1986 Mother's Cookies Astros, Larry Dierker

#8 Larry Dierker

While I was at the card show at fanfest, I just happened to find this card in the same box that had the Jimmy Wynn. Since I only had two cards of Larry, I picked this one up also. I figured that I would deffinitely be able to get the Wynn card signed and I would try to get this card signed if Larry would sign more than one. Of course, Larry is a nice guy and signed both of the cards that I had of him.

Since I was down in Houston for my cousin's wedding (no, I didn't go there just for fanfest), my Dad went to fanfest with me. So, when going through the autograph lines, I gave him the one card that I wanted signed the most and I had two other cards in my book. With the exception of Enos Cabell and John Hudek, I only got two cards signed by each player. My dad got the third one.

Speaking of my Dad, when he saw these Mother's Cookies cards after I bought them, he said "you know these are fake, don't you". I told him that they look real to me. I think that he was just referring to them not being made by one of the main brands.

1986 Mother's Cookies Astros, Jimmy Wynn

#7 Jimmy Wynn

This is a sweet looking card. I bought this card at the card show held during Astros Fanfest for fifty cents. When I got to Houston, all I had was my one Jimmy Wynn card. So, my main goal for the show was to pick up at least one more card of him. This is the only card that I could find, but I am very happy with it.

While I have heard of Mother's Cookies cards before, this is the first time that I had actually seen one in person. I doubt that they all look this good. They are kind of goofy because they have rounded corners like a playing card and they are real thin. Other than that, they look like they would have been a great promotional item for an Astros game in 1986. This is just a good-looking card.

If you look closely at Jimmy's signature, you will notice something that is unusual. He crosses his n's.

1986 Fleer Update, Dennis Leonard

#U-67 Dennis Leonard

This is the second card from Dennis Loenard that I got signed at the Spring Into Sports youth clinic last month.

As for the card itslef, it is kind of a funny story of how I got it. A little of a year ago, a friend brought over all the cards he could find from when he was a kid. Most of them were in a shoe box and he also had a 700 count box. Inside of that was a set of '87 Fleer and '86 Fleer Update. I thought those were going to be fun to go through until I realized all of the rookies and some stars were missing out of both. So, needless to say, they were not complete sets. He ended up leaving all of the cards at my place for about a month. After badgering him enough to come and get them, he came over one day and got the shoebox. He left the Fleer here and they are still here to this day. Whenever I need a card from those sets to get signed, that is where I go to get them. And that is where this card came from.

1986 Fleer, Pete Rose

#628 Pete Rose

Here is the second Pete Rose that I got back from him a little over a week ago. I had read some blog (and I cannot remember which one it was) and that person had sent Pete two cards and had gotten them both back signed. So, I figured that I would do the same. I sent an '81 Donruss since I love getting them signed and because they look good signed with a ballpoint pen. Then I picked this one out since he is a Red in it and it would not have been a card that I would have missed if it never came back home.

But, it is a pretty neat card and he is holding a pretty cool plaque that has Ty Cobb on it. It looks like he did his best not to sign over the plaque. I wonder if he still has it.

1986 Donruus, Kevin Bass

#548 Kevin Bass

This is the second Kevin Bass card that I got signed at Astros Fanfest. The first one was posted a few months ago when I was posting my cards from 1993. I was able to find three cards of Kevin with three different teams and those were the cards I took with me. I'm not sure why I like to do that, but I do.

I'll post another card on here later tonight.

1986 Donruss, Joel Skinner

#330 Joel Skinner

Here is another card that I got signed at Astros Fanfest. No, Joel never played for the Astros. But, fanfest was held during an exhibition game and the 'Stros were playing the Indians. Joel is the Tribe's third base coach and I was able to get him to sign during batting practice.

For some reason, I love getting autographs from the coaches (aka former players). I guess I enjoy getting the cards of my youth signed. This was the third game I went to that I tried for Joel's autograph. I was beginning to think that he wasn't much of a signer, but after signing mine, he signed for anyone that wanted it. So, he apparently does sign. Now, the only coach for Cleveland that I haven't got to sign for me is Luis Rivera. But, I'll keep trying since I have an '09 Topps Heritage Indians coaches card that is only half complete.

I love the photo on this card. It's nothing special, but I like the clear view of the number on the pants. Some forward-looking team needs to bring that back.

As for the contest, Grienke got lit up last night (I think JRJ may have been on to something) and his ERA currently stands at 1.55.

1985 Topps, Vern and Vance Law

#137 Vern Law and Vance Law

This card has two autographs on it and I have two stories on how they were obtained. The first one that I got was Vance's. I got him to sign a few cards for me in Manhattan, Kansas when his BYU Cougars took on the Kansas State Wildcats. Vance is the manager of the Cougars. Luckily, there was a post on Cards in the Attic about Vance coaching at BYU. Otherwise I would not have known about him being involved in the college ranks.

After I noticed that K-State was ranked this year, I decided that I needed to go to a game since I hadn't been to one since I went to school there and actually worked for the athletic department. So, I looked over the remaining schedule and this was the one game that stood out to me, just because of Vance Law. When I started to look for some cards of Vance, I tried to find three featureing three different teams he palyed with. All I could find were Expos and Cubs cards until I finally came to this one (I also had an '81 Topps that had two other players on it, but I didn't want to use that one). After I found this card, I went to The Bench to see if Vern was a through the mail signer and it looked like he was.

So, the day after I got Vance's signature, I sent this card to Vern. There was a report on The Bench that he was signing cards TTM, but he charges $8. So, I sent this card to him along with a check and I had my card back a week later. Apperantly, he will sign one card for free (which he actually wrote on the back of the envelope). But if you want a second one signed, it will cost you $8. Rather than send my check back to me, he sent me another card that he signed for me. So, now I have a signed Vern Law card that doesn't have Vance on it. The card is from the 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set and I think that I may have already had it.

Overall, this turned into a nice looking signed card. Both father and son appeared in one All-Star game. Vern made the team in 1960 with the Pirates and Vance made it in 1988 as a Cub. But, Vern won the 1960 NL Cy Young award when he posted a 20-9 record and led the Bucs to a seven game upset of the Yankees in the World Series. Vance, on the other hand, only played in two LCSs and he was a combined 2-14 in them.

To everyone invloved in the contest, I wnated to wish you all the best of luck and thank you for taking part. If this post seems a little off-par, it's because I have been trying to follow the game while typing and it doesn't seem like I have been doing very well at either one. Also, thanks to JRJ at Sports Locker for getting a few last-minute entries in the contest and Kris at Cards in the Attic for indirectly informing me that Vance is coaching at BYU.