1981 Donruss, Ricky Peters

#10 Ricky Peters

It has been three years since I last posted a card from the '81 Donruss set. Over that time, I have got about thirty more cards signed from that set. So, be prepared to be seeing the '81D for the next few months.

The first one is of Ricky Peters. I got this one signed through the mail last year. I sent it to Ricky in November and I got it back three weeks later.

Ricky played in the Major Leagues for five seasons with the Tigers and A's. He hit .277 in the show with 2 home runs and 80 RBI. His first home run was a grand slam that he hit for the Tigers in 1980. Too bad they were down by seven when he hit it.

Ricky got most of his playing time with the Tigers from 1979-1981. He got into 208 games with them including a career high of 133 in 1980. That season, he hit .291 with both of his homers and 42 RBI. He missed all of the '82 season before getting released by Detroit. The A's picked him up and he played in 99 games for them during the '83 and '85 seasons before calling it a career.

I really like Ricky's signature. The star is unique.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #176

I originally started the Donruss Tracker to track them as I got closer to my goal of 100 cards signed from the set. Since I met and exceeded my goal, I figured that there is no need to track them out of 100 (ie no more 176/100).

1980 O-Pee-Chee, Willie Aikens

#191 Willie Aikens

To date, I have posted three cards of Willie Aikens on here. I thought it was much more than that. But, as it turns out, I have got a small handful of cards from the last two Royals Fanfest that I have yet to post. So, here is the first of those. This one was obtained at the 2014 Fanfest.

The first three cards I posted showed him with three different teams. There was one of him as a Royal, a Blue Jay, and an Explorer from the senior league. Since I had a card signed by him from the Royals and Jays, naturally I needed a card of him with the Angels signed. This O-Pee-Chee card was the best I could do on short notice in 2014. So even though it clearly says Royals on the card, Willie is still in an Angels uniform and that counts for something.

Willie's tenure with the Angels lasted just parts of two seasons. After being drafted by the Halos in the first round in 1975, he made his debut with them in '77. He got into just 42 games and hit .198. He spent the next season in the minors, but returned to the Angels in '79 and did real well. That year, he hit .280 and clubbed 21 homers while driving in 81 runs.

After that season, the Angels traded him and Rance Mulliniks to the Royals for Al Cowens and Todd Cruz.

The Blue Jays card I linked to above was signed by Willie at Fanfest in 2013. That card was signed Willie Mays Aikens. Willie apparently dropped the Mays out of his signature shortly after that.

1979 Topps, Al Fitzmorris

#227 AL Fitzmorris

Here is the second card of Al Fitzmorris that I have posted this week. The first one showed him as an Indian and this one has him with the Angels. Add in the Royals card I posted three years ago and we have the three teams that Al played for.

For me, three is the magic number. Whenever I go 'graphing, I almost always take three cards of a player because my book holds three cards per page. Ideally, if that player has played for more than one team, I make sure I get a card of each team. If they played for more than three, I narrow it down by which cards are going to look the best signed. For whatever reason, I just like to mix it up a bit when I get more than one card signed by a player. And, I have effectively done that with Al Fitzmorris with this card. Now I can concentrate on getting a few more Royals cards signed by him in the future.

It is kind of surprising that Al got this card of him as an Angel. His tenure there only lasted nine appearances. Despite the limited work, Al did alright by posting a 6-1 record with a 1.71 ERA.

Al finished his career with a 77-59 record with 7 saves and 3.65 ERA. He still lives in the Kansas City area, so I sure that there will be more cards of him here in the future.

This is final card from the seventies. I am pretty excited to be hitting the '80s with my next post. Expect to be seeing plenty of '81 Donruss coming up.

1978 Topps, John Wockenfuss

#723 John Wockenfuss

Back in 2013, I sent an '81 Donruss card to John to add him to that set. I got that card back twelve days later with two extra cards that he sent me. This is one of the extra cards. The other that he included was his '85 Donruss card that I posted three years ago.

While the two extra cards were cool, the best part was that he wrote me a note back. In that note, he talked about how he loved to bow hunt for deer and that he has heard about the deer in Kansas. In short, he wanted to know if I had any places here to deer hunt and he gave me his phone number to call him if I did. I have posted this story twice before and I still get a little giddy thinking about it because it such a cool and unique TTM response.

I have a cousin-in-law out in western Kansas that is a big hunter. Maybe I should hook these two up next fall and go hang out with John Wockenfuss for a week.

1978 Topps, Al Fitzmorris

#227 Al Fitzmorris

Here is the second card of Al Fitzmorris that I have posted on here. The first card was posted back in 2013 after a chance run-in with Al at a Royals game where I had to buy the card from a fellow collector. This card, too, was also signed at a Royals game. This time, it was at the Royals Sunday alumni signings that they host in their Hall of Fame at every Sunday home game. Since I know that someone is going to be signing there every Sunday, and the Royals do not release who it is going to be, I always have a fat stack of Royals alumni cards with me. After getting this card and one other signed by Al in 2015, I think I need to buy a couple more cards of him for the next time I run into him there.

Al pitched for the Royals for eight seasons before being picked by the Blue Jays in the expansion draft. He never pitched for the Jays, though, as they traded him to the Indians right after picking him. He was coming off of three consecutive double digit win seasons with the Royals, but he could not continue that in Cleveland. In fact, he really struggled there going 6-11 with a 5.60 ERA through a season and a half.

I love where Al signed this card. As you can see by the Jim Kern card I last posted, cards with those dark Indians jerseys could be a pain to get signed. But Al picked the best possible spot on the card to apply his signature. Not everybody does that, but it sure is appreciated when they do.

1977 Topps, Jim Kern

#41 Jim Kern

About seven years ago, I started buying packs of cards on ebay. That was how I got addicted to '81 Donruss. I bought a box of it for about $35. I would only buy packs that were from 1986 or older and I was really looking for good deals on packs from before I started collecting. During the two months I was buying those packs, I came across a pack of 1977 Topps. I had never bought or opened a pack from the seventies, so it was a fun purchase. I have no clue how much I paid for it, but the best card out of the pack was Goose Gossage. That pack also contained this card and I felt obligated to send it to Jim when I sent him his '81 Donruss card to get signed. I mailed those two cards out to him in this past February and I had them both back three weeks later.

