Saturday, July 10, 2010

2006 Topps '52 Rookies Joe Winkelsas


Who is this? former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Joe Winkelsas

What is this? An autographed card from the 2006 Topps '52 Rookies set.

Where'd I get it? Winkelsas signed it for me before a Newark Bears game earlier this year.

How much did it cost? About a quarter

Why is this so special? After Winkelsas made his major league debut in 1999, he quickly went back to the minors. There he stayed until 2004, when he suddenly found himself in independent baseball. Winkelsas persevered and earned another shot at the bigs with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2006, appearing in 7 games.

Winkelsas briefly retired, but came back in 2007. He spent two more years in the minors before apparently hanging it up again. This year, he tried to make one more comeback by pitching for the Newark Bears. As far as I know, Winkelsas has now retired from baseball.

Again, his autograph isn't much to look at. Instead of a Bible verse, Winkelsas added the phrase, "Read God's Word and live it out loud."

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