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

[Dilferules]

Picked up a couple of cheapies at a show today:

Dave McCarty - Stopped in Oakland for 8 games late in his career, before he went to the Red Sox.

Luis Vizcaino - Relief prospect pitched parts of 3 seasons with the A's then was traded for Justin Duchscherer. Later made 70+ relief appearances in 5 different seasons for the Brewers, D-Backs, and Yankees.

That puts me over the 550 mark, to 551/687. It also bumps me slightly over 80% complete.

 

[Dilferules]

Got some more in today:

Mike Holtz - A TTM pickup, there are a small number of autos I need of guys that sign through the mail so I will grab a few this way. Holtz pitched in 8 big league seasons, six of them with the Angels. Only appeared in 16 games for the A's but did get this UD 40-Man A's card.

Kevin Jarvis - Another TTM success. What a beautiful signature, too bad he only pitched 4 games for the A's and didn't get a card.

Billy McMillon - Appeared in 138 games for the A's over three seasons and had a .740 OPS, not too shabby.

Scott Sauerbeck - My third TTM success for the day. Finished his big league career with 22 relief appearances for the 2006 A's; his ERA was 3.65 but his FIP and WHIP were dreadful. His only A's card is from a team-issued set and difficult to find so I settled for a Pirates Topps Total card.

That puts me at 555/687.

 

[Dilferules]

Found a pile of autos I hadn't looked through and there were 4 in there that I remembered having but couldn't find earlier.

Dustin Garneau - Played well in 7 games as an emergency catcher for the 2019 A's.

Tony Kemp - Having a good season splitting his time between second base and the outfield. Have to jump on tough cards quick when they pop up since some guy on Blowout hoards the crap out of his cards.

Colby Lewis - Pitched poorly for the 2007 A's, then went to Japan for a couple of years and came back to have a few okay MLB years with other teams.

Burch Smith - Not doing so hot this year in the A's bullpen.

So that adds 4, but recent acquisitions Andrew Chafin and Starling Marte add another couple I don't have (though I already have a Marte auto at COMC). Currently at 559/689.

 

[Therion]

I still need Garneau on his one Astros card.

 

[Dilferules]

I still need Garneau on his one Astros card.

It's annoying when it's not a rare or expensive signature, but of course you can't find it on the one item you want.

One in the mail today:

Ron Gant - Actually had 2 short stints with the A's, 34 games in 2001 when he was alright, and the final 17 games of his career in 2003, when he was what you would expect out of the final 17 games of a career. Got this one TTM!

Gets me up to 560/689 but with the acquisition of Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes I'll soon be down another two.

 

[Therion]

That Oakland uniform looks oddly like the Braves. Was it a special uniform like July 4th?

 

[banjar]

So I just looked up Ron Gant, because I had no idea he ever played for the A's. There's a little fun fact on his baseball-reference page that caught my eye. Want to know who his agents were?

Bean Stringfellow and Jeff Beck.

Either Gant, or whoever typed in his bio info, has a pretty good sense of humor.

 

[Dilferules]

That Oakland uniform looks oddly like the Braves. Was it a special uniform like July 4th?

Throwback uniform, a nod to the old Oakland Oaks from the Pacific Coast League way back in the day - they had those colors. I would have preferred a normal A's uni but the only card he has with a regular uniform (2003 UD 40-Man) just doesn't look as good for autos.

So I just looked up Ron Gant, because I had no idea he ever played for the A's. There's a little fun fact on his baseball-reference page that caught my eye. Want to know who his agents were?

Bean Stringfellow and Jeff Beck.

Either Gant, or whoever typed in his bio info, has a pretty good sense of humor.

I googled it and as crazy as it sounds, those are legit agents at the Proformance agency. https://www.proformancebaseball.com/contact/

 

[banjar]

Haha! I did not see that coming.

I googled it and as crazy as it sounds, those are legit agents at the Proformance agency. https://www.proformancebaseball.com/contact/

 

[JVHaste]

Bean Stringfellow is one of the worst **** names I've ever heard. Is he related to Dudley Donghammer?

 

[mrmopar]

So I just looked up Ron Gant, because I had no idea he ever played for the A's. There's a little fun fact on his baseball-reference page that caught my eye. Want to know who his agents were?

Bean Stringfellow and Jeff Beck.

