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

[Dilferules]

One in yesterday, I think that's the last of the most recent batch:

Carlos Ramirez - Pitched 3 games for the 2018 A's. Since then he's been pitching in independent leagues, the Dominican Winter League, and Mexico.

At 662/693 now.

 

[Dilferules]

Picked up some more, here's the first to arrive:

Dane Johnson - No not Dan Johnson, the slugger from the late '00s, it's DANE. I don't have any memory of him but he actually pitched 38 games for the 1997 A's and even picked up 2 saves. His 4.53 ERA was right around league average but he never made it back to the majors after that season. He later coached in the Blue Jays organization 2005-18, and was the Royals AAA pitching coach last year.

Gets me up to 663/693, 30 to go!

 

[Dilferules]

Three more this weekend:

Alberto Castillo - Backup catcher bounced between the majors and minors for a dozen seasons. Made it into a single game with the 2005 A's and struck out in his lone at bat.

Francisco Matos - Entire MLB career was 14 games for the 1994 A's, though he played 16 seasons of pro ball.

Rich Sauveur - Originally drafted in 1983 and played some in the majors in 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, and 2000. His most appearances in a single season were 10 for the 2000 A's. Unsurprisingly with that type of career, he has done a lot of minor league coaching since 2003.

Now up to 666/693, nice!

 

[Dilferules]

Last one from this batch:

Neil Wagner - Made his major league debut in 2011 with the A's, pitching 6 games and giving up 4 earned runs in 5 innings. He later pitched in a couple of seasons for the Blue Jays and finished his career with a year in Japan. A true international star.

Brings me to 667/693.

 

[Dilferules]

Forgot this one was on the way, the seller took forever to send it:

Emilio Pagan - Spent one mediocre season in the A's bullpen before being shipped out in the trade where the A's acquired Jurickson Profar...who also spent one mediocre season in Oakland.

668/693, down to 25 remaining.

 

[Dilferules]

First pickup in a while:

Guillermo Moscoso - He was solid in 21 starts for the 2011 A's, but didn't do much else in parts of 4 seasons for other teams. He pitched for 3 years in Japan then played in Mexico and Venezuela. Unfortunately he never got an A's card.

669/693, 24 remaining. I have some more incoming, my personal goal was to be below 20 by opening day and it looks like it will be close. Looks like I will have a lot of new autos to pick up in 2022.

 

[Dilferules]

Ramon Fermin - Excited to pick this one up because I thought it would be among the last autographs I found. Pitched in a single major league game for the A's in 1995.

Steve Howard - Oakland native was drafted in 1983 and finally made it to the majors for 21 games in 1990, right at the end of his pro career. Really nice signature.

Josh A. Smith - Relieved 26 games for the 2017 A's. So happy to get this one because the eBay search was annoying. Do you know how many Josh Smiths have been professional athletes?

Currently 672/693 and I now have two incoming so I should get to my goal of fewer than 20 needed by opening day. Once I receive those cards I'll clean up and re-post my needs list.

 

[Therion]

I feel you on the Josh Smith. The 1962 Houston Colt .45s had a player named John Anderson. It took forever to find one because 1) he's rare and 2) he's the least famous of all the famous John Andersons which includes a hockey player, a soccer player, and a country music singer.

 

[mrmopar]

I think we have all felt that same-name pain.

I remember 2 in particular that were tough because of their obscurity, the common factor of their names and with ebay, the other junk that is sometimes hard to filter out.

Mike Rose (I would constantly get Mike Schmidt/Pete Rose hits)
Larry White (Larry Bird seemed to pop up a lot)

Bill Harris is another, as there was another Bill Harris who played.

Bob Miller is another fun one. 3 Bob Millers were playing at the exact same time in the late 50s!

 

[Dilferules]

I have a couple more "same name" guys incoming, including one already mentioned. Got this card today:

Ka'ai Tom - Made his MLB debut with Oakland at the start of the 2021 season (9 games) but was cut and picked up by the Pirates, so no A's cards for him.

Now up to 673/693, only 20 to go. Pretty soon I'll be down to just the super tough autographs and Hideki Matsui. I dread paying up for Matsui.

 

[Dazed]

Who do you have left to get & Who / how many do you think will be added when the season starts?

 

[Dilferules]

Who do you have left to get & Who / how many do you think will be added when the season starts?

