1971 Topps, Marty Pattin

#579 Marty Pattin

Here is a quick pre-home run derby post about Marty Pattin. This signature was obtained at Royals Fanfest this past winter. I took three cards of Marty that I wanted to get signed there and this was the last of the three that I got signed. In fact, I didn't get this card signed. I had already gone through Marty's line twice and, since Jeff Montgomery recognised me as a Sean O'Sullivan look alike, I didn't feel like going through the line again. So, I waited for my dad to get out of the Billy Butler line and get into the Pattin line to get this card signed. By the time that happened, it was about time for Marty's line to close. My dad got about halfway through the line when they started to shut it down.

Lucky for my dad (and me), Marty asked what was going on. When he was told that they were closing down his station, Marty said "but I want to sign some more autographs". The two ladies running the booth gave each other a confused look and then said OK. They didn't let any one else in the line, but they did allow everyone that was already in it to go through.

I thought that was fantastic. How often do you see a player complain about his autograph station shutting down? It just doesn't happen very often. Most guys will pop smoke and disappear the first chance they get. But, not Marty Pattin. The guy is a class act.

This card was provided to me by the Night Owl. It took me over a year to get it signed, but it was well worth the wait. Thanks, Greg!

1971 Topps, Joe Grzenda

#513 Joe Grzenda

Of all the cards that I sent out through the mail this past winter, this is the one that took the longest to get back. I sent this card out on January 13 and I did not have it back until 82 days later. Luckily, I only had to wait 82 days. I always laugh whene I see people posting successes on SportsCollectors.Net that took 500+ days to get back.

This is the final card that I am posting from my "KC A's reunion TTM project".

Joe pitched in the Majors for parts of eight seasons. Over those eight years, Joe pitched for six different teams- the Tigers, A's, Mets, Twins, Senators, and Cardinals. He pitched in 219 games over his career and 95 of those games were with the Senators. He finished his career with a 14-13 record with 14 saves and a 4.00 ERA. His best season came with the Senators in 1971. That year, he threw 70.1 innings and posted a 1.92 ERA.

I'm going ballparkin' this weekend in Amarillo, Texas and Colorado Springs, Colorado and I doubt that I am going to get any posts up. But, at least I have an excuse. Have a good weekend everyone!

This is probably the last time I will ever get to post Senators cards on consecutive days.

1971 Topps, Ed Stroud

#217 Ed Stroud

This is the last card that I sent out to get signed TTM. I sent it out on February 23 and I got it back on March 4.

I have had this card in my collection since I was in grade school. Back in the day, the local card shop had a commons bin with random cards in it. I think that the only cards I ever bought out of it were a few '71 Topps cards. But, I didn't buy just any old '71. I would only buy cards of the Senators. When I was that young, I thought it was pretty cool that I could buy cards of a team that no longer existed. I doubt that I had any clue that the franchise had moved to Texas and I know I didn't know that this was the second Senators franchise. But, even if I had known that, I doubt that it would have mattered much.

Ed's Major League career lasted just six seasons and it was spent with the White Sox and the Senators. He played in just 529 games and he hit .237 with 14 homers and 100 RBI. His best season came in 1970 when he had career highs in just about all the offensive categories except triples.

When I got back into autographs a few years ago, I always hated ballpoint pen signatures. But, over the years, I have grown to appreciate them on older cards. I still do not like them on this set, though, just because of the pre-printed signature. This set looks OK signed in Sharpie, but the pre-printed signature drowns out the ballpoint.

1971 Topps, Mike Hershberger

#149 Mike Hershberger

Here is a card of Mike Hershberger that I was unable to get signed at the Kansas City A's reunion last summer. So, I did what I did with all of my unsigned cards from that event and I mailed it to him to get signed. I sent it out on 1/14/11 and I had it back eight days later.

Mike played in the Major Leagues for parts of eleven seasons. He spent time with the White Sox, A's, and Brewers. It looks like Mike was an everyday player for six seasons, spending the rest of the time as a back-up. He never made an All Star team and he never played in the playoffs. Not one season that he played really stands out to me, so I will list his career highs instead.

His best average was .279 ('63). The most home runs he had was 5 ('65 & '68). The most doubles he had was 27 ('66) and the most RBI was 57 ('66). For his career, Mike was a .252 hitter with 26 homers and 344 driven in.

1971 Topps, John Mayberry

#148 John Mayberry

By my best count, this is the sixth John Mayberry card that I posted on here since starting this blog in the summer of 2008. I honestly thought that I had more than that. But, by using the search on the blog, it only turns up five John Mayberry cards.

John must feel the same way as I do. When I got this card signed at Royals Fanfest (and it was the only card that John signed for me there), John looked up at me with a surprised look on his face as he asked me something to the effect of "you made it through again?", like it was my second trip through that line. When I told him that that was the first time he signed for me all day, he said "must have been in Omaha where I saw you" (referring to the Caravan visit there). I obviously wasn't in Omaha either, but I just said "must have been".

