The Black Sheep minicollection gets a PWE boost

Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life kindly shepherded enough black sheep cards in a recent PWE to cover multiple posts in the series. To recap, this minicollection of mine features lesser-known baseball players who are related to someone who had considerably more success in the pursuit of athletic greatness. I just always get a kick out of pulling a card with a familiar last name and discovering the guy is in fact related to the other guy.

We start off with a sweet specimen for the minicollection: a 3-player rookie card with all three guys being sons-- Juniors, even-- of noted baseball players. Nice one, Topps!, assuming this was on purpose.

Tim Raines, Jr / Gary Matthews, Jr / Garry Maddox, Jr

I already covered Tim Raines, Jr. in a previous black sheep post, so I'll direct you to that rather than repeat myself.

Gary Matthews, Sr., "Sarge", was NL ROY with the Giants in 1973 and went on to have a fine career that stretched 16 seasons. His son Gary Matthews, Jr had a pretty respectable MLB career too, and in fact he doesn't qualify for my black sheep minicollection because he exceeds the success parameters. His best year was 2006 when he was an All-Star with the Rangers.

The similarly named Garry Maddox won a bunch of Gold Gloves in the late 70s and early 80s patrolling centerfield for the Phillies, earning the badass nickname "The Secretary of Defense". Garry Maddox, Jr played from 1997 till 2003, but never made the show despite some pretty good years on the farm. He seemed to excel in A and AA, but falter in AAA.

Jeremy Barfield

Jesse Barfield was a big bat in the heart of the Blue Jays lineups of the 80s, and All-Star in '86 when he led the league with 40 home runs. I knew his son Josh Barfield played the game thanks to a strong rookie campaign for the Padres in 2006. While Josh's career petered out after he was traded to the Indians the following season, his 300+ career games keep him out of the minicollection. His younger brother Jeremy Barfield, however, hasn't cracked the bigs. Jeremy's still active, spending some time in 2015 with Colorado's AAA club, so who knows, he's still got a chance. He also seems to have a pretty amusing Twitter presence, @BarfontheField.

Mike Glavine

Before this card, I didn't realize Tom Glavine had a younger brother who played baseball (or if I knew at one time, I had since forgotten). Mike Glavine did reach the majors, but only managed 1 hit in 7 at-bats for the 2003 Mets. His brother Tom was also on the team. Pretty cool. He retired after spending 2004 in AAA.

That's it for this time.

Big thanks for the cards, Bo!
He actually originally sent his PWE like over a month ago, but it was MIA for weeks, eventually being returned for postage due. Ironically, on the re-sent PWE, the 2 Forever stamps haven't been canceled. Meaning someone could possibly be persuaded to reuse them if they weren't above stooping to the discouraged practice, thereby costing the post office considerably more than the few cents they were whining over in the first place. Funny how things work out!

Black Sheep minicollection 3: The Darkest Edition!

It's time for more less-famous players from baseball families. Today's installment is a special edition of guys who are related to, well, tainted players, so maybe they aren't exactly the black sheep of the family after all! They might not have had as notable careers, but at least they can walk down the street with their heads held high without any lingering scandal hanging over them. Or maybe they still have to deal with a stigma of a besmirched family name even though they had nothing to do with it.

Koby Clemens

Koby Clemens is the son of Roger Clemens, probably the greatest pitcher of his generation, but an ugly trial surrounding whether a clubhouse worker helped facilitate his PEDs ruined his reputation and has thus far kept him out of Cooperstown. His son Koby played pro ball for a decade (interestingly with organizations his father played for: Houston and Toronto), but never made the majors. His best year was 2009, when he hit .341 with 22 home runs and 123 RBI. Overall, he was a career .255 hitter, though. The final stop of his career was with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters, with whom his father briefly came out of retirement to play alongside Koby. I was kinda hoping Roger would parlay that into a major league comeback, but it wasn't to be.

Bobby Bonds, Jr.

Here's another Black Sheep double-whammy along the lines of Craig Griffey. Bobby Bonds (Sr) was one of the most exciting players of the 70s, a legitimate home run threat who could also swipe 40+ bases in a season. His son Barry broke out for his first MVP season in 1990 and went on to win 7 such awards in his career while breaking Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, though his career was ended prematurely under a shroud of steroid accusations. Barry's younger brother Bobby Bonds, Jr was drafted by the Padres in the 18th round of the 1992 draft. After a few unspectacular seasons, he followed Barry to the Giants organization.

All told, Junior played for 11 seasons, but the closest he ever got to the big leagues was 23 games in AAA. Barry obviously wasn't sharing his enhancers with his little brother, as Bobby Jr only hit 38 home runs over his professional career, many of which were likely of the inside-the-park variety.

Barry recently signed on to be hitting coach for the Marlins, so it'll be interesting to see him back in the game come 2016.

Family bonus points: The Bonds brothers are apparently distant cousins of Mr. October, Reggie Jackson.

Pete Rose, Jr.

