Trade Bait

Recently I opened several packs of Goodwin Champions, Kiss 360, Topps Update and Highlights.  I have some items that I am interested in trading.  I am specifically looking for oddball Padres and the Willie McCovey and Tony Gwynn Padres shortprints from this years Topps.

 

The Kiss card is a Transformation card of Ace Frehely.  Let me know in the comments if you are interested in a card or more.

Steve Finley and John Flaherty

Steven Allen Finley came to San Diego as part of a huge multi player deal in 1994 and played 4 seasons for the Padres.  He played 4 seasons in San Diego from 1995-1998, going to the World Series with the Padres only to be swept by the Yankees.  He hit .276 with 82 Home Runs while with the Padres.  I believe I got this card signed through the mail.

John Timothy Flaherty only played one season with the Padres in 1996 after being traded from the Tigers and before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays.  While he was with San Diego he hit .284 with 18 Home Runs.  I bought this Leaf Signature series card on eBay several years ago.  

Fernandez to Fingers

Octavio Antonio (Castro) Fernandez played for 17 seasons and played 2 of them in San Diego after coming over from the Blue Jays in a multi player deal.  He hit .274 and hit 8 home runs.  I got the card in an eBay lot.

Alfred John Ferrara Jr.  started his major league career in 1959 and was drafted by the Padres in the expansion draft from the Dodgers.  He played 2.5 seasons for the Padres before being traded to the Reds in 1971.  He hit .265 with 27 home runs in 293 games.  I got the signed card from ABC unlimited.

Jeremy Joseph Fikac was drafted by the Padres in the 1998 draft, and made his major league debut in 2001.  He pitched for 2 years for San Diego before being traded to Oakland as part of a conditional deal.  He was 6 and 7 while with the Padres.  I believe I got this signed through the mail.

Robert Charles Fick was never traded but he played for 5 different major league teams.  He was originally signed by the Tigers.  He played part of two seasons with the Padres, playing in 106 games.  He didn't have a great time with San Diego.  I sent this card to him multiple times to be signed and never got it back. I finally picked it up on eBay. 

Roland Glen Fingers is another Hall of Famer who played for the Padres.  He is best known for his years with the A's and Brewers.  Charlie Finley tried selling Rollie to the Red Sox but the commissioner voided the contract.  He then became a free agent and signed with the Padres, he was 34-40 with a .312 ERA.  I got this signed when Rollie made an appearance at PGE Park here in Portland.  

Fahey to Fast

William Roger Fahey played 11 seasons in the majors, never starting.  He played in San Diego in 1979-80.  He played in 166 games hitting .271.  I got this card signed through the mail a few years ago.

Vincent LaRue Faison played for 9 seasons in the minor leagues.  He played from 1999-2003 in the Padres organization, never getting higher than AA.  In 2003 he moved to the Mariners organization, getting as far as Tacoma in the PCL.  He also played in the Yankees and A's organization, never rising above AA.  I got the card in a lot on eBay.

Omar Eric Falcon never made it to the major leagues.  He was drafted by the Padres in the 3rd round of the 2000 amateur draft.  He played through 2003 in the Padres organization before he was traded to the Mariners as part of a multi player deal.  He played 4 more years in the minors for Seattle, Saint Louis and Pittsburgh.  I got the card signed through the mail when he was in the Mariners organization.  You will see more of that wall in future post, I think every Padre prospect had their picture taken in front of it.

Paul Tyrell Faries played four seasons in the major leagues.  He was a very nice guy, I met him when he was with the Las Vegas Stars, the Padres AAA club back then.  Back then the only Portland Beavers games I went to were when the Stars games, and I could get seats where you could talk to the players easily.  That was before they renovated Civic Stadium the first time and put a greater distance between the players and fans.  Paul played parts of three seasons in the majors with the Padres, between 1990-1992, after being drafted in the 23rd round of the 1987 draft.  He was traded to the Giants for Jim Pena in 1993.  He played part of that year in the majors.  He played until he was 33 in 1998 in the minors with several different organizations, ending his career with Klingers' favorite team, the Toledo Mud Hens.  I got this signed in person in 1992 when the Stars came to town.