I've got 6 incoming that should be here before the season starts. The 14 I still need after that are:

Tanner Anderson, Larry Arndt, Bobby Cramer, Mike Fyhrie, Gary Haught, Doug Johns, Marcus Jones, Arnold Leon, Josh Lucas, Hideki Matsui, Steve Phoenix, Dick Scott, Jeff Shaver, and Ron Witmeyer. So a bunch of obscure guys and Matsui. Several of the players do have autos available on eBay but I don't like them for one reason or another and have been holding out for something else. I figure when I get down to the guys I just absolutely can't find anything of, I'll start seriously looking for upgrades to current signatures in the collection.

 

[Dilferules]

Mike Rose - The aforementioned Rose on a 3x5 card. The only problem is that this looks absolutely nothing like the autograph from the auction. The seller sent a note that said he can't find the one pictured in the auction but this is one he got in person at a game. The back of the 3x5 card has notes indicating he got it at a 5/7/2003 Sacramento River Cats game. But either one of the two autos is not legit or Rose changed his signature A LOT. I checked the 2003 Sacramento roster and there doesn't seem to be anybody else he could have mistaken this sig for. I'll check this one off the list but keep looking for another one, I don't like 3x5 cards anyways.

@mrmopar I would assume your own Rose signature is buried somewhere difficult to retrieve?

I'll put my numbers at 674/693 for now...

 

[Therion]

View attachment 331486Mike Rose - The aforementioned Rose on a 3x5 card. The only problem is that this looks absolutely nothing like the autograph from the auction. The seller sent a note that said he can't find the one pictured in the auction but this is one he got in person at a game. The back of the 3x5 card has notes indicating he got it at a 5/7/2003 Sacramento River Cats game. But either one of the two autos is not legit or Rose changed his signature A LOT. I checked the 2003 Sacramento roster and there doesn't seem to be anybody else he could have mistaken this sig for. I'll check this one off the list but keep looking for another one, I don't like 3x5 cards anyways.

@mrmopar I would assume your own Rose signature is buried somewhere difficult to retrieve?

I'll put my numbers at 674/693 for now...

He should have told you this BEFORE he sent it to make sure you were good with it.

 

[Dilferules]

He should have told you this BEFORE he sent it to make sure you were good with it.

I agree, pretty "whatever" business practice there.

One in today:

Vimael Machin - Utility infielder, he was a Rule 5 draftee by another team that the A's purchased in 2020 and he stayed on the roster the whole season. He barely played in the majors at all in 2021 but he got his first widely available card in 2021 Heritage Update. I was hoping somebody would get one signed in spring training, and jumped at the first one I saw pop up a week ago. Haven't seen one since then so even though I kind of overpaid at $20 it still may have been a good pickup.

Now at 675/693.

 

[mrmopar]

View attachment 331486Mike Rose - The aforementioned Rose on a 3x5 card. The only problem is that this looks absolutely nothing like the autograph from the auction. The seller sent a note that said he can't find the one pictured in the auction but this is one he got in person at a game. The back of the 3x5 card has notes indicating he got it at a 5/7/2003 Sacramento River Cats game. But either one of the two autos is not legit or Rose changed his signature A LOT. I checked the 2003 Sacramento roster and there doesn't seem to be anybody else he could have mistaken this sig for. I'll check this one off the list but keep looking for another one, I don't like 3x5 cards anyways.

@mrmopar I would assume your own Rose signature is buried somewhere difficult to retrieve?

I'll put my numbers at 674/693 for now...

I'll see if I can dig out and share a photo

 

[banjar]

@Dilferules The effort you are putting into this A's collection is astounding.

 

[mrmopar]

View attachment 331486Mike Rose - The aforementioned Rose on a 3x5 card. The only problem is that this looks absolutely nothing like the autograph from the auction. The seller sent a note that said he can't find the one pictured in the auction but this is one he got in person at a game. The back of the 3x5 card has notes indicating he got it at a 5/7/2003 Sacramento River Cats game. But either one of the two autos is not legit or Rose changed his signature A LOT. I checked the 2003 Sacramento roster and there doesn't seem to be anybody else he could have mistaken this sig for. I'll check this one off the list but keep looking for another one, I don't like 3x5 cards anyways.

@mrmopar I would assume your own Rose signature is buried somewhere difficult to retrieve?

I'll put my numbers at 674/693 for now...

 

[Therion]

Looks pretty close.

 

[Dilferules]

Looks pretty close.

Yup, @mrmopar THANKS for digging those out. Looks like I lucked out and the one that was actually pictured in the auction isn't legit, but the one I was sent without being asked about seems to match up with those cards. And now I'll know to look for something similar to what I already have when shopping for a potential card upgrade.