2006 Bazooka Chris Capuano

I don't have time to continue posting an autograph every day. For the short-term future, I'm going to change the format a little bit - on Sunday night or Monday morning, I'll share the best autograph I added to my collection during the previous week.


For the longer-term future, I'd like to add a few more contributors. Email PaulsRandomStuff@verizon.net if you're interested and would like more details.

Who is this? New York Mets pitcher Chris Capuano
What is this? An autographed 2006 Topps Bazooka card
Where'd I get it? I wrote to Capuano at the Mets spring training camp and asked him to sign it. I got it back the day before the season started.
How much did it cost? I got the card out of a pack in 2006.

Why is this so special? Capuano was originally drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Shortly after making his big league debut in 2003, Capuano was included in a 9-player deal that brought Lyle Overbay to the Milwaukee Brewers for Richie Sexson.

In 2005, Capuano won 18 games for the Brewers and in 2006, he was an All-Star. Then came the injuries. Capuano missed all of 2008 and only pitched 9 innings in the minor leagues in 2009 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery.

Capuano returned to the majors last season with Milwaukee. Though he was effective in limited duty, the Brewers did not re-sign the 32-year-old lefty at the end of the season. Instead, he signed with the Mets and won the fifth starter's job out of spring training.

Capuano's autograph is a little bit sloppy, but definitely recognizable.

In addition to Capuano's autograph, I also received a signed Pedro A. Martinez card last week. (I already wrote about it on my other blog, RandomBaseballStuff.com.)

1996 Leaf Signature Extended Graeme Lloyd

Who is this? former major league relief pitcher Graeme Lloyd
What is this? An autographed card from the 1996 Leaf Signature Extended set
Where'd I get it? CheckOutMyCards.com
How much did it cost? $3


Why is this so special? Graeme Lloyd is one of a small handful of people from Australia to play Major League Baseball. In a 10-year career, Lloyd played for 7 different teams, including the New York Yankees, New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers. He won two World Series rings with the Yankees.

His first name is difficult to make out, but his last name is clearly readable in the autograph on my card.

1994 Pinnacle Doug Henry

Who is this? Omaha Royals pitching coach Doug Henry
What is this? An autographed card from the 1994 Pinnacle set
Where'd I get it? Back during spring training 2008, I wrote to Henry and asked him to sign this card. It took over two years, but I finally got it back earlier this month.
How much did it cost? The card came from a junk wax box I got for $8-$10.

Why is this so special? Check out the retro uniform, the great smile and the mustache. For a portrait shot baseball card, you can't ask for much more.

Henry spent 11 seasons in the majors, with the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals. Though he was a middle reliever for most of his career, Henry came up as a closer with the Milwaukee Brewers. He saved 15 games in his rookie year and finished 8th in the 1991 AL Rookie of the Year voting even though he didn't come up to the big leagues until after the All-Star Break.

Henry's autograph simplifies a lot of the letters in his name, but you'd probably be able puzzle it out on a team-signed baseball or other generic item if you had some clues.

2004 Bowman Chrome Josh Wahpepah

Who is this? Kansas City T-Bones pitcher Josh Wahpepah
What is this? An autographed card from the 2004 Bowman Chrome set
Where'd I get it? From Zach, who probably got it signed at a T-Bones game


Why is this so special? Josh Wahpepah is a fun name. The Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the third round of the 2004 draft, but he never got past AA ball. His record in Minor League Baseball was 28-28 with a 4.23 ERA.

This year, Wahpepah ended up in independent baseball, pitching for the Kansas City T-Bones. I'd like to tell you how he did, but the T-Bones website didn't want to show me any stats when I was writing this.

Wahpepah signed his initials... I'm not sure if that was because of the available space on the card or if it's a normal time-saving move.

1984 Topps Nestle Bob Gibson

Who is this? Former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bob Gibson
What is this? An autographed card from the Nestle's version of the 1984 Topps set.
Where'd I get it? Nearly two years ago, I wrote to Gibson and asked him to sign it. I got it back today.
How much did it cost? The card cost less than 50 cents.

Why is this so special? Robert Louis Gibson made it to the major leagues after beginning his career as an undrafted amateur free agent. In four seasons with the Brewers, he appeared in 97 games. He finished with a 12-18 record and a 4.24 ERA.

I needed a Gibson autograph for my collection because his 98th and final major league appearance came in 1987, when he was called upon to temporarily bolster a Mets pitching staff that had been ravaged by injuries and off-field issues. Gibson's New York Mets career lasted just one inning. He faced four batters, walking one and striking out two.

The card Gibson signed is somewhat unusual. In 1984, Topps produced a parallel set for Nestle to use for a sendaway promotion. The Nestle cards are identical to the regular Topps cards, except the Nestle logo replaces the Topps logo on the card front.

The Nestle cards were only distributed in 132-card uncut sheets, but many of the sheets were cut and sold as individual cards.

Gibson has a neat autograph, and he took care to sign the card so that he wouldn't write over his face. He also signed a 1988 CMC Rochester Red Wings card for me in more conventional fashion.

2009 Bowman Patrick Ryan

Who is this? Salem Red Sox pitcher Patrick Ryan
 
What is this? An autographed card from the 2009 Bowman set
 
Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a game between the Bridgeport Bluefish and Newark Bears in Newark earlier this year.
 
How much did it cost? A quarter?  