After all that was out of the way, John looked at this card and kind of chuckled. He said "I've seen a few of these today" before adding "I've even seen a couple of my rookie cards". He must get a kick out of seeing his first two baseball cards.

Speaking of his 1970 rookie card, the card features him and Bob Watson. When Bob was working for MLB, he was a great TTM signer. I haven't checked to see if he is signing from a home address now. But, if he is, I need to acquire that card to see if I could get both guys to sign it. I hardly have any '70 Topps cards signed, so it would be a cool addition to the collection.

After getting this card signed, I now have a card signed by John with each of the teams he played for in the Majors- Astros, Royals, Blue Jays, and Yankees.

1970 Topps, Marty Pattin

#31 Marty Pattin

Here is the third Marty Pattin card that I have posted on here. This signature was obtained at Royals Fanfest last winter. I got this card signed on my second trip through his line. On my first trip, he did not say a word to me. But, when I came through with this card, Marty's eyes lit up and he said "oh, to be that young again and know what I know now".

Marty's claim to fame may be that he was the fabled Duck in Whitey Herzog's Hungo, Mingo, the Bird, and the Duck bullpen quartet. Al Hrabosky, the Mad Hungarian, was Hungo, Steve Mingori was Mingo, and Doug Bird was the Bird. Marty was the Duck because of the great Donald Duck impersonation that he does. If you get lucky, you can sometimes hear him do that impersonation during signings.

Marty was an All Star with the Brewers in 1971, a season where he finished 14-14 with a 3.13 ERA. That was his lone All Star selection and it was probably his best season as a starter.

With the Royals in 1976, Marty pitched in 44 games (15 starts) and he finished the season with an 8-14 record with 5 saves and a career-best 2.49 ERA.

For his career, Marty is 114-109 with 25 saves and a 3.62 ERA.

CWS Final Standings and Prizes

I know I was supposed to do this yesterday, but I was a little busier than I had planned. Better late than never.

Here are the final standings from the contest.

cubsfan: 19
Ryan: 16
Play at the Plate: 13
Nathan: 12
Derek: 10
Dhoff: 10
Joey D: 9
SBC.net: 8
card hobbyist: 7
Spankee: 7
Dimwit: 6
Eric L: 5
Greg Z: 5
lost collector: 5
Matt: 3

Here are the prizes that Justin and Ryan get to choose from.


Rod Carew signed 8x10


2011 Topps Heritage stamp card #4/62


A pack of 2009 BBM Softbank Hawks Japanese cards


Signed customs from 2010 CWS players/draft picks. For the most part, these are uncut sheets or portions of uncut sheets. Here is a list of the players and what team drafted them and in what round. Not all players are pictured.
TCU: Bryan Holaday (Det 6), Matt Curry (Pit 16), Greg Holle (Mil 11), Steven Maxwell (Min 12), Paul Gerrish (Hou 42)
Clemson: Kyle Parker (Col 1), Mike Freemann (AZ 11)
Arizona St: Merrill Kelly (TB 8), Jordan Swagerty (StL 2)
Florida St: Mike McGee (AZ 41), Tyler Holt (Cle 10), Stephen Cardullo (AZ 24)
South Carolina: Sam Dyson (Tor 4), Whit Merrifield (KC 9)
UCLA: Rob Rassmussen (Flo 2)
Florida: Mett den Dekker UER(NYM 5), Kevin Chapman (KC 4)
note: these cards were printed on my printer and it was kind of acting up that weekend


Signed cards of Royals Hall of Famers Frank White and Bret Saberhagen.


Signed cards of college coaches Darin Erstad (Nebraska) and Robbie Wine (Penn St)


Five duplicate autos I have: Indy leaguers Raul Gonzalez and Jose Acsanio, Royals minor leaguer Buddy Baumann, Padrograph of Ramon Vazquez, and Royals Rule V draft pick Nate Adcock.


Signed Robin Ventura 8x10


Chad Billingsley manupatch from 2011 Topps Series 2


Coin given out to the first 6000 fans at the very first CWS game at TD Ameritrade Park


Some duplicate Royals signed postcards- Brian McRae, Dee Brown, Dan Riechert, Jermaine Dye, Dave Owen, Kris Wilson


Maury Wills signed postcard


Brand new CWS t-shirt, size XL

These are the thirteen prizes that are up for grabs. I do this like a draft. Justin geta the first pick, Ryan the second, Justin the third, Ryan 4, Justin 5, Ryan 6, Justin 7, Ryan 8, Justin 9, Ryan 10, and Justin with the final pick (not all prizes will be picked).

Just leave a comment on this thread to make your pick. Congrats to the winners and thanks to all that played.

Justin, you are on the clock. You guys can do this in a day or a week. Doesn't matter either way for me.