2002 Fleer Tradition Josh Phelps

Who is this? Former Toronto Blue Jay Josh Phelps
What is this? An autographed 2002 Fleer Tradition card
Where'd I get it? Phelps signed it for me before a Newark Bears game last season.
How much did it cost? I got the unsigned card out of a pack.


Why is this so special? Josh Phelps was once a highly-regarded prospect. Over the course of 8 seasons, he appeared in 465 major league games for six different teams, though the majority were played for the Toronto Blue Jays. Phelps has 64 career home runs, which is the most by anybody born in Alaska.

Phelps spent most of last season with the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League, where he hit .310 with 10 home runs and 67 RBI in 100 games. This season, he will be playing in Italy.

Phelps really did not seem to enjoy signing autographs in Newark - I had to ask him at two or three different games before he reluctantly signed a card for me. As you might expect under those circumstances, his autograph isn't very pretty.

2002 Fleer Tradition Eric Munson

Who is this? Newark Bears third baseman Eric Munson
What is this? An autographed card from the 2002 Fleer Tradition set
Where'd I get it? Munson signed it after a game in Newark earlier this month.
How much did it cost? I got the card out of a pack.


Why is this so special? Eric Munson was the third overall selection in the 1999 draft. He was chosen ahead of Barry Zito, Ben Sheets and Brian Roberts, among others.

Munson appeared in 361 games over a nine year major league career with Detroit, Houston, Tampa Bay and Oakland. In 2004, he hit a home run 457 feet over the center field fence at Comerica Park, the longest home run ever hit there to that point.

Munson had been playing with the AAA Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League until July. He is hitting .206 with 4 home runs and 7 RBI in 17 games for the Bears.

Munson does not like to sign autographs before the game and made us wait around until afterwards to get our cards signed. Even though he made the last out that spoiled a ninth-inning rally, he kept his promise to sign autographs.

Here is the 2005 Fleer card that he also signed that day.

Munson has a loopy signature, but it hasn't changed much from the one printed on his 2005 card.

2002 Upper Deck Jeremy Reed

Who is this? Jeremy Reed, an outfielder in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system

What is this? An autographed card from the 2002 Upper Deck set

Where'd I get it? From a blog reader

How much did it cost? Around $2

Why is this so special? Jeremy Reed was once a highly regarded prospect in the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners farm systems. He never quite lived up to those expectations, but he has been a productive reserve outfielder.

Reed spent last season with the Mets, but even with all their injuries Jerry Manuel never gave him a chance to start on a regular basis. He hit .278 as a pinch hitter for the Mets in 2009,

Reed has a very angular signature, but it requires some imagination to make out any letters.

2002 Fleer Tom Goodwin

Who is this? Tom Goodwin, a former outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs

What is this? An autograph card from the 2002 Fleer set

Where'd I get it? I got the card signed at a Somerset Patriots game in 2005

How much did it cost? The card came from one of many, many packs I opened in 2002 to complete the Fleer set. The autograph was free.

Why is this so special? Tom Goodwin spent 14 seasons in the big leagues, and was an every day player for seven of them. He never really hit for average or power, but Goodwin was fast. He still had the speed to steal 23 bases at age 36 when I saw him play with the Atlantic City Surf.

In the majors, Goodwin once stole 66 bases in a season for the Kansas City Royals. (He also lead the league with 22 times caught stealing that year.)

Goodwin doesn't have the best autograph but you can clearly read his initials, at least.

2002 Topps Traded Demetrius Heath

Who is this? Demetrius Heath, a former minor league second baseman and outfielder

What is this? An autograph card from the 2002 Topps Traded set

Where'd I get it? At a Somerset Patriots game in 2006

How much did it cost? The card was about a dime; the autograph was free.

Why is this so special? Demetrius Heath had the nickname "Meatball" during his days as a player with the now-defunct Atlantic City Surf, which is pretty cool. He stole 71 bases for the Surf in 2006, which was probably a team record and may even be the league mark -- unfortunately, there's no Atlantic League record book for me to check.

