Project Durham Bulls #56 - Ben Chapman

1950 Durham Bulls 

Background-

I wrote a bit about Chapman a few weeks back while I was working on some 1950s cards of former Durham Bulls players.  I am not going to rehash the whole post, but Chapman has sort of a dubious history in the game for some of his on field antics.  As a player, he was one of the greatest trash talkers of all-time.  As a manager, he was noted for his clashes with Jackie Robinson while he was managing the Phillies in the late 1940s.  

The Bulls had been managed by former Duke baseball/football star, also Pro Football Hall of Famer, as a player manager during the 1949 season.  I am not sure exactly why Chapman was brought in to manage the Bulls in 1950, they were the Tigers Carolina League affiliate, but he led them to a 74-78 season before departing for a job managing in a Minor League team in Florida.  Chapman would not last much longer in baseball, leaving the sport in the mid 1950s to sell insurance in Alabama.  

Card-

This is from the 1935 Diamond Stars set.  I know it's a really old card, the type that I do not post on here very often.  I am fairly certain that I have a few Cardinals and Browns cards from this set that I picked up somewhere, at some point, for not very much.  Chapman is likely the best card that I have from this set.  

Here is the back of the card.  

 I do not mind its imperfections, this is just a good classic baseball card.  There is a crease along the bottom, the corners are rounded, and I would not have it any other way.

Project Durham Bulls #55 - Tom Poholsky

1945-1946 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Poholsky started his professional career in Durham with the Bulls after the Red Sox signed him as an amateur free agent.  He pitched two seasons with the Bulls going 5-3 in 1945, and 1-3 in 1946 before the Cardinals drafted him the Red Sox Minor League system.  Poholsky's became a dominant Minor League pitcher after moving over to the Cardinals system.  He won 32 games in 1949 and 1950 pitching for the Cardinals Triple A team the Rochester Red Wings. Poholsky won the International League MVP during the 1950 season as the winner of 18 games.  

Poholsky first appeared for the Cardinals in 1950, but his first full season was in 1951 when he went 7-13 with an ERA of 4.43.  He missed the 1952 and 1953 seasons serving in the Korean War before returning to the Cardinals in 1954.  Poholsky would play for the Cardinals until 1956.  He was traded to the Cubs where he closed out his career in 1957 by going 1-7 with an ERA close to 5.  In his final game in the Majors against the Dodgers in September of 1957, he ended up striking out both Duke Snider and Gil Hodges while working a perfect two innings.  

He retired to suburban St. Louis where he lived with his wife until he died from brain cancer in 2001.  His wife, Dory Poholsky, has been a health care advocate for veterans in the St. Louis area.  

Card-

There are not many Poholsky cards, but they are all in some great sets.  It's hard to go wrong when you are dealing with a bunch of 1950s baseball card sets.  I really like the wood grain TV design on the 1955 Bowman cards.  I had to get this one, but honestly his cards are inexpensive enough that I could probably go back and get a few of his other cards.  Many of them are less than $5, like this one.  There are not a lot of cross over players between my favorite two teams from this era, so I might have to do another post when I pick up some of his other cards.  

Project Durham Bulls Part 54 - Duane Ward

Background- Duane Ward had a short career, flew under the radar of many fans, but was an important player on the great Blue Jays teams of the early 1990s.  The Braves drafted him out of high school in New Mexico with the ninth overall pick in 1982, but he flamed out in their system as a starting pitcher.  That included a season with the Durham Bulls in 1983, where he had a losing record and an ERA over 4.  The Braves traded Ward to the Blue Jays in 1986 who gave him a chance to pitch out of the bullpen.  He would have a six year run with more than 10 saves.  Ward worked primarily as the setup man for Tom Henke, but would take over the closers role in 1993.  He led the American League in saves that season, and helped the Blue Jays win their second World Series title. 

Card- The 1980s Durham Bulls teams have some challenges.  There are some really good players from the Bulls run as a Braves affiliate, but many do not have a certified autograph.  The players are also all from the junk wax era, so it's also really hard to find a card that is unique, or offers a challenge to track down.  Ward was a good player on a good team, yet I really only had two choices if I was not going to use a really ordinary base card.  I went with a Desert Storm edition of his 1991 Topps card.  I paid more in shipping than I did for the card.  Maybe Topps will get Duane Ward to sign some Archives cards at some point, until then I am going with this card for my Durham Bulls collection.  

Project Durham Bulls Part 53 - Monte Weaver

1928 - 1929 Durham Bulls 

Background- One of the more interesting characters in the history of the Durham Bulls.  The "Prof" played for the team in the late 1920s on his way up to the Washington Senators for 8 seasons, along with one year with the Red Sox. In 1932, he enjoyed his best Major League season with 22 wins.  The rest of his career was fairly average, ending with a total of 71 wins and an ERA of 4.36.  Now, on to the interesting stuff.  

