1974 Topps, Jon Matlack

#153 Jon Matlack

This is another card that I unlocked from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. Unlike most of the others I have posted, though, I had a little trouble getting this card signed through the mail. I originally sent this card to Jon last November to the address that is listed on SCN, but it came back returned to sender. I then waited around for a few months waiting for a new address for Jon or a success from the address that I used. I finally saw that someone got an autograph back from him from the original address this past September and I resent this card to him at his Texas home address. Just over a month later, I got my cards back signed and they were postmarked from Syracuse, new York. SCN is still listing the Texas address as his current mailing address and someone got a successful return from him about a week ago.

John pitched in the Majors for 13 years with the Mets and Rangers. He was the 1972 Rookie of the Year and he was a three-time All Star in the mid '70s and was even the MVP of the 1975 mid-summer classic. His best season was with the Mets in '76 when he finished the season 17-10 with a 2.95 ERA.

I traded for this card on the Million Card Giveaway site. I can't remember which card I originally had, but I know that it was a Reggie Jackson playoff or World Series card from 1974. I knew that I was never going to get that card signed, so I looked into trading it. I saw that Jon had a playoff card from the '74 set, but I could not find it by searching for it on the site. I found this one though, and I figured that this one would end up looking really nice once signed.