 Darcy Rae Fast had a 8 game major league career, pitching 8 games for the Chicago Cubs in 1968.  He was supposed to play in 1969 for the Cubs, but got reclassified 1A by his local draft board.  He came out of Warner Pacific College here in Portland, and went back there to finish his studies. He was traded to the Padres in 1970 and they called him up at the end of the season but he never got into a game.  His National Guard unit was put on ready alert so he never came back to the Padres.  He voluntarily retired at age 24, one of the youngest to ever do so.  The amazing thing about this 1972 card was that Darcy had been retired already and didn't play at all in 1971.   He became a pastor and has been the Pastor of the Centrailia (WA) Community Church of God for the last thirty years.  I got this signed through the mail a few years ago.

Goodwin Champions, Favorite Cards

Way back in September of 1957, half a block from the beach, in Long Beach, California I was born.  When I was 8 months old my Mom and I boarded the S.S. Lincoln to sail to our new home in Honolulu, Hawaii.  My Dads' ships home port had been changed to Honolulu.  We went by ship because there wasn't regular, inexpensive air service at the time.  We lived in Hawaii until I was 4 and a half and then moved back to California.  I have lived in 7 states and multiple locations in California.  Somewhere I picked up the love of a sport that I have never even attempted.  Surfing, I can remember watching surfing on TV and reading surf magazines before baseball register.  So I was excited two years ago when A&G produced a card of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the father of surfing.

I would love to get an auto of Duke but that will probably never happen, probably too expensive.

Then I was stoked when I saw Laird Hamilton in the preview set.  Laird is the godfather of tow in surfing, using a jet ski or helicopter to get to the top of waves that are too big to paddle into.  I managed to pick up his preview card and the autograph card.

I think those are supposed to be big waves in front of his name.   This guy is living the dream, paid to surf and married to pro volleyball player and model Gabrielle Reese.  

Then I found out that several other surfers were also included in the set.  I have picked up Corky Caroll.  I still need Tom Curren and Mike Parsons.  The Curren sold for lots and there are lots of Parsons still on ebay.  Has anyone seen numbers on how many anyone signed?  I like the Caroll Card, awesom shot of him riding a big wave.

My all time favorite surfer though is Gerry Lopez, whose book Surf is Where you Find It, I had just finished reading when Goodwin came out.  I was stoked to get his regular card and the nighttime variation out of packs and then I got his black bordered and foil minis and the autograph from ebay.

I hope to pick up the Curren and Parsons autographs also.  For me these were more fun than the few Padres card in the set.

2009 Topps Update and Traded

I just received a Padres team set from the updates and traded or what ever they call it these days, the traded set.

I was anticipating several cards and wondering about several others, there are 13 cards in the set, two All Star cards of Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez and a Home Run Derby card of Adrian.  There are cards of players that I already have signatures of Heath Bell, Mat Latos, Kyle Banks, and David Eckstein.  I don't have a signed card of Cliff Floyd, who didn't play hardly at all, but he had an OPC card that is in the mail to him.  The five cards that were guys who I had never seen Padres cards of are, in no particular order. 

Aaron Poreda was one of the four pitchers the Padres acquired in the Jake Peavey trade.  He appeared in 4 games in 2.1 innings, must have been a middle reliever.  You hear a lot about starting pitchers and closers, but middle relievers have an anonymous career.

Chris Burke makes me asks why, and why not Henry Blanco.  Burke signed with the Padres in January, released and signed with the Mariners, in April he was back with the Padres and in JUNE he signed with the Braves.  How do I know all this, it's on the back of the card.  If he has been gone from the Padres since June show him on a Braves card and give this spot to Henry Blanco, who was the opening day catcher and with the team all year.

Clayton Richard was the star of the Peavey trade.  He went 5-2 after he game over from the White Sox, with he and all the other good pitchers that the Padres, they might have a good rotation for awhile.

Kevin Correia was a free agent signing before the season, who became the ace of the staff after Peavey was traded and Chris Young got hurt.  He was 12-11 with a 3.09 ERA.