While he was playing in the Minors, he also was attending the University of Virginia as a grad student.  He taught class there, as a grad assistant, and earned the nickname "Prof" by the other players.  Weaver was supposedly in line to become a Rhodes Scholar, but a paperwork snafu prevented him from earning a spot.  

A few other oddities.  The Sporting News did a profile on him in 1933 after his best season where he pointed out that he liked spending time alone on beaches, or hanging out in his hotel room rather than being around other baseball players.  Weaver was also a hypochondriac and a vegetarian.  In another profile, the Sporting News made mention of his addiction to spinach.  The Washington Post noted that he ate too many peas and carrots. Weaver eventually started eating meat, and the D.C. press was apparently thrilled when he gained ten pounds during Spring Training.  

In the end, his baseball career did not last past the late 1930s, and he ended up in the Navy for World War II.  Eventually he would settle down in Florida and bought a bunch of orange groves.  

Card- How could you not want a card out of the 1933 Goudey set?  My copy of this Weaver card is a little rough, but these are pretty pricey cards.  Even the ones with creases and rounded corners.  The background colors are usually a lot brighter than this powder blue.  Yes, this copy has some fading, but it is still not as bright as many of the other cards in this set.  Happy to add this Pre-World War II card, tricky to track down the Durham Bulls players from this era.  Always a plus when you can find one in a great set like this one.  

Project Durham Bulls #52 - Merrill "Pinky" May

1933 Durham Bulls 

Background- Merrill May was originally a Yankees farmhand after graduating from Indiana University.  At some point in the lower Minors he picked up the nickname "Pinky", but he still has a few baseball cards that refer to him as Merrill.  He played for the Durham Bulls in 1933, who were a Yankees affiliate for just that season, and hit .309 with 3 home runs, and 31 doubles. The Phillies picked him up in the Rule 5 Draft at the end of the 1938 season.  May was the Phillies starting third baseman from 1939 until 1943.  He was best known for his strong defense at the hot corner, and posted a slash line of .275/.354/.337 for his career.  May was drafted into the Navy after the 1943 season.    

After returning from the war, May spent two years playing in the Pirates Minor League system before he was given the opportunity to take over the team's managerial job.  May would spend the the next twenty-five years managing in the Minors for the Pirates, Indians, Yankees, and Reds.  He had some great years mixed in there though, including a 90 win season with Keokuk Kernels, which is a rarity in the Minors.

One of May's other notable moments in his Minor League managing career came in 1967 while managing the Indians Class A Ball team in Statesville, North Carolina.  The league also featured a Pirates affiliate with his son Milt as the starting catcher.  Milt May ended the season with 10 home runs hit against his father's team.  Those ten included an inside the park home run where Pinky was ejected for arguing that the ball got stuck in a net and should only be a double. In another game, Milt hit two home runs in consecutive at-bats, Pinky ordered him to be hit. 

Milt ended up playing 15 years, primarily for the Pirates, Giants, and Tigers.  

Card- Pinky May has several different cards floating around out there, most of them come from the late 1930s and 1940s Play Ball sets.  I did not want to pay a ton of money for some slabbed card, so I watched a few that were in decent shape, and ended up with the one pictured above.  It's off center, the corners are worn, there are some surface issues, but overall I really like this card.  Obviously there are not a ton of 1930s baseball cards in my collection, so it's nice to end up with another one at a reasonable price.  

Project Durham Bulls #51 - Clint Courtney

1962 -1963 Durham Bulls

Background- 

Clint Courtney spent the better part of a decade playing in the Majors as a backup catcher, appearing in games for the Yankees, Browns, Orioles, Senators, White Sox, and A's. Seems like a pretty good player off the bench, but I really like that he was nicknamed  "Scrap Iron" while playing for the St. Louis Browns over two fights he incited with the Yankees.  During one incident he spiked Billy Martin, and then proceeded to punch him when the Yankees infielder protested being spiked.  The following season Courtney spiked Phil Rizzuto, while trying to stretch a single into a double, which resulted in Billy Martin jumping on him during a fight that ensued.  For years, the fight held the American League record for fines.   

Clint Courtney played his last game in the Majors in 1961 for the Baltimore Orioles.  He would spend the next three seasons in the Houston Colts Minor League system working with younger players.  Courtney was 35 and 36 years old for his two seasons with the Durham Bulls.  The Bulls were an Astros affiliate at that time, and they had some good Major League quality talent on the roster.  By the mid 1960s, the Astros used Clint Courtney as their bullpen coach.  He had been considered for several managing jobs along the way.  

After leaving the Astros in 1970, Clint Courtney spent the rest of his life working as a coach in the Minor Leagues.  He managed the Richmond Braves on several different occasions during the 1970s, before he passed away playing ping pong against some of the team's players on a road trip in 1975.  

Card- 

There are not a ton of Clint Courtney cards, but they are all from really good sets.  It was honestly sort of a hard decision to choose which card I should add to my collection.  I ended up narrowing it down to trying to find a St. Louis Browns card, and then after that I decided to go with his 1953 Bowman card.  There are far too few St. Louis Browns cards in my collection.  

