Jarrett Grube - Who?

I consider myself pretty well versed on minor league prospects, especially those that belong to my team, the Angels. When the club called up reliever Jarrett Grube late Friday night, I will admit that I had never heard of the name before. Typically that is the case with relievers, who generally aren't top prospects and are often former starters who have been converted to relief. I looked up the backstory on Grube and it turns out he is 32 years of age and has pitched for 3 organizations over 11 years in the minors, including two years of independent ball. As a fan, we take for granted that this was just some no-name call up that will not make a difference one way or another. If you look at it from the Grube's side, however, I'm sure those 11 years and 11,000+ innings pitched while toiling in the minors were all worth it as he took the mound for his major league debut Saturday against the A's. Sure, his stay in the bigs may just be a cup of coffee, but at least he can always say that he is part of an elite club that made The Show.

Other than minor league team sets, I was almost positive that Grube had no mainstream card issues. To my great surprise, he does make an appearance in the 2004 SP Top Prospects set. Heck, he even has an autograph card in the set. I checked my boxes this evening and lo and behold, I have the base card. A google search lookup, a dig through my boxes, and a 250 word blog post after a nearly one month layoff. Jarrett Grube, well done.