1996 Signature Rookies Autobilia, Johnny Damon

#B4 Johnny Damon

First off, I don't know too much about this card. It is a preview card for a set that never came out. I can't even remember which set I got it out of. It might have been from the Autobilia football cards that Signature Rookies defaulted on. I can't even find this card on Beckett.com. There were a few more preview cards, but the only other one I remember is A-Rod. But, I think that it is a good looking card. If nothing else, it is original.

I got this card signed at a Royals Caravan appearance at the mall when I was in high school. Johnny was there with Micheal Tucker. That was probably the best caravan I attended until 2008. They usually had some rookies signing prior to that, but it was more like Kevin Koslofski than anyone that would be around for awhile.

I wish that I would have had him sign another card for me. But, this was the only card I took. I bought a pennent there and had him and Tucker sign that. I still have that. I may have a signed Royals-issued photo, too. I'm not sure if I grabbed one of those or not.

I first became a Royals fan in college when I realized I only had to drive an hour and forty-five minutes to get to the ballpark. That was in 2000 and the Royals had the best offense in team history. Unfortunately, their pitching was horrible. The outfield consisted of Damon, Carlos Beltran, and Jermaine Dye while Joe Randa and Mike Sweeney were the main guys in the infield. That was a fun ballclub. You could pretty much expect a 9-7 game every night.

Here is a picture of Johnny from photo day that year.