2008 Long Island Ducks Ray Navarrete

Who is this? Ray Navarette, a minor league baseball player

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks team set

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a Newark Bears game last year

How much did it cost? The team set cost about $8

Why is this so special? I'm finishing out the year with an autograph from a ballplayer most of you won't recognize.

Navarrete is a New Jersey native, and I first met him when he signed with the Somerset Patriots during their 2005 championship season. He contributed when called upon, but the team really didn't have a set role for him. He didn't seem to get along with everybody on the coaching staff, either.

He signed a minor league contract with the Mets' organization and started the 2006 season in AAA. I went to see the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons' final opening day that year, and got to see Navarrete suited up with the Norfolk Tides. He saw me in my Somerset jacket and said hello, which was kinda neat.

When things didn't work out with the Mets, Navarrete signed with the Long Island Ducks. There, he became an Atlantic League star - a .300 hitter with home run power, speed and the versatility to play any position on the field except catcher.

Navarrete is also the co-founder of a clothing company.

This is another of the cards I had gotten signed in green before I lost that Sharpie.

2008 Long Island Duck Dave LaPoint

Who is this? Dave LaPoint, a former pitcher with the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks set

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a Newark Bears game last year.

How much did it cost? The team set was about $8

Why is this so special? Dave LaPoint won 80 games in his 12-year major league career. I remember him mainly as a late-season acquisition by the Pirates in 1989, and as a Yankee - I didn't really realize how many other teams he played for.

LaPoint has been a pitching coach or manager for the Long Island Ducks or the Bridgeport Bluefish ever year that I've followed the Atlantic League. He's usually pretty good about signing autographs, but there is one oddball card that he just doesn't want to sign. He said he's waiting for a rich collector to come along who needs it to complete the set.

LaPoint's got a pretty nice autograph for a lefty.

2008 Long Island Ducks Jay Gibbons

Who is this? Jay Gibbons, a former outfielder with the Baltimore Orioles

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks team set

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a Newark Bears game this year

How much did it cost? The teams set was around $8

Why is this so special? Jay Gibbons had a solid major league career, with over 100 home runs and more than 700 hits in seven seasons as an Oriole. Gibbons was named in the Mitchell Report, and hasn't played a game in the majors since.

Last year, he spent a month with the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League before getting picked up by the Brewers. He did well in AAA for Milwaukee, but he didn't earn a call-up. This year, he was back in the Atlantic League playing for the Newark Bears. He struggled and went home before the All-Star break. Gibbons played winter ball in Venezuela and earned the attention of the Dodgers.

Gibbons seemed like a fairly humble guy. I would like to see him get another shot in the big leagues, but I don't really expect it to happen.

Jay Gibbons does not have the neatest autograph in the world -- I can't really read anything past the letter "J" -- but I give him credit for being a willing signer. Many of his 2009 Newark Bears teammates with less major league service time were not nearly as accommodating.

2008 Long Island Ducks Carl Everett

Who is this? Carl Everett, a former outfielder with the Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, Montreal Expos and Seattle Mariners

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks team set

Where'd I get it? I got the card signed during a Newark Bears game in 2008

How much did it cost? Let's say the team set cost about $8

Why is this so special? Most baseball fans are familiar with Carl Everett's major league resume: a two-time All-Star, Everett finished with over 200 home runs and more than 1,300 hits. Most baseball fans are also familiar with the distractions Everett could cause off the field.

Considering the reputation Everett earned in the majors, I was actually afraid to ask him for an autograph the first time I saw him at an Atlantic League game in 2007. But he turned out to be one of the most fan-friendly players in the league.

At least once per series, he'd stick around for 10 or 15 minutes to sign autographs for kids and adults. There were even some occasions where Everett would go down past third base and sign autographs at the railing for a half-inning or so during the game. (His manager and the umpires made sure not to notice.)

I've never quite figured out how to read Carl Everett's autograph, but he signs it the same way every time.

2008 Long Island Ducks Kevin Baez

Who is this? Kevin Baez, a former infielder for the New York Mets

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Long Island Ducks team set

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a Newark Bears game in 2008

How much did it cost? I think the team set cost around $8, but I don't really remember

Why is this so special? I remember Kevin Baez's brief major league career in the early 1990s. He had brief cups of coffee in 1990 and 1992, and a longer shot in 1993. He never really stuck, but you couldn't fault him for lack of effort.

Baez continued his career in the minor leagues and eventually independent baseball. If I recall correctly, he retired after the 2004 season with the Long Island Ducks and joined the team as a coach. He played a few games in 2005, but I think he was filling in because they were short-handed. He's great about interacting with fans before the game.

Baez doesn't have a bad autograph, but it's not as pretty as some of the older coaches and managers. I started to get this set signed in green to match the Ducks' team colors, but I lost my green Sharpie before I finished.

2008 Newark Bears Al Levine

Who is this? Al Levine, a former pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Anaheim Angels, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants

What is this? An autographed card from the 2008 Newark Bears team set

Where'd I get it? I wrote to Al Levine and asked him to sign it back in October; I got it back as an early present on Christmas Eve.

How much did it cost? The card was a gift and the autograph was free.

Why is this so special? Al Levine started the 2008 season as the Newark Bears' closer, but he retired just before the card sets came out last year.

I mailed him the card from my team set, hoping that he would sign it. But I guess no one from the team bothered to send him any copies of his card; he kept it and swapped me a signed regular issue card from earlier in his career. I mentioned this to an acquaintance at a Bears game this year. The next time I saw him, he brought me a copy of the card to try again.

Thanks to that kind gesture, I have one more signed card for my Newark Bears team set. Levine has a tiny signature with a lot of loops, but it looks kinda cool.

I don't remember seeing Levine pitch, except for the Bears last year. But over ten seasons, he appeared in 416 games. He has a lifetime record of 24-33, with an ERA of 3.96

2009 Bowman Andre Ethier

Who is this? Andre Ethier, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers

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

Where'd I get it? I got it in the mail with the other Andre Ethier autograph I posted last week.

How much did it cost? Absolutely nothing.

Why is this so special? This card was a gift from Ethier, and it's personalized to me. I think that's pretty neat.

You'll notice that Either's signature has changed significantly from the one Topps is using for the facsimile autograph on his card. The older one was much more legible, but I imagine that the newer one is quicker to sign.

Merry Christmas!