Friday, March 29, 2019

Frankenset Update, Pages 5-8

#37; Shea Salinas, because I am trying to rep all sports here
#40; Jeremy Hefner, he played for the Padres and came in a lot of cards
#41; Corey Graves, wonderful WWE announcer, often the best character on the show
#42; Blake Tekotte, he played in the Padres system and came in a lot I bought.
#45; John Otness is the cousin of a friend of a mine named John Otness, so I had to get this card signed
#47; Martin Klebba, starred in the Pirates of the Caribean
#48; Kurt Angle, former Olympian and WWE legend
#50; Jeudy Valdez, former Padres farmhand
#51; Country Music legend Charlie Daniels, nuff said
#52; Homer Bush, Padres farmhand and great baseball name
#58; Anthony Bass, Padres farmhand came in a lot I bought
#59; Michael Boatman, China Beach and Spin City actor
#60; Frank Malzone, came in a lot with local legend Johnny Pesky
#61; Sawyer Carroll, former Padre farmhand
#62; Danny Payne, former Padre farmhand
#63; Huey Lewis, frontman of The News and one of my favorite artist
#67; Mel Counts, local legend and NBA player, everytime I go to see Aunt Carol in Coos Bay, Oregon, we drive on a road named for Mel Counts
#68; Angie Dickinson, another celebrity crush
#69; Jace Peterson, Padre farmhand

The Frankenset tab is updated

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Frankenset Update, pages 1-4



I am trying to figure the best way to present the Frankenset and how to update it when I update cards.  So I am going to present 4 pages at a time and once I get through it that way I will start filling in blanks.  So here are the first 4 pages, along with an explanation of each card (if I can think of one).
#1-3; Tony Russell, Jake Byron and Jenn Hayes are the morning show host on one of the local country stations.  
#4; Royce Ring, played here in Portland and for the Padres
#5; Jack Cust, played here in Portland and for the Padres
#6; Fernando Perez, came with a lot I bought
#8; Dave Dravecky, my youngest son is named for him
#9; Ted Levine, an actor I like
#11; Chris Jericho, a icon in sports entertainment
#12; Rodrigo Lopez, we kinda share a first name
#13;  Rashad Ross, came with a lot I bought
#14; Jesse Garcia, played for the Beavers and the Padres
#16; Warren Newson, a fan of Newt
#17; Cody Decker, who doesn't love Cody Decker
#18; Dolph Ziggler, a wrassler I like
#19; Tony Gwynn, Padres, Hall of Famer, 2nd Favorite player, nice guy
#20; John Kruk, Tony Gwynn's roomate, not an athlete, Padres
#21; Bentigo Santiago, long time major league player, Padres, ROY
#22; Pat Kelley, made a ballplayer sign my team ball to complete the ball after the player refused me.
#23; Mugsy Bogues, the little dude could play hoops
#26; Henry Winkler, AAAAh, The Fonz, 
#27; Jim Ross, Legendary Sports Entertainment Broadcaster
#28; Dirk Hayhurst, Author, Padres, got to talk books with him
#29; Ryan Klatt, came with the Hayhurst card
#30; Keith Gabel, Paralympic Snowboard Medalist, went to school with his Dad
#32; Marie Osmond, I have had a crush on her since 1976
#34; Greg Harris, one of two for the Padres, came in a lot
#36; Jerry "The King" Lawler; WWE Hall of Famer

The Frankenset Tab is updated each row is a page.





Padrographs #1134 and #1135

My wife and I went to Seattle on Monday to watch the Padres and Mariners play a couple of games.  All the lower bowl seats were just ten bucks so we sat down low and I did some 'graphing.  Monday I managed to get Rod Barajas signature, he has managed in the Padres minor league system for years.  This year  he replaces Mark McGwire as the bench coach.  He was a nice guy and talked to us for a few minutes.  Greg Garcia is the #bestutilityman and took a few minutes to sign for us.  He will be the back up infielder for Tatis, Machado and Kinsler.  I took fourteen customs to get signed and these were the ones I got signed.  Most of them were coaches and players who didn't come over where we were.  I already have Fernando Tatis, Jr.  so I didn't even try.  I refused to join the scrum to get Manny Machado's autograph.  Ian Kinsler refused to even acknowledge the people seeking autographs, looking anywhere but where we were politely asking him to sign.  I will be sending some cards out this week and try through the mail.  If there is anyone who has insight into Padres signing habits, let me know.  There are only seven players on the opening day roster that I don't have.  Those marks aren't on the cards but a result of using a new scanner.  

Friday, March 22, 2019

Frankenset card #16

Warren Newson only stands five feet seven inches tall, but he remains large in my memory.  He was drafted by the Padres in 1986 and I watched him as he progressed through the Padres system.  I met him in 1990 when he played for Las Vegas, then the Padres AAA affiliate.  He was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet.  He went on to play 8 years in the majors for the White Sox, Mariners and Rangers.  He also played several years in Korea and Mexico and one year in an independent league in 2003 before seemingly retiring.  

Frankenset Page is updated

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Padrographs #1131, 1132 and #1133

 Webster Rivas is a non-roster invitee in camp this spring.  This is a custom I made and sent him, it only took eight days to get to Peoria and back to Portland.  Webster has been in the minors since 2010 having played in the Dodgers and Angels system since then.  David Bednar was drafted by the Padres in 2016 and played in the Arizona Fall League in 2017.  That league will look different with all the rules changes for the upcoming 2019 season. Josh Van Meter was drafted by the Padres in 2013 and played in the Arizona Fall league in 2016.  He was traded to the Reds in December of 2016 and ended last year at AAA Louisville.  


