Monday, February 1, 2010

1981 Donruss, Jeff Cox



#230 Jeff Cox

I got home from work today and I found this welcome surpise in the mailbox. This is a signed '81 Donruss card of Jeff Cox, the White Sox third base coach. Dan, of OMGautos, was generous enough to get this card signed for me at the White Sox Fanfest recently.

The cool thing about this card is that I actually had this card on my want list (the unsigned version). The only reason I wanted it was so I could try to get it signed when the White Sox come to Kansas City this year.

I actually have two of these unsigned cards. The first one I got had a 27-year old piece of gum stuck to the front of it that left its mark. Then, Matt, of a Pack to be Named Later, pulled this card out of an '81 Donruss pack. The gum was stuck to the back of that card, so I talked Matt into sending it to me since it was a slight improvemement to what I had. The gum ended up with more card on it than the card had gum on it. So, I left it on my want list. But, it is coming off tonight. Thanks, Dan!

As for Jeff, he was signed by the Royals in 1973 and he made his Major League debut in 1980. He hit .213 in 59 games for the A's that season. He got into two games for Oakland in '81 and then spent the rest of his career in the minors. His last two seasons in the minors consisted of him being a player/coach. In his first year not playing, 1986, he was the manager of the Billings Mustangs. Since then, he has either been managing in the minors or coaching in the Majors.

Dan adds that "that guy is hilarious! A stitch for sure". I'm hoping that he will go into more detail in the comments. Thanks, again, Dan!

'81 Donruss Tracker: 45/100

4 comments:

Play at the Plate said...

That is a really nice, clean auto and it looks great on that yellow jersey.

Orioles Magic said...

Very cool story Zach. I sent you the Decinces today and you can send me the Charlton if you want, but don't feel obligated.

Dan said...

Yeah, Jeff is pretty funny. When I got the autograph, it was in a booth sponsored by Comcast, separate from the rest of the official Soxfest autograph lines. Comcast brought in a lot of Sox alumni and coaches to sign there. It was a nice touch.

So, Jeff was having a good time with everyone in line - he seems like a really happy dude. When I handed him this card he said something to the effect of "Ah, from my lady killin' days!" or something like that referring to his good looks. Well... it was pretty funny in person. haha

I heard later that during one of the Q&A sessions he was involved in he was pretty much a one-man stand-up comedy show. Jeff is apparently quite the cut-up. This autograph literally made my weekend... I'm happy to pass it along for your '81 D-russ set.

This card really typifies the beauty, or lack-thereof with this set. What a combination of hideous colors! LOL

Verification: "atowlsjo"

zman40 said...

Great story and thanks again!