#6 Tom Brookens
Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday. I had to work a double and when I got home, I spent a few hours going through cards for today. Today, I went to my first Royals game of the year and that is where I got this card signed. I believe that this is the first card I have posted on my blog that I got signed in-person on the same day. So, I guess it worked out good that I skipped yesterday. Otherwise, I would be posting a 2002 Bowman card rather than this '81 Donruss.
I was surprised to see that the Tigers took batting practice today. It was a day game on a getaway day and usually only pitchers will work out on those. Tom is the Tigers first base coach and this is the only autograph that I got out of them today. Magglio was signing baseballs across the dugout. He was signing in Sharpie, so I didn't bother with him. Fu-Te Ni signed a few balls as well, but I wasn't ready to use my only ball on him. Austin Jackson signed a couple on the opposite end of the dugout, but I do not have any cards of him. I asked Gene Lamont to sign, but he just walked on by. Tom was the last batting practice pitcher of the day and he was the last man off of the field. I asked him to sign and he came over and signed quite a few autographs. I normally will take more than one card with me for all of the players and coaches. But, when it comes to '81 Donruss, I usually just take that card. I do that just in case they only sign one card. That way, I get the card I want signed. I'm glad I did that today because Tom was only signing one item per person.
It was funny when Tom started signing. Kids started coming out of the woodwork to get some stuff signed by someone they have probably never heard of.
I got one other '81D signed at the game and I will post that tomorrow. As for the game, it was like every other Royals game this year. It was a good game until the starter exited the game. On a positive note, I finally got some sun this year.
Tom has an interesting autograph. His "T" looks more like a "D". Based on how this card is signed, it looks like he signs his "T" with a downward stroke and then crosses the top from right to left. His "B" is pretty interesting as well, as is the rest of his last name.
'81 Donruss Tracker: 56/100
There is a young sportswriter on the staff at my newspaper that in an earlier job had to interview Brookens when he was managing the short-season Tigers team in Oneonta, N.Y. He said Brookens acted like he absolutely hated him because he was a reporter (then working for a college paper). He said it was a contentious relationship the whole season.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad he seemed well-behaved with fans.
Wow. I would have never expected that based on what I saw today.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Tom is from Chambersburg, PA which is only one town over from where I grew up. I didn't know he was on the Tigers staff this season.
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