1970 Topps, Larry Stahl

#494 Larry Stahl

About a month ago, I posted a dual signed '66 Topps "Rookie Stars" card of Ron Tompkins and Larry Stahl. I had originally sent the card to Mr. Tompkins first and the card came back mangled, care of the USPS. When I finally got around to sending the card out to Mr. Stahl, I decided that I should get a card of him that was in decent shape and this is the card I picked out. I picked this card over his '73 Topps card just because I love the early Padres uniforms and this card shows them off beautifully.

Larry played in the Majors for ten seasons with the A's, Mets, Padres, and Reds. He was a .232 career hitter who enjoyed his best season in 1971 with San Diego. That year he had career highs in home runs, doubles, average, and RBI.

For a career .232 hitter, it is kind of funny that Larry had some of best success off of Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. In 41 match-ups, Bob struck Larry out 11 times. But, Larry got 13 hits off him which was good for a .325 average. Three of the hits went for doubles and one for a triple.

This is now the oldest signed Padre card that I have.

1970 Topps, Bobby Wine

#332 Bobby Wine

Here is a card I unlocked in the Topps Diamond Giveaway that I had a little trouble getting signed through the mail. I originally sent this card to Bobby last November and about ten days later it came back returned to sender. I don't remember the wording on the RTS stamp, but it might have been undeliverable as addressed. My SCN membership had expired by the time I sent the card out and I didn't feel like paying for a new one then The best I could figure out was that he lives on an Avenue and I put something besides that (Road, or Circle, or something).

Since I was too cheap to re-up my membership for one address, I kept checking SCN this past spring in the free latest successes section. Eventually, someone had success with Mr. Wine and it was at the address that I had on file for him. So, I sent this card back out to him at the end of April and I was fortunate enough to get it back four and a half months later. It was one of my longer waits over the past year and I had pretty much forgot about it by the time it had come home. It's always nice to get a little surprise like that.

Bobby played in the Majors for twelve seasons with the Phillies and Expos. He was a light-hitting shortstop that hit .215 for his career while notching 30 home runs. He won a Gold Glove for the Phils in 1963.

It seems to me that the type of player Bobby was does not even exist in today's game. On Baseball Reference, it lists the ten players that were the most similar to Bobby and the two most recent ones last played in the '80s. I guess that goes to show how much offense is valued in today's game.

1969 Topps, Juan Marichal

#370 Juan Marichal

Here is another card that I got signed at All Star Game Fanfest this past summer. Actually, my dad got this card signed. I already had this Marichal card in my collection and didn't feel like purchasing another one. So, I only took one card of him to the show. When Marichal signed, my dad stood pat in that line and I went ahead and got in the Tony Gwynn line. And, as always, my dad came through for me.

I had the opportunity to stand in line for Jaun's autograph before. I went to a Devil Rays game once in 2004 and it was Latin Heritage night. I knew that going in, but I did not know that Jaun was going to be there doing a free autograph signing before the game. So, my roommate and I spent a little too much time at the Bullpen (sports bar by the Trop) and were at the tail end of the autograph line once we made it inside. Of course, they shut the line down when we got within three spots to making it to the table where he was signing. I didn't have this card with me that day, so I guess it worked out alright in the end.

I just took a peek at Juan's stats and I was surprised to see that he never won a Cy Young award. He was a nine time All Star that had six 20+ win/200+ strikeout seasons in his career. I guess that just goes to show how tough the pitching was in the National League in the late '60s.

I was lucky enough to have this card given to me by a friend in the early '90s.

Two Hall of Famers in two days? Don't get used to that.

1968 Topps, Gaylord Perry

#85 Gaylord Perry

Here is a card that I got signed at the All Star Game Fanfest this past summer in Kansas City. Gaylord did one free signing there and I made sure to get in that line to get this card signed and one other. I wonder what other card of Gaylord's was that I wanted signed.

I mention that he only did one free signing. For most of Fanfest, Gaylord could be found over at a booth signing for a charity. At that booth, you could get a ball signed by who ever was signing at the time for $20. The best part about it was that they supplied the ball as well. I doubt that they were official Major League balls, but that still sounded like a decent deal. I do not remember what the charity was for, but the three guys I saw there the most were Gaylord, Rollie Fingers, and Fergie Jenkins. If I wasn't so wrapped up in getting cards signed, and I hadn't got all three guys to sign for free at some point over the weekend, I probably would have donated some money for an autograph.