Project Durham Bulls Part 51 - Bubba Morton

1957 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Morton was primarily a fourth outfielder for the Tigers, Braves, and Angels during his seven year Major League career. His final three years were easily his best, where he earned the reputation as one of the best pinch hitters in baseball. While Morton's Major League career seems ordinary, he is an important figure in the history of the Durham Bulls.  

Morton, along with pitcher Ted Radcliffe, became the first African-American players for the Bulls in 1957, appearing in an April 18th game against the Greensboro Hornets. Bubba Morton went on to become a Carolina League All-Star that season hitting .310 with 18 home runs. The Bulls ended the season in first place capturing the Carolina League title.  

After retiring, Morton moved to Seattle where he became one of the first African-American college baseball coaches.  He coached the Washington Huskies for five seasons before the university ended their baseball program due to financials problems in the athletic department.  

Card-

Morton cards are obviously not very expensive, so I went more on style and team than anything else. I decided that I would rather own a Tigers card of the former outfielder, that was the team the Bulls were affiliated with at the time Morton playing, than an Angels card.  It came down to a decision between the 1963 and the 1962 Topps cards.  Is there really a wrong choice?  

I actually ended up with both, but I put the 1962 card at the top of the post.  Here is the 1963 card.  

The 1962 Topps card is obviously in better shape, although the centering is a little bit off.  The 1962 Topps card is also Morton's rookie and one of the short printed cards in the set.  Again, both great cards, happy to have both in my collection.  

Project Durham Bulls #49 - Mark Lemke

1987 Durham Bulls 

Background- 
The Braves selected Mark Lemke out of high school in Utica, New York during the 1983 MLB Draft.  He spent the first five seasons of his professional baseball career toiling in A and Rookie Ball.  The summers of 1986, spent with the Sumter Braves in the South Atlantic League, and the Bulls were breakthrough years for Lemke.  During his 1987 season with the Bulls, Lemke hit 20 home runs, hit almost 30 doubles, and had batting average of .292 with an on-base percentage of .364.  The second baseman would appear in Atlanta the next summer, and would nail down the starting job with the Braves by time 1990 started. 

Lemke spent his career almost entirely with the Braves, he played 31 games with the Red Sox in 1998, and ended up being a light hitting middle infielder.  However, he had a few stretches during the Postseason that became his legacy as a Major League player.  Lemke hit .417 with 4 RBIs in the 1991 World Series against the Twins, .333 against the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS against the Pirates, and .444 against the Cardinals in the 1996 NLCS. 

Card- 
There are several different Lemke autograph cards out there.  One of the easier ones to find is one of those Panini Hometown Heroes cards, with no logos, and no soul.  If that were the only Lemke card out there, I probably would have picked one up at some point.  However, there are also a few different Topps Archives and Fan Favorites autographs.  This is a 2005 Fan Favorites autograph.  Lemke has been on my list of players to find for awhile, finally found a card I like at a price I like.  As an added bonus, I like that it is on a 1995 Topps design, which is the year that the Braves and Lemke won the World Series.

Project Durham Bulls #48 - Andy Kosco

1960 Durham Bulls 

Background-
Andy Kosco is a bit of a local legend in Youngstown, Ohio.  He excelled at football, basketball, and baseball in high school.  By his senior year he had more than 44 football scholarship offers, many from large conference powerhouses such as Michigan State and Ohio State, along with more than 20 basketball scholarship offers, and a deep interest from several baseball teams.  Ultimately, the Detroit Tigers signed Kosco for more than $62,000 in bonus money, which was an enormous amount at that time. 

Kosco appeared for the Durham Bulls in 1960, his second year in professional baseball.  He hit 22 home runs, drove in 75 runs, and won the Rookie of the Year Award in the Carolina League that season.  For the next several years, Kosco lingered in the Tigers farm system, but was ultimately released in 1964 when the Tigers thought his talents had maxed out in the Minors.  He signed with the Twins and made his Major League debut in 1965.  Eventually, he ended up on the Twins World Series roster that fall.  He never got an at bat in the Series though, and the Twins lost the World Series to the Dodgers.

After three partial seasons in Minnesota Kosco began to bounce around the league.  He was sold to the A's.  The A's left him unprotected on their 40 man roster at the end of the 1967 season where he was selected by the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft.  The Yankees traded him to the Dodgers.  The Dodgers traded him to the Brewers.  The Brewers traded him to the Angels.  The Angels traded him to the Red Sox.  The Red Sox traded him to the Reds.  10 years, 7 teams.

Card- 
In honor of the release of the 2019 Topps Heritage set, I decided to pick a Durham Bulls player who was featured in the 1970 Topps set.  The highly anticipated Topps product is using the design from the 1970 flagship set.  Topps had some pretty bold designs during the 1970s, this was obviously not one of them.  The grey borders were pretty drab, but for me this was one of the first "vintage" sets that I owned a card from, which was a Red Schoendienst manager card.

