Jason Simontacchi Talks First Cards and Favorite Cards, Jeff Bagwell Autographs, Facing Childhood Heroes

Pitcher Jason Simontacchi scratched, clawed, and grinded his way to the big leagues.

The crafty righty attended three colleges and had a rocky start to his minor league career.

After some time in the Italian Baseball League, which led to an opportunity to pitch for Italy in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Simontacchi jump-started his career once again and was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching staff just two years later.

Known for his sinker, change up and striped stirrups, Jason spent four seasons in the big leagues, three with the Cardinals and one with the Washington Nationals.

The Mountain View, California native retired after the 2007 MLB season and has spent the last decade plus as a pitching coordinator and pitching coach at various levels of pro ball.

In our recent interview, the pitching coach talks about growing up a San Francisco Giants fan, his most precious autographs, and his favorite baseball card of all.

Tony Reid-I love to talk about baseball cards. Clearly you were on a number over the course of your baseball career, 166 to be exact. That's counting all the parallels, errors and inserts and all that. 1996 was your very first card when you played for the Spokane Indians. Do you remember seeing that card for the first time? Your big league rookie cards came in 2002. What was it like when you first saw yourself on a card and then your thoughts when you got to the bigs and saw your official rookie cards?

Jason Simontacchi-Yeah, we were in Spokane, Washington. They (Best) did everything with guys like me who weren't big, but I don't even know what the deal was, maybe 500 bucks or a thousand bucks. They had contracts and then the cards come out and looking at it, I mean, through the years you get to see yourself again and people want you to sign them. I see a young dude, skinny as all can be. I didn't know much about life at that time. That's what I see in that first card. I think the first card, I was pitching, I think, I was right in the middle of my windup.

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1996 Best Jason Simontacchi — Autograph Den

TR-Well, when you were that young man, what were you thinking when you first saw yourself on a card?

JS-Yeah, of course it is. It was kind of surreal even talking about it. Everybody says, oh, you always dream about being a baseball player or being the big leagues and having your own baseball card. And it was cool. I mean, it was just weird. My whole career, I was just always just scrapping and clawing to stay alive. So that was pretty cool to see my own baseball card. I think it was cooler for me to have my mom and my dad to see that, the people that I cared about. I just figured for them to see that it was some kind of an accomplishment that I made it that far.

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TR- Growing up in Mountain Valley, California, what players inspired you? Whose poster was on the wall? Whose rookie cards were you collecting back in the day?

JS-We lived to 45 minutes south of San Francisco and grew up in Sunnyvale, California. We were San Francisco Giants fans. That was the first big league team that I ever got to go see. The first game I saw, they played against the Cardinals, believe it or not.

TR-What are the odds?

JS-Yeah, right. No kidding. And my little league team was called the Cardinals as well. So Kevin Mitchell and Matt Williams were there. Will Clark was there, no doubt. Bonds came over later. I remember watching him. Craig Lefferts, Joel Youngblood, I mean, just some old names, guys like Brett Butler. Pitching wise, it was always just Roger Clemens. I was nothing like that guy. I think he was so dominant. My dad's friend was from Boston, and so at that time, he was always talking about Roger and stuff, and so I took a liking to him.

Mar 14, 2007; Jupiter, FL, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Jason Simontacchi (50) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, FL. The game ended in a 2-2 tie. Mandatory Credit:Scott Rovak-Imagn Images Copyright © Scott Rovak | Scott Rovak-Imagn Images

TR-The autograph experiences is a special one for fans and for players to a degree, whether it be in high school or at Albertson or once you got to the bigs. When was the first time you were asked for your autograph? Do you remember the interaction or that experience?

JS-It didn't happen until we got it, until I got drafted in ’96 and I got Spokane and stuff. It was weird. It wasn't that big of a deal, like, oh, okay, at first it is, and then it was like, okay, I got to do this. I got to do this. I got to go sign for these guys. And hey, we want you out there an hour and a half before game time to go up top to the concourse and sign autographs. At first it was cool, but then it's like the ego takes over. You're a human being. You're like, okay, you start thinking you're special, people put you on, and so it gets tiring. But the longer my career went on, or longer I played, the more I appreciated the fact that you start looking back and start realizing, if it wasn't for these people, we wouldn't be around. And it was such a cool job. All they want is an autograph, just to be around, and that's all I wanted when I was a kid. I remember the Giants coming down to Sunnyvale and they'd made these little tours and it was just so cool to be like, these guys look like giant men. And they had their mustaches, their sideburns and everything, and you're just like, holy cow. And it was just a cool experience. It was almost like the tables had turned, and I was very fortunate enough to be one of those guys and just being able to realize, okay, this is part of your job, right? Give back what was given to you. And I think that's what pretty much in life, that's what you're supposed to be doing. You pass on your wisdom, your knowledge, and make someone feel good about themselves, just like when we were kids.