Jim pitched in the Major Leagues for parts of thirteen seasons with the Indians, Rangers, Reds, White Sox, Phillies, and Brewers. He broke into the big leagues with the Tribe in 1974 and pitched for them for four solid seasons. During that time, he went 29-30 with 46 saves and 363 strikeouts. His performance was good enough to get him on two All Star teams as an Indian and he pitched 1.2 perfect innings over those two Mid-Summer Classics while striking out three.

After the 1978 season, the Indians traded Jim to the Rangers for Bobby Bonds and Len Barker.

Jim signed this card with a marker of some sort that had seen better days. Add that to the dark warm-up jacket that he is wearing in the photo and you have got a bad combo. But,I got a card that I got out of a pack of '77 Topps signed and I could not be happier.

1976 Topps, Toby Harrah

#412 Toby Harrah

Here is a card that was given to me a few years back by Ryan, from The Great Orioles Autograph Project. Most of the autographs Ryan has sent me over the years fit one of two categories. They are either extra Oriole autographs that he has or are extra cards that he got signed at Harrisburg Senators games when he was younger. I know Toby never played for the O's and I cannot find a connection with him to Harrisburg. So, the best I can come up with is that Ryan sent me this card just to rid himself of a fading ballpoint signature from a guy that never played for Baltimore. And I am completely fine with that.

When I think of Toby Harrah, I think back to the first set I ever collected, 1985 Topps. I was fascinated with Toby's stats on his card because the Senators were listed on the back. The only thing I knew about the Senators was that they were not around any more and I thought it was cool that I had a card of guy that once played for a team that no longer existed. Being six years old, I had know idea that they packed up and moved to Texas.

Toby had a seventeen year career an played with the Senators/Rangers, Indians, and Yankees. He was a .264 hitter with 195 home runs and 918 RBI. He had five 20+ home run seasons and made four All Star teams.

The signature on the card looks slightly better in person.

1976 SSPC Dennis Leonard

#164 Dennis Leonard

Here is the sixth card of Dennis Leonard that I have posted on here, but just the second SSPC card. Dennis is such a regular at Royals events that it feels like I should have a dozen cards signed by him. I only have eight, but I have a couple of unique odd balls signed by him. I am really looking forward to showing the next one and that is not something I usually say about the seventh card I have posted of a player.

As for SSPC, I went in to detail about the set when I posted the first card of Cookie Rojas in early 2103. Check out that post if you would like to know more about the set. Or, head over to Night Owl Cards and look for some posts he did on the set. There have been some good ones over there.

I got this card signed at a Royals game in 2015. Dennis was in the Royals Hall of Fame for the Sunday alumni autograph signing. This is one of the rare times that I wish the card was signed in black and not blue. But, for a blue on blue signature, it still stands out fairly well.

1975 Topps Mini, Jerry Terrell

#654 Jerry Terrell

Here is another '75 Topps Mini that I was able to get signed this year. Actually, my dad got this one signed for me at Royals Fanfest. I was in line with my boy and his friend to get pictures with the championship trophy and my dad was just wandering around. He came back because he saw Jerry and Les Norman by the wiffleball field. So I gave him a couple of cards and he got one signed by each player.

Unfortunately, that was how the 'graphing was going at Fanfest following the World Series victory. The only current player I got that day was back-up catcher Drew Butera and I got that one by the whiffleball field, too. All of the autograph lines filled up super-quick and I did not want to stand in a line for three hours not knowing who was going to be signing there after the long wait. So I just grabbed who I could when I could. Besides Butera, it was all alumni. But, this was the first time that I had got Jerry and, since it was on a '75 mini, I was pretty happy about it.

I could not have done it without my dad, so props to him for helping me out.

After that experience with Fanfest, I am still undecided about heading back up there this year. Deep down I want to go as it might be the last time I see Eric Hosmer and I still do not have a card signed by Salvador Perez. But at the same time, I usually get really annoyed at the event because the Royals do not run the autograph lines as well as they should and I miss out on some people I should have been able to get. I still have time to decide, though.

1975 Topps Minis, Marty Pattin

#413 Marty Pattin

Here is the first '75 Topps Mini that I ever got signed. I have only known about this set for about eight years it is still something that I have never seen in-person, except for the three cards that I have bought. So, if I can find a good deal on them from COMC when I am buying cards that I think I can get signed, I cannot pass these up.

A couple of years ago, the Royals started having alumni come to their Sunday home games. That is pretty nice as Sundays are usually the games I go to. Autographs have been getting harder to obtain at the ballpark on Sundays, so it is good to know that I should be able to come home with at least one autograph as long as I have a large, varied selection of Royals alumni cards with me at every game. That is how I got this Marty Pattin card signed. I bought the card for Fanfest a few years back and was able to get it signed at a Sunday game in 2015.

1975 Topps, Gene Lamont

#593 Gene Lamont

Here is something I haven't posted in some time- a recent addition to my collection. Most of the cards I have been posting have been waiting to make it on here for up to three years. Not this one. I got this card signed in Kansas City less than three months ago when the Tigers came to play the Royals. Gene is the Tigers bench coach and he was nice enough to sign two cards for me after hopping off of the bus at Kauffman Stadium.

Gene spent his entire Major League playing career with the Tigers. That career spanned five seasons, but he only got into 87 games over that span. He spent most of those summers playing for the Tigers AAA affiliate, with one summer playing for the Braves top minor league team. It seems that Gene was just the Tigers third catcher and they would call him up when they needed him.

Gene made his Major League debut in 1970 and did well in the 15 games he got into. He hit .295 with 3 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 4 RBI. That one home run he hit came in his first Major League at-bat. But, the following season, he would only get into 7 games with the Tigers. The year after that, he got into one game and did not even bat. He spent the '73 season playing for the Braves organization before rejoining the Tigers in '74.

That season, he got into a career-high 60 games. He .217 with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 8 RBI. He was back in AAA the following season, though, and got into just 4 big league games that year. He would play one more full season of AAA before calling it a career and joining the coaching ranks.

For his career, Gene hit .233 with 4 homers and 14 RBI.

