Tuesday, October 25, 2016

1971 Topps, Steve Kealey


#43 Steve Kealey

Here is the second of three cards that were signed for me by Steve Kealey at the Wichita card show last year. I posted the first card of Steve earlier this month and it can be seen here.

Steve pitched for the Angels for parts of three seasons, never appearing in more than seventeen games. Over 38 appearances for the Halos, Steve made just three starts and was 3-1 with a save and a 3.82 ERA. One of those starts happened to be a complete game shutout of the Orioles. In that contest, Steve scattered seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. His two strikeout vivtims were Hall of Famers Brooks and Frank Robinson. That is not a bad night right there.

Steve was traded to the White Sox after the 1970 season.

Unfortunately, Steve had given up on the sports goggles by the time this picture was taken. Just see my previous post of him to see what I am talking about.

Monday, October 24, 2016

1969 Topps, Ken Berry


#494 Ken Berry

Here is the second card that I got signed by Ken Berry at the Wichita card show last year. I posted the first card of Ken almost a month ago and it can be seen here.

When I met Ken, I was surprised to find out that he is now an author. He has done a handful of children's book and recently completed his first novel, "Twin Snipers". He had some of his kids books at the show and was promoting his novel that had just come out. Ken was excited about the novel and gave me a synopsis, which was pretty cool.

I did not have any cards of Ken to get signed before the show, so I picked up three of them there. One was his '67 Topps card that I had already got signed through the mail a few yeas back. When I was standing in line, the dealer that hosts the show had a few other cards of him. I thumbed through them and found a couple of cards from the '70s that I wanted. He told me that those were four dollars each. I laughed because I thought he was joking, but he was not. So, I set them back down and stuck with my three cards from the '60s that I paid a dollar each for.

Ken's signature is made for ballpoint pens, not worn out Sharpies.

This is the final card from the '60s that I will post on here in some time. I only have a handful of cards from the '70s to post before I hit a backlog of '81 Donruss.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

1969 Topps, Del Unser


#338 Del Unser

Here is the second card of Del Unser that I have posted on here. I posted his '81 Donruss three years ago and that card can be seen here. This card was signed through the mail at the same time as that card. They were sent to Del towards the end of 2012 and they both came back about two weeks later.

I first saw this card over at Night Owl Cards I don't know how long ago. When I saw it, and found out Del signs through the mail, I knew I wanted it. As a whole, I am not a fan of the '69 Topps set or the '68 set either. They are too similar in design and they both have some uninspiring photos, like most Topps sets from the '60s. It seems like it has a bunch of face shots or posed Spring Training shots. While this is obviously a posed shot, it definitely is not from Spring Training. That towering light standard peaking out of the corner of the card is evidence of that. And if that was not enough to want this card, it has a rookie cup and is Night Owl recommended.

So, when I stumbled upon this card at a show, I picked it up to mail with the '81 D. Like usual, I am pleased with the results.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

1969 Topps, Steve Kealey


#224 Steve Kealey

Here is the first of three cards that Steve Kealey signed for me at Rock's bi-monthly card show in Wichita last year. The day of that show was actually my first wedding anniversary. I got to spend the day with my pregnant wife going to a card show and then going brewery hopping afterwards. It was definitely one to remember, for me at least.

This card looks a little bare without Bill Harrelson's signature on it. Steve mentioned that Bill still signs these cards, I just have not found an address for him. Right now, I just have SCN's free account. Since this is the only card that Bill has, there has never been any activity for Bill signing whenever I check the latest successes page. I keep checking back, though, just probably not as much as I should be if I really want to get this card signed again.

I love Steve's sports glasses in his photo. Unfortunately, he will not be wearing those in the next card I post of him.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

1968 Topps, Don Lock


#59 Don Lock

Here is the third and final card that I got signed by Don Lock at Rock's card show in 2013. The first card Don signed for me can be seen here and the second one here.

The first two cards I posted showed Don with the Senators, the team he spent the majority of his time with. But, that all changed when Washington traded him to the Phillies after the 1966 season. He did pretty good his first season in Philly when he hit .252 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI in just 112 games. But, his numbers fell off in 1968 and he hit just .210 with 8 dingers and 34 RBI. Those were all career-lows for him.

He played in four games with the Phils in 1969 before the dealt him to the Red Sox. He got into 53 games with them and had just 58 at-bats in the process. He finished that season with a .224 average with a home run and 2 RBI. He played one more season of AAA ball with the Sox before calling it a career and becoming a minor league manager for a few seasons.

For his career, Don hit .238 with 122 home runs and 373 RBI.

Friday, October 7, 2016

1967 Topps, Dooley Womack


#77 Dooley Womack

I first heard about Dooley Womack when I read Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". It was just such an intriguing name and it always stuck with me. Even though I read "Ball Four" about ten years ago, I still assume Dooley spent a lot of time with Jim as a Seattle Pilot. Turns out that was not the case. Dooley was traded to the Pilots for Jim late in the season. Based on that bit of info, I would assume that Dooley had a very minuscule role in the book. Nevertheless, he is still the only other player I can think of from "Ball Four" and that is because of his interesting name.

I mailed this card to Dooley in late 2012 and I had it back ten days later.

Dooley pitched in the Majors for five seasons with the Yankees, Astros, Pilots, and A's. He pitched out of the bullpen and had a 19-18 record with 24 saves and a 2.95 ERA for his career. His best season was with the Yankees in 1967 when he went 5-6 with 18 saves and a 2.41 ERA.

Dooley's given name is Horace Guy Womack.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

1967 Topps, Sal Bando/Randy Schwartz


#33 Sal Bando/Randy Schwartz

Here is a sweet looking card that I was able to get signed through the mail twice in a little over a month. I sent this card to Randy Schwartz first and I had it back in just over a week. I then sent it to Sal Bando, along with this card, four days later and I had it back from him three weeks later. The Schwartz signature came off a bit on the return trip from Bando, but what are you going to do?

This is the third card of Sal that I have posted on here. I posted the '81 Donruss card that I got back with this card in 2013. Before that, I had a Ted Williams card of Sal that was given to me by another blogger and that one can be seen here.

Randy's Major League career spanned all of 16 games with the A's in 1965 and '66. Over that time, he mainly pinch hit and got just 18 at-bats. He hit .167 with no extra base hits and 2 RBI with 7 strikeouts. He was just 22 when he played his last Major League game, but he called it quits after the next season at the tender age of 23.

It is hard to beat a dual signed card from the '60s. I have got a card coming up in a few days that is missing a signature on it. Stay tuned and if anyone has an address for the missing signature, you will have to let me know.