2008 Goudey, Bobby Doerr

#26 Bobby Doerr

I know I said that I was going to change things up and not do individual posts of guys that have been posted on here before. But, I have three cards signed by Hall of Famers in this Goudey set and it does not feel right to just lump them together with the other guys. So, for now, two of the three Hall of Famers will get their own post. In the end, I am sure all three will get their own.

Here is the card of Bobby Doerr that I got signed through the mail in 2008. I sent two cards his way towards the end of the year and I had them both back and signed in about eight days. That turn around time still impresses me.

Bobby might have been one of the greatest signers to ever live and I have no clue how he was able to pull it off like he did into his late nineties. I can't imagine the amount of fanmail that he had to receive on a daily basis. That man had to have set aside time every day to keep churning out the autographs like he did. He was truly an asset to the autograph community and is dearly missed.

I posted the other Doerr card way back in 2010 and you can see that post here. That card is from a 2003 set. It is pretty sad that I have only gotten up to my 2008 cards since posting that card nearly nine years ago. If you don't want to go back to see that post, here is the card.

Four years ago, I posted another Bobby Doerr through the mail autograph. For Christmas in 2013, my then fiance ponied-up some dough and bought me a graded 1939 Playball Bobby Doerr. Being the autograph nerd that I am, I busted that beauty out and sent it to get signed. While his signature wasn't nearly as neat as it was in 2008, it still came out looking great. I am forever thankful for my wife for buying me that card. She is pretty freaking awesome.

2008 Donruss Threads, Duke Snider

#13 Duke Snider

In 2008, I got back into collecting autographs in a big way. After being away from the hobby for over ten years, 2008 was a reawakening for me. I started taking cards with me to games instead of balls, I started this blog, and, maybe most importantly, I got back into through the mail autographs again.

I started sending autograph requests through the mail during Spring Training in 1988. I only got one back, but I was so excited about it that I became hooked. I kept sending out TTMs to teams into my high school years before finding other interests. Then, in 2008, I found that there were databases online with retired players home addresses. Finding that rekindled my TTM spirit and I got back at it again.

This was one of the cards that I sent out TTM in my return to the hobby. Even though this set is great for autographs, I wish I would have sent another card. Ideally, an actual card of Duke's from his playing day would have been the best option. Second best option would have been a Topps All-Time Fan Favorite card. But, I went with what I had handy and it still came out looking great. It just didn't look time specific for Duke Snider.

Nonetheless, I still love this card and am glad to have it in my collection. Duke is a Hall of Famer that had five 40 home runs seasons, six 100 RBI seasons, made eight All Star teams, and played in six World Series. He got elected to the Hall in 1980.

I do not recall paying a fee for Duke to sign this for me, but I would not be surprised if I sent a ten dollar bill along with it.

I will say that for a non-licensed Donruss set, I am surprised that you can make out most of the team name on the front of the jersey, not to mention the cap logo.

1988 Fleer, Alan Trammell

#9 Alan Trammell

Here is the card of Alan Trammell that I got signed at Spring Training in 2014. Alan was the bench coach for the Diamondbacks at the time and he signed for fans by the Major League practice field. Alan would only sign one card per person and this is the card that he signed for me. But, he signed for quite a few people, and I was able to send my son up there to get another card signed. I posted that card three years ago and it can be seen here.

This is the third card of Alan that I have posted on here. While I only got two cards signed by him at Spring Training that year, I did get him through the mail in 2009. He was working for the Cubs then and I sent him his '81 Donruss to sign for me. That card can be seen here.

This is a fun card of Alan. These All Star cards were randomly inserted into Fleer packs back when insert wasn't even a term in the hobby. I am surprised that I even have this card because I have virtually no cards from the '88 Fleer set. Looking at what I have, I could not have bought more than four packs of Fleer that year. Why that is the case, I have no idea. I loved Fleer in '87 and I do not hate the '88 design. I just barely bought any that year.

This insert set was limited to twelve cards and it is a random assortment of "All Stars". Eight of the cards are American League players and only four are from the National League. Only four of the cards feature players that started in the '87 All Star Game and there are three cards of players that weren't even on the All Star team. I guess these are just guys that would have been on Fleer's All Star team. Still, it is a fun card to have signed.

