TTM Stats
- Sent: 6/17/2021 | Received: 9/3/2021 | 76 Days
- ’93 Bowman, ’95 Upper Deck, ’01 Topps
- Address: Iowa Cubs Team Address
The Story of the Autograph
Ron Villone is a former left-handed pitcher in the major leagues. He played mostly as a reliever but did start a few games during his fifteen-year career. He played from 1995 to 2009 with the Seattle Mariners (twice), San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros (twice), Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals.
Villone, a New Jersey native, attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst and played both baseball and football there. The Seattle Mariners drafted him in the first round of the 1992 MLB Draft with the fourteenth overall pick. He made his major league debut three years later on April 28, 1995. He wouldn’t spend that whole first season in Seattle though. He went to San Diego in a trade that sent Andy Benes to the Mariners.
The trade in the first season was the start of a lot of moving around for Villone in his career. He was part of a total of six trades during his career. Some of the other players involved in those trades were Greg Vaughn, Mike Fetters, Ben McDonald, and Marquis Grissom. He also move around a lot as a free agent, especially in the 2000’s.
He had one of his best years in Cincinnati where they used him mostly as a starter during his time there. In 1999 he went 9-7 with a 4.23 ERA in 29 games with 22 starts and 142.2 innings pitched. The only other place he was used more significantly as a start was Houston in 2003. Surprisingly for a reliever that moved around a lot, he didn’t really appear in the post season a lot. Just three times with the Astros (2001) and then the Yankees (2006, 2007).
He played independent baseball before officially retiring. He then went into coaching with the Cubs in their minor league system, most recently with the Iowa Cubs.
The Score on Ron Villone – 6.5
These came out pretty good from Ron. I think my favorite is the 2001 Topps card. Not only did that come out really well, but really he played there for the most time I think of any of the many teams he played for and he had some of his best years there.
Thanks Mr. Villone! I’m giving this return a 6.5.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.