San Diego was just a short stop in their careers

Raymond Lewis Lankford will always be remembered as a St. Louis Cardinals.  In a 14 season career, he only played part of two in San Diego.  He was traded to the Padres in 2002 for Woody Williams and enjoyed a resurgence in his hitting after talking to Tony Gwynn.  His 2002 season was cut short because of injuries and he took  2003 off to recover before returning to St. Louis for his final season in 2004.  I think I got this signed through the mail.  David Jeffrey LaPoint pitched in San Diego for half a season in 1986 as he traveled through the major leagues in his 9 team major league career, although he had multiple stops with some of the teams.  I have no idea how I obtained Daves' signature

A couple of former Mariners

Thomas Michael Lampkin is now an analyst for the local AAA team and lives across the Columbia in Washington.  I have always thought of him as a Mariner but he played more with the Padres than any of the other 5 teams he played with.  He first came to the Padres from the Indians in 1990 in a trade for Alex Cole and played through 1992.  He was again traded to the Padres from the Mariners in 2002 for a bunch of guys and played his final season in San Diego.  I believe that I got this through the mail.  Mark Edward Langston played one season in San Diego and helped the Padres get to their second World Series.  Mark is always going to be an Angel or Mariner to me, I don't remember him much in 1998.  I sent multiple cards to him to be signed and never got a single response, I finally found this one on ebay.

Another Important Padre

Joan Beverly Kroc met Ray Kroc in 1957 and married him in 1969.  After his death in 1984 she tried to donate the team to the city of San Diego, but MLBs' old boys club prohibits public ownership of teams.  She sold the team in 1990 and turned to philantrophy.  Click on the link to see some of the amazing things she did with her money.  Back in the late 80's I would write and ask people whos' autograph I wanted if they knew where I could get a photo of them to get signed and sometimes they would send me a signed picture.  That guy in the background sent me an outtake from a photoshoot for a bank calendar, Dave Dravecky sent me a signed, signed and numbered Christopher Paulso print and Mrs. Kroc sent me this.  I got this from her back in 1987, I can tell because of the inscription.  I have many photos signed Happy Birthday, cause that is what I would ask them to sign.  I will scan some more of my 8X10 collection and feature them.  I think the first birthday I have signed photos from is my 30th in 1987 and the latest for my 36th in 1993.  After that they are just signed.

Not a Player, but an important Padre

This is one of the first Padrographs that I ever obtained. The thing I remember about it is, that it was signed in ballpoint pen and I in my early ignorance thought it would look better in Sharpie.  So I broke a cardinal rule and traced over the signature with a black sharpie.  Ray Kroc changed the face of America, when he opened McDonalds' restaurants and he saved baseball in San Diego when he bought the Padres and kept them from becoming the Washington Stars.  I actually saw a picture of the uniforms for the Washington team, not an improvement over the Padres brown uniforms.  There are many of the Family Fun Center postcards available.

Someday Maybe Actually a Padre

Kellen Robert Kulbacki was the 40th pick in the 2007 draft and has worked his way up to AA San Antonio.  I picked up this card at the LCS. 

Lots of Us' in this post

Theodore Roger Kubiak has three World Series rings.  He was a member of the Oakland A's team that won the World Series from 1972-1974.  He finished his career with the Padres in 1975 and 1976.  I don't recall how I obtained this signature.  Fred Mahele Kuhaulua saved his best pitching for his final game in the majors.  On October 1,1981 against Fernando at Dodger Stadium, Fred pitched the first 8 innings of a 1-0 shutout and Eric Show saved it in the 9th.  He pitched for the Angels in 1977, the Dragons in 1978 and the Padres in 1981.  I think I got the card signed through the mail. 

