Project Durham Bulls #36 - Alex Colome

2012-2015 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

The Rays signed Colome as an amateur free agent in 2007 when he was 18 years old.  He was a starting pitcher throughout his time in the Minors, he made it up to the Bulls in Triple A in 2012.  Colome appeared in a limited number of games that season in Durham, just three starts, but returned to the Bulls in 2013 where he made 13 starts.  He won just 4 games and had an ERA of just 3.07.  Colome was called up to Tampa that season for a few spot starts.  At the beginning of the 2014 season, Colome was suspended for failing a drug test, but came back in the middle of the season to make 15 starts in Triple A.  He won 7 games with the Bulls.  More importantly, it was his last significant time in Triple A.  Colome pitched in a pair of games with the Bulls in 2015, but spent almost the entire season with the Rays.  The team transitioned him to the bullpen during the season where he remained for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 seasons.  Colome made the American League All-Star team in 2016 and led the League in saves in 2017.  He was recently traded to the Mariners.  

Card-

Colome has signed in several sets over the years.  The first few sets he appeared in, several of them have his autographs in them, were actually as "Alexander Colome".  Both the base set cards and autographs appear under the name Alexander.  I am not sure if this says Alexander, or just Alex.

Not a bad autograph, but it's surprisingly not changed much over the years.  

He has done less and less signing since breaking into the Majors, which is a somewhat normal pattern for players.  Since Colome was a long running Bulls player, I actually have several of his autographs in my collection already.  This 2015 Triple Threads card is not only a good looking card, but it is one of the few Colome autographs that are already not in my collection.  Probably in my favorite few Colome autographs behind a Strata autograph I picked up two years ago, and my favorite which is a Durham Bulls autograph out of the 2013 Pro Debut set.    

Two Keepers

This week was sort of an unplanned vacation away from blogging and baseball cards.  Monday's post about the Derek Jeter statue from the Durham Bulls was solid, but then my daughter decided to show up a few days earlier than scheduled.  Nothing got written this week.  

It was fun to take a little bit of time away from everything and spend some time with the little one.  This is our second child, and while she showed up a week early, this has not been as much stress and drama as my son who showed up a month early and spent considerable time in the NICU.  

I wrote a post last summer about my son's stay in the NICU and the baseball card that made the trip with me everyday to go see him in the hospital.  Here's a look at the Colby Rasmus autograph....

This week I did the same thing for my daughter.  Fortunately, the trips back and forth to the hospital only last for a few days and there was no NICU stay involved this time.  She was born Wednesday, so I took the lone envelope out of the mailbox that day and stuck it in my car.  

What was in it?  It's pretty sweet.  

I picked this up really cheap a few weeks back and I guess it spent a little bit of time making its trek to my mailbox.  Colome is a former Durham Bulls player and current closer for the Rays.  I picked up a few Strata cards last year, but none of the big patch piece cards.  I like the patch piece on this card, but there are some really nice ones out there.  Probably why this card was way cheap.  Or, maybe it's the fact that the Rays are not very good and not many people know Alex Colome.  

The back of the card.....

has the standard Congratulations blurb.  I was actually wondering where the little round silver authentication sticker was that Topps supposedly put on the cards in this set.  My Stephen Souza card had one.  Sigh.  

Looks like I can file this Alex Colome card away into the keeper box.  I am sure that my daughter will be thrilled to know that she has a baseball card in my collection in a few years.  I can picture her expression.....

Simply Amazed

There have been several good cards this year that I have thoroughly enjoyed adding to my collection.  However, this past week I added, what has become, easily my favorite card that any company has put out in any set this year.  Here is a look at my newest baseball card of Durham Bulls, and Rays prospect, infielder Richie Shaffer....

The reason that this card is great is the fact that it can be tied to a specific memorable event from Shaffer's career.  Last year, Shaffer the majority of the season with the Durham Bulls, but he had a chance to play a little with the Rays in September.  Shaffer's first hit came in the form of a home run against the White Sox.  The dugout was great and is the subject of this Richie Shaffer card.

In a season where the Durham Bulls and the Rays missed the playoffs, in my opinion this was one of the best moments of last season.  I am glad that Topps chose this picture and moment to use on Shaffer's card in this year's Stadium Club set.  

Beyond the Shaffer autograph, I also picked up the Stadium Club autograph of former Durham Bulls pitcher Alex Colome.  

 

Colome had been looking for a role the past few years, but has fit into a nice groove as the team's closer.  It's good to see him settle down and find a little bit of success at the Major League level.  

