Dilferules's 1988-present Oakland A's autograph thread

[Dilferules]

1978 debuts (part 2):

Scott Meyer - Went 1 for 9 in 8 MLB games, but at least his one hit was a double!

Craig Minetto - Spent his entire 4-year career with the A's. Had a 5.40 ERA in 145 innings.

Mike Morgan - 4th overall pick in 1978 debuted the same year and was shelled in 3 starts. Played all the way until 2002, pitching for a dozen different teams.

Dwayne Murphy - Excellent outfielder for 10 seasons with the A's, winning 6 consecutive Gold Gloves. I have a couple of logoless Panini autos of him but I might as well show an '88 Topps card.

Steve Renko - Had a 15-year career, spending one season in Oakland where he went 6-12 with a 4.29 ERA.

Gary Thomasson - Played 9 years in the majors plus 2 in Japan.

 

[Dilferules]

1979 debuts:

Derek Bryant - Really terrible in one season for the A's. Went on to play 7 years in Mexico.

Dave Chalk - Really should have played a corner infield position with that name.

Mike Heath - I've always preferred Skor bars to Heath bars, but Heath is still pretty good.

Brian Kingman - Remarkably went 8-20 with a 3.83 ERA in 1980.

Mickey Klutts - Not as bad defensively as his name would imply, but still not great.

 

[Dilferules]

1980 debuts:

Dave Beard - I would imagine if your name is Beard you can't really have a beard or it becomes your whole identity.

Jeff Cox - Defensive specialist couldn't hit well enough to stay in the majors.

Mike Davis - Solid outfielder for the A's in the mid-'80s. He hit 20 homers twice, including a 20/20 season in 1985.

Orlando Gonzalez - Played slightly fewer MLB games (79) than the cumulative number of days I have spent in Orlando, FL.

Jeff Jones - A so-so reliever for 5 seasons with the A's. Went on to a long coaching career; was pitching coach for the Tigers when Verlander and Scherzer were there and those **** **** ****ing ****ers kept beating the A's in the playoffs.

Dave McKay - Not much of a player, but he has had a long coaching career with the A's and other teams.

Mark Souza - Gave up 6 runs in 7 innings for the 1980 A's, and that was his entire MLB career.

 

[MrMet2.0]

Your write ups crack me up


Sent from my iPhone using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[Dilferules]

1981 debuts (part 1):

Shooty Babitt - Was actually 5th in AL ROY voting in 1981, but never made it back to the majors. He later became a scout and a TV broadcaster. His son played a couple of seasons in the Dodgers organization.

Rick Bosetti - Bears a resemblance to Glenn Hubbard and Arn Anderson.

Brian Doyle - Won a ring with the '78 Yankees, hitting .438 in the Series. Could never quite manage to reach .200 in the regular season, though.

Bob Kearney - He was the catcher for the 1983 Topps All-Star Rookie Team, but got totally ripped off since that's when they weren't putting the little trophy on the cards.

Bo McLaughlin - Most known for being nearly killed by a line drive to the face from Harold Baines. According to Wikipedia he had the alias "Grim Bimbledon" but I can't find any information on this so major kudos if somebody edited his Wiki page to stick that ridiculousness in there unnoticed.

Jim Nettles - Graig's brother. Not as good as Graig. Played a single game for the A's at the end of his career.

 

[Dilferules]

1981 (part 2):

Bob Owchinko - Better than Grim Bimbledon, but not that good. Known for his endowment (to his alma mater Eastern Michigan University).

Mike Patterson - Played 12 games for the A's before being swapped to the Yankees. Later played for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan.

Jimmy Sexton - Racked up 335 steals in the minors but didn't get a ton of playing time in parts of 6 MLB seasons.

Fred Stanley - Longtime utility infielder finished his career with 2 seasons in Oakland, hitting .193 in each one.

Tom Underwood - Quite average over his 11-year career: 86-87 record with an ERA+ of 100.

 

[banjar]

You're digging deep these days.

 

[Dilferules]

1982 debuts:

Fernando Arroyo - Pitched parts of 7 seasons 1975-82. Kept at it and made it back to the majors for a single relief appearance in 1986...where he walked all 3 batters he faced. Ouch.

Steve Baker - Mediocre in parts of 4 MLB seasons.

Kevin Bell - 7th overall pick in 1974 was the youngest player in baseball when he debuted with the '76 White Sox, but never amounted to much.

Jeff Burroughs - 1974 AL MVP played three eh seasons with the A's. Best known to my generation as "Sean's dad."

