Friday, March 18, 2011

2009 Upper Deck Sean Burnett



Who is this? Washington Nationals reliever Sean Burnett
What is this? An autographed 2009 Upper Deck card
Where'd I get it? I wrote to him this spring and asked him to sign it.
How much did it cost? I got the unsigned card out of a $1.99 pack.

Why is this so special? Sean Burnett was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 19th overall pick in the 2000 draft. He made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 2004 and finished the season with a 5-5 record in 13 starts.

Burnett missed the entire 2005 season due to injury and spent the next two years trying to get back to the majors. In 2008, Burnett appeared in 58 games out of the Pirates' bullpen. In 2009, Pittsburgh traded Burnett and Nyjer Morgan to the Washington Nationals for Joel Hanrahan and Lastings Milledge.

In Washington, Burnett has enjoyed a measure of success as a lefty specialist. He was unlucky enough to finish last season with a 1-7 record despite having a 2.14 ERA, a 189 enhanced ERA+ and averaging a strikeout per inning.

Burnett's autograph isn't pretty - it looks like a bunch of overlapping ovals.

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