1987 Fleer, Steve Carlton

#635 Steve Carlton

Here is a fun card of Steve Carlton that I got signed at the College World Series in 2014. This is the third and final card that I got signed that day. The first one, his '81 Donruss, can bee seen here and the second one here.

On August 5th, 1986, Steve struck out Eric Davis to record his 4,000th career strikeout. In my opinion, that is quite a milestone. At that point, he was just the second pitcher to ever record 4,000 strikeouts. Yet, for some reason, this is the only base card of Steve commemorating that feat. While Donruss never really had a subset for milestones or record breakers, Topps did at that time and this one went unrecognized by them. I think it is funny that Steve broke the record while with the Giants, but us shown with the White Sox on this card, though.

In case you are wondering, Steve is now fourth on the all-time strikeout leaderboard with 4,136 K's. Nolan Ryan is first, followed by Randy Johnson and then Roger Clemens.

It is so strange seeing Steve with the White Sox. It is about as strange as seeing Tom Seaver with them.

1987 Fleer, Dennis Eckersley

#563 Dennis Eckersley

Here is the second of three cards that I got signed by Hall of Famer, Dennis Eckersley, at the College World Series in 2014. Those were the good days when they brought in former players to sign autographs. I got a lot of great signatures over the years while they were doing that. But, on the other hand, it is kind of nice that they don't do it anymore. The signings were kind of a distraction and made it hard to watch baseball. I would leave games early to get in line or hang out in line while the people I was with went into the game to get a seat. Now I just get to relax and watch competitive college baseball. And not get autographs from Hall of Famers.

My wife actually got this particular card signed for me. In fact, she got two signed. I gave her this one and an A's card and told her to pick one out. Being indecisive, she was unable to do that, so Eck went ahead and signed both for her. Since he signed two, he did not add the Hall of Fame inscription like he did with the '81 Donruss he signed for me.

Dennis pitched for the Cubs for two and a half seasons. He was dealt to Chicago for Bill Buckner during the '84 season. After starting the season 4-4 with the Red Sox, he went 10-8 with the Cubbies and posted a 3.03 ERA. The next season, he was 11-7 with a 3.08 ERA. In 1986, he went 6-11 with a 4.57 ERA. The Cubs traded him to Oakland right before the start of the '87 season for three minor leaguers that would never play in the Majors. Eckersley would never start a game again and would go on to punch his ticket to Cooperstown as the A's closer.

1986 Leaf, Bert Blyleven

#88 Bert Blyleven

Here is the third card of Bert Blyleven that I have posted on here. I posted the first two cards in 2009, though one was a TTM success from the early '90s and the other was in-person at a Rangers game that year.

This one, on the other hand, was signed in-person this year at the Twins/Royals game I attended in Kansas City this May. Bert is the color commentator for the Twinkies and I was lucky enough to get him to sign one of three when he got off the team bus outside the park.

I had a buddy with me at that game and he was helping me get some Twins autographs. Many of the bigger names on the Twins would only sign one card and my buddy would go and get a second card signed for me. When Bert only signed the one card, my friend came over to grab a card to get signed by Bert. I told him not to worry about is as I now have three of him. What I didn't realize until later was that I should have sent him over with my ball to get signed. I was saving the ball for Paul Molitor and he had already entered the park without signing for anyone. Why I did not think of getting Bert on it is still has me kicking myself in the butt.

I have no clue why I grabbed this card to get signed by Bert. I guess I still consider '80s Leaf as more oddball than mainstream and who does not like an occasional signed oddball? The only thing I do not like about is that I sort my autographs by year and set. Within the year, I sort the sets alphabetically. My Fleer cards separate this Leaf card from its Donruss twins and it just looks lonely and out of place in my binder.

1981 Donruss, Steve Carlton

#481 Steve Carlton

Here is a card of Hall of Fame pitcher, Steve Carlton, that I was lucky enough to get signed at the College World Series in 2014. Steve was signing at the always popular AT&T tent and was one of the few Hall members that would sign anything. Most of the guys in that tent will only sign the provided 8x10.

Steve was the first big name player that I had seen there more than once. I had the pleasure of getting an 8x10 signed by him at the CWS in 2007. That was my first trip to the CWS in ten years and I had no idea that they brought players in to sign. But, the big names that show up are one of the main reasons I keep going back every year.