1975 Topps, Barry Foote

#229 Barry Foote

Here is the second card of Barry Foote that I got signed through the mail in 2013. I posted the first one, his '81 Donruss, not long after it made it back home. The two cards took Barry ten days to get back to me.

While this card is not the best card to get signed because of the dark background, it does have two things going for it. The first is that it is from the '75 Topps set and the second is that it has a Topps Rookie Cup. I am not sure when Topps switched from the trophy to the cup, but this has got to be my oldest signed card with the actual "cup" on it.

Barry earned that Rookie Cup that year by hitting .262 while driving in 60 and hitting 23 doubles and 11 home runs. On top of that, he lead the league in sac flies and assists by a catcher. Those 60 RBI and his .262 average would end up being career-highs for him.

Barry went on to play for eight more seasons after that with the Phillies, Cubs, and Yankees. After leaving Montreal during the '77 season, he was mostly relegated to back-up duty. The one exception was with the Cubs in '79. He played in 132 games for them that season and hit a career-high 16 home runs.

Barry finished his career a .230 hitter with 57 home runs.

1972 Topps, Steve Kealey

#146 Steve Kealey

Here is the third and final card of Steve Kealey that I got signed at Rock's card show last year. You can see the first card of Steve that I posted here and the second one here.

Those first two cards showed Steve with the Angels. After three up and down seasons in California, the Angels shipped Steve to the White Sox just prior to the 1971 season. He would go on to play with the Sox for three seasons and get the bulk of his Major League time.

With the Sox, he pitched in 101 games and went 5-4 with 10 saves and a 4.50 ERA. In 1971, he had career highs in innings (77.1), strikeouts (50), and saves (6). Counting his time with the Angels, Steve had a career line of 8-5 with 11 saves and a 4.28 ERA.

The three cards I posted of Steve show a nice progression of eye-wear. His '69 Topps has him in sports goggles. He then swapped those out for some wire frame glasses on his '71. Then, when this card came out, Steve was either wearing contact lenses or forgoing glasses altogether.

1972 Topps, Steve Arlin

#78 Steve Arlin

I am all moved and nearly settled in, so I figured it was time to start posting some cards again. Here is a card of Steve Arlin that I got signed through the mail in late 2012. This card took Steve less than two weeks to return to me.

Steve did not have a great Major League career. Playing on the Padres expansion team from 1969-1974, Steve went 32-62 with a 4.19 ERA. He led the league in losses in 1971 and '72 with 19 and 21 losses respectively. He also lead the league in walks (122) and wild pitches (15) in '72.

But, Steve's Major League exploits were not the reason I wrote to him for his autograph. As most of the regular readers know, I am a college baseball fan and have gone to the College World Series each of the past ten years. Most people probably do not know that Steve Arlin is a CWS legend.

Steve pitched for Ohio State and led them to Omaha twice. He made the All Tournament team both times and led his Buckeyes to the 1966 National Championship. He set the record for most strikeouts in a CWS game when he fanned 20 Washington Huskies. It may have took him 15 innings to do so, but that only adds to his status. Over the two tournaments, Steve struck out 57 batters over 47 innings and had a 0.96 ERA.

Sadly, Steve passed away in August.

1971 Topps, Grant Jackson

#392 Grant Jackson

It has been well over a week since I posted last and it may be just as long until I post another card. Besides working too much over the last two weeks, I have also been going through the process of buying my first home. We started moving into that today. Once I get this computer torn down, who knows how long before I have it up and running.

Here is a card of Grant Jackson that I got signed through the mail last year. I picked this card up at the Wichita card show to send along with Grant's '81 Donruss card. This card is not the best looking card around, but it is a '71 Topps so I cannot complain. It took just a week to get the cards back from Grant.

That was actually my second try at getting Grant through the mail. I sent him three cards a couple of years before that and they never made it back home. One of those cards was from my Pacific Senior League set, the first and only card from the set that I have lost. Grant is a really good TTM signer, so I wonder what happens when cards never make it back to my mailbox.

With me in the process of moving, I hope I do not miss out on any old returns. It has been so long since I filled out a change of address form that I do not know how long they forward that stuff along. You never know when a long forgotten TTM request will show up unannounced.

Grant's signature has changed a bit from the fake one on the card. It is still a nice looking sig, though.

1971 Topps, Steve Kealey

#43 Steve Kealey

Here is the second of three cards that were signed for me by Steve Kealey at the Wichita card show last year. I posted the first card of Steve earlier this month and it can be seen here.

Steve pitched for the Angels for parts of three seasons, never appearing in more than seventeen games. Over 38 appearances for the Halos, Steve made just three starts and was 3-1 with a save and a 3.82 ERA. One of those starts happened to be a complete game shutout of the Orioles. In that contest, Steve scattered seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. His two strikeout vivtims were Hall of Famers Brooks and Frank Robinson. That is not a bad night right there.

Steve was traded to the White Sox after the 1970 season.

Unfortunately, Steve had given up on the sports goggles by the time this picture was taken. Just see my previous post of him to see what I am talking about.

1969 Topps, Ken Berry

#494 Ken Berry

Here is the second card that I got signed by Ken Berry at the Wichita card show last year. I posted the first card of Ken almost a month ago and it can be seen here.

When I met Ken, I was surprised to find out that he is now an author. He has done a handful of children's book and recently completed his first novel, "Twin Snipers". He had some of his kids books at the show and was promoting his novel that had just come out. Ken was excited about the novel and gave me a synopsis, which was pretty cool.

I did not have any cards of Ken to get signed before the show, so I picked up three of them there. One was his '67 Topps card that I had already got signed through the mail a few yeas back. When I was standing in line, the dealer that hosts the show had a few other cards of him. I thumbed through them and found a couple of cards from the '70s that I wanted. He told me that those were four dollars each. I laughed because I thought he was joking, but he was not. So, I set them back down and stuck with my three cards from the '60s that I paid a dollar each for.

Ken's signature is made for ballpoint pens, not worn out Sharpies.

This is the final card from the '60s that I will post on here in some time. I only have a handful of cards from the '70s to post before I hit a backlog of '81 Donruss.

1969 Topps, Del Unser

#338 Del Unser

Here is the second card of Del Unser that I have posted on here. I posted his '81 Donruss three years ago and that card can be seen here. This card was signed through the mail at the same time as that card. They were sent to Del towards the end of 2012 and they both came back about two weeks later.