Kosco's frequent trades made him a frequent subject of airbrushing.  His rookie card in 1966 was airbrushed, along with his 1969 Topps, 1971, and 1972.  Almost half of his cards.  I was actually able to get a pair of Kosco cards for next to nothing, also landing his 1967 Topps card.  Obviously the connection to the this week's Topps Heritage release made me go with this Dodgers card. 

Project Durham Bulls #47 - Ed Figueroa

1968 Raleigh-Durham Mets 

Background- 

Figueroa joined the Mets organization in 1966.  He spent his first few seasons bouncing around between the Mets Rookie League and A Ball teams.  In 1968, he joined the Mets Carolina League team, the Raleigh-Durham Mets, formerly the Durham Bulls, for seven games.  Figueroa's ERA was over 6, he hurt his arm, and he was then drafted into the Marines for the Vietnam War.  He spent 1969 in Vietnam before returning to baseball in 1970, signing with the Giants as a free agent.  Figueroa would eventually find his way onto the Angels, who then traded him with Mickey Rivers to the Yankees for Bobby Bonds.  

Figueroa had four really good year during his eight year career starting in 1975 with the Angels.  He won 16, 19, and 20 games for the Yankees from 1976 through 1978.  While he did not pitch well in the postseason, Figueroa was a key part of the Yankees World Series teams in both 1977 and 1978.  He only won 10 games over the last three years of his career, but retired as the only Puerto Rican born pitcher to have ever won 20 games in a single season.  

Card- 

Upper Deck had some really good product out in the mid 2000s with some older signers.  There were some that were centered around the Yankees, which is actually where I thought I would get an autograph of Ed Figueroa if there was one available.  However, I like these Timeless Teams autographs too, which came out in 2005.  The set is based around World Series teams, and while there are some big names from big teams in the product, there is also a good blend of players whose names are not household names.  In many ways, this set reminds me a lot of some of the Topps Archives sets in terms of the autograph checklist with just a little bit more focus.   

Project Durham Bulls #46- Charlie Grimm

1917 Durham Bulls 

Background-

There were not a lot of statistics kept for the Minor Leagues back in 1917, but Charlie Grimm played one season for the Bulls while the team was in the North Carolina State League.  The prior season he had played for the Philadelphia A's as a 17 year old.  He would play a handful of games for his hometown St. Louis Cardinals in 1918 before settling in with the Pirates in 1919.  Grimm was known as an elite fielder, Bill James rates him as the best fielding first baseman of all-time, while playing 20 years in the Majors.  The majority of his time was spent with the Pirates and the Cubs.  He played on two National League Champion teams with the Cubs in 1929 and 1932.  Grimm ended his career with more than 2,000 hits, a .290 batting average, and more than 1,000 RBIs.  

While Grimm was a good player, his contributions to game as a manager were even more important.  His managerial career started when he took over as a player/manager for the Cubs.  Grimm finished the second half of the 1932 season at the helm of the team, which lost in the World Series to the Yankees.  After his retirement as a player, Grimm stayed with the Cubs as their manager and led the team to two more National League titles in 1935 and 1945.  Both World Series were lost to the Tigers.  

Grimm eventually was fired by the Cubs and ended up working as the manager of the Braves in the early 1950s.  While he never won a pennant with the Braves he made some significant personnel contributions to the franchise which helped the team after he was dismissed.  The most important decision he made was to replace 35 year old outfielder Sid Gordon with a 20 year old Hank Aaron at the beginning of the 1954 season.  Aaron had shown a lot of pop the prior year in the South Atlantic League.  Grimm would eventually pair Aaron with young third baseman Eddie Matthews and catcher Del Crandall to form the core of the Braves 1957 World Series winner. 


Card-
All of the Project Durham Bulls cards that I have posted over the past two years have been autographed.  These cards have been fun to post, never a problem with adding more autographs to the collection.  However, the Bulls are an old franchise that have been around since 1902.  There are a lot of great former Bulls players who have no certified autographs, but that does not mean that I am not interested in their cards.  At some point, I knew I was going to have to just start finding cool cards of players, especially the older ones, that were not autographs.  Grimm was in Durham for one year, but he was a good player and manager.  Certainly worthy of a spot in my collection. 

Like all things vintage, if you go for something that is really clean and pristine, you are going to pay a pretty penny for it.  I had the choice of trying to find a 1950s manager card of Grimm with the Braves, or go with an older card, see more expensive, to find him as a player with the Cubs.  I split the difference and picked up a 1934 Goudey, which would have been the end of his playing career, but he was managing the team at this point. 

It's got some creasing in the middle of the card.  It's not perfectly centered.  The corners are round.  The borders have a gray hue.  I love this card and I am glad that I finally added an older, non-autographed card to my collection that was added for this series of posts.   

