1981 Donruss, Jim Fregosi

#415 Jim Fregosi

Here is a card that I got signed through the mail last week. I sent this card to Jim on the 26th of last month and got it back on the 5th. I must say that it was one of my quicker returns.

Last year, I sent a couple of cards to Jim to get signed. I hadn't started my little '81 Donruss project yet, so this card wasn't a priority for me then. I did think about sending it. But in the end, I decided against it. The reason for that is because Jim had been signing many autographs around that time in ballpoint. I figured that this one wouldn't look very good in ballpoint because it was so dark. So, I instead sent a '68 Topps and a '76 Topps and they both came back signed in blue Sharpie, just like this one. Oh well. I now have three good looking signatures from him.

Jim has managed parts of 15 seasons in the Major Leagues. He has been at the helm of the Angels, White Sox, Phillies, and Blue Jays. He has led two teams to the playoff- the '79 Angels (who lost in the ALCS) and the '93 Phillies (who lost in the World Series). The '79 Angel team made the first playoff appearance for the franchise.

Jim retired from playing after appearing in 20 games with the Pirates in 1978. He must have immediately took over as the Angels skipper since he was the manager for them for 117 games that season. That is not something that you see every season.

Jim's #11, which he adds to all of his Angel cards, was retired by the team in 1998.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 51/100