I first saw this card over at Night Owl Cards I don't know how long ago. When I saw it, and found out Del signs through the mail, I knew I wanted it. As a whole, I am not a fan of the '69 Topps set or the '68 set either. They are too similar in design and they both have some uninspiring photos, like most Topps sets from the '60s. It seems like it has a bunch of face shots or posed Spring Training shots. While this is obviously a posed shot, it definitely is not from Spring Training. That towering light standard peaking out of the corner of the card is evidence of that. And if that was not enough to want this card, it has a rookie cup and is Night Owl recommended.

So, when I stumbled upon this card at a show, I picked it up to mail with the '81 D. Like usual, I am pleased with the results.

1969 Topps, Steve Kealey

#224 Steve Kealey

Here is the first of three cards that Steve Kealey signed for me at Rock's bi-monthly card show in Wichita last year. The day of that show was actually my first wedding anniversary. I got to spend the day with my pregnant wife going to a card show and then going brewery hopping afterwards. It was definitely one to remember, for me at least.

This card looks a little bare without Bill Harrelson's signature on it. Steve mentioned that Bill still signs these cards, I just have not found an address for him. Right now, I just have SCN's free account. Since this is the only card that Bill has, there has never been any activity for Bill signing whenever I check the latest successes page. I keep checking back, though, just probably not as much as I should be if I really want to get this card signed again.

I love Steve's sports glasses in his photo. Unfortunately, he will not be wearing those in the next card I post of him.

1968 Topps, Don Lock

#59 Don Lock

Here is the third and final card that I got signed by Don Lock at Rock's card show in 2013. The first card Don signed for me can be seen here and the second one here.

The first two cards I posted showed Don with the Senators, the team he spent the majority of his time with. But, that all changed when Washington traded him to the Phillies after the 1966 season. He did pretty good his first season in Philly when he hit .252 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI in just 112 games. But, his numbers fell off in 1968 and he hit just .210 with 8 dingers and 34 RBI. Those were all career-lows for him.

He played in four games with the Phils in 1969 before the dealt him to the Red Sox. He got into 53 games with them and had just 58 at-bats in the process. He finished that season with a .224 average with a home run and 2 RBI. He played one more season of AAA ball with the Sox before calling it a career and becoming a minor league manager for a few seasons.

For his career, Don hit .238 with 122 home runs and 373 RBI.

1967 Topps, Dooley Womack

#77 Dooley Womack

I first heard about Dooley Womack when I read Jim Bouton's "Ball Four". It was just such an intriguing name and it always stuck with me. Even though I read "Ball Four" about ten years ago, I still assume Dooley spent a lot of time with Jim as a Seattle Pilot. Turns out that was not the case. Dooley was traded to the Pilots for Jim late in the season. Based on that bit of info, I would assume that Dooley had a very minuscule role in the book. Nevertheless, he is still the only other player I can think of from "Ball Four" and that is because of his interesting name.

I mailed this card to Dooley in late 2012 and I had it back ten days later.

Dooley pitched in the Majors for five seasons with the Yankees, Astros, Pilots, and A's. He pitched out of the bullpen and had a 19-18 record with 24 saves and a 2.95 ERA for his career. His best season was with the Yankees in 1967 when he went 5-6 with 18 saves and a 2.41 ERA.

Dooley's given name is Horace Guy Womack.

1967 Topps, Sal Bando/Randy Schwartz

#33 Sal Bando/Randy Schwartz

Here is a sweet looking card that I was able to get signed through the mail twice in a little over a month. I sent this card to Randy Schwartz first and I had it back in just over a week. I then sent it to Sal Bando, along with this card, four days later and I had it back from him three weeks later. The Schwartz signature came off a bit on the return trip from Bando, but what are you going to do?

This is the third card of Sal that I have posted on here. I posted the '81 Donruss card that I got back with this card in 2013. Before that, I had a Ted Williams card of Sal that was given to me by another blogger and that one can be seen here.

Randy's Major League career spanned all of 16 games with the A's in 1965 and '66. Over that time, he mainly pinch hit and got just 18 at-bats. He hit .167 with no extra base hits and 2 RBI with 7 strikeouts. He was just 22 when he played his last Major League game, but he called it quits after the next season at the tender age of 23.

It is hard to beat a dual signed card from the '60s. I have got a card coming up in a few days that is missing a signature on it. Stay tuned and if anyone has an address for the missing signature, you will have to let me know.

1966 Topps, Ken Berry

#127 Ken Berry

Here is a card that I got signed by Ken Berry at Rock's Dugout's bi-monthly card show in Wichita. I got three cards signed by Ken when he was there last summer.

I love going to Rock's shows, but I have not been to one this year. I suppose the main reason I haven't gone is because there have not been any baseball players there this year to sign autographs. On top of that, I have let my SCN account expire. Because of that, I do not have access to addresses and have not had the need to for some vintage cards. That is why all these old cards I am posting that were signed TTM are from two to three years ago.

This is actually the second card of Ken that I have posted on here. The first one was a card that I won from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I sent that card to Ken in 2011 and had it back in just three days. That card can be seen here.

Speaking of Rock's Dugout, his card show is on Sunday. Again, there will not be a ballplayer there. But, Olympic bronze medal boxer, Nico Hernandez, will be there signing items for ten dollars.

1965 Topps, Bill Monbouquette

#142 Bill Monbouquette

Here is a card of former Red Sox pitcher, Bill Monbouquette. I sent this card to Bill in early 2014 and I had it back just seven days later.

Bill pitched in the big leagues for eleven seasons with the Sox, Yankees, Tigers, and Giants. Over that time, he was 114-112 with 3 saves and a 3.68 ERA. He won double-digit games for six straight seasons with the Red Sox, including a career best of 20 in 1963.

Bill made three All Star teams during that stretch, but only pitched in one of them. That was the 1960 Mid-Summer Classic that Bill had the privilege of starting. He pitched just two innings in that game and gave up four runs with dingers by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall .

Bill's biggest feat was throwing a no-hitter in 1962 against the White Sox. In that game, he walked just one while striking out seven White Sox batters.