Project Durham Bulls #44 - Doug Rader

1965 Durham Bulls 

Background-
I do enjoy finding cards of the Durham Bulls players that I have watched over the past ten years plus that I have lived around Durham and Raleigh.  However, the Durham Bulls are one of the longest running Minor League teams around and have a long history with many great players.  I love finding some of the older players, especially the ones that I do not know a lot about, and taking time to find out more about their careers.  While I was growing up in the 1980s and early 1990s, I knew Doug Rader as a manager, but I did not know a thing about him as a player until I moved to North Carolina.
The Astros signed Doug Rader as an amateur free agent out of Illinois Wesleyan University in 1965.  He was sent to start his professional baseball career with the team's Carolina League affiliate in Durham.  Rader ended up playing 112 games for the Bulls and hit .209/.307/.385 with 14 home runs, 14 doubles, and 38 RBIs.  Not a great line, but he still ended up getting promoted to Double A the following season.  Rader made his Major League debut in 1967.  He played 11 years, mainly with the Astros, but he also appeared in games for the Padres and Blue Jays.  In all, Rader had 1,300 hits, 155 home runs, more than 700 RBIs, and an impressive 5 Gold Gloves.

After retiring, Doug Rader went into coaching and managing.  He managed the Rangers during the 1983, 1984, and part of the 1985 season.  In 1986, the White Sox used him to manage the team for two games after management fired Tony LaRussa in the middle of the season.  Rader also managed the Angels for three seasons in the early 1990s.  He worked as a hitting coach with the Marlins for the franchise's first two seasons, but retired after the 1994 season.  To the best of my knowledge, he has not worked in baseball since that job.

Card- 
I am really happy with this card.  Like really happy.  The Greats of the Games autographs have always been one of the great products of the late 1990s and early 2000s.  By the time that the mid 2000s rolled around, I am not sure that the many collectors would describe the product as great.  I still think it was a nice set, definitely a step back though.  This Rader card is a far cry from the 1999 or 2000 sets, but there is still plenty to like.

First, the Nickname cards were always a staple in the Donruss Signature set.  Fleer never used nickname cards even though the products were rivals of sorts.  Fleer went with the nicknames in this set.  Yes, they are sticker autographs, but Fleer also picked some unique players.  Besides, the Donruss Signature Set had also turned to sticker autographs too.  I have another one of these cards of Tom Henke "The Terminator", who never appeared in any other autograph product.  Rader also only appears in this set as a signer.  Really unique cards to own.

Rader was a redhead and earned the nickname "Red Rooster" based on the way that his hair stuck out of his hat.  In some ways, I wish that I had a simple card with a regular Doug Rader signature.  However, if you only have one choice of card for a player, this is a pretty sweet card and a really good addition to my collection of Durham Bulls cards.  

Project Durham Bulls #43 - Melvin Nieves

1991-1992 Durham Bulls

Background-

Going with the Carolina League version of the Durham Bulls for this post.  Nieves was signed out of Puerto Rico by the Braves in 1988.  The former Major League outfielder signed as a 17 year old, so it took him a few years to reach A-Ball with the Bulls.  Nieves first stint with the Bulls was decent, but as a 19 year old, the Braves left in with the Bulls for a second season.  It lasted all of 31 games.  During that short stint, Melvin Nieves hit .302/.395/.632 with 8 home runs, 9 doubles, and 32 RBIs.  The Braves shuffled him up to Double A, and eventually for a cup of coffee in the Majors at the end of the season.

Shortly afterwards the Braves took advantage of his great season trading him to the Padres in exchange for Fred McGriff.  It was not a 1 for 1 trade, but Melvin Nieves was the most significant player the Padres received.  He ended up as a Top 100 Prospect with Baseball America in both 1993 and 1994 and continued to hit in the Minors after the trade.  The Padres called Nieves up for good in 1995, but he only hit .205 and had almost 100 strikeouts in just 234 at bats.  San Diego eventually traded him to the Detroit where he had two 20 home run seasons.  His final Major League took place with the Reds in 1998.  Nieves eventually ended up in Japan for a few seasons before returning to MLB for a comeback attempt with the Nationals in 2005.  He never made it back to the Majors.  

Card- 

Look for an autograph of a 1990s baseball player, it seems like I always end up look at the checklist for the 1996 Leaf Signature set.  The last couple of posts in my Durham Bulls autograph series have been out of this set, looking ahead, there are several more players who I could pick out of this set.  Nieves is one of many instances where these large autograph sets, like Leaf Signature, are actually the only option for finding a certified autograph.  While Nieves has healthy number of cards for a player who did not stick around too long, this is his only appearance in as a signer as a professional baseball player.  The card is very common and very inexpensive, but I still like the looks of the card and am happy to add another autograph of a former Durham Bulls player to the collection.  