TR- We talked a lot about your playing career and collecting. Do you have an office, a room or mancave? Did you hold onto any of your memorabilia or memorabilia from other guys over the years?

JS-Our last house we just pretty much turned a basement into a man cave and a bar. I didn't know how long I was going to be in the big leagues, so was 28 as a rookie. And I'm like, man, if I don't do this stuff then I don't know how long I'm going to be here. So my first autograph, we were playing against the Braves. We were at home, we just got done playing or picking BP, and I was walking in and Andres Galarraga was at first base, and I had met him before when I played in Venezuela, but I'm like, you know what, I'm going to go ask him. So I walked over, introduced myself and just asked him, Hey, if I have a baseball sent over, would you sign it for me? He said, ‘Absolutely, no problem.’ So that was it. And then I just started, started with baseballs primarily that year, and then I moved on in ‘03, I moved on to jerseys. I don't think I have a huge jersey collection. I got I think about 30 of them. I was telling my friend the other day, the guys that I got, or the autographs that I got were from players or people that I respected that I thought went about the game the right way or were just elite, or I had met them and I had a relationship with them, and became friends. There's a story behind every autograph or every jersey or every bat, the pictures that I have taken and that it got signed. There's a story behind all those. That’s what I realized was when I hang them up, it's like, or I walk through, I can have a conversation with a friend of mine and when did they come down to that room and go, Hey, well what's this? What happened here? Or what are you doing here? I'm 50 now, but it's just looking back on my past of, as they say, the glory years.

TR-What is the best story behind one of your pieces?

JS-We played against the Astros. A couple of them are with (Jeff) Bagwell. I don't even know what my numbers are against him to tell you the truth, but I always felt like I had him because I had a changeup. My changeup was probably my best pitch besides the sinker. So I ordered a jersey, I met up with him, I talked to him, and asked him if I sent one over, if he'd sign it. So when I got it back, it was pretty cool because on the front patch he wrote, ‘Hey, Jason, stop throwing me that changeup. I can't hit it.’ That's what he told me. I thought that was pretty cool.

The other one was Roger Clemens. I pitched against him in Yankee Stadium on Father's Day weekend. It was a Friday night. He was the guy that was all over my wall. I had posters of him and pictures and stuff, but the game that I pitched against him was his 300th win.

So my dad came out for that weekend. I waited on Sunday. I knew he was going to go throw a bullpen, so I waited out in right field for him to come by. I ran up to him and talked to him and said congrats. I asked him if I sent over some baseballs and a jersey, if he'd sign it. And he's like, ‘Absolutely, dude. Bring anything over here, send anything over there and I'll knock it out.’ And I was like, so he lit up the jersey, obviously it's a Yankee jersey, but he put all his accolades on it. I mean, just dressed it up. Awesome. It was pretty sweet. Yeah, that was pretty cool.

Roger Clemens — Courtesy of Jason Simontacchi

TR-Very cool. So speaking of your own cards, do you have a favorite? Did you hold onto any of your own cards over the years?

JS-Yeah, I've got, I don't know, you said, man, that's crazy, 166 cards?

TR-Yeah, that's all the crazy parallels, inserts and every possible variation of everything.

JS-I'm pretty sure I don't have all 166 of them. My favorite card, it's almost like a print. It looks like someone drew a picture or painted one. I'm sure I can go downstairs and find it, but it's just a picture of me sitting in the dugout. I look gassed. I either got a jacket on or a towel, and I just look like I'm in battle. It's probably a hundred degrees in Busch Stadium and I'm just exhausted. But it's a pretty cool picture of just me, almost like, I don't know, it looks like I'm gazing off and focused on something. Or maybe I'm pissed off. I don't know. But it looks like I'm unheated right there. But I like it. That's my favorite one.

2002 Diamond Kings Jason Simontacchi — Ultime Sports Collection

TR-Don't ask me why I know, but I think it's your Diamond Kings card. You're looking to the left and you have a towel over your shoulder. It looks like you are in the corner of a fight. Is that the one?

JS-Yeah, that’s the one. When you look at it, you almost wonder what's he thinking about what's going through his mind right now. When you come down and sit in the dugout after pitching an inning, especially in a tight game, it's like you're sitting there and you're thinking about possible next hitters, or you're thinking about how in the hell did I just get out of that inning? Or I'm getting my butt beat in. I'm just like, oh my God!