Barry Lyons

Card: 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites. Topps reprinted some older cards. They listed them with the same stats and card backs but added a brief bio about their careers. A really cool set. Barry signed this right through the middle with a big Sharpie.

Personal: Barry Stephen Lyons, catcher

Bats: Right Throws: Right Ht: 6'1" Wt: 202

Born: 6/3/1960, Biloxi, MS Drafted: 1982, Mets, 15th Rnd.

Bio: Barry played back-up to Gary Carter for most of his career and he did it well. He played pro ball from 1982 to 1995 and was in the MLB from 1986 to 1991 and then again for a few games with the White Sox in 1995. After his playing career he managed in the minor leagues for a few years and he did some broadcasting for the Nashville Sounds as well. He's currently operating his Baseball Academy in Biloxi and trying to get a minor league team there.

Tom Underwood

Card: 1983 Topps #642. Signed with blue Sharpie. Mailed to home 2/3/2009 received 2/10/2009.

Personal: Tom Underwood, Pitcher

Bats: Right Throws: Left Ht: 5'11" Wt: 170 Born: 12/22/1953, Kokomo, IN Drafted: 2nd Round of 1972 draft.

Bio: Throughout his career Tom started and played as a reliever. He had a total of 35 complete games and 1500+ innings pitched. In his 11 year career he played for the Phillies, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yankees, A's & Orioles. 1979 was probably his best year when he threw 227 innings with Toronto. That season he only had 9 wins but had 12 complete games, 1 shutout and a 3.69 ERA.

Robin Ventura

Card: 2000 Skybox eX. These cards were pretty flashy; thick stock, ultra glossy reflective surfaces & odd color patterns for the background. I mailed other cards to Ventura's home and didn't get them mailed back. This one was returned in a few months c/o his home address. He is pictured in his Mets uniform and he signed in blue ink from a thin tip marker.

Personal: Robin Mark Ventura, third base

Bats - Left Throws - Right

Ht - 6'1'' Wt - 198

Born - 7/14/1967

Drafted - White Sox, 1st round (10th), 1988

Bio: Ventura played 15 seasons of major league baseball. He played for the White Sox, Mets, Yankees & Dodgers. He racked up 294 home runs & 1182 RBI. He was selected to 2 All Star teams a won 6 Gold Gloves. Ventura was the first player to ever hit a home run in each game of a double-header. He was involved in a couple trades: in 2001 from the Mets to the Yankees for David Justice and in 2003 from the Yankees to the Dodgers for Scott Proctor & Bubba Crosby.

Nate McLouth

Card: 2006 Topps '52. This is one of Nate's rookie cards. I mailed it to the Pirates and he signed and returned it very quickly.

Personal: Nathan Richard McLouth

Bats - Left Throws - Right

Ht - 5'11'' Wt -185

Born - 10/28/1981

Drafted - Selected by Pirates in the 25th round (749th) of 2000 amateur entry draft.

Bio: McLouth was successful throughout the minors and in a couple hundred games in Pittsburgh between 2006 & 2007. In the 2008 season he really made a name for himself by hitting 26 homers and 94 RBI in 597 at bats. In 2008 he received the Roberto Clemente award, was selected to the All-Star team and won a Gold Glove.

Chipper Jones

Card: I mailed a card to Chipper c/o the Atlanta Braves during the regular season. He didn't sign the card and I didn't get it returned but a signed photo was mailed along with a letter thanking me for my interest. It's a big 5x7 card and he signed his number as well.

Personal: Larry Wayne Jones, 3B
Bats - Switch Throws - Right
Ht - 6'4'' Wt - 210
Born - 4/24/1972 DeLand, FL
Drafted - 1st overall, 1990 amateur draft

Bio: Chipper Jones is almost definately a sure-fire, first ballot Hall of Famer. Besides some injury trouble from 2004 through 2006 his numbers have been stellar and consistent. Through the 2008 season he has 2277 hits, 408 homers and career marks in BA & OBP of .310 & .408.