Steve has two cards in the '81 Donruss set, his base card and this Cy Young card. I unfortunately do not have his base card, so I got a couple other random cards signed by him. Still, it would have been nice to have knocked off both of his cards from the set in one setting. All the more reason I need to put a want list up and get the set knocked out. One of these days.....

'81 Donruss Tracker: #217

1981 Donruss, Dick Williams

#453 Dick Williams

This is actually the second card of Dick Williams that I have posted on here. I posted the first one in 2008. It was a cool '84 Fleer checklist card that Rod, from Padrograhs, gave me. Less than three years after that post, Dick passed away. But, I was still able to add him to my Donruss set thanks to my wife stepping up her game this past Christmas. This is the third card, out of four, that she bought me to help me out with the project. All four cards were of deceased players.

Dick managed in the Majors for 21 years. He was a constant presence with some team every year from 1967 to 1988, with the exception of 1970. Over that span, he managed the Red Sox, A's, Angels, Expos, Padres, and Mariners. He took the Sox, A's, and Padres to the World Series and won in twice with the A's in the early '70s.

One of the best seasons he had was with the Expos in 1979. That club finished 95-65. Those 95 wins were the second most victories he had in a single season. Unfortunately, the Expos came up two games short to the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dick finished his managerial career with a 1571-1451 record. He won manager of the year three times and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #215

1981 Donruss, Rich Gossage

#347 Rich Gossage

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. But, on a whim, the family decided to go to Spring Training this year. So, all of my free time in the the two weeks leading up to that was finding cards for the trip. All the time sorting paid off as I was able to get 94 cards signed in Arizona this spring.

Here is the Goose Gossage card that I got signed through the mail last summer. It was fairly well know that Goose charged for his signature through the mail ever since his induction to the Hall of Fame in 2008. But, last summer, I started noticing successes from him for free. So, like my Spring Training trip, I sent this card to him on a whim, without a donation, and it came back signed about five weeks later.

Needless to say, I was very excited to get this card back. While I have a few sigs from Hall of Famers from this set, this was the first one that was signed through the mail. On top of that, just look at that signature. That sig on this card is hard to beat.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #205

1981 Donruss, Dennis Eckersley

#96 Dennis Eckersley

Here is a rarity for me these days with the '81 Donruss set. It is a card that was actually signed in-person. I got this card signed at the College World Series in 2014. AT&T always brings in former ballplayers to sign autographs during the opening weekend of the series. Most of the time, the player will only sign the 8x10 photograph that AT&T provides. I got lucky with Dennis, though, as he was signing everything that was given to him.

Some of the guys that I am missing from the set, that signed only 8x10s at the College World Series, are Dave Winfield, Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Jim Rice, Bruce Sutter, Ozzie Smith, and Fred Lynn.

When I think of Dennis Eckersley, I do not think of him as a member of the Red Sox. He played for them from 1978-1984 and was a starter the entire time. He had four double-digit win seasons, including a career high of twenty in 1978. During his tenure in Boston, Dennis was 88-71 with a 3.92 ERA and 771 strikeouts and one All Star Game appearance in 1982. Those numbers include the final season of his career, which happened to be with the Sox in 1998.

In May of 1984, Dennis was traded to the Cubs in the deal that brought Bill Buckner to Boston.

I love that Dennis included the Hall of Fame inscription to the card. I do not remember asking for it, but I probably did considering that I did not get one on the 8x10s or the other cards that he signed.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #186

1955 Topps, Monte Irvin

#100 Monte Irvin

Next up is Hall of Famer, Monte Irvin. I think I originally bought this card for All Star Fanfest in 2012 when Monte and Ernie Banks were on the initial list of players to attend. Both of them ended up not making it to the event, but luckily, Monte was a great TTM signer. He charged ten dollars to sign a card and that seemed like a bargain to me. So, I sent this card to him at the end of November that year and I had it back two weeks later.

Sadly, Monte passed away earlier this year. He was about a month shy of his 97th birthday. I thought about posting this card that day, but there were so many tributes to him on the card blogs that I did not even want to try to compete with all of them. So here it is now, right where it belongs on this blog.