Project Durham Bulls #42- Fred McGriff

2004 Durham Bulls

Background- 

For a long time, I was sure that Fred McGriff was on the Durham Bulls all-time roster because he showed up for some rehab assignment once.  However, I later learned that was not the case at all.  McGriff had been signed by the Rays to a Minor League contract during the end of Spring Training in 2003.  They sent the 40 year old first baseman to the Durham Bulls to play his way up to the Majors.  McGriff's stint with the Bulls last seven games before the Rays called him up.  By July, the Rays ended up moving on from McGriff, releasing him after he hit just .181/.272/.306 in 27 games.  It was the end of McGriff's 19 year career.  

In all, McGriff hit 493 home runs, drove in 1,550 runs, had 2,490 hits, went to 5 All-Star Games, and won 3 Silver Slugger Awards.  He won the 1995 All-Star Game MVP and also helped the 1995 Braves win the World Series.  The "Crime Dog" is one of those players who I am sort of indifferent on as far as the Hall of Fame.  I get the arguments both ways, but I think he's a player who is eventually going to get put in by the Veteran's Committee.  

Card- 

McGriff was one of the real popular players while the junk wax era was taking place.  He was in the American League with the Blue Jays for a long time, so I did not get to see him, but I remember his 1986 Donruss card was expensive and lots of people wanted one.  I kind of shrugged my shoulders at his cards, until he got traded to the Padres.  McGriff then spent a long time playing in the NL in San Diego and Atlanta.  I was much more aware of his cards, but they were sort of on the high end for I player I who was not a Cardinal.  

McGriff's earlier autographs are now selling for something a little north of $10.  I am positive that they were way more that in the mid to late 1990s.  Now that we are out of the 1990s, and McGriff has landed in Hall of Fame limbo, the cost of his cards has come down a bit.  He has signed for a bunch of Topps and Panini products in recent years, I even think I picked up one of his Archives autographs with the Blue Jays at one point.  However, I thought I would try a Braves card.  I have used several of these Leaf Signature cards for my Durham Bulls posts.  This one seemed like the best option for a McGriff autograph.  

Project Durham Bulls Part #40 - Jeremy Hellickson

2009-2010, 2014 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Hellickson was a very important member of the Durham Bulls during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.  He pitched part of a season in Durham in 2009, helped the team win the Triple A National Championship, and took home the MVP in the final game against the Memphis Redbirds.  The following season, Hellickson played roughly 20 games with the Bulls and ended up winning the Baseball America and USA Today Minor League Player of the Year Award.  Hellickson also took home the International League MVP.  One of the more impressive resumes while playing for the Bulls.  Hellickson ended up playing on the 2014 team as well on an injury rehab.

Hellickson's Major League career has not been as spectacular as his time in Durham, but he's still been a nice pitcher.  During his first full season with the Rays, Hellickson won 13 games and took home the 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Award.  He played on the Rays until 2014, but has bounced around since playing for the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Orioles, and and Nationals.  

Card- 

I wanted to go with something early in Hellickson's career.  He had cards out earlier than this 2011 Bowman Chrome, but nothing that was a quality autograph.  After this Bowman card, the flood gates sort of opened for awhile and Hellickson appeared in a bunch of different Topps products.  He has always had a little bit of an odd signature, but he is very consistent with it.  Especially the earlier cards.  Price was never a huge deal with Hellickson cards, but they have certainly become much more affordable since he started bouncing around the last few years.  

Project Durham Bulls #39 Brandon Backe

2003 Durham Bulls 

Background-
Backe was drafted by the Devil Rays out of Galveston College in the 18th round of the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft as an infielder.  His career in the Minor Leagues was pretty interesting.  Between 1998 and 2000 Backe was used as a utility infielder/outfielder in the lower Minors by the Devil Rays.  He never hit much and struck out often.  His best season was in 1999, which was split between two A Ball teams.  He hit .220/.325/.351 for a .676 OPS.  I know, I know, that does not sound very good.  It's not.  Backe did hit 10 home runs that season and also had 17 doubles.  That's okay, right?

In 2001, Backe moved on to pitching and ascended the Devil Rays Minor League system quickly.  He ended up in Tampa by the end of the 2002 season appearing in 9 games.  His 2003 season was split between the Majors and Triple A with the Bulls.  In all, Backe pitched 16 games in Durham with a 4.64 ERA.  His Triple A numbers look rather pedestrian.  During the 2003 off season, he was traded to the Astros in exchange for Geoff Blum.

He had a good run for a few years with the Astros, including their 2004 and 2005 playoff teams, which reached the National League Championship Series and World Series.  Houston did not get a World Series winner out of those teams, but it was not Backe's fault......

Card- 

Upper Deck also had some nice autographed cards in there sets.  Not sure that the 2007 batch was their best effort.  First, these were sticker autographs, which many of the other 2000s autographs were too.  However, I think that the sticker is really poorly blended into the card.  It's a sticker autograph and it's obvious, pretty hard to do with a clear sticker.   Not even sure it's on the card straight.  Second, the "Star Signings" emblem is almost as big as the picture of Backe.  Seems like you'd want the primary focus of the card on the player, maybe the autograph.  So why did I get this card? 