He Ain't an Athlete, He's an Analyst, Lady

John Martin Kruk.  There is so much to say about John, when he was first drafted he went from West Virginia to Walla Walla, Washington  where his roommate was Tony Gwynn.  Tony took off and John joined him several years later in San Diego.  I got to see John play in 1984 and 1985 when the Stars came to Portland to play.  One of my favorite cards of John is a sample card of him with his head on his mitt and his cap pulled over his eyes like he is taking a nap.  I remember when he came back from testicular cancer and surgery, he wore a tshirt that said "Be nice to me or I will take my ball and go home."  He is thought to be the only player to retire in mid game.  He managed in the Phillies organization for one year at Reading in 2000.  He has appeared in three movies, once as a player, once as a scout and once as an announcer.  Amazingly I have seen all three movies.  John currently works as an analyst for MLB network.  He has one of the most legible signatures that I have ever seen.  This is one of several John Kruk signed cards that I have, I have a couple of minor league ones and a couple of different photos.  I got this signed through the mail, what seems a million years ago. 

Playing in Japan and not at all

Marc Jason Kroon is the closer for the Giants.  The Yomimuri Giants that is, he has been playing in Japan since 2005 and has the highest recorded pitch speed at 100MPH.  He bounced around the majors from 1995-2004 playing for the Padres, Reds and Rockies.  I got Marc to sign the card through the mail.  Benjamin J. Krosschell played in the Padres organization from 2004-2006.  I thought he was an infielder looking at the card, but according to baseball-reference.com.  I got Ben to sign the card through the mail

TTM Success

Back on the 12th of April I mailed several autograph request to members of the Padres, mostly players who didn't have licensed cards, so I made cards and sent them out.  One of the players was the most traveled player in major league history, Matt Stairs.  Today I got the card back from him, he has a nice readable signature.  Thank you, Mr. Stairs

They've been everywhere, man

Mark Steven Kotsay is in his 14th major league season and has played for 6 teams.  He has made it to the ALCS twice, once with Oakland and once with Boston.  He played four years for the Padres, before being traded to the A's for Ramon Hernandez and Terrence Long.  I got his card signed through the mail.  George Kottaras played for Greece during the 2004 Olympics, and acted as one of the teams' interpreters.  I saw George on TV Saturday at Petco, wearing Padres colors, then I realized it was the Brewers uniform, which seem to be the same color as the Padres.  Kottaras went from the Padres to the Red Sox in the David Wells deal.  After two seasons of being the designated catcher for Tim Wakefield the Red Sox released him and the Brewers picked him up the same day.  He has played in 9 games so far this year for the Brewers.  I got George to sign the card when he was here in Portland.  Kevin Kouzmanoff hit the very first major league pitch he ever saw for a grand slam, making him the only player to ever do so.  Kevin was originally drafted by the Indians and then traded to the Padres for Josh Barfield, he played parts of three seasons before being traded to the A's for Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.  I got the Kouz card from a LCS.

Kluber, Knott and Kolb

Cory S. Kluber was drafted by the Padres in 2007, and has worked his way up to AA San Antonio.  He played there last year also, I got the card signed through the mail when he was at Lake Elsinore.  Jonathan David Knott was signed as a amateur free agent by the Padres in 2001 and has played 19 games for the Padres and Orioles between 2004 and 2006.  He played last year for AAA Nashville and Camden in the independent Atlantic League.  I got the card signed through the mail during spring training several years ago.  Brandon Charles Kolb  pitched in 21 games for the Padres and A's in 2000 and 2001, he has a career ERA of 7.99, because at one point he gave up 5 Homers in 1 2/3 innings.  He stuck around the minors through '03 and then played a year in the Atlantic League before retiring to Flower Mound, TX and becoming a private instructor.  I also got Brandons' card signed through the mail.