Monte's career in the Major Leagues spanned just eight seasons as some of the better years of his life were spent in the Negro Leagues. Though he only made one All Star team, he had two monster seasons with the Giants. The first one came in 1951 when he hit .312 with 24 home runs and 121 RBI. The second one came two years later when he hit .329 with 21 dingers and 97 RBI.

He finished his career a .293 Major League hitter with 99 home runs and 443 RBI. He won one World Series and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973.

1939 Play Ball, Bobby Doerr

#7 Bobby Doerr

I got it back today!! It had only been gone for less than two weeks, but it seemed like a lifetime. And now I have my first signed card from the '30s and my oldest signed card.

It all began on Christmas Day when my lovely wife bought me this card.

I had been asking her for Doerr's '38 Goudey for a couple of years, but that card was out of her price range. I figured that would probably be the case and told her that this one would work just as well. She found one for me and it showed up on Christmas Eve before I got home from work. She wrapped it up and then hid it underneath presents so I didn't know it was there. It was the last present opened on Christmas morning and I was shocked when I saw it. I really was not expecting her to buy me a card. I guess it shows that it doesn't hurt to ask.

Now that I had the card, the next step was unslabbing it. Luckily, there were plenty of videos on youtube about the subject and, after watching a few, I decided to give it a go. I was going to do it in front of my wife, but she couldn't bear to watch. She went to bed and told me not to make a mess. I got it out of its case fairly easily.

The next morning, the card was off in the mail. Little Mack was there to say goodbye.

Today, I got home from work and I went and greeted my wife. She told me there was something for me by the TV and I instantly knew what it was. I went over there and picked up the opened envelope. Since she paid for the card, and knew what was in the self-addressed stamped envelope, she figured that she had first dibs at opening it. And I am completely fine with that. Then she says to me "If I had known it was going to be that easy to get it signed, I might have bought you the Goudey card".

As if there was ever a doubt in my mind...

1994 Nabisco All Star Legends, Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson

Check out this beauty. You will never believe how I got this card. One day, I got a random email inquiring about a 1996 Fleer Andres Galarraga autograph that I had posted. The person was collecting a signed set of '96 Fleer and was still needing the Big Cat. Since the card was just given to me, I didn't have any real attachment to it, so it was available. The person sent me a short list of cards that were available for trade and this one was on there. By that point, it was a no-brainer and I was all in on the deal.

I have nothing at all against Andres Galarraga, but he is no Bob Gibson.

Besides the awesome fact that I have a Bob Gibson autograph now, I know nothing about this set. I thought that there were just four cards in the set- Duke Snider, Jim Palmer, and Frank Robinson. But, when I do an image search, I keep finding other players like Jim Wynn, Bill Mazeroski, Al Oliver, Tug McGraw, and Sparky Lyle. There is so little information out there about this set that the best I could find was from Dodgers Blue Heaven. In a post about the Snider card, Ernest says that there was about 5,000 cards signed and they could be obtained by mailing in a proof of purchase and five bucks. What a deal. How did I miss this promotion?

Bob was an eight time All Star with two Cy Young Awards and an MVP. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1981.

I have seen two statues of Bob at ballparks. The first one was in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. He is one of the many mini statues there. This pic was from a game I attended in 2007.

The second statue is located outside of Werner Park, home of the Omaha Storm Chasers. Bob is an Omaha native and they honored him with a statue at the park. This picture was taken last year when we stopped by the park to get a Chasers team set before seeing them play in Des Moines the next day. I have no idea why it came out as bad as it did (the picture, not the statue).

1991 O-Pee-Chee Premier, Alan Trammell

#123 Alan Trammell

Here is one of the cards that I got signed at Spring Training this year. Alan is the bench coach for the Diamondbacks and he signed before the team worked out the day I was there. Alan would only sign one per person and I had him sign a late-'80s Fleer All Star insert card. He kept singing, so I sent my kid up and he got this one signed. I told him he could have it, as Alan was quite a player during his day, but he declined.