Sadly, Bill passed away last year.

1965 Topps, Wes Stock

#117 Wes Stock

This is a card that I got signed by Wes Stock through the mail in 2013. I sent this card out the very same day as I did the previous card of John O'Donoghue. Wes was not quite as prompt as John was, but I still got the card back in less than three weeks time.

Wes played in the Major Leagues for parts of nine seasons with the Orioles and the A's. He pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen and compiled a 27-13 record with 22 saves over 321 games. His career ERA was 3.60.

His best season in the Majors was probably the 1964 season. That year was split between Baltimore and Kansas City. He was 2-0 with a 3.92 ERA with the O's before they dealt him to the A's in June. He went on to pitch in 50 games with the A's that season and went 6-3 with 5 saves and a 1.94 ERA. On top of that, he struck out 101 batters in 93 innings of work. Even counting his innings in Baltimore that year, he still finished the season with 115 Ks over 113.2 innings. That was the only season of his career that he had more than a strikeout per inning.

I love the yellow Kansas City uniform on this card!

1965 Topps, John O'Donohue

#71 John O'Donoghue

Here is the next TTM return and this one features another former Kansas City Athletic, which is always a plus. This one is from the journeyman pitcher, John O'Donoghue. I sent this card to John towards the end of 2012 and I had it back about nine days later.

John pitched in the big leagues for nine seasons with the A's, Indians, Orioles, Pilots/Brewers, and Expos. He was a starter his first few seasons in the league before moving to the bullpen for the second half of his career. Over his nine seasons, he accumulated a 39-55 record with 10 saves and a 4.07 ERA.

His best season was probably the season that he pitched for the Seattle Pilots. Pitching exclusively out of the 'pen that year, he got into 50 games and logged 70 innings. While he went just 2-2, he recorded his only sub-3 ERA for a season when he finished at 2.96. He also had a career-best 6 saves.

Surprisingly, there was one other player that pitched in the Majors named John O'Donoghue. He pitched for the Orioles in 1993.

1965 Topps, Bobby Knoop

#26 Bobby Knoop

The first card from 1965 starts with my last card, for now, of a Los Angeles Angels player. The Angels moved to Anaheim in 1965 and rebranded themselves the California Angels. Luckily, the '65 Topps cards of the Angels still had this lovely LA hat with the halo on top. In '65, the team switched to a CA hat and kept the halo on top before dropping the C from the hat in 1971.

This card of Bobby Knoop was mailed to him in early 2014 and I had it back about two weeks later.

Bobby played in the Major Leagues for parts of nine seasons with the Angels, White Sox, and Royals. He was a second baseman with a good glove and a decent bat at times. I say at times because he was just a .236 hitter for his career. But, he had a monster season in 1966 when he had 17 home runs and 72 RBI. Though he hit just .232 that season, that was the only time that he ever reached double digit home runs and the 72 RBI were about 25 more than he would ever have in any other season. He was rewarded for his efforts that season by making his lone All Star team. He went 0-2 in the game with a strikeout to Jim Bunning.

Bobby won three consecutive Gold Gloves from 1966-68.

That autograph on this card is a little hard to make out because of where he signed. But, with the close-up face shot, there are not any good spaces for a large signature like that.

1964 Topps, Bud Daley

#164 Bud Daley

Here is the final card from the 1964 Topps set that I have to post. This one is of the former Yankee, Bud Daley. This is the second card of Bud that I have posted on here. I posted the first one back in July and that one can be seen here. Both cards were sent to Bud in early 2014 and they both came back signed about a week later.

When I posted that first card of Bud, I had completely forgotten that I sent this card along with that one. So I said about all that I could possibly say about that TTM experience in that post. Rather than cut this post super-short, I am going to be lazy and just copy and paste the first post. Come back tomorrow and I will have a new, and original, post up.

Bud played in the Bigs for ten years, never playing for a team for more than three and a half seasons. He both started and relieved throughout his career, getting the bulk of his starts during the middle of his career with Kansas City. Over the 248 games that he pitched in, he had a 60-64 record with 10 saves and a 4.03 ERA. His best season was with the A's in 1959 when he went 16-13 with a save, a 3.16 ERA, and 125 strikeouts.

Bud made two All Star teams as an A and pitched in two World Series with the Yankees. He racked up three strikeouts in 1.2 All Star innings, ringing up the likes of Ernie Banks, Vada Pinson, and Orlando Cepeda. In the Fall Classics, he pitched eight scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher in game five of the '61 series.

1964 Topps, Orlando Pena

#124 Orlando Pena

Here is the next card from the '64 Topps set that I got signed through the mail. I sent this card to Orlando at the end of 2012 and I had it back two weeks into 2013.

Orlando played in the Major Leagues for parts of fourteen seasons with eight different teams- the Reds, A's, Tigers, Indians, Pirates, Orioles, Cardinals, and Angels. Over that time, he appeared in over 400 games, starting just 93 of them. He played his first Major League game in 1958 and his final one in 1975 and finished with a 56-77 record with 40 saves and a 3.71 ERA.

Orlando had a lot of average seasons in the Major Leagues, so it is hard to pinpoint his best season. But, if I had to pick one, I would go with the 1973 season with the Cardinals. Orlando was thirty-nine years old that season and he responded with a career-best 2.18 ERA over 62 relief innings. He finished the year 4-4 with 6 saves and 38 strikeouts.

Orlando hit two home runs in his career. His first one happened to be a grand slam off of the Senators Claude Osteen.

1964 Topps, Don Lock

#114 Don Lock

Here is the second card of Don Lock that I have posted in the past month. This one, like the previous one, was obtained at Rock's Dugout bi-monthly card show in 2013. This one, unlike the previous one, came out looking really good as Don's Sharpie had not crapped out quite yet. Just check out the previous card of Don to see what I mean.

Don spent eight years in the Major Leagues, spending the first five with the Washington Senators. During that time, Don had two really good seasons in DC. That was in 1963 and '64, Don's second and third season in the Majors. Over those two seasons, he averaged a .250 average, 27.5 home runs, and 81 RBI. Even though he did not make the All Star team either year, he did collect some MVP votes for the '64 season. That year, he was clearly the best position player on a bad Senators team that finished the season 62-100.