Why is this so special? Patrick Ryan was a 19th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, and was a good enough prospect for somebody at Topps to decide to put him in last year's Bowman set.


Of course, Ryan wasn't in the Brewers organization by the time the card came out. He started the season with the West Tennesee Diamond Jaxx in the Seattle Mariners' organization, and he struggled. He eventually got released and joined the Bridgeport Bluefish last summer.

This season, Ryan returned to the Bluefish and had a 5-1 record with 2 saves and a 1.39 ERA, working out of the bullpen and in the starting rotation. He was signed by the Red Sox and assigned to Salem in the Class A Carolina League, though he's only pitched once so far.

Ryan's autograph looks very different than the facsimile signature on the card, which was probably lifted from the contract he signed with Topps.

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."

1973 Topps Ellie Rodriguez

Who is this? Former major league catcher Ellie Rodriguez

What is this? An autographed card from the 1973 Topps set  

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a doubleheader between the Newark Bears and Bridgeport Bluefish earlier this month.

How much did it cost? I think that I got the card in a quarter bin during the off-season.
 
Why is this so special? Ellie Rodriguez was an original Kansas City Royal, a two-time American League All-Star and the catcher for Nolan Ryan's fourth no-hitter.  Rodriguez is now a player development consultant for the Atlantic League.

I'm still trying to figure out what was going through the mind of the photo editor at Topps; this is one of the most unusual baseball cards in my collection. There are four men in the foreground of this card, and you can't see any of their faces clearly.

The signature looks a little compressed; I don't think Rodriguez wanted to sign over anything important on the card.

2003 SP Chirography Jim Edmonds

Who is this? Milwaukee Brewers centerfielder Jim Edmonds.

What is this? An autograph card from the 2003 SP Chirography set.

Where'd I get it? I bought it off eBay a few months ago.

How much did it cost? I don't remember exactly how much it cost, but I remember it being fairly cheap, maybe around $3 plus shipping.

Why is this so special? Jim Edmonds has always been one of my favorite players, simply because he is such an amazing outfielder. So far he has won 8 Gold Gloves in his 16 year career, and he has been know for making some of the most amazing catches in baseball history. The one that most people remember was the one he made while playing for Anaheim against the Royals on June 10, 1997 to rob a sure double.

Edmonds is hitting .280 with 3 homers in 27 games this season for the Brewers, which isn't bad for a guy who didn't even know if he'd be playing this season.

Edmonds has a very nice and distinctive auto. He has an interesting way of making the d's in his last name, but I really like his signature.

2009 Topps Frank Catalanotto

Who is this? Frank Catalanotto, a utility player trying to win a bench spot on the New York Mets

What is this? An autographed card from the 2009 Topps set

Where'd I get it? I wrote to Catalanotto at Mets camp and asked him to sign it. I got it back today.

How much did it cost? About a dollar for the card and postage.

Why is this so special? Frank Catalanotto started playing professional baseball in 1992, back when George H.W. Bush was President, Microsoft was introducing Windows 3.1 to the world, and Jay Leno was beginning his run on the Tonight Show.

He's signed thousands and thousands of autographs since then, but he's still willing to take the time to scribble his name on cards that people mail to him. That's pretty amazing.

The first letter in his autograph looks more like a "P" than an "F," but maybe that's just me. :)

2009 Topps Attax J.J. Hardy

Who is this? J.J. Hardy, former Milwaukee Brewers shortstop

What is this? An autographed card from the 2009 Topps Attax set

Where'd I get it? I wrote to Hardy and asked him to sign it last April. I got it back today.

How much did it cost? Around a dollar for the card plus postage

Why is this so special? J.J. Hardy was an All-Star in 2007, hitting .277 with 26 home runs and 80 RBI. In 2008, he had another good year, hitting .283 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI.

Last year, Hardy had a terrible season and he was traded to Minnesota during the offseason. Hopefully he can turn things around and be a productive player for the Twins.

J.J. Hardy has something funky going on with his autograph. The "ardy" part is easy enough to read, but the first part almost looks like he's trying to use two "J"s to make one funky "H"

1996 Leaf Signature Series Mike Potts

Who is this? Mike Potts, a former pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers

What is this? An autographed card from the 1996 Leaf Signature Series

Where'd I get it? This is another purchase from last weekend's baseball card show.

How much did it cost? $1

Why is this so special? Mike Potts was a relief pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1996. His Major League career lasted just 24 games; he finished with a lifetime 1-2 record and 7.15 ERA.

According to his Wikipedia entry, Potts went into law enforcement after his baseball career ended.

Interestingly, Potts appears to have signed the card "Mich__l P_tts"

1996 Fleer Pat Listach

Who is this? Pat Listach, a utility player for the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros in the 1990s

What is this? A signed 1996 Fleer card

Where'd I get it? One of my trading partners got it signed for me at the ballpark this season when Listach was managing the Iowa Cubs

How much did it cost? I'm not quite sure what I traded for it.

Why is this so special? Pat Listach was the 1992 American League Rookie of the Year for the Milwaukee Brewers. He had the best season of his career as the Brewers' full-time shortstop, batting .290 with 1 home run, 47 RBIs and 54 stolen bases.

After managing the Iowa Cubs for the past two seasons, Listach will become the Washington Nationals' third base coach in 2009.

The autograph is reasonably clear for a modern player's, but I don't think Listach will be winning any penmanship awards.