Pete Rose, Jr. first appeared on cardboard in 1982 as a bat boy on the classic "Pete & Re-Pete" Fleer card. While his all-time hit king father, Pete Sr. was banned from baseball for betting on the game, his son strove to follow in his footsteps on the field. Junior made the majors with the Reds in 1997, but only mustered a couple hits in 14 at-bats. But dang it, he was determined, and his pro career stretched from 1989 till 2009: 21 seasons! That amounted to 1879 pro hits. Add that to his dad's 4683 professional hits, and you've got quite the family legacy.

As a kid getting into card collecting in 1990, I remember being blown away by the concept of "ANOTHER PETE ROSE! PETE ROSE 2: THE SEQUEL!" But as the years went by, I suppose that was my first lesson that the children of great players aren't necessarily great players themselves. Still though, I'm strangely ecstatic about finally getting my first real Pete Rose, Jr. card here in a recent COMC order.

As for Rose Sr, Commissioner Manfred has promised to rule on his reinstatement request by the end of the year, so we should hear something soon. The fact that Shoeless Joe's (estate's) request was denied earlier this year (bullshit!) is not good foreshadowing for Pete. Personally, I'd love to see him reinstated with the caveat that he not be allowed to manage at any level (not that any club would hire him at this point). But whatever.

That's it for this installment of the black sheep minicollection. Tune in next time for more less-famous relatives of star ballplayers!

Black Sheep minicollection 2: Chip off the old Rock

This is the second installment of my Black Sheep minicollection series. To refresh you on the premise, these are cards of less successful relatives of star athletes. For my full intro spiel, check out the first post. But basically if you share a last name with an All-Star relative, and have played in less than 162 games in the majors (or 162 innings pitched), you're eligible for inclusion in this minicollection.

Tim Raines, Jr.

Tim Raines, Jr. was drafted by the Orioles in the 6th round of the 1998 draft. His father put together a terrific career and arguably belongs in the Hall of Fame. Tim, Jr. was a similar type of player: a switch-hitter who threw right-handed, had a solid bat and excellent speed. Unlike his dad, Jr wasn't able to put it all together in the bigs. He was a late-season call-up in 2001, and on October 4, he played center while his father played left. They became the second major league father-son duo to play in the same game, with the Griffeys in 1990 being the first.

But this Junior would see the end of his MLB career in 2004 with only 75 games under his belt. He bounced around in several organizations before retiring after the 2011 season. His final stop was pretty cool, though, as he played for the independent Newark Bears, managed by his father.

Another baseball relative, Uncle Ned, Rock's brother, played in the low minors, 1978-1980.

Hunter Harvey

Bryan Harvey was a dominant closer for a few years in the late 80s and early 90s with the Angels and Marlins. His son Hunter Harvey was a 1st round pick by the Orioles in 2013. After a promising start to his professional career-- striking out 139 while walking 39 in 113 innings over 2013-2014-- Hunter was shut down for all of 2015. There was hope he could see action in the fall instructional league, but was again shut down with arm discomfort, visions of Tommy John haunting his big league dreams.

It might be a while till we see if he's able to overcome injuries and fulfill his potential, or if he's destined to remain in the Black Sheep minicollection for all eternity. Good luck, guy.

Ryan Ripken

Honestly, it's not by design that this post is so Orioles-centric, but coincidentally, here's Ryan Ripken, son of Baltimore legend Cal Ripken, Jr. Ryan was originally drafted by the Orioles in the 20th round of the 2012 draft, but chose to attend college instead. Then in 2014, the Nationals drafted him in the 15th round, successfully signing him. While his dad was known for his glove on the left side of the infield, Ryan plays first base.

Though still young, he's been slow getting on track down in rookie league, hitting .217 in 44 games over the past two seasons. So it looks like measuring up to the career of Uncle Billy may be a more realistic goal than emulating his Hall of Fame father, the Iron Man. Grampa Ripken also had a long baseball career, playing minor league ball in the late 50s and early 60s before coaching with the Orioles for many years.

Dustin Yount

Screw it, let's close it out today with yet more O's content. For baseball fans, the name Yount is linked forever with Milwaukee, but here we have Hall of Famer Robin Yount's son, Dustin Yount, decked in his Baltimore best. Dustin played on the farm for a decade, but never made it past AA. While his dad patrolled short or center most of his career, Dustin was a first baseman. He hung them up after spending 2010 in the Dodgers organization, hitting .260 for his pro career.

There are other Younts who could fit into the Black Sheep minicollection, too. Uncle Larry (Robin's brother) has the distinction of technically playing in 1 major league game in 1971, but left with elbow soreness after a couple warm-up pitches and never got another shot. Larry's son, Austin Yount, was drafted by the Dodgers in 2008, but never got above A ball before retiring after the 2011 season. There was a little Yount Family Reunion in 2010, as cousins Dustin and Austin briefly played together on the same team in the California League.

