I have one card of Jason Berken, from 2010 Topps When They Were Young.
Playing career: Jason Berken pitched for the Orioles and
Cubs from 2009 to 2012. In 110 games he went 10-20 with a 5.36 ERA. Interestingly, for a guy who pitched over a hundred major league games, his only big league baseball card features a picture of him in Little League.
Where he is now: In the Blue Jays organization in 2016, he
pitched in 29 games split between AA and AAA, going 2-9 with a 4.43 ERA. He does not appear to have signed on with a team for 2017.
My memory: I remember him vaguely as one of many supposedly
good young pitchers the Orioles would trot out in the late 00s. Like Berken,
most didn’t last long in the majors.
Google Autocomplete results: He is fourth when you type
Jason Berk, between Jason Berk DDS, an orthodontist on Long Island, and Jason
Berkeley Fosun, a real estate developer. Another prominent Jason Berken is a
guitar tech for Bob Dylan.
Coming up next: The next profile will be Chad Bettis.
Berken is emblematic of the terrible Cubs squads of the rebuilding era, in my mind. A rotation stocked with the likes of Berken, Justin Germano, Ramon Ortiz, etc.... yuck. That said, I've always liked this card quite a bit - it's definitely unique. You just don't see a lot of little leaguers on Major League Baseball cards, eh?
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