1974 Topps, Marty Pattin

#583 Marty Pattin

Here is the first (and only) '74 Topps card that I have got signed. And what an ugly card it is. Check out the horrible airbrush job on that hat. It took some real talent to make that KC.

Anyway, I got this card signed last week at a Spring Into Sports youth baseball clinic. Five former Royals came to town to help teach the local kids the fundamentals of the game. The other players were John Mayberry, Brian McRea, Dennis Leonard, and Jaime Bluma. I talked to Marty for a bit and he said that they go all around to do the clinic and head up as far as South Dakota. I told him that it was great that they do that and thanked him. I wish they had stuff like that when I was a kid.

I almost didn't even find out about the clinic. It's not something that they really advertise a whole lot. The parks and rec department mainly just lets the teams know about it. Luckily, when I was headed to a Wingnuts game last week, they mentioned it on the radio (three days before the event). If it wasn't for that, I would not have even known about it.

I got this card from Andy of Traded Sets. When he shut down the '78 Topps blog, I was able to get some old Royals cards from him in a trade.