Long Beach, California native Craig Paquette attended Rancho Alamitos High School where he was a standout on the diamond.
After being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 36th round of the 1987 MLB June Amateur Draft, Paquette took his wide-ranging baseball skillset to Golden West College in Huntington Beach.
The baseball Swiss army knife was selected in the eighth round of the 1989 MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s.
His Major League Baseball career spanned 11 seasons, with three being spent in Oakland, two more in Kansas City, one with the New York Mets, three in St. Louis and his final two seasons in Detroit. Paquette fielded every position on the diamond except for pitcher and catcher.
His first season with the Royals was the best of his career as he had career highs in runs, hits, home runs, RBI, and nearly every offensive category.
The retired big leaguer is involved with Collect Direct, a new network marketing collectibles platform where members have access to a wide range of inventory.
Tony Reid- There are 153 Craig Paquette baseball cards in all but your first card was the 1989 Best Medford Athletics card and your official rookie card was found in 1991 Bowman set. What was your experience seeing yourself on a baseball card for the first time?
Craig Paquette-It was pretty much like everyone else. I was super excited. It’s one of those things you dream about as a kid. I collected baseball cards growing up, so to see myself on one was pretty cool.
TR– What did your baseball card collection consist of as a kid?
CP-In my timeframe high school was 1984 to 1987. I started collecting cards in eighth grade which was 1983. That was Tony Gwynn, Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken and Kirby Puckett that came along about that time. I just remember trying to get as many rookie cards as I could of those guys. I got quite a few.
TR-We are talking decades later but did you manage to hang on to those cards from your childhood?
CP-I did. I have a tub in the garage. Living in Arizona, that’s probably not the smartest thing to leave them out in the garage but that’s where they are at. Hopefully they are still worth a little something but you never know.
TR–At what point in your career did you start getting asked for your autograph on a regular basis?
CP– My first year of pro ball I jumped on a plane and I had only been on a plane once in my life at that point. I flew up to San Francisco. Then I flew in a smaller plan up to Medford, Oregon. It was a little scary. It was only the second time I was on a plane. It had to be in a little puddle jumper. They took pictures when we first got there and they said you are going to get a baseball card yada, yada, yada. That was the best year I ever had in my life, that first year of pro baseball. I know toward the end of that year when the cards were produced I signed a lot of those cards. I don’t remember the exact first time I signed but I know toward the end of that first year I signed a lot.
TR– You played for some of the best fan bases in the sport. What has been your most memorable fan interaction?
CP– I think it was when I was in St. Louis. In my mind, they have the best fan base in America. I remember getting off the bus in Milwaukee. I played with Mark McGwire for six years so I usually sat next to him and had a locker next to him. He was not a big fan of signing autographs outside the stadium. I remember this boy, who was paralyzed, he was sitting there in his wheelchair with his mom. They wanted McGwire’s autograph so bad. McGwire had his headphones on and just walked right past him. I stopped. You could just tell how excited this kid was for anyone to sign. I know he wanted McGwire’s autograph but it was so cool that it meant so much to this unlucky kid. I felt for him. That stands out more than anything. There was no chance I was walking by and not signing an autograph for him.
TR- You shared busses, locker rooms and the filed with McGwire for years. Is there another story you can share about your time playing on the same team?
CP-He treated all of the players great. He would sign anything. He signed shoes after games. I have one of his game worn signed shoes in my closet right now. I didn’t ask for it. He signed ‘Mark McGwire Home Runs 550-571’ or whatever it was. He would take his shirt off and sign it for teammates. He signed nonstop at the stadium. I think in his mind it was baseball time and he would do whatever he needed to do at the field but when he was off the field he kept to himself and didn’t sign many autographs. To each his own. He was a giver when he was at the field and then when he was off the field it was his own time and he did what he needed to do.
TR- That begs the question, we all know there is a time and place for autograph requests. Many players don’t like to be bothered during meals, when they are with family, etc. Where do you stand on the etiquette of autograph requests?
CP– I never minded signing autographs, no matter when it was. In St. Louis that was probably the most I would ever get noticed during the season and maybe a little bit after I retired. I’m not recognizable. I’m not 6 foot 6 inches tall. I look like the average person not a major league baseball player. I never had an issue signing. A lot of times people came up when I was at dinner in St. Louis. Not a big deal.
TR– You spend over a decade in the majors, do you have a place where you have memorabilia from your career displayed?
CP-I did when we lived in St. Louis. I moved out to Arizona and got remarried. We have memorabilia in three different rooms. When you walk into our garage, I have 10-15 big pictures. My son and I were in the double page in Sports Illustrated. We have those framed. I played for Team USA in 1999. I have a big picture of that displayed. I have a bat rack in one room upstairs. I have my silver medal from the Pan Am Games in 1999 displayed upstairs in another room. My wife has an office upstairs and doesn’t want to stare at my stuff all day long. We have it scattered around the house.
TR–You are partnering with a new platform called Collect Direct. Can you tell us about the company and your involvement?
CP– I have become friends with and know the owner Dave Jordan. I am going to go out on a limb and say his collection is in the billions. I am not exaggerating. He is doing this thing that is a network marketing company like no other. The fee is $10 a month to become a part of it. Then you have access to his billions of dollars’ worth of memorabilia. You can sell it yourself or buy it on your own. You become a collector and a salesman to your friends and family. If they go to your webpage and purchase something you get a commission. It’s really unique. It’s not launched yet. Right now, it’s just a few athletes and people Dave knows personally. The only way to be a part of it now would be to put in my email address ([email protected]) to get access. Once it’s launched you will have your own webpage for $10 a month. It’s really a cool deal.
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