For his career with the Senators, Don was a .240 hitter with 99 home runs and 286 RBI.

1964 Topps, Pete Ward

#85 Pete Ward

Here is a quick post of a card signed by Pete Ward. This is the second card of Pete that I have posted on here and the second one that was signed through the mail. I originally sent Pete his 1968 Topps card to sign in 2011. I obtained that card from the Topps Diamond Giveaway. I was content on only having that card signed until I came upon this card at the bi-monthly Wichita card show. When I saw that beautiful Topps rookie trophy on this card, I knew I had to get it and send it to Pete to get signed. So, I did just that and sent it to him in early 2013. I had it back seven days later.

Speaking of the Topps Diamond Giveaway, I really miss that promotion. They need to bring something similar to that back.

To see the '68 Topps card that Pete signed for me, click here. You will see how much better this card looks compared to his '68.

1964 Topps, Wayne Causey

#75 Wayne Causey

Here is the next TTM success. This one is from the former Kansas City A's, Wayne Causey. I sent this card to Wayne with a couple of days left in the year 2012 and I had it back two weeks into 2013.

In addition to playing for the A's, Wayne also played for the Orioles, White Sox, Angels, and Braves during his eleven year career. During that span, Wayne manned all of the infield positions except for first base, seeing more time at third than any other position. He was a .252 hitter for his career that clubbed 35 home runs and knocked in 285 runs.

Wayne's best season came with the A's in 1964. That year, he played in 157 games and had a career-high 604 at-bats. He responded to the increased playing time by having career-highs in average (.281), runs (82), RBI (49), and tying his home run mark of 8. His .281 average was the best on an A's team that lost 105 games that season and finished in the American League cellar.

1964 Topps, Duke Carmel

#44 Duke Carmel

Here is the second of two cards that Duke Carmel signed for me through the mail in 2013. I posted the first card two months ago and it can be seen here. That card was Duke's 1960 rookie card with the Cardinals. I was also able to pick up this sweet-looking Mets card of him at the same card show to include in the TTM.

Duke, a New York native, played for the Mets for only the second half of the 1963 season after St. Louis traded him there at the end of July. He got into 47 games as a Met, playing center field and first base. Over those 47 games, Duke hit .235 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, and 18 RBI.

He spent all of '64 in the minors, but resurfaced in the Majors in '65 as a Yankee. He played in just six games with them and went 0-8 at the plate. That was the last time he would play in the Majors. For his career, Duke hit .211 with 4 home runs and 23 RBI.

This is the oldest signed Mets card that I own.

1963 Topps, Don Lee

#372 Don Lee

Back-to-back Angels cards? Make that back-to-back Los Angeles Angels cards. That night never happened on here ever again.

This one is of the former Tiger, Senator, Twin, Angel, Astro, and Cub, Don Lee. I mailed this card to Don on the last day of 2012 and I had it back eight days later.

Don pitched in the Majors for nine seasons. He both started and relieved, but appeared in more games as a reliever. He was 40-44 with 11 saves and a 3.61 ERA for his career. His best season was probably with the Halos in 1964. That year, he was 5-4 with 2 saves and a career-best 2.72 ERA. Plus, he racked up 73 strikeouts in 89.1 innings, which was his best season for K/9.

Unfortunately, the halo on Don's hat is about as hard to see as it is on the last post of Buck Rogers. Maybe I need to find a card to get signed where that Halo is a bit more prominent.

1963 Topps, Bob Rogers

#280 Bob Rogers

Here is the second of two cards that Buck Rogers signed for me in 2013. I posted the first one, an '81 Donruss, later that year and it can be seen here.

When I found Buck's address and saw that he signed TTM, I kept an eye out for a card from his playing days the next time I attended the Wichita card show. This was the only one I found, but I was pleased to find it as it is always fun to get a Topps rookie cup card signed. It is even more fun to get an old one signed with the original trophy. I am pretty sure that this is the oldest rookie cup card that I have signed.

Buck spent his entire playing career with the Angels. He played nine seasons with them and hit .232 with 31 home runs and 288 RBI. His best season was his rookie campaign in which he hit .258 with 6 dingers, 34 doubles, and 61 RBI.

In this photo, you can just barely see the halo on the top of Buck's hat.

1963 Topps, Diego Segui

#157 Diego Segui

Back-to-back in-person autographs? That has not happened here in months. But here are two 1963 Topps cards, signed two and a half years apart, that were both signed in-person.

Diego signed this card for me earlier this season at a Royals game. It was at their annual Negro League game, the same game where I also got autographs from Joe Azcue and George Altman. Diego started his career in Kansas City and still lives in the area. So, it is nice when he can swing by the park to sign autographs, even though he never played for the Royals franchise.

This is actually the second card that I have got Diego to sign for me. I got him the first time at a Kansas City T-Bones game in 2010 when he was there for a Kansas City A's reunion. I posted that card later that summer and it can be seen here. That was the first Seattle Pilots card that I ever got signed.

Diego played in the Majors for fifteen seasons with the A's, Senators, Pilots, Cardinals, Red Sox, and Mariners. He mainly pitched in relief and he posted a 92-111 record with 71 saves and a 3.81 ERA for his career.

Despite playing for some good A's teams in the early '70s, Diego never appeared in a World Series game for them. He was on the team when they won it all in 1972, but did not get a chance to pitch against the Reds. Oakland traded him early in the '73 season, preventing him from pitching in that Series. But he finally got his shot to pitch in the Series in 1975 with the Red Sox. He made one relief appearance against the Reds and pitched a perfect inning.

1963 Topps, Don Lock

#47 Don Lock

Here is a card that I got signed at a card show almost three years ago. Rock's Dugout, the oldest card shop in Kansas, hosts a bi-monthly card show by his shop in Wichita. Most of the vintage cards I get signed through the mail are bought at his show. Occasionally, Rock will bring in a local former athlete to sign and that is how I got this card signed.

I did not have a card of Don prior to the show, so I made sure to get there early enough to scrounge a few up from the dealers. I was lucky enough to find three that day and this one happens to be the third one that Don signed. He also signed a couple of 8x10s for us. As soon as he got done signing the first two cards and the 8x10s, the Sharpie Don was using crapped out on him. The signature on this card is the result from that crapped out Sharpie.