I'm not quite sure how Heath landed in the 2002 Topps Traded set, though. He was not a high-round draft pick and he never made it past A-ball. Nevertheless, he was a fun player to watch and he has a cool autograph.

2002 Just Minors Matt Cain

Who is this? Giants pitcher Matt Cain.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Just Minors, card number 3. The card is serial numbered 52/100.

Where'd I get it? Atlanta Sports Cards.

How much did it cost? Three bucks.

Why is this so special? I think Matt Cain is a really good pitcher that's just gotten stuck on a bad team. Yeah, he's lost 30 games the past two years, but check out the other stats. He's got a career ERA of 3.74. He racks up strikeouts and has a reasonable amount of walks. He's averaged over 200 innings a year over his three full seasons. And the guy is only twenty-three. That's why I was surprised to see it in the cheapo binder for only three bucks. A few years from now he could be a Cy Young contender and the card is getting blown out the store. Granted, it's a Just Minors auto. And the signature is kinda scroungy to be honest. And he isn't really a superstar by any stretch of the imagination right now. But isn't that what prospecting is all about? Finding diamonds in the rough for cheap? Why should an autograph card of one of this year's draft picks go for big bucks when an established young pitcher in the majors doesn't even deserve a toploader or a spot in the display case? Why am I complaining about getting a card of a player I think will be a star for so cheap? I guess it's just stupid expectations blinding me and the rest of the collectors out there. The brand new hotness? Gotta pay big bucks for their cards. Established players, not so much. Former dominating pitchers, can't even give them away. That's one thing about this hobby that some people know... While everyone else is chasing down the big hit from that brand new product, there are neglected gems out there that can be gotten for a song.

2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Terrence Long

Who is this? A's outfielder Terrence Long.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia, card number AI-53.

Where'd I get it? A blister package advertising one jumbo pack and a relic card for ten bucks.

How much did it cost? $10.

Why is this so special? Terrence was the first found pick of the Mets in the 1994 Draft, but he made his impact with the A's after New York traded him for Kenny Rogers in 1999. Terrence will always have a special place in my heart just for bringing the Gambler to New York in time for the playoffs. The next year Terrence had his best year in the bigs and came in second to Kaz Sasaki in the Rookie of the Year voting. After three more years of declining production and rising salary, the A's traded him to San Diego where he had one more decent year. Terrence finished out his career with a season with the Royals and a few games with the Yankees. I pulled this card when I lost my mind and bought one of those "Fat Pack + a Memorabilia card" things from Target. I not only beat the odds and pulled an autograph, but it's an amazing looking one at that. I never knew Terrence signed in Elvish. Terrence isn't one of the greatest players ever, but he indirectly made me a happy camper in 1999 and has a fantastic signature.

2002 Fleer Greats Maury Wills

Who is this? Dodger shortstop Maury Wills.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Fleer Greats.

Where'd I get it? Atlanta Sports Cards in Alpharetta.

How much did it cost? Five bucks.

Why is this so special? I'm not sure if I'm ecstatic for getting a certified autograph of an all-time great for five bucks or mad that I found it so cheap. This card cost something like 1/1000th of a scrub prospect's superfractor. Can someone explain this to me? It's not the first time Maury was disrespected, on the advice of their scouts Topps declined to sign Maury to a contract in the minors. Later on they scrambled to get him on a card once he hit the bigs and became a star. Upstart Fleer beat them to the punch in 1963, and Topps ended up faking a 1962 rookie card in their MVP subset in 1975. Maury's '62 season was amazing as he won the MVP award and broke Ty Cobb's single season stolen base record. Like Maris a year earlier, Maury got the dreaded Asterisk because he played in a 162 game season that year. Asterisk or no, he revolutionized the use of the stolen base as a weapon in the 60's and led the Dodgers to 3 World Series titles. Plus he named his son Bump. How cool is that. I bought a ton of these packs when they first came out but never landed an autograph. I would have been thrilled to pull this gold sparkly card with Maury's John Hancock. You suckers buy the superfractors, I'll buy up the stars.