Either Gant, or whoever typed in his bio info, has a pretty good sense of humor.

Beck is a master on the guitar! Didn't realize he rep'd baseball players on the side!!

 

[banjar]

Bean Stringfellow is no match for yours truly, aka Longfellow Everhard.

@Dilferrules is now regretting the fact that the NC morons took over his perfectly legit A's thread

 

[banjar]

But back to the topic...yes, Beck is an absolute all time genius. The way that guy plays guitar, well there's nobody else like him.

Beck is a master on the guitar! Didn't realize he rep'd baseball players on the side!!

 

[Dilferules]

Let's see, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, a new A's autograph:

Tony Batista - Spent his first couple of seasons with the A's before being plucked by the Diamondbacks in the expansion draft and slugging for other teams during an 11-year career. Oddly does not have any certified autograph cards.

Buuut Josh Harrison and Yan Gomes debuted for the A's recently so I'm down a bit, 561/691. I've got some more incoming, at least.

 

[Dilferules]

Five in the mail today:

Mike Harkey - Pitched 14 games for the 1995 A's with a 6.27 ERA and was released mid-season. His only other A's card is in the 1995 Mother's Cookies team set, which would be so much better than the atrocity that is 1995 Fleer.

Nick Hundley - Played his final 31 big league games for the 2019 A's, hitting exactly .200. Was also released mid-season.

Bo Porter - Had only 2 hits in 13 A's at-bats, but one of those hits was a homer. Managed the Astros in 2013 and most of 2014, prior to the tenure of fellow Athletic alumni AJ Hinch.

Blake Stein - One of three absolute dud pitching prospects picked up from the Cardinals for Mark McGwire, he had a 6.60 ERA in 25 games for the A's before being shipped to KC in the Kevin Appier deal...where the Royals got 3 absolute dud pitchers for Kevin Appier.

Bill Taylor - A's closer after Dennis Eckersley, was just okay but they were able to swap him to the Mets (at age 37!) for Jason Isringhausen, who succeeded him as closer for two and a half seasons. The instant Taylor was traded he became completely terrible.

That bumps me up to 566/691.

 

[Dilferules]

One in the mail today:

Shawn Kelley - Picked up for the stretch run in 2018 and did a real good job in relief. He signed with the Rangers the next year and was pretty bad, hasn't been heard from since. I don't believe he has any A's cards or certified autos so this is as good as I'll get.

That puts me at 567/691.

 

[Dilferules]

Three additions today:

Billy Brewer - Coughed up 3 runs in 2 innings pitched for the A's in 1997. Tragically never players for the Brewers during his 7-year career.

Brent Mayne - During his 15-year career he amassed just 2.8 WAR. 1.8 of that was during his lone season with the A's in 1997, so I'd say they made out pretty well. He has a couple of A's cards so hopefully I can upgrade this down the line.

Dave Telgheder - Pitched three of his six MLB seasons with the A's, 1996-98. Mediocre to poor performance. He does have some A's cards so hopefully I can grab one of those some day.

That moves me to 570/691.

 

[Dilferules]

Nomar Garciaparra/Eric Karros - Two for one deal on this 1998 Stadium Club Co-Signers card! Both are "they played for the A's?!?" guys who finished their careers in Oakland in 2009 and 2004, respectively.

Starling Marte - The recent acquisition is hitting .400 with a 1.015 OPS through his first 10 A's games.

Those three signatures bring me up to 573/691.

 

[mrmopar]

Lots of Dodger connections lately (Harkey, Garciaparra, Karros of course, Brewer, - Minors only, Mayne).

I was wondering the other day what the record was for most pitchers on a roster in a season, because the Dodgers are at 32 right now and it seems they pick up endless no-namers for brief periods and send them packing and have for years now. That was not the easiest item to find, maybe it was how I was trying to search, but finally located the answer.

Turns out, the 2019 Mariners set both the pitching and entire roster records, with 42 different pitchers on their roster that season and 67 total players making the roster. That is a lot of work for team autograph collectors, especially considering many of those short lived players never even get cards on all the teams they play for

 

[Dilferules]

The A's have had some seasons marred by mediocrity and injuries that have resulted in a bloated number of players, but FORTY TWO pitchers? That is a serious throwing crap at the wall to see if it sticks strategy.