All of Backe's autographs span a a five year period from 2002 through 2007.  Most of the early autographed cards are from Playoff products.  Those cards are also all sticker autographs, but they have those giant silver stickers on the front.  Clearly a step down from this Upper Deck.  Backe's later autographs are from Upper Deck products, one of them is a Fleer which was owned by UD at that point, and all of them are nicer than his older signatures.  However, on sites like COMC, they are also not as dirt cheap as I would like them to be.  For example, his 2007 Fleer autograph is almost $5 on there.  Can't pay that much for a guy who had two good seasons.  In the end, I am collecting Durham Bulls autographs, but for some players I am going for a blend of affordability and design.  This was more about affordability. 

Project Durham Bulls #38 - Joey Gathright

2004-2006 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

The Devil Rays drafted Gathright in the 32nd Round of the 2001 Draft out of Kenner, Louisiana.  Gathright actually started his professional career the following summer in 2002 with the Charleston River Dogs in South Atlantic League (Low A) and immediately impressed with his ability to get on base and steal.  During his first professional season he stole 22 bases and had an on-base percentage of .360.  The next season in High A and Double A he pushed his on-base percentage over .400 and he stole 69 bases.  By 2004, Gathright reached Triple A with the Durham Bulls as a top 100 prospect with Baseball America.  He ended up splitting time with the Bulls, Double A Montgomery, and in the Majors with the Devil Rays.  Gathright appeared in 60 in Durham, stole 33 bases, and had an OBP of .384.  His 2005 was split between Durham and Tampa, while he hit with the Bulls, he did not duplicate that success with the Devil Rays.  In 2006, he started the season with the Durham Bulls, but was traded in June to the Royals for relief pitcher J.P. Howell.  

Gathright ended up playing seven seasons in the Majors with the Rays, Royals, Cubs, and Red Sox.  In the end, he was never able to consistently get on-base and that limited his chances to steal bases.  Sometimes you are a good enough athlete you can jump over cars at the mall.....

Yes, it's Joey Gathright.  His incredible jumping ability did not translate into hits and walks. 

Card- 

Fleer Authentix was around for a few years in the early 2000s.  I really liked this product the first year or two that it was out, but it went downhill quickly.  The set obviously revolved around tickets, this was it's final appearance due to Fleer going bankrupt.  Not anything really special about this card, but I picked this card based more on what it was not, more than what it is.

Back of the card really quickly.  

Gathright signed a healthy number of cards during a 5 year window between 2004 and 2009.  Almost all of the cards are signed on stickers.  This card is not an on-card autograph, but it was better than most of the options.  Really, I did not want a card with a giant silver sticker on the front of it that came out of some iffy product like Donruss Team Heroes.  

Project Durham Bulls #34 - Andruw Jones

1996 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

Andruw Jones started out the 1996 season with the Durham Bulls.  At the time the Bulls were the Braves High A Ball affiliate in the Carolina League.  By the time the season was over, Jones was starring in the 1996 World Series for the Braves against the Yankees.  He hit two home runs in Game 1 becoming the youngest player to hit multiple home runs in a World Series game.  

Jones played in the Majors for a total of 17 years.  I like to view his career in two halves:  The Braves half, which was good, and the years after the Braves, which were not so good.  I have seen arguments for and against Jones being in the Hall of Fame.  It seems like people's view point depends on how good you think the Atlanta years were versus how much his time with the Dodgers, Rangers, White Sox, and Yankees hurt his chances.  

I am going to stay neutral in this fight and stick to the numbers that Andruw Jones had at the end of his career.  He ended up hitting 434 home runs, 383 doubles, drove in almost 1,300 runs, and had a WAR of 62.8.  Jay Jaffe's JAWS ranking system has Andruw Jones as the 11th best center fielder of all-time behind Hall of Famers like Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ken Griffey, Joe DiMaggio, and others.  In terms of his peers, who played during the same era, his numbers are in the same neighborhood as Jim Edmonds, Kenny Lofton, Carlos Beltran.  Plus or minus, here and there.  

Jones also had a good repuatation as a defensive center fielder....

taking home 10 Gold Gloves during his twelve year career as a member of the Braves.  

Card- 

Andruw Jones has a ton of certified autographs that have been put out throughout his career.  He has also been a generous signer for different card companies in the years since he retired from the sport.  I decided that I was going to try to track down a copy of Jones as a Minor Leaguer.  He has several autographs from different Best products.  Not the nicest, nor the most expensive, but I liked the idea of seeing Jones in a Minor League uniform.  

I actually already have a really nice autograph of Jones in a Durham Bulls uniform.....

This was in Heritage Minors a few years ago.  I figured it would be tough to track another copy of this card, and if I did I figured it would probably be pretty pricy.  The Best autograph I found of Jones cost me little, but my goal was met, and I found a card where Jones is pictured as a Bull.  There is a Best card with Jones pictured solely as a member of the Bulls, but the card at the top of the post celebrates him winning the Minor League Player of the Year.  