Fred McGriff - Baseball

Card: 1995 Topps Stadium Clear Cut #5. This was a very unconventional set of cards and didn't end up being all that popular. I probably have other cards of McGriff that would've looked better signed but I didn't really think he'd be able to sign since I'm sure he gets a ton of requests. It took over 6 months to get this card back and it's one of the best sigs I've ever got. I'll definately try him again with a better card.

Personal: Frederick Stanley McGriff, 1B
Ht- 6'3" Wt- 215
Born- 10/21/1963, Tampa, FL
Drafted- Yankees, 9th Round (233), 1981

Bio: Fred McGriff is awsome. He is an 8 time MVP and a 5 time All-Star. He had 8 seasons where he had over 100 RBI and has a career total of 497 homers. He played in the majors from '86 - '04, over that 18 year span he played for 6 different teams: Blue Jays, Padres, Braves, Devil Rays, Cubs & Dodgers.

Vance Law - Baseball

Card: 1990 Topps #287. This is a great signature on a card from a pretty silly looking set. They all had these 'too colorful' borders that are pretty comical. This card was pulled from the first box of baseball cards I ever received when I was very young as a gift for being a ring bearer at a wedding. That box started a great hobby.

Personal: Vance Aaron Law, 3B
Ht-6'1" Wt- 190
Born- 10/1/56, Boise, ID
Drafted- Pittsburgh Pirates, 39th round (758th), 1978.

Bio: Vance Law played for the Cubs for two years, 1988 & '89. In 1988 he made the All-Star team and ended the season with a .293 BA. Law is possibly best known for holding the record for longest errorless game by a third baseman when he played the whole game of a 25 inning contest in 1984 (longest game in AL history). He is the son of Vern Law, Cy Young winner, and I think he is still the head baseball coach at Brigham Young. He also pitched a total of 8 innings at the major league level with 2 strikeouts.

C.C. Sabathia

Card: 2002 Topps #214. These horizontal photos are great and C.C. signed his jersey number on this one. This is the second card I have received signed by C.C. and I highly recommend sending him a card to sign, he's very responsive.


Personal: Carsten Charles Sabathia
Ht.- 6'7" Wt.- 270
Born- 7/21/80, Vallejo, CA
Drafted- Cleveland, 1st round (20th), 1998


Bio: One of the hardest working starters in baseball last season, throwing 240 innings and averaging almost 7 innings a game. He has been an everyday starter for Cleveland since 2001 and this is the last year of his current contract. I hope Cleveland has the sense to tender him a new fat contract soon to keep him with the team for as long as possible.

Jack McDowell - Baseball

Card: 1989 Score & 1993 Score. Most of us will always know Jack McDowell as a member of the White Sox so I got two Sox cards signed. These were mailed and returned separately of each other. Included with one card was a business card of a company I am presuming his wife or perhaps daughter runs: www.soapymouth.com .

Personal: Jack Burns McDowell
Ht- 6'5" Wt- 185
Born- Van Nuys, CA, 1/16/66
Drafted- Chicago White Sox, 1st Round (5th), 1987

Bio: BlackJack was an All Star in '91, '92 & '93 and through those three years he never pitched under 253 innings, had a minmum of 17 wins each season and compiled 38 complete games. In 1993 he won the AL Cy Young Award. He would have won the award in '92 as well but they gave it to Eckersley who had 51 saves and 91 strikeouts in 80 innings. He had a low 90's fastball with a big curve and a split-fingered fastball. He ended his career in 1999 with Anaheim and totaled 275 games for 1,889 innings.

Jeff Hornacek - Basketball

Card: 1992 Skybox #190. This card was made the same year he was traded to the 76ers.

Personal: Jeffrey John Hornacek
Ht. '64'' Wt. 190lbs.
Born- 5/3/61, Elmhurst IL
Drafted- Phoenix Suns, 2nd round (22nd), 1986

Bio: After six years of success with Phoenix he was traded to Philadelphia (w/some others) for Charles Barkley. The 76ers traded him the very next year to Utah for Jeff Malone and a first round pick. He ended up being a big part of the Jazz's success until his retirement. He was part of the Jazz/Bulls Finals series. His career totals in field goal and three point percentage were .496 and .403 respectively. November 23rd 1993 he set a new NBA record for conescutive three pointers without a miss with 8.

