Bill Sampen Autographed Card

In the early 1990s, Bill Sampen was a promising middle-reliever in the Montréal Expos organization. He went 21-12 in his first two seasons with the team, appearing in 102 games and registering 121 strikeouts.

However, he took a dip in efficiency in 1992, going 1-4 before the team sent him and Chris Haney to the Kansas City Royals for Sean Berry and Archie Corbin. He went 2-4 in 26 games over a season and a half with the Royals before signing with the California Angels, where his 1-1 record and 6.46 ERA in 10 games effectively put an end to his MLB career.

Upon retiring, the Lincoln, Illinois native moved back to his home state, opening a baseball, strength and agility training facility in nearby Brownsburg called Samps Hack Shack.

Here he is sporting the Expos' classic powder blue (away) uniform, on card #318 from Leaf's 1991 Series 2 set:

He signed it in black sharpie, adding a Bible quote from Ephesians 2: 8-9, which reads as follows:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.

This card pencils him in as #55 in my Expos Numbers Project.