I know it does not say that anywhere on the front of the card.....

it is on the back.  It's got a few design flaws, but I am still happy.  Not sure about that Player Of The Year logo in the middle of the card.  Seems a little suspect.  

Project Durham Bulls #33 - Casey Gillaspie

2016-2017 Durham Bulls 

Background- 

Gillaspie was selected by the Rays in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Wichita State.  While in college, he excelled as a hitter in several wood bat summer leagues, as well as having a great junior season with the Shockers.  Gillaspie reached Triple A with the Bulls in the middle of the 2016 season after starting the season with Montgomery in the Southern League.  In 85 games with the Rays Double A team he hit .270/.387/.454 with 11 home runs and 21 doubles earning him a promotion up to the Bulls.  Gillaspie continued to hit well during the second half of 2016 in Durham.  He had 22 extra base hits with a .307/389/.520 slash line in just 47 games in Triple A.  Gillaspie returned to the Bulls in 2017, but struggled at the plate, as his average sunk below .230 and his on base dipped below .300.  The Rays traded Casey Gillaspie at the end of July for White Sox relief pitcher Dan Jennings.  The White Sox stuck him with their Triple A team in Charlotte, where he has remained since the trade.  

Card- 

Gillaspie first appeared in the 2014 Bowman Draft set, but did not sign anything in the set.  This 2015 Bowman Chrome card was his first licensed autograph card.  There are a bunch of Leaf products from 2014 with Gillaspie autographs, but they have the logos airbrushed off of the card.  A couple of the Leaf cards have cool patch pieces or inscriptions, but outside of that there is little to make them desirable cards.  Considering that the card market has not yet adjusted to the fact that Gillaspie seems like a AAAA player, many of his autographed cards still sell for upwards of $10, I went with this Bowman Chrome card simply based on the fact that it was the nicest card I could find for less than $5.  He actually has some sweet Panini cards which have him in his college Wichita State uniform, but those are in the group of cards that are north of $10.   

Project Durham Bulls #32 - Jeff Niemann

2007, 2008, and 2011 Durham Bulls 

Background-

Niemann was a great college pitcher at Rice University in Houston.  His best season at Rice was in 2003 when he went 17-0 with a 1.56 ERA, he was consensus All-American.  The Owls ended that year by winning the College World Series.  There were actually three pitchers on that college team that ended up getting drafted high in the 2004 MLB Draft: Niemann, Philip Humber, and Wade Townsend.  

The right handed Houston native is probably best known for being one of the tallest Major League players in recent history standing at 6'9.  Niemann started his Rays career in 2005 with stops in Visalia and Montgomery.  He missed part of the 2006 season after having a shoulder operation during the offseason.  Niemann reached Durham in 2007 and 2008.  He had two solid seasons as a member of the Bulls before joining the Rays at the end of the 2008 season for a few starts.  Throughout Niemann's time in the Minors he was regarded as a good prospect making Baseball Prospectus Top 100 Prospects list every year between 2005 and 2008.  The following spring in 2009 the Rays made him apart of their rotation.  

Not exactly Cy Young, but he definitely had his moments.....

Niemann had double digit wins during the 2009, 2010, and 2011 seasons.  He started out the 2012 season strong, but had his leg broken by a ball hit back through the middle of the field.  At the end of the 2012 season he had shoulder surgery, that was the end of his career.  Niemann was granted free agency at the end of the 2012 season, never signed with another team, and he never attempted a comeback of any type after recovering from his shoulder operation.  

Card-

The 1990s versions of Stadium Club were great.  The current reincarnation of Stadium Club has been pretty great too.  In between, there was another attempt by Topps at a Stadium Club product in 2008.  It did not go over very well.  The base cards were okay, nothing special.  The design was boring.  There were some Stadium Club like insert sets, but they were just boring rehashes too.  Even the autographs were kind of uninteresting.  Most importantly, it lacked the cool photography that is the signature feature of that set.  

Most of the autographs were of younger players, many of them flopped.  A few noteworthy names made it into the set, but not many.  As a Durham Bulls collector, I was first introduced to the autographs in this product when I found one of Evan Longoria.  Niemann's autograph was also a nice plus as a Bulls fan, and he was a good prospect at the time of this card's release.  I also like that this Niemann card was an on-card autograph.  There are plenty of sticker autographs in this product, some of them are a mess.  Imagine this Niemann card with a silver Topps autograph.  Terrible.  

Niemann has a ton of different autographed cards from both his playing years and time in the Minors as a prospect.  His cards started coming out in the mid 2000s, so there are a ton of sticker autographs mixed in there.  Still, there are a few nice Upper Deck and Topps products that are nice and come with on-card autographs.  I also considered getting a Sweet Spot autograph, but the Stadium Club ended up winning out in the end.