Who is this? Long Island Ducks bullpen catcher Jamie Quinn
What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks team set
Where'd I get it? Quinn signed it for me before a Newark Bears game last year.
Why is this so special? Not many teams produce a baseball card for their bullpen catcher. Not every minor league or independent league team even has a bullpen catcher - in those cases, the duty of warming up relief pitchers falls to the backup catcher or a coach.
Quinn did not spend the whole season in the bullpen last year, though. When the Ducks were short a catcher, they added Quinn to the active roster. He appeared in 5 games where he was hitless in 9 at-bats. He did drive in a run.
For a current player, his signature isn't too bad.
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2 comments:
You know, this reminded me that I've seen minor league teams have cards for the trainer (heck, I might've even seen that here), and now I wonder if it's because the teams have to pay for a certain amount of cards anyway. The sheet has to be X number of cards by Y number of cards anyway, so either those spaces are left blank, or they can give cards to the mascot, the trainer, the bullpen catcher, etc.
Most minor league teams issue cards for the trainer & strength coach. (Yes, I usually try to get them signed - it's interesting to see their reactions to being asked for an autograph.)
I think that you may have something with your theory about why they include them.
The Ducks go above and beyond, though. They usually include a card of the team's owner, a group shot of the front office employees, the racing hot dogs and the team's mascot. I don't think I have a Long Island set with fewer than 35 cards.
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