1989 Topps 2

#80 Cory Snyder

I got this card signed through the mail in either the late '80s or early '90s(probably 1989 or '90). I don't know the exact date. But, in the words of 30-year old Cardboard, this might be my "That Guy". Cory had 83 home runs in his first three seasons in the big leagues (so, naturally I was pretty excited when I got this autograph). So I, like many people, thought that Cory was going to have a Barry Bonds-like career (or at least Mark McGwire). He then hit 66 home runs throughout the rest of his career (which lasted until 1994). But, that is life and that is baseball. Pitchers adjust and some hitters can't. This goes both ways.

I do wish that he would have signed it in a place that would have made it more readable, like across his shoulders.

Also, on a side note, I hate sets that don't put the player's position on the front.

1989 Topps

#25 Frank White

This is the second of the two Frank White autographs that I got at the Royals Caravan in 2004. He went on the Kansas leg of the tour because he was going to be managing the Royal's AA affiliate, the Wichita Wranglers. At all of the Caravan events, it's always one autograph per person. Luckily, that year, the event was held in the afternoon during the week, so there weren't too many people there. I got one card signed and then hung around talking the the local card shop owner while everyone else went through the line. After everyone went through, there was still some time left, so I went up to Frank and got a second card signed and talked a little bit. This card was much better for signing than the '89 Dunruss I showed earlier.

1989 Star 2

#93 Moises Alou

This is the second card I've shown on here of an active player. Since he hasn't retired yet, I'm still considering him active. I got this card signed through the mail in the early '90s when Moises was with the Expos. Around that time, my Dad knew a salesman that would come around his workplace from time to time that was from Canada. Every now and then, my Dad would have him grab some Canadian stamps for me. That way I could write to Blue Jays and Expos by placing the proper American stamp on the main envelope to the players, and then affixing the Canadian stamp on the self-addressed stamped envelope to myself. My hockey card autograph collection grew immensely at this time (Roy, Sundin, Sakic, Selanne).

As for this set of Star, I don't have too many of them. I remember buying a few packs at a card show at the mall around 1989 or '90. Most of the players were in A-ball, so it took a little time for them to get to the big leagues (which most of them didn't). I also have two team sets from Star- the Durham Bulls (Steve Avery, Kevin Costner) and the New Britian Red Sox (Jeff Bagwell).

This card depicts Moises as a Salem Buccaneer of the Carolina League, part of the Pirates organization. Today, they are the Salem Avalanche and are affiliated with the Astros.

In my opinion, Moises is a good autograph to have. He's a .303 career hitter. I just wish that I would have sent a card that would have looked better signed. Oh well. Back then I looked at how cool the card was and not how it would look signed. I have a real good example of this when I get to Tim Raines.

1989 Star

#90 Bill Masse

This is the first card on here of a player that never made it to the big leagues. Billy played AAA for four seasons, all in the Yankee organization, before hanging it up. In his second season of AAA, he hit .316 with 19 homers and 91 RBI. I figured that kind of season would at least get him a September call-up, but it didn't. So close.

I got this card signed in San Antonio in August. Bill was the manager of the Missions. I tried to get him to sign after the game was over, before he left the dugout, but he didn't. So I waited outside the ballpark for him to come out. And I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Around eleven o'clock, I said to myself "I'll give him fifteen minutes, and then I'm leaving". Fifteen minutes later, I said the exact same thing. Fifteen minutes later, I said "screw it, I've waited this long" and sat out and waited until he came out. Finally, about an hour and forty-five minutes after the game ended (and nearly midnight), he came out and signed both of my cards. It wasn't like I had to be anywhere anyway. I was just going to leave the game, drive north for a few hours and sleep in my car at a truck stop. So, it didn't really matter if I left at ten or twelve.

Even though it is just a minor league card, this is the first card on here of a player from the Yankee organization.

1989 Score 2

#426 Randy Ready

This is the second of three Randy Ready cards that I got signed in Salt Lake City in May. I forgot to mention this on his last card, but he signs his first and last names exactly the same. It's a little harder to see on this card, but you can see it better here.

This is the first Padres card on here. This is also the first card to list the position as "infield", although it should'nt be.

1989 Score

#123 Terry Kennedy

Here is the second of three Kennedy autographs that I got in San Antonio from the Mission's hitting coach. This card has a really cool action photo of Kennedy pursuing a pop fly around home plate. This is probably one of the better shots you can get of a catcher- his glove is above his head blocking the sun, his mask is off but hasn't been thrown yet, and you can just barely see part of the umpire which could indicate that the ball is still on the way up. Overall, it's a pretty good photo to go along with a nice crisp signature.

1989 Procards

#1679 Jay Bell

I got this card signed through the mail sometime in the early 90s when Jay was playing for those great Pirate teams. I don't really know why I sent a card to him at the time, since he didn't put up decent numbers until after he left Pittsburgh. Maybe I had an extra minor league card of him lying around that I wanted signed. I don't know. But, I'm glad that I did.

Unlike the last Procards card on here, this one wasn't part of a team set. But it still has a remarkably high number. I used to be able to find packs of this stuff at a local gas station around 1990. All of the cards were AAA players. This card and a Mark McGwire one are about the only decent cards that I got from this set.

Jay is best known for fathering a son that came up with the name for the Diamondback's mascot (which isn't even a snake).

This is really off topic, but, I love the name Buffalo Bisons. It's like saying the Automobile Cars or the Cougar Mountain Lions or the Father Padres or the Buccaneer Pirates or...I could go on and on about this, but I will just leave it at this. The Buffalo Bison's (and the Bills, for that matter) name is much better than the Buffalo Sabres. Nothing against the Sabres, but their name sucks. The only problem with the name is that the plural for bison is bison. So, it's like calling the Manitoba Moose the Mooses.