Chris Codiroli - Not very good over an 8-year career, but he did lead the AL with 37 games started in 1985.

John D'Acquisto - Memorable name but not much of a memorable career. A very memorable post-career where he became an investment advisor and was sentenced to 5 years in prison for trying to pass a forged $200 million certificate of deposit. Then he was sentenced to another 4 years for wire fraud and money laundering.

Preston Hanna - Finished up his career pitching 48 innings for the 1982 A's. Passed away last year.

Davey Lopes - After ten seasons with the Dodgers, spent two and a half with the A's.

 

[mrmopar]

1982 debuts:

View attachment 354868Fernando Arroyo - Pitched parts of 7 seasons 1975-82. Kept at it and made it back to the majors for a single relief appearance in 1986...where he walked all 3 batters he faced. Ouch.

View attachment 354869Steve Baker - Mediocre in parts of 4 MLB seasons.

View attachment 354870Kevin Bell - 7th overall pick in 1974 was the youngest player in baseball when he debuted with the '76 White Sox, but never amounted to much.

View attachment 354871Jeff Burroughs - 1974 AL MVP played three eh seasons with the A's. Best known to my generation as "Sean's dad."

View attachment 354872Chris Codiroli - Not very good over an 8-year career, but he did lead the AL with 37 games started in 1985.

View attachment 354873John D'Acquisto - Memorable name but not much of a memorable career. A very memorable post-career where he became an investment advisor and was sentenced to 5 years in prison for trying to pass a forged $200 million certificate of deposit. Then he was sentenced to another 4 years for wire fraud and money laundering.

View attachment 354874Preston Hanna - Finished up his career pitching 48 innings for the 1982 A's. Passed away last year.

View attachment 354875Davey Lopes - After ten seasons with the Dodgers, spent two and a half with the A's.

John D is an artist now apparently and is quite active on facebook.

 

[Dilferules]

John D is an artist now apparently and is quite active on facebook.

A man of many talents!

 

[Dilferules]

1983 debuts (part 1), starting to get into the era where I won't be covering some guys because they have already been shown as part of the 1988-present group.

Bill Almon - A joy.

Keith Atherton - So-so reliever for three and a half seasons before he was traded to the Twins.

Bert Bradley - 8 1/3 innings for the '83 A's was his whole MLB career. Went on to coach in the A's system.

Tom Burgmeier - Finished his long career with two solid seasons for the A's.

Gorman Heimueller - Interesting name, uninteresting career - pitched 22 games over 2 seasons with the A's.

Donnie Hill - Infielder spent 4 seasons with the A's then was traded to the White Sox for Gene Nelson, who was an excellent reliever for several years in Oakland.

 

[Dilferules]

1983 part 2:

Bill Krueger - Pitched 4+ seasons for the A's then was traded to the Dodgers for a guy that never made it to the majors.

Rick Peters - Great signature!

Luis Quinones - Utility infielder broke into the majors with 19 games for the '83 A's.

Mike Warren - Pitched a no-hitter in his rookie season, but only made 27 starts in the majors over 3 years.

Rich Wortham - After a few seasons with the White Sox he had a rare infinite ERA for the '83 A's, allowing 1 run on 3 hits while failing to get an out.

 

[Dilferules]

1984 debuts:

Bruce Bochte - The answer to the trivia question: who was the A's first baseman before Mark McGwire?

Ray Burris - Went 13-10 with a 3.15 ERA then was traded for HOFer Don Sutton!

Bill Caudill - Picked up 36 saves for the '84 A's, making the All-Star team. He came back to the A's in 1987 but his career ended when he broke his hand punching a guy in the parking lot.

Steve Kiefer - First round pick that never panned out.

Dave Kingman - Finished up his career in Oakland, hitting 100 homers over 3 seasons.

Chuck Rainey - The A's traded Davey Lopes to the Cubs for Rainey, who proceeded to put up a 6.75 ERA in 16 games

Lary Sorensen - Went 6-13 with a 4.91 earned run average AND spelled his name wrong.

Mickey Tettleton - Spent his first 4 seasons with the A's but they released him after a bad year when Terry Steinbach emerged as the starter. Of course he went on to make 2 All-Star teams and win 3 Silver Sluggers.

Mark Wagner - Finished his career with a mediocre season for the A's in 1984.

 

[Dilferules]

1985 debuts (part 1):

Dusty Baker - Finished his playing career with 2 seasons in Oakland.