Bartman, The Goat and Steve Stone

Wrigley Blues, The Year the Cubs Played Hardball with The Curse (but lost anyway) by William J. Wagner; 266 pages; 2005; Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas, TX; 1-58979-212-2; $16.95; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Gresham; 5/1/10-5/4/10
In 2004 the Cubs almost made the playoffs, they just missed the wild card slot, because of Steve Bartman, the curse of the goat and Steve Stone.  Bartman is still being blamed for the ways the Cubs play years after an innocent attempt to get a ball.  A goat and a curse from the early 20th century are also being blamed for the way the club plays in the 21st century.  And in 2004 broadcaster was blamed for not being enough of a homer and that was supposedly making the Cubbies play badly.
William Wagner presents a monthly recap of the exciting 2004 season when the team from the second city almost made the playoffs. He recounts in detail the up and downs of the season on the field, behind the scenes and amongst the fans.  He makes the season exciting by keeping an eye out for the unusual scenes that make up the season.  He really brought the season to life and kept me on the edge of my seat, snickering and laughing my way through the season.  Grade-B

Clay, Klaus, Klesko

Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr was one of the original Padres who had the distinction of losing 20 games in 1969.  He played for the Padres through 1973 when he was traded to the Reds for Bobby Tolan and Dave Tomlin.  Clay was part of the Big Red Machine that won the 1975 World Series, then he was traded to the Expos for the 1976 season.  Then he retired and unfortunately died in 1991 at the age of just 43.  I got the card off of ebay.  Robert Francis Klaus never played for the Padres as a matter of fact he had played his final major league game 4 years before the Padres ever even played a major league game.  Bobby was chosen from the Phillies in the 1968 Rule 5 draft.  He played for the Reds and Mets in 215 games in 1964 and 1965.  Then he played in the minors until 1969, he played for the Padres from 1962-1968 when they were a AAA affiliate of the Reds.  I got the card signed through the mail a few years ago.  Ryan Anthony Klesko was always a very good signer when he was with the Padres, through the mail anyway.  I didn't realize that Ryan had played so long in the majors and for so few teams, he played 8 years for the Braves, 7 for the Padres and one for San Francisco.  Ryan retired after the 2007 season, I saw a interview with him on Gaslamp Baseball the other day and he seems to be doing well.

Baseball v. Canseco

Vindicated, Big Names, Big Liars and the Battle to Save Baseball by Jose Canseco; 259 pages; 2008; $25.95;Simon Spotlight Entertainment, New York, NY; 978-1-4165-9187-0; Checked out from Multnomah County Library, Albina; 4/30/10-5/1/30
Years ago I read Juiced by Jose Canseco in which he said that 80% of major leaguers were using steroids to make them better ballplayers. Jose was all but strung up by Major League Baseball and the beat writers who were supposedly writing about the teams. MLB said “huh” and the writers said, “Nah it that were so we would know since we cover the teams every day.” Well we know now with the release of the Mitchell report, the McAmee v. Clemens lawsuits, and the release of the supposed confidential test results we now know that Jose was right and that MLB is still operating on the three monkeys system.
Jose writes about what happened to him after he published Juiced and the reaction by those still associated with baseball. He goes even further and names two more names of people that he has personal knowledge of their use of ‘roids, Maggs and A-Rod. He is very upfront with what he thinks of Stray-Rod and why he was left out of Juiced. There are many people who need to apologize to Jose, although some of them don’t want to talk about the past. This was another interesting read on the backstage side of the game. Jose repeated a few things too many times and there were a few things that felt extraneous to the book. Grade-B

National Chicle 3 pack break and Contest Link

I bought five packs of National Chicle at the LCS, after opening 3 packs I won't be buying anymore.   I put two packs away for birthday and Christmas.  The art in these is so uneven that it is ridiculous, I got cards that are really cool and some that are plain ugly and some that make you go Hmmm.   In pack one Bob Gibson is awesome, Eddie Matthews is ugly, and Jason Bay is fugly.  In pack two Dale Murphy is ok, Adrian Gonzalez looks like he came from the same league as Ichiro and why is there so much open space behind Chase Utley.  In pack the Jackie Robinson is a really nice card and most of the other cards are ugly.  Overall I don't think this set will be one that people will remember nostalgically in the future.

If you can spell you can win over at BA Baseball Card Buffet.  He has a bunch of letterman cards and is having a spelling bee with them to win some cool prizes.  The more people that enter the more prizes will be awarded.  Go now and remember that their is an