This is the biggest disappointment, come on.  The biggest name trade they Padres have had in a while, a link to the glory days of years past and the best you can do is a belly flop at homeplate.  Give me a decent photograph of Tony Gwynn, Jr.  Overall I am disappointed in the set, Chris Burke was gone before the all star break and the Tony picture sucks.

The Strangest Padrograph Ever

I got this card in a trade of Sports Collectors Net recently, I traded 3 extra Padres autographs for it.  I have been trying to get this card signed for the last two years since it came out.  I have sent it multiple times to Brennan, even sending extras for him to keep of this and other cards of him.  I have explained that I only get signed cards of players pictured as Padres and his would be the strangest one in the collection.  Why you ask would a signed Brennan P. Boesch be the strangest card in my collection?  Because unlike some other players like Mike Brumley, who never actually played a game with the Padres he was at least in the Padres organization.  Brennan Boesch was drafted in 2006 by the, wait for it, wait for it, DETROIT TIGERS.  He was drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft, out of Cal-Berkeley.  He has played at Oneonta, West Michigan, Lakeland and Erie for the Tigers.  In 2009 he hit .275 and 28 home runs for the Erie Seawolves.  So I now have a signed card of someone pictured as a Padre who has never ever been in the Padres system.  When I first found this card back in 2007 I looked through all the Padres minor league teams stuff and finally had to Google Brennan to find out who he was.  It is a good photoshop job, but another gimmick by Topps that almost no one noticed. 

Baseball in Japan is different than baseball in North America

You Gotta Have Wa*, When Two Cultures Collide on the Baseball Diamond, *From the Japanese, meaning team spirit, unity, the ball club always comes first by Robert Whiting; 1989; 339 pages; Macmillian and Company, New York, NY; 0-02-627-661-5


I have been following Marinerds, a blog by an American woman, teaching English in a Japanese Junior High School.  She loves baseball and attends many games and blogs about them.  It is a fun blog and an interesting perspective.  She had a blog about meeting Robert Whiting which moved me to read this.  I had been wanting to read it and her post gave me the necessary motivation to check it out. 

In the days before Ichiro joined the major leagues the movement of baseball players was only one way.  Several American Major League players traveled to Japan to play baseball.  What they found was a game with the same basic rules but somehow completely different. They encountered practices that would put our military boot camps to shame in their intensity.  They encountered managers who spoke in the voice of God, owners who meddled more than George Steinbrenner thought about and umpires who had multiple strike zones (oh wait that's the same).  Ties were commonplace, one did not charge a pitcher or argue with the umpires.  The game of baseball in Japan was completely different than in the USA, many of the players lasted a season or less.  Those that lasted longer, often were neglected and dishonored when they did extremely well.  Robert Whiting, who lives in Japan, gives an even handed account of what it was like for the gaijin in Japan.  He has since written a book about Ichiro and others coming to the USA which I am looking forward to reading. 

why so SADD

The reason my posts have slowed down is cause when I go to the work in the dark and come home from work in the dark.  I don't feel much like posting about anything.  I even have trouble gettings my reviews up on time over at readerman.net.  All I want to do is come home and veg and be in bed by 8 or 9.  Even though I haven't been officially diagnosed, my wife says that I suffer from Seasonally Affected Depression Disorder.  Plus then on Saturday we get up at 4:30 and work at farmers market from 6-2, usually lately in the rain, so I am drained when I get home.  So I will be here every so often, and I do check you all out on your blogs.  I am just having trouble motivating myself. 

Erdos to Evans

Todd Michael Erdos was drafted by the Padres in the 1992 draft.  He made his major league debut in 1997 with the Padres before being drafted by the Diamondbacks in the expansion draft.  He was traded by the D backs to the Yankees.  In 2000 the Padres selected him off waivers from the Yankees.  He pitched part of 2000 for the Padres, before moving on to the Red Sox.  He pitched in 20 games with a 1.000 Win loss percentage and an ERA of 5.08.  I believe I got the signature on eBay.