Alex "Don't Call Me Alexander" Colome

I added a few cards of Durham Bulls/Tampa Rays pitcher Alex Colome last year, but let his rookie signature in 2010 Bowman Platinum go.  I never really dug how Topps put "Alexander" on his rookie cards instead of Alex.  In fact, I had to go to Baseball-Reference and double check and make sure his name was actually Alexander.  It is....

If you are not familiar with Alex Colome let me give you the quick run down on the hard throwing right-hander.  In my opinion, he is a better pitcher at this point of his career than Jeremy Hellickson and I actually think that Colome and Enny Romero are going to be two bright spots in the Tampa rotation in the near future.  When is David Price getting traded again?  In three starts in Tampa last summer Colome gave up a total of 4 earned runs in 16 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts for an ERA+ of 173.  Pretty safe bet he's back in Tampa at some point this season for good.

 Colome has several autographs out on the secondary market, but this card was his first.  His signature is a little bit of a scrawl on this card, but it also happens to be his only on-card autograph.  Even if it does say Alexander, it's pretty nice. 

2013 Topps Pro Debut Hat Logo Patch Alex Colome

2013 Topps Pro Debut Hat Logo Patch 

Topps has put out a Pro Debut set the past few years and it has quickly become one of my favorite sets to put together every year.  Bowman has typically been the set for minor league baseball fans to find their favorite players from the minor, but Topps often takes the players pictures during Spring Training while the players are wearing their Major League uniforms.  Or they just air brush them into their Major League unis.  The Pro Debut set on the other hand captures Minor Leaguers in their Minor League digs.  For me, Pro Debut means getting to see a few of my favorite Durham Bulls players in their Bulls uniform, not a Rays uniform.  The Bulls are one of the most iconic Minor League franchises and the Rays run a great farm system, so it seems like a slam dunk that some sort of Bulls player, or the mascot, make an appearance in this set.

There are several Bulls cards in this years Pro Debut set including a card in the Hat Logo Patch set.  This hat logo card sort of speaks for itself.  It's a great looking card, featuring a very good prospect in Alex Colome, and is limited to just 75 copies.  The Bulls also had a card in this set last year with infielder, and former number one overall pick, Tim Beckham.  The Hat Logo in this years set features pitching prospect Alex Colome.  While he is a high rated prospect in the Rays system, Colome has flown under the radar this year in large part due to the emergence of Chris Archer and Wil Myers.

Colome has actually appeared as a starter in three games for the Rays this season posting a 1-1 record with an ERA of 2.25 and 12 strikeouts in 16 innings.  Colome has also performed well in the International League this season with the Durham Bulls despite having a 4-6 record.  In fourteen starts for the Bulls this year Colome has more than a strikeout per inning and has only surrendered five home runs all season.  While I do not think he has as high of a ceiling as Archer, I think that Colome certainly has a bright future as a successful Major Leaguer.

2002 Donruss Studio So Taguchi Jersey Card

I am taking a break from my 2013 Topps cards for a few singles I picked up this past week.  I spotted a sweet So Taguchi jersey card and decided to try and work out a trade for it and ended up walking away with a few extras.

2002 Donruss Studio So Taguchi Jersey

So Taguchi was a Japanese outfielder who came over to the Cardinals before the 2002 season.  Many Cardinals fans were excited about the signing, but Taguchi spent a lot of time in AAA when he first arrived.  Eventually Taguchi made it up to St. Louis and was an extra outfielder for a few seasons including the 2006 World Series team.  In fact, Taguchi hit an important home run off of Mets relief pitcher Billy Wagner to win a game.  After securing the Taguchi card, I also ended up with three other autographed cards.  

2011 Bowman Chrome Alex Colome Autograph 

All three autographs were nice additions to my Taguchi jersey card, but this Colome card was probably my favorite of the extra three cards.  Colome pitched last season in Durham and I had been trying to pick up a copy of this card.  I just had not quite accomplished anything in terms of landing one.  Not sure that Colome will be in Tampa this year, but he is a hard thrower and I think he can be an effective relief pitcher in the future.  

2012 Bowman Jedd Gyorko Autograph 

I also picked up this Jedd Gyorko autograph which also filled a nice hole in my collection.  Gyorko played college ball at West Virginia and quickly made his way up through the minors.  He believe that he was a third baseman and has converted to second base, but he has a great bat and should hit in the majors.  Apparently even in Petco he will be a top offensive second baseman soon.  Again, this is another card I had been looking to add to my collection, but just had not had the chance or opportunity.  

2012 Topps Chrome Tom Milone Autograph

Last card in this trade is for a Tom Milone autograph.  He actually started his career with the Nationals and was traded to the A's for Gio Gonzalez before last season.  Seems like a solid starter and a solid cardboard investment.  Happy to add it to my collection.