1990 Bowman, Jim Eisenreich

#374 Jim Eisenreich

This is the second Eisenreich that I got at Fanfest. The first one was a 1992 Topps card that I posted when I was going through my '92s.

Jim was at the Willie Wilson Classic last summer. I didn't see him after the game, so I was unable to get his autograph at that time. Luckily, he made it to Fanfest this year.

As for the Willie Wilson Classic this year, it is getting a makeover. The last few have been held at the Kansas City T-Bones ballpark (independent, Northern League). There, the game was for charity and they tried to sell autograph tickets for $10 per autograph. For last year's game, the tickets were originally $20. I bought two of them thinking that you could get everyone's autograph with the ticket. When I heard that each ticket was only good for one autograph, I called and complained and they told me to send them back to the ticket office for a refund. I did that, but never got my refund. They claimed to have never received them. So, I was out $40. But, I did manage to get twenty-some cards signed after the game. At that ballpark, the clubhouse is behind rightfield. The players have to cross the concourse to get to the clubhouse, so it ended up working out just fine.

Well, this year it is going to be called the Willie Wilson Hall of Fame Classic and is going to be played at Kauffman Stadium prior to a Royals game. So, I have no idea how this is going to work. Last year, I went up to Dennis Leonard during batting practice to get his autograph and he wouldn't sign. He said that they weren't allowed to since they were trying to raise money for charity. So, who knows what it will be like this year.