I've posted a few times about 'graphing the Dodgers minor league complex, but this is the first card I have shown from the Diamondbacks facility. This was the day before the D-Backs left for Australia and I ended up getting quite a few autographs from the Major League players. I went over to the back fields to check out the minor league action and I came home empty-handed. Most of the Spring Training facilities I have visited in Arizona were the opposite away around where you had easy access to the minor leaguers, but not the big boys. Talking Stick was a nice surprise.

I got Trammell through the mail five years ago when he was with the Cubs and that card can be seen here. It is one of my many '81 Donruss signatures.

The D-Backs have the worst winning percentage in the National League right now. After their poor season last year, manager Kirk Gibson could be the first manager fired this year. If that were to happen, I wonder if Alan would be sent packing with him or possibly replace him.

On the eve of the All Star Game, I think it is right to mention that Alan was a six-time All Star.

1987 Donruss, Barry Larkin

#492 Barry Larkin

Here is a card that I got signed by Barry Larkin at the College World Series in 2012. Barry works some college games for ESPN during the tournament, so it is not uncommon for him to be in Omaha. I saw him there a few years back at the AT&T Fanfest tent and got an 8x10 signed by him. Unfortunately, he would only sign the 8x10 at that time.

When I saw that he was going to be signing in 2012, I was excited because he wasn't going to be in the AT&T tent (where only signing the 8x10 is the norm). Instead, he was going to be a the Capital One booth. There was one small problem, though. I did not take any cards of Barry with me. So, when I got the chance, I went over to the card shop across the street from old Rosenblatt. There, I was able to find this card. It set me back $1.50, which I thought was a little steep. But, I got it signed, so I cannot complain.

Barry got inducted into Cooperstown in 2012. But, since the CWS is in June, he had not been inducted yet. Otherwise I would have asked for a Hall of Fame inscription.

Barry is fun to meet. The first time I met him, he had just started working college games and I asked him who he was paired with when he worked the Super Regional. He told me and then started asking what I thought about the little fight that Brett Wallace got into with his Arizona State teammate. Then, the time I got this card signed, I was wearing a Royals cap and he started asking about the All Star Game the Royals were hosting late that summer. He seems like he would be a fun guy to just sit and watch a game with. He likes to ask questions and get others opinions rather than just talk non-stop and be the life of the party.

1985 Topps, Tony Gwynn

#717 Tony Gwynn

Here is a card that I almost did not get signed at All Star Game Fanfest last year.

Tony Gwynn was the most recent Hall of Fame inductee at Fanfest that year and there were quite a few people looking to add his signature to their collection. He was doing two signings that day and I knew when and where he was going to be.

As I walked by the first spot where he would be signing two hours later, I was shocked at how many people were already in line. I did not get in that line at that time because there were other guys signing before Tony that I did not want to miss out on. I ended up getting in that line about an hour later and was told by the guy manning the line that we were not likely to get a signature. Nevertheless, it was worth a shot.

So we slinked out way through that line and we were cutting it close. Finally I realized that we were not going to make it, so I took off for the next line where Tony would be signing two hours later. My dad was with me and we usually go through the lines together so I can double-up on autographs, but I didn't want to miss out on other people because I was standing in line for three others. So, I went to the Gwynn line and my dad went out getting autographs from other guys.

When I made it to the second Gwynn line, I was amazed how long it was considering that Gwynn was still signing at the other line. But, I got on the list anyway and started walking down the line trying to find the end of it. I finally got there and chuckled about how far back I was. This line wrapped so far back that I couldn't see anything because we were stuck behind exhibits. So, I just sat down on the ground and waited.

Not too long into my sitting wait, a guy and his daughter came and sat down next to me. Not in front of me, or behind me, but next to me. They had been off chasing Cal Ripken, Jr. and were getting back into line where they thought they were before they had left. I'm pretty sure they had moved up the line about ten people. But, as long as they were not in front of me, I did not care.

Eventually, the line started to move. It seemed to go rather briskly at first only to eventually bog down. Next thing you know, there are only twenty minutes left and I hadn't even reached the actually roped-off lines. By that time, they were letting just a handful of people into the actual signing line. They would let them in, let them filter down, and then let in another handful.

I finally was about ten people from getting in with less than three minutes left for the signing and they started to let one more small group in. The girl that I had been behind the entire time in line made it through the threshold and I followed her like white on rice. They cut it off right after me and that guy who had been beside me started throwing a fit saying I had cut in front of them. I was about thirty feet down the line and the guy in charge started yelling at me to see if I had cut. I yelled back that I hadn't and I had been in that spot the whole time and turned around and got my card signed.