Tim Birtsas - Was traded with Jose Rijo twice: from the Yankees in the 1984 Rickey Henderson deal and to the Reds in 1987 for Dave Parker.

Dave Collins - Notably bespectacled, he hit .251 in his one season with the A's.

Alfredo Griffin - 1979 AL ROY with Toronto was the A's starting shortstop for 3 seasons. His trade to LA as part of the Bob Welch deal opened the door for Walt Weiss, who won the 1988 AL ROY.

Steve Henderson - Sadly Steve, Rickey, and Dave were never on the team at the same time so they could form an all-Henderson outfield.

Jay Howell - Good reliever for 15 seasons in the majors, saved 61 games for the A's 1985-87 then was replaced as the closer by Dennis Eckersley.

Tommy John - 6.19 ERA in 11 starts for the A's, picking up 2 of his 288 career wins.

 

[Dilferules]

1985 (part 2)

Jeff Kaiser - Broke into the majors with 15 relief appearances for the 1985 A's. Had a 9.17 career ERA in 50 games, which makes me wonder what the record is for most games pitched in a career with an ERA over 9.00.

Steve Mura - Career highlight was winning a ring with the '82 Cardinals.

Charlie O'Brien - Started out with 16 games for the A's, then went on to a 15-year career as a backup catcher.

Jose Rijo - Was mediocre in 3 seasons with the A's before he was traded to the Reds...where he reeled off 6 consecutive sub-3.00 ERA seasons and killed the A's in the 1990 World Series.

Don Sutton - Went 13-8 for the '85 A's then was traded to the Angels for 2 dud prospects.

Tom Tellman - Finished his short career with 11 relief appearances for the '85 A's.

 

[Dilferules]

1986 debuts:

Darrel Akerfelds - 2 appearances for Oakland before they swapped him to Cleveland. Was later a bullpen coach for the Padres. Sadly passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012.

Joaquin Andujar - Won 20 games and was in the top 5 in Cy Young voting 2 straight years in St. Louis, but came to Oakland and ran out of steam.

Bill Bathe - Didn't do much in 3 MLB seasons, then went to Japan where he had one good year and one terrible year.

Moose Haas - Incredibly the A's have had a Moose Haas (1986-87) and a Mule Haas (1928-32).

Bill Mooneyham - Entire career was 45 games in relief for the '86 A's. He had a 4.52 ERA and never got back to the majors. Later on he worked as a high school P.E. teacher in Merced, CA.

Rob Nelson - Not the A's first baseman rookie card you wanted to pull from '87 Donruss.

Rick Rodriguez - Not much in a 4-year career, he later coached in the A's system.

Lenn Sakata - Not Len, LENN. Hit .353 in 17 games for the A's.

Jerry Willard - Backup catcher spent parts of 2 seasons with the A's.

 

[Dilferules]

Alright, finishing off the pre-'88 years with 1987:

Tony Bernazard - Second baseman was decent after being picked up from Cleveland mid-season, then played the next 3 seasons in Japan.

Ron Cey - Finished up his career with 45 games in Oakland, where he was released in July after hitting .221 (but he did have a .359 OBP).

Dennis Lamp - I love.....Lamp.

Gary LaVelle - Longtime Giants reliever finished his career with 6 terrible games for the A's. Went on to coach college baseball.


So all of that puts me at 947/1,078 for the complete Oakland years 1968-present, and 768/771 for 1988-present.

 

[banjar]

Wow. So it begs the question - who are the mysterious three you're missing after 1988?

 

[mrmopar]

Nice Caudill! I really wanted all his Mariner cards, but would like that 84T Traded card too.

I would be suspect of that Dave collins though. It doesn't look right to me. I was thinking the same of Peters. I am used to seeing a very distinct looking (looks like a slowly drawn kid sig) signature with a star for the i dot. I needed him on a 1981 Topps, as he would have had a trophy had Topps not dropped them for a few years. (Not mine pictured).

 

[mrmopar]

Nice Caudill! I really wanted all his Mariner cards, but would like that 84T Traded card too.

I would be suspect of that Dave collins though. It doesn't look right to me. I was thinking the same of Peters. I am used to seeing a very distinct looking (looks like a slowly drawn kid sig) signature with a star for the i dot. I needed him on a 1981 Topps, as he would have had a trophy had Topps not dropped them for a few years. (Not mine pictured).

View attachment 354975View attachment 354976

BB Card Exchange has an 86F for $5 that looks what I expect for a DC auto.