Duane Grant Espy never made it to the major leagues as a player, he played several years in the Brewers organization.  I am not sure how many years he coached in the Padres organization, I believe he was the hitting coach.  He is currently the hitting coach for the Modesto Nuts in the Rockies organization.  I got this signed through the mail a couple of years ago.

Aaron Shawn Estes body seems to have worn out by the time he got to the Padres, he pitched in 2006 and 2008 for the Padres and missed 2007 with an injury.  In two seasons he pitched in only 10 games.  I got this signed through the mail.

Mark Edward Ettles was one of several Australian players in the early '90's.  He was drafted in the 1989 draft by the Tigers who released him in 1991.  He spent the next four years moving up and down the Padres organization.  He made his major league debut in June of 1993 and played in his last major league game in July of 1993.  I visited Australia in early 1976 and one day, when Portland was playing Las Vegas in 1995, I talked to Mark about Austrailian beer vs. Oregon beers.  He wanted to taste some Oregon beers and so after the game I went and made a six pack of various Oregon beers and smuggled them into the ballpark for him.  The third game of the series he told me he had enjoyed them the night before.  I got this card off of eBay, cause the one I got signed in 1995 I got rid of when I got out of collecting for a couple of years.

Barry Steven Evans was drafted by the Padres in the 1977 draft and then made his major league debut the following year.  He played 4 years for the Padres before being purchased by the Yankees in 1982.  Barry was a utility infielder playing at all 4 infield positions while with the Padres.  I believe I got this signed 1982 Topps cards off of Ebay.  

I finally made it to the post office

I made it to a post office last night and sent out a bunch of stuff, some as part of trades and some just cause.  I still have to get to the airport post office this Friday (I hope) to mail stuff to The Hamiltonian and Traders Crack, since they are north of the border. 

Watch your mailboxes.  Beardy, I finally sent your O, with a couple of other things.  Chad of SCN, your stuff for the Brennan Boesch trade is on it's way and Sooz your Jeter memorabilia card from Goodwin is winging it's way to Egg Harbor.  Tim Henson your 1986 Topps are finally on there way.  Troll, the ladies at Dinged Corners, VOTC, Night Owl, GCRL and Zach of Autographed Cards you all have stuff coming your way.

Hey look there is a contest down below.  There are six prizes and so far only two entries.  Hope you all have a great day.  I am on my way to a class for work on Cash Handling. 

its's contest time

Not much of a contest, but you can win things.  Of course, they are all Padres related.  Since one of my all time favorite Padres wore the number 6, there are 6 prizes.

One year ago I started writing about Padres autographs and it has since morphed into a few other things.  I would like to thank of all of you who have read the blog and those of you who have provided inspiration.

Now here are the rules of the game.  My favorite Padre wore uniform numbers totaling 17, excluding the number he wore his rookie year.  He is still active in major league baseball but he also has a career outside of baseball.  He is two weeks younger than I am and we have met.  So if you can name this player you will get one entry, if you link to your blog you will get another entry.  If you provide me with a Padre autograph I don't have I will give you another entry.  There is a blog entry about the guys I don't have.  Let the games begin.  Here are the prizes, on November 1 my wife or son will draw six names and those will be the winners.  You can only win once, starting with the first name drawn you will be able to pick your prize, until there will nothing left here are the prizes in no particular order.  So the first name drawn will pick a prize out of the six items and then the second name will pick out of the 5 items remaining and so on.  Email me the name of my favorite Padre at padrographs@live.com and let me know if you have linked to the blog. 

A 1984 Mothers Cookies set of the Padres, featuring 3 Hall of Famers and one who should be.  This is the first year Mothers did the Padres.

One hundred different cards of Mr. Padre, Tony Gwynn Sr.

20 different Padrographs including one Hall of Famer

A 1997 Topps Screen Play card of Tony Gwynn

A 2003 MacFarlane Trevor Hoffman (the one you receive will still be in the package)

Three autographs, an 8x10 of Kurt Bevacqua, a team issued postcard of Tony Gwynn, and an 8x10 of John Kruk.

Good Luck