Todd Van Poppel - Baseball

Card: 1994 Topps Finest. I purchased a box of these in hopes of collecting as many autographs on them as possible. At the time they were the most premium cards on the market. The gloss tends to take something from the image but ink sets on them surprisingly well.

Personal: Todd Matthew Van Poppel
Ht. 6'5'' Wt. 210
Born - 12/9/71, Hinsdale, IL
Drafted - Oakland Athletics, 1st round (14th), 1990

Bio: Todd was drafted out of high school and it's known that pretty much every team ahead of Oakland considered taking him. The Braves are known to have almost picked him with the first choice, but got Chipper Jones instead. When Oakland signed him they immediately gave him a major league contract so he was only allowed to play in a limited amount of minor league games. It's because of this that he struggled initially at the major league level. His fastball was live but didn't move much so using him as a starter was another mistake. In 2000 & 2001 he was used as a middle reliever and found great success. In his 14 year major league career he played for six different teams but was only involved in one trade: in '98 Texas traded him to Pittsburgh for Esteban Loaiza and another player. He was much more successful as a reliever than a starter and is currently the co-owner of the Denton Outlaws, a team in the Texas Collegiate Baseball League.

Calvin Williams - Football

Card: 1996 Upper Deck Collectors Choice. This is one of the best autographs I've received. The names on this card set are printed vertically along the left side and he signed all along the right side, also signing his jersey number. The ink was faded slightly, presumably by the envelope during delivery. Mailed 11/21/07, received 1/4/2007.

Personal: Calvin John Williams Jr.
Wide Receiver
Ht. 5'11'' Wt. 190
Born - 3/3/67, Baltimore, MD
Drafted - Eagles, 5th Round, 1990

Bio: From 1990 to 1996 Calvin played for the Eagles, in '96 he also played in 7 games for Baltimore then retired. He received Philadelphia's first 2-point conversion and led the team with 63 receptions in 1995. In 1996 he was at least in the top 6 of 4 different offensive categories.

Adam Foote - Hockey

Card: 1992 ProSet #268.

Personal: Defenseman
Ht. 6'2" Wt. 220
Born- 7/10/1971
Drafted- Quebec Nordiques, 2nd round (22nd)

Bio: Spent nine years with the Avalanche until the '05/'06 season when he signed a huge contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets, with whom he plays today. He has 41 total points in 154 playoff games but hasn't made the playoffs yet with Columbus.

Bill Ranford - Hockey

Card: 1990 Score #358. One of my favorite hockey card sets, light borders and bright photos. This card shows Ranford holding the Conn Smythe Trophy that he won for being the MVP of the '89-'90 playoffs. The card was mailed January 9th and I got it back January 29th.

Personal: Goalie
Ht. 5'11'' Wt. 185
Born- Brandon, MAN. 12/14/1966
Drafted- Boston Bruins, 3rd round (52nd), 1985

Bio: Played until the '99-'00 season for 6 different NHL teams. The bulk of his career, 9 years, was spent with the Edmonton Oilers, with whom he won that Smythe trophy. He set a then Edmonton record for going 154 minutes, 24 seconds without allowing a goal. In game 1 of the finals he stopped 50 shots in a triple-overtime game. He currently serves as the LA Kings goalie coach.

Wayne Presley - Hockey

Card: 1991 Score

Personal: Wayne Presley
Ht. 5'11'' Wt. 180
Born- Dearborn, MI, March 23rd 1965
Drafted- Blackhawks 2nd round (39th), 1983

Bio: Had 9 goals & 6 assists in the 1990 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His best NHL season was probably '86-'87 when he played in 80 games and had 61 total points. Before he came to the NHL he once had 139 points in 70 games playing for Kitchener of the OHL. His last NHL season was '95-'96 with Toronto and he retired from pro hockey in '97-'98 after playing a few more years in the AHL & IHL.