2002 Donruss Dee Brown

Who is this? Royals outfielder Dee Brown.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Donruss, card number RC11. It is from the Rookie Crusade insert set and is serial numbered 450/500.

Where'd I get it? Out of a pack.

How much did it cost? Couple bucks.

Why is this so special? Dee is kind of a fringy player but this is a pretty sweet looking card. Shiny refractor like purple with the outline of a dragon in the background? We meed more sets like this! I never quite understood the meaning of this insert set with knights and heralds and shields and dragons and such, not even when it first appeared in 1998 Donruss, but it does look cool. The shiny card has a shiny sticker certified by an authentic stamp crimping the card. No one does that anymore and it makes me sad. Instead of putting a tiny sticker on the card or guaranteeing the authenticity of the autograph with a facsimile signature on the back, I think the card companies should hire a notary public to personally crimp each card with their little crimpy authenticating seal thingy. I'm old school like that.

It's always nice to pull an auto out of some random pack picked up at a retail store, even if they guy isn't a star. It's a much better feeling than when you spend a bunch of money on a hobby box and you find out that this is your big hit. When I first pulled the card I thought of this guy. The baseball Dee never quite made the impact as the basketball Dee, but he managed to stick in the Royals organization for 7 years and is currently trying to make the Angels' roster. Dee's signature is pretty simple, buy consistent as seen in the Baseball Almanac link up above. Dee adds on his uniform number which is a nice touch. Dee's actual signature is done in only one stroke, but once you start adding octothorpes, that really adds a lot of work to the autograph. This is one of those autograph cards that popped up at me out of nowhere. I was looking for a card to send to Chris Harris in a big trade we just pulled off (and which you will be hearing more about very soon) and while looking through my 2001 Donruss set I found this card hiding in the 2002 cards. That's one of the reasons why I started this blog, to sort out all these hiding autographs I have. No more Donruss Box for Dee though, He gets to live with all my other formerly lost autograph cards on The Island of Misfit Autos.

2002 Studio Gabe Kapler

Who is this? Rangers outfielder Gabe Kapler.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Donruss Studio, card number 112. It is serial numbered 95/100.

Where'd I get it? I don't really know. Might have been a pack.

How much did it cost? No clue.

Why is this so special? It's not really surprising that Donruss went with the American Flag motif in 2002, it was pretty popular that year for some reason. It's a good looking set though, and Donruss did a few parallel sets (Donruss do parallel sets? No way!) that were autographed. This is one of those parallel sets, noted by the red foil logo, the serial numbering, the autograph sticker and notary public stamp on top of the sticker. Kapler is a decent fourth outfielder who is infamous for his many his shirtless photos on the interwebs. He had his best years with the Rangers before bouncing around to Colorado and Boston. After winning a championship with The Sox in '04, he signed to play in Japan, but got cut and was back in Boston late in the year. Kapler retired in 2006 and managed in the minors last year, but is attempting a comeback with the Brewers in '08. If he makes the team, the Brew crew will have two "Hebrew Hammers" patrolling the outfield with Kapler and Rookie of the Year Ryan Braun. Kapler is known as a tough player and good guy. This is a nice looking auto of a cool player, but it looks like Gabe forgot to finish out his last name.

2002 In The Game Dany Heatley

Who is this? Senators winger Dany Heatley.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 In the Game, card 139.

Where'd I get it? Ebay.

How much did it cost? Not sure. Under $20 though.