It's okay, though. This card still looks better than it did before it was signed. It just so happens that the other two cards he signed for me look a little better. Maybe if I can get myself in gear, I will post those two cards before the end of the year.

1963 Fleer, Ray Herbert

#9 Ray Herbert

Here is the second card of Ray Herbert that I got signed through the mail. I posted the first card almost three months ago and it can be seen here. I sent that one out in 2014. This one was sent out in 2012. The first card I posted was sent out because it was a Kansas City A's card. This one was sent out because it was a card from a set that I did not have a signed card from, the fabled 1963 Fleer set.

I really do not know much about this set. I have known about it my entire collecting life thanks to Becketts in the late '80s. Until I picked up this card, I had never owned a card from the set. But, thanks to some research, I have found a couple of things about the set. It is limited to 66 cards because Topps sued Fleer and prevented the rest of the series from coming out. Also, Fleer put cherry flavored cookies in with the cards to separate themselves from Topps.

As for Ray, he pitched for the White Sox for just three and a half seasons. But, his best season came with them and it was a good one. It was his 1962 campaign, which is why he is even in this small set. That season, he made his lone All Star team and finished the season 20-9 with a 3.27 ERA and 115 strikeouts. In the All Star game, Ray pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win.

For his career, Ray pitched fourteen seasons with the Tigers, A's, White Sox, and Phillies. He had a 104-107 record with 15 saves and a 4.01 ERA.

1962 Topps, Joe Azcue

#417 Joe Azcue

It's that time again! It's time for another in-person autograph! It has only been four posts since the last in-person graph, but with all the TTMs dominating my posts, it seems like it has been an eternity.

I got this card signed at the same time as the last in-person auto. That was at the Royals annual Negro League game and I was lucky enough to have cards for three of the gentleman that were signing that day. Though Joe never played in the Negro Leagues, it was still cool that he was there to commemorate the event.

This is actually the second card of Joe that I have posted on here. I posted the first one six years ago after getting it signed at a Kansas City A's event that was hosted by the independent Kansas City T-Bones. That card can be seen here.

Joe played in the Majors for eleven seasons with the Reds, A's, Indians, Red Sox, Angels, and Brewers. Playing with those teams in the '60s and early '70s, he never played in a postseason game. But, he did make one All Star team as a member of the Indians in 1968. That season, he hit .280 with 4 home runs and 42 RBI. He got one at-bat in the mid-summer classic and he struck out against Tom Seaver.

This is a funky photo of Joe. The A's never wore pistripes, so it is obviously airbrushed. He played for the Reds in 1960, so maybe it is a Reds uniform he is wearing.

1962 Topps, Russ Snyder

#64 Russ Snyder

Here is the second of two cards that Russ Snyder signed for me through the mail in 2014. I posted the first card last month and it can be seen here.

After just two seasons in Kansas City, Russ got traded to the Orioles and he went on to spend a majority of his career in Baltimore. He played there for seven seasons and did well as an Oriole, hitting .280 with 26 home runs and 189 RBI. His best season was with the O's in 1966. That year, he hit .306 with 3 home runs, 21 doubles, and career highs in runs (66) and RBI (41). Snyder's career year contributed to a spectacular run by the Orioles that culminated with a sweep of the Dodgers in the World Series. Russ was 1-6 with a run and an RBI in the series.

After the '67 season, Russ was traded to the White Sox. He played there for just one season before spending two seasons in Cleveland and then his final season in Milwaukee. For his career, Russ was a .271 hitter with 42 home runs and 319 RBI.

I believe that this is my oldest signed Orioles card.

1961 Topps, Paul Foytack

#171 Paul Foytack

This is a card of Paul Foytack that I got signed through the mail in 2013. I sent this card to Paul mid-April and I had it back just eight days later.

Paul pitched in the Majors for eleven seasons. He spent the majority of the time with the Tigers before spending his final two seasons with the Angels. He spent time in the rotation and the bullpen, but got most of his appearances as a starter.

For his career, Paul was 86-87 with 7 saves and a 4.14 ERA. He had four straight seasons of 100+ strikeouts and six seasons with double-digit wins. Unfortunately, he also posted six straight double digit loss seasons. His best season was probably the 1956 season when he went 15-13 with a save, a 3.59 ERA, and a career high 186 strikeouts.

Last night, I went to Wichita to attend my very first NBC World Series game. It was a special event as Nate Robertson and Adam LaRoche put together a team of former Major League players to take on the college kids. I went, of course, just to get autographs and I did pretty well. With my dad's help, I came home with autographs from former All Stars Brandon Inge, Roy Oswalt, Brad Penny, Josh Beckett, and Tim Hudson.

I got there early and found the spot to be by the clubhouse. My dad and I were the only ones there for some time and were doing well. Then a couple more people came over and then a few more and a few more. At the peak, there might have been ten people over there getting autographs over or under a ten foot fence. At that point, security guards came out and erected a new plastic fence to keep us away from the big fence and prevent us from getting autographs. I was pretty bummed over it, but it was still a fun experience, overall.

The game didn't get started until about 10:30 PM, so we only stayed for four innings. But we got to see Tim Hudson throw three innings and Josh Beckett one. It took a while for the former big league hitters to get their bats going, but we did see JD Drew rip a RBI double in the first. The Kansas Stars, as they are called, went on to win 8-0, so they obviously got their bats going later on in the game.

1961 Topps, Leo Posada

#39 Leo Posada

After one in-person signature, it is back to the good ol' TTMs. This one was signed by Leo Posada at the end of 2013. I sent it to him in November and I had it back just nine days later.

Leo had a short big league career. He spent just three seasons at that level, all with the A's. He made his debut in 1960 and got off to a good start. Over 10 games, he got 36 at-bats and had 13 hits, good for a .361 average. Out of those hits, he had a pair of triples and a home run.

The next season, he got into 110 games. That year, he batted .253 with 7 dingers and 53 RBI. That turned out to be his career year as he struggled mightily in 1962. That year, he got into just 29 games and he hit a measly .196 over 46 at-bats. The A's traded him to the Braves in August and they sent him down to AAA. Leo would go on to play professionally for seven more seasons, but would never make it back up to the Major Leagues.

