Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Random Listia Autos - Part 10

I've really stretched out this series! I'm in no rush to finish, as I really enjoy sharing these. To refresh your memory, I won a few nice cards from the same seller on Listia, and he was nice enough to chuck in a bunch of extra autographs. And as a bonus, he came across these posts recently, and sent me another huge batch of autos! This series may go on forever.

In case you've missed previous installments, enjoy:

Part 8
Part 9

The first auto is from Bryn Smith, owner of a 13-year Major League career. He capped everything off with the expansion Rockies (first winning pitcher in team history!), but he's best known for his time with Expos, where he went 18-5 with a 2.91 ERA in 1985. For his career, he was 108-92 with a very respectable 3.53 ERA. Not bad at all.
McGruber! Or just Gruber! Kelly Gruber, Canada's most eligible bachelor during his playing days, was a two-time All-Star and member of Toronto's 1992 World Championship team, hitting a key HR in Game 3. His best statistical season was in 1991 when he hit 31 homers and drove in 118. His tag on Deion Sanders was infamously reversed in the '92 World Series, taking away a would-be triple play. Had this happened today, replay would have shown that Sanders was out. I didn't know this, but he attempted a comeback with the Orioles in 1997, but later retired.
I'll always be a little bitter at Billy Wagner because he used "Enter Sandman" to enter games. We all know that was Mo's song. Seriously, why couldn't he just change his song? Anyhow, he retired in 2010 as a 7-time All-Star and he's currently 5th all-time in saves. Pretty damn good. I remember seeing him pitch in person in Houston in 2002, and the crowd would go nuts as he approached 100 MPH (he hit it a few times the inning I saw). All-in-all, he pitched for the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox (don't remember that at all), and Braves. This Classic 4-Sport card shows him in college at Ferrum. Yeah, Ive never heard of it either.
Where the heck did Brandon Inge go? Despite having a 13-year career, it sort of feels like he disappeared. The longtime Tiger always seemed to move positions a lot, from catcher to OF to 3B. I remember him ending up as a pretty damn good 3B, actually. An All-Star in 2009, he hit 27 homers that year, the second time he accomplished that feat. He put up a very solid 19.0 WAR throughout his career, and was definitely the type of guy you wanted on your team.
Lefty Jon Matlack! I had no idea he was ROY and a three-time All-Star. Matlack was a very good pitcher and part of the Mets' Big Three along with Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. He won 125 games between the Mets and Rangers over 13 seasons. Not bad! He was involved in a giant 1977 trade that saw him go to the Rangers, where he finished up his career.
And last but not least, Craig Monroe attempting a sweet catch! He was a pretty big power hitter for the Tigers in the mid-2000s. I feel like I always confused him with Marcus Thames. Monroe hit two big HRs against the Yanks in that awful 2006 division series. He hit 5 total that post-season, including two in the World Series. Pretty cool for him. He now does TV work for the Tigers. I won't lie, I expected him to still be playing in Japan or Mexico and hitting 40 HRs at the age of 38.



5 comments:

  1. Inge and Monroe are both former Pirates! They were god awful and let go. Like you said, Inge was a great defender but his offense declined quick.

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  2. Craig Monroe has a great Upper Deck card in which he's signing some kid's shirt. His signature would be terrific on that card. He's got an impressive sig!

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  3. Brandon Inge man, where did he go...

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  4. Let me know when you run out. Glad you are enjoying them.

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    1. Thanks for checking out my post. I'm not sure when I'll run out, but I'll let you know!

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