The guy that had been beside me must have told that guy some sob story because they ended up letting him and his daughter in, too. But, I got this card signed and could not have been happier. It was well worth the wait.

1981 Topps. Jim Palmer

#210 Jim Palmer

Here is the second of two Jim Palmer autographs that I was able to acquire at the College World Series in 2012. The first card was his '81 Donruss card and that card can be seen here.

When the CWS announces who is going to be signing at Fanfest, it is usually at the last minute. When I saw Jim's name appear, it was a mad scramble to get a couple of his cards put together. Apparently my collection is void of Jim Palmer cards as all I could put together were these two cards from 1981. It would have been nice to have gotten something a little bit older signed, but there was no way that was going to happen because of the time constraint. So, it was either get these two cards signed or a modern Topps insert card. I briefly thought about getting his rookie reprint signed from the Cards Your Mom Threw Out insert set. But, that thought was very brief. So, the two '81 cards it was. They came out looking good, too.

1981 Donruss, Jim Palmer

#473 Jim Palmer

Here is a card that I got signed at the College World Series in 2012. The CWS usually starts on a Saturday, but in 2012 it started on a Friday. That was the day my dad and I headed up there and we were graced by Jim Palmer's presence at the AT&T tent at Fanfest. Since it was a Friday, there was less people there than there usually is for the first day of the Series. Because of that, I was able to go through the line about five times and I got my two cards signed as well as three 8x10s. Jim was one of the few guys that have signed at that tent that signed something besides the provided 8x10s.

Some of the superstars in the '81 Donruss set were lucky enough to get two cards in the set. They had the standard card with the previous seasons stats on the back and some bullet-style career highlights. Then they had their career highlight card that had a paragraph style write-up on the back and some interesting stats. This card happens to be the career highlight card and the back focuses on the Palmer-Hunter-Seaver decade. It lists wins-losses, ERA, and Cy Young Awards for each pitcher for each season in the '70s. Palmer had the most wins, Cy Youngs, and best ERA, by the way.

Unfortunately, I did not have the other Palmer card from this set. Yet another reason why I really need to complete this set.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 151/100

1981 Donruss, Gaylord Perry

#471 Gaylord Perry

Here is the second card of Gaylord Perry that I got signed at All Star Fanfest last summer. I posted the first card about nine months ago and it can be seen here. I can't believe that I was posting cards from the '60s last November and I still haven't made it through '81 Donruss yet.

Gaylord's career spanned twenty-two seasons and he saw time with the Giants, Indians, Rangers, Padres, Yankees, Braves, Mariners, and Royals. He made five All Star teams and won two Cy Young awards. He was a five-time 20 game winner and is in the top-ten all time for innings pitched (5350), strikeouts (3534), and starts (690). Gaylord finished his career 314-265 with 11 saves and a 3.11 ERA. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 150/100

1973 Topps, Fergie Jenkins

#180 Fergie Jenkins

Here is the first of two cards that I got signed by Fergie Jenkins at All Star Game Fanfest this past summer. I got a card signed by Fergie four years prior at a charity old-timers game, but that card featured him as a Ranger. Since I usually think of Fergie as a Cub, I had to pick up this card of him from checkoutmycards.

With the Cubs, Fergie was a 20 game winner for six straight seasons from 1967-1972. He made three All Star teams during that span and won the Cy Young Award in 1971. That season, he went 24-13 with a 2.77 ERA with 263 strikeouts. He also hit 6 home runs that season and drove in 20 to help himself out.

I only remember Fergie doing one free signing at Fanfest. Most of the time, though, he could be found signing at the charity table for twenty bucks a pop, ball included.

I love the Cubs jersey on this card. The numbers centered on it are certainly unique.

For some reason, the Sharpie did not stick to this card too well. That doesn't happen to often, but I have seen it before. I don't know if I touched the surface before he signed it or what.

George Brett was the official All Star Game ambassador, but Fergie was the one that helped open the Fanfest ceremonies. Here is a somewhat blurry picture of him doing so.