Why is this so special? I don't have any racing autographs so here's a hockey one instead. Dany is a big reason why I don't really follow hockey anymore. He was my absolute favorite player from the second the Thrashers drafted him. I remember when he was drafted - I was stuck at work and following the draft online. I was disappointed because I wanted the Thrashers to pick Dany and they had the second pick. The Islanders unexpectedly picked goalie Rick DiPietro instead of Dany and I was dancing in the cubes. Then came the accident, the lockout and all of a sudden he was gone. Off to lousy Ottawa. This is a "first signature card" and Dany's a superstar so it's probably worth some money, but to be honest I don't give a crap about it anymore. It'll probably go back in my hockey box to collect dust. Bummer of a post eh? Sorry about that, I thought this would be a cool card to post when I pulled it but I'm apparently more pissed off at the NHL then I realized. I'll post something nice tomorrow.

2002 Topps Heritage Tom Brady

Who is this? Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Topps Heritage, card HR-TB.

Where'd I get it? In a pack of '02 Heritage.

How much did it cost? Three bucks for the pack.

Why is this so special? It's a friggin' Tom Brady Autograph! So he lost, big deal. He is responsible for at least one championship this year. This came out of a pack of '02 Heritage that copied the 1957 Topps design. Brady managed to find a little bit of blank space in between the photos for his signature. This is one of the cards that inspired this blog. I have since found another autographed card that I'm even more embarrassed that I forgot I had. I'm saving it for a special occasion though. I've also decided that from now on I'm posting non-baseball autographs on weekends. I have a bunch of those too and I don't want to run out of baseball autos and post nothing but hockey cards I got out of a two dollar bin for a month.

2002 Donruss Originals Brent Abernathy

Who is this? Tampa Bay Devil Rays second baseman Brent Abernathy.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Donruss Originals, card SM-35. The card is serial numbered 192/200.

Where'd I get it? A pack bought at the local Wal-Mart.

How much did it cost? However much a pack of Originals cost. Two or three bucks I think.

Why is this so special? Brent didn't have a heck of a lot of success in the majors, but this is still kind of a cool card. Brent is an Atlanta native and went to high school at Lovett High, which is close to where I live. He was a member of the 2000 Olympic Gold Medal team in Sydney. He had a decent debut for the Devil Rays in 2001, a not so good follow up year in 2002 and has bounced around many organizations since then. His 2001 performance netted him a lot of rookie and autograph cards in 2002. This card sums up the disappointing Donruss Originals set pretty well. It's a great looking signature on a nice looking card, plus it's even serial numbered, but it's still Brent Abernathy. I was really excited when I originally pulled this card though, so I like it anyway. Brent is currently in the Nationals organization and played for the Columbus Clippers last season. Brent even pitched a couple of games for the Clippers. Pete Orr better watch his back.

2002 Bowman Heritage Hank Blalock

Who is this? Rangers third basemen Hank Blalock.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Bowman Heritage, card BHA-HB

Where'd I get it? Out of a pack.

How much did it cost? Three bucks for the pack.

Why is this so special? This is the first auto I pulled from a Heritage product. It's a nice feeling to open a pack and see that blue ink. Blalock was still a prospect when this card came out. The following year he hit the game winning home run off Eric Gagne in the All Star game. Costing Andruw Jones the MVP and John Smoltz a save opportunity. Grrrr. Blalock has had a couple of rough years recently, but could have a comeback season after an injury-filled 2007. The auto is nice, but doesn't look much like Hank Blalock. The H looks like the astronomical symbol for Jupiter and the last name is clearly Bee. Jupiter Bee sounds like a bad 60's cartoon. I don't know where I'm going with this.

2002 Topps206 Cristian Guzman

Who is this? Twins shortstop Cristian Guzman.

What is this? An autograph card from 2002 Topps206, card TA-CG.

Where'd I get it? An eBay auction.

How much did it cost? Probably not much.

Why is this so special? I attempted to build the Topps206 set and I wanted an autograph card for my collection. I got this one cheap. Cristian had a career year in 2001 that he has never come close to matching. Cristian has a lousy looking autograph that is not helped by being cramped up on a mini card. He is currently a member of the Washington Nationals and will be in the mix for the starting shortstop job if healthy.