That's it for this time. More sons of famous dudes later. Thanks for reading!

Introducing the Black Sheep minicollection

It's gotta be hard living in the shadow of your famous dad, brother, or uncle if you're a ballplayer. On one hand, you've got an invaluable mentor right there. And if you've got a last name that's respected in the game, you might get a longer look from scouts than you would otherwise thanks to your lineage. But once you get signed, the pressure is on you to live up to your name. And the odds are pretty overwhelming that you won't end up the most successful athlete in your family.

I'm always a little fascinated when pulling cards of lesser-known kin (usually from Bowman), so it was about time I made it an official collecting pursuit. I figured I'd keep with my Hundred Card Club method of collecting and set the longterm goal at 100 different players to "complete" this minicollection. I'm really just looking for 1 card from each player.. I won't be PCing all these guys.. just one card each.

My requirements to be included in the Black Sheep minicollection:

• player must share a last name with and be related to someone who was an All-Star at least once.
• player must have not exceeded 162 total games (or 162 innings pitched) in the major leagues.

So we're not talking about Ken Griffey, Jr.. we're talking about Craig Griffey.
Even guys like Chris Gwynn and Tony Gwynn, Jr aren't included. Sure, their careers can't come close to Tony Sr, but they were still able to put together decent major league careers, seeing plenty of action in several different seasons.

This will be a recurring series on the blog, with each post covering a handful of players.
All right, here we go!

Craig Griffey

Let's begin with the aforementioned Craig Griffey, perhaps the least accomplished athlete to ever get a hologram sportscards of his own. He's a double-whammy for the Black Sheep minicollection, as not only was his dad an excellent baseball player, his big brother Ken, Jr. was perhaps the biggest star in the game during the 90s and into the 00s.

To his credit, Craig played football at Ohio State, so he was no slouch, but baseball was just an afterthought. Seattle took him as a 42nd round pick of the 1991 draft, ostensibly as a favor to the family. Craig played in the Mariners minor league system for a few years and appeared with his brother in the outfield during some Cactus League games. The highest level he reached was a brief 3-game stint in AAA with the Tacoma Rainiers. Overall he hit .224 with good speed and not much power. I'll bet a few of his 11 career MiLB home runs were inside-the-park jobs, as he also had 18 career triples. He retired after the 1997 season, which happened to be the year his brother won the AL MVP award. I couldn't find much additional info on Craig Griffey, though here's a bizarre article which I'm pretty sure someone just made up.

Edgard Clemente

Edgard Clemente did his best to keep the legacy of his uncle Roberto Clemente alive on the diamond. I'll admit he's the reason my max MLB games limit for this minicollection is 162 instead of 100 (Edgard played in 114 games). His professional career stretched a whopping 21 seasons, originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round of the 1993 MLB June Amateur Draft out of Puerto Rico. In his first taste of major league action, he batted a sharp .353 as a September call-up in 1998. He was back down to earth in 1999, but hit a respectable .253 with 8 home runs.

He was traded to the Angels in 2000, but hit just .218 in 46 games in what would be the end of this major league career. As an outfielder, he just didn't hit enough to stick around, plus he was slow, without a single stolen base to his credit. He bounced around in AAA with Boston and Milwaukee for the next couple years, then saw the next decade playing in Independent and Foreign leagues, not hanging them up until after 2013. All told, he racked up 1841 professional hits, which isn't too shabby, but a far cry from the legendary Roberto Clemente.

Mike Yastrzemski

The grandson of Carl, Mike Yastrzemski is still active, so he's got a shot to make it out of this minicollection at some point. He was drafted by the Orioles in the 14th round of the 2013 draft from Vanderbilt, after earlier being drafted but not signing with the Red Sox and Mariners. He had a nice 2014 season displaying good pop and speed, but his numbers dipped in 2015, hitting .246 in AA with single-digit totals for HR and SB. It'll be interesting to see if he continues to progress and we eventually see another Yaz in the bigs.

It's worth noting that Mike's dad, Carl Michael Yastrzemski Jr, also went by the name Mike and played in the minors in the 80s with the Braves and White Sox organizations, so he'd fit into this minicollection too if I rounded up one of his cards.

Trevor Gretzky

We're crossing sports with this one. Trevor Gretzky is the son of Wayne Gretzky, the leading scorer in NHL history. Trevor signed a letter of intent in 2010 to play baseball for San Diego State University, but decided to turn pro after he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 2011 MLB draft; his $375,000 signing bonus was negotiated by then-Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Wayne himself.

Trevor was traded to the Angels on March 20, 2014 for another guy who could fit in this minicollection: Matthew Scioscia, son of Mike Scioscia. Trevor played in A-ball during 2015, hitting .242 with a couple dingers. So it doesn't look like we'll be calling him "The Great One" of baseball, but he's still young and could potentially make the majors someday.

That's it for today. What do you guys think of this series? Well, love it or hate it, I'll be back with some more cards of lesser-known relatives of star athletes soon.