I love the backdrop for this photo. You have palm trees on the left and wooden bleachers on the right. That is a classic Spring Training shot right there.

1961 Post, George Altman

#195 George Altman

Here is something that I have not posted on here in some time. This card was not signed through the mail. It is an honest-to-goodness in-person autograph!

I got this card signed at a Royals game earlier this year. It was their annual Negro League game where the team sports some retro Kansas City Monarchs uniforms. I had been to a few of those games in the past and at the last one I attended three years ago, I noticed that there was an autograph line with some former Negro League players. Since I knew I was going to the game this year, I just assumed that they would have the Negro League guys there again. So I googled who was on the list last year and was lucky enough to have three of the four gentlemen return this year.

George was on the list and I did not have any cards of him. Actually, I had one, but I had already gotten that one signed TTM in 2011. I posted it four years ago and it can be seen here. So, I needed to find a new card of George. Usually, when a player plays for multiple teams, I try to mix up the teams when I get a second card signed. George played for the Cardinals and Mets, but only had one card with each. Both of those have generic looking hatless photos. So, I instead went the oddball route and got my very first Post card signed.

The Post cards are odd in that they have everything on one side. The back side is blank. I assume that is because they were probably cut out of a cereal box. But, the photo, write-up, and stats all on one side is a unique look and I was more than happy to get one signed in-person. As usual, I was very pleased with the results.

George was a very nice individual. After he signed my card, he asked me what I thought of the Cubs this year. That question caught me completely off guard and I actually looked down to see if I was wearing any Cubs apparel. Why I would think that I would ever wear Cubs gear to a Royals game remains unclear. That just goes to show how bad he threw me off. I then figured that he asked that because I was one of the few people that actually brought a non-generic item for him to sign. I do wonder, though, if he would have asked me about the Mets had I brought his Mets card.

1960 Topps, Russ Kemmerer

#362 Russ Kemmerer

Here is the second card of Russ Kemmerer that I got signed through the mail in 2013. I posted the first one about a month ago and it can be seen here.

The two cards were the ones I got back from Russ, but were not the one I sent to him. I actually sent him a '64 Topps cards that showed him with the Colt .45s. While it would have been cool to add a new Colts card to the collection, I cannot complain about the two for one trade I got.

Russ pitched in the Major Leagues for nine seasons with four different clubs- the Red Sox, Senators, White Sox, and Colt .45s. He was mainly used as a reliever during his career, except for when he played for Washington. He primarily started for them and did not do too well. He never had a double digit win season, but he did reach double digits in losses three times, including a career-high of 17 in 1959.

Russ finished his career after the 1963 season with a 43-59 record with 8 saves and a 4.46 ERA.

Sadly, he passed away in 2014.

1960 Topps, Solly Hemus

#218 Solly Hemus

Here is the next card from the '60 Topps set, a managers card of Solly Hemus. I sent this card to Solly on the last day of 2012 and I had it back about two months later.

Solly had an eleven year playing career with the Cardinals and Philiies. He started out with the Cards before joining Philly for the second half of his career. Then, he rejoined the Cardinals in 1959 as their player/manager. That gig ran through June before he quit playing and was just a manager.

Solly was at the helm of the Cardinals for less than three seasons. The club finished the '59 season in seventh place with a 71-83 record. They turned it around a bit the next year with a 86-68 record, but it was only good enough for a third place finish. Then, in '61, the team was 33-41 when Solly got the ax. Johnny Keane took over and he had them in the World Series three years later.

Solly would never manage a Major League team again.

I love the layout of the mangers cards from this set. Though it is odd to have the cards so different from the rest of the cards in the set, they still came out looking good. I kind of wish that Topps had made an entire set based off of this design.

1960 Topps, Johnny Kucks

#177 Johnny Kucks

The next card for the 1960 Topps set is another Kansas City Athletic, Johnny Kucks. I sent this card to him at the end of 2012 and I had it back about nine days later.

Johnny pitched for the Yankees and A's from 1955-1960. Most of that time was spent on some very good Yankee teams. They were so good, in fact, that Johnny had the privilege of pitching in four straight World Series.

For his career, Johnny was 54-56 with 7 saves and a 4.10 ERA. His best season was in the Bronx in 1956 when he went 18-9 with a 3.85 ERA.

In the four World Series Johnny pitched in, he appeared in 8 games and logged 19 innings. All of his appearances were in relief except for one. That one start was in game seven of the 1956 Fall Classic at Ebbets Field. Johnny pitched a complete game shutout while limiting the Dodgers to just three hits, all of which were singles.

Sadly, this is the second straight card that I have posted of a player that has passed away since I wrote to him.

1960 Topps, Ken Johnson

#135 Ken Johnson

Next up is the former Athletic, Red, Colt .45/Astro, Brave, Cub, and Expo, Ken Johnson. I sent this lone card to Ken at the end of 2012 and I had it back about two weeks later.

Unlike the past few guys I have posted on here, Ken had a fairly long career. He played in the Majors for parts of thirteen seasons and, out of all of those teams, he saw the most time with the Braves from 1965 to 1969. Ken started and relieved throughout his career, but did have more starts than relief appearances. He finished his time in the big leagues with a 91-106 record with 9 saves and a 3.46 ERA. He reached double digit wins five times in his career with a season high of 16 in 1965.

Ken's claim to fame is pitching a no-hitter for the Colts in 1964. But, his no-hitter was unlike any other no-hitter in the history of the game. Ken is the only pitcher to throw a nine inning Major League no-hitter by himself and lose the game.

It was against that Reds in Houston early that season. The game went into the ninth tied at zero. Ken made an error that allowed Pete Rose to reach second base. Pete made it to third on a groundout before scoring on an error by third baseman Nellie Fox. Since then, four other teams have thrown no-hitters in losing bids. Three were thrown by visiting teams, so the pitchers only logged eight innings. The fourth was thrown by a home team, but two pitchers combined to no-hit the winning club.

Sadly, Ken passed away this past November. He was 82 years old at the time.

1960 Topps, Duke Carmel

#120 Duke Carmel

Here is the first 1690 Topps card of a player from eastern Missouri. And, for whatever reason, this is the third straight post where I sent the guy two cards to sign. So, there will be another card of