Frankenset Card #14

One of the reasons I really like this card is because of the background.  Many years ago my sons and I went to Beavers game on Fathers Day and my oldest son bought me the hat that is the background for this card.  I think it is the only Beavers hat that I still wear.  
Jesse Garcia had a seven year major league career and finished his career with 16 games for San Diego in 2005. He had previously played for the Orioles and the Braves.  I made a custom of him with the Padres and had him sign it for me.  

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Frankenset Card #13

I know nothing about Rashad Ross other than he is currently playing for the Arizona Hotshots of the American Alliance of Football.  I have no idea where I got this card.  I don't usually buy football cards at all, although I am going to buy some AAF cards to see if I can get some cards of the San Diego Fleet to send out and get signed.  

Monday, March 18, 2019

Frankenset card #12

On June 12, 1975 I graduated from South Eugene High School.  On June 24, 1975 I reported to Basic Training for the United States Navy.  On December 14, 1975 Rodrigo Lopez was born in Mexico.  That was a very cold winter for me.  I was stationed in Great Lakes, Illinois and had won a bet by shaving my head.  Word to the Wise, DO NOT shave your head in the dead of winter when you live less than one hundred feet from Lake Michigan.  I got to see Rodrigo pitch in 2000, when the Las Vegas Stars came to Portland and again in 2001 when the Portland Beavers were a Padres affiliate.  Since we kinda share a first name I have followed his career since then.  He seems to be retired from baseball since 2015.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Autograph Frankenset #8

On November 13, 1989 David Francis Dravecky announced his retirement from Major League Baseball.  He had battled cancer and returned to the Majors but in 1989 as he was pitching against the Expos his left arm broke.  It snapped so loudly and he fell so quickly that Will Clark though Dave had been shot.  As his arm was healing it was broken again as the Giants celebrated winning the NLCS.  In 1991 he had the major portion of his left arm amputated.  
On November 13, 1989 David Francis Richards was born in Portland, Oregon.  My wife and I had decided to name our second son David, our oldest is Daniel.  So we were looking through my Donruss Padres team sets to see what others had teamed with David (Donruss had a habit of putting players full names on the backs).   We had been impressed with the way Dave Dravecky used his cancer and what had happened to him in his testimony, so we decided to name our son after him.  They have met once when Dravecky came to town for a book signing when our David was 6 or 7 years old.  This year it will be 30 years since Dave Dravecky retired and our son will turn 30.  I don't see this card being replaced in the Frankenset.
It has already had a challenger, I found a Daniel Dae Kim signed card from Lost but it is card #8 and will not be going into the Frankenset.  
The Frankenset page has been updated.  

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Padrographs #1128, #1129 and #1130


 We went to the Oregon Coast for all of last week and when I got home I had multiple envelopes from all over the place; Peoria, AZ, Venezuela and Mississippi (I think).  Eric Yardley is at Spring Training with the Padres this year, the card only took 9 days to get to Peoria and back.  Emil Brown played for the Padres in 2001 and this card only took 20 to go out and come back.  Alberto Gonzalez played in 102 games for the Padres in 2011.  


Thursday, March 7, 2019

Frankenset Card #11

Chris Jericho is one of the most original WWE Superstars who has reinvented himself to stay relevant to the programming.  He recently wrestled in Japan and won a title there in with a character that was new.  It will be interesting to see what he comes up with as a member of All Elite Wrestling.  I have read all of his books and I have really enjoyed them.  This is card #11 in the Frankenset.  I have definitely not completed the whole thing.  I have a gap between 5 and 11 to start with.  

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Frankenset Card #5

Jack Cust is another former Padres players, but I don't have a Padrograph of him I made a custom card of him and sent it to him, but no response.  This card will eventually be replaced because I prefer vertical cards.  I got this card as a throw in card trading deal with someone.  

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Frankenset card #4

2000-2010 were the golden years of Portland Beaver baseball for me.  Those ten years the Beavers were a farm club for the San Diego Padres.  I got to meet and talk with players that I had watched come up through the Padres organizations.  I got so many autographs of players that would go on to the majors and players that would literally just disappear from the radar.  It was during that time that I started making custom cards so that I could get autographs of Padres players that hadn't had cards.  Royce Ring played for the Beavers in 2007, although I just picked this up from an autograph dealer.  I made a custom of Royce in the style of 2007 Topps and got that autographed through that dealer.  So now I have two signed cards of Royce.  

I have started putting together my autograph Frankenset.  These are numbers one, two and three.  These are the host of the morning on THE local country radio station here in Portland (as far as I am concerned).  Tony Russell has been at the station for a couple of years and is very funny.  He used to be a pastor and a psychotherapist (they are closely related) and now he is a morning show host and an insurance salesman.
 Jake Byron has been with the station for 14 years and has been on air for at least ten of them.  He is the common thread that has held the morning show together for many years.  They finally found the right chemistry with Tony, Jake and Jenn. Jake and I have shared book recommendations over the years and I have shared trivia with him the last couple of years for the station's $1,000 dollar minute trivia quiz.  


Jenn (make sure it has two n's)  is the newest member of the team.  She has been at the station just over a year.  She tries to ride herd on the two other guys.  

One of the cool things about the team is they seem real and like they really like each other.  They definitely make each other laugh.  They also make it easy to listen, they play good music and keep us up to date on the weather and traffic.   

I will blog about the Frankenset here and then on the Frankenset page post the cards as I blog about them in order so you can see the set as it grows.