Unfortunately, when I think of Gaylord Perry, I usually think of him as a Royal or Mariner since those were the last two teams he played for. I was only five years old when he retired, so those two teams are about the only teams he played for on cards I own. So, when I saw he was going to be at Fanfest, I knew I had to have an older card of him. I bought this card from COMC.com for about two bucks and I am thrilled with the results.

1968 Topps, Pete Ward

#33 Pete Ward

Here is another card that I unlocked last year in the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I didn't do as good with the '68 Topps in the giveaway as I did the '67 set as this is the only one I was able to acquire. But, I was still able to get it signed and that is all that really matters. I sent this card to Pete in early November last year and I had it back in hand twelve days later.

Pete played in the Majors for nine years. He mainly played for the White Sox, though he did play a few games with the Orioles and Yankees. His best season came with the Sox in 1964 when he had career highs in home runs (23) and RBI (94). He hit .282 that season as well. After that year, his numbers dropped off quite a bit and he never reached the twenty home run mark again and he never hit over .250 in a full season again. Pete never made an All Star team and he never played in the postseason. He didn't even get a chance to pitch in the Majors.

For his career, Pete was a .254 hitter who tallied 98 home runs (four were grand slams)and 427 RBI.

Pete was born in Montreal and he probably has the least French-sounding name of anyone ever born in Quebec.

1967 Topps, Dennis Bennett

#206 Dennis Bennett

Here is the fourth and final 1967 Topps card that I acquired through the Topps Diamond Giveaway. Prior to that giveaway, I had two cards from that set signed. Now, after getting another card returned in the mail this last week, I have seven signed cards from the set. I'm hoping that Topps does another card giveaway in the 2013 set as that was a cheap, easy, and fun way for me to get some older cards signed.

Dennis pitched in the Majors for seven seasons with the Phillies, Red Sox, Mets, and Angels. He both started and relieved during his career and only reached double digits in wins once when he recorded 12. That season was the 1964 season with the Phils and he also reached double digits in losses that year with 14. Dennis finished his career with a 43-47 record with 6 saves, a 3.69 ERA, and 572 strikeouts.

I sent this card to Dennis in early November last year and I had it back ten days later. Sadly, Dennis passed away about three months after signing this card.

I like how he signed the card right above his pre-printed signature. Luckily he signed it in blue instead of black so you can easily tell which one is which. It is pretty impressive how little his signature changed over the years.

1967 Topps, Sammy Ellis

#176 Sammy Ellis

This is the third of four '67 Topps cards that I unlocked over a year ago in the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I sent this card to Sam last November and I got it back eight days later.

Sammy had an up and down career. He made his Major League debut with the Reds as a twenty-one year old in 1962. He pitched 28 innings that season and he walked 29 batters while posting a 6.75 ERA. He played in the minors all of 1963 before making it back to the Bigs in '64. That season, he got his command under control and walked only 28 batters in 122.1 innings. His ERA fell to 2.57 while he picked up a career-high 14 saves.

The following season was Sammy's big year. He finished the season with a 22-10 record while recording 2 more saves. He struck out 183 batters while posting a 3.79 ERA. Sammy also made his lone All Star team that season.

Unfortunately, Sammy's career went downhill after that season. His record slipped to 12-19 the next year while his ERA ballooned to 5.29. In '67, he posted a record of 8-11 while lowering his ERA to 3.84. After that season, the Reds dealt Sammy to the Angels and he went 9-10 in his lone season with LA. He was dealt to the White Sox before the next season and he was 0-3 with a 5.83 ERA before being shipped to the Indians in June. He never played in the Majors for Cleveland and, though he pitched in the minors for two more seasons, his Major League career was over at the age of twenty-eight.

But, thanks to Sammy's 1965 season, he still finished his career with a winning record of 63-58 and 18 saves.

Here is a fun fact about Sammy. He made his Major League debut against the Giants and the Giants starting pitcher that day was future Hall of Famer, Gaylord Perry, who was also making his Major League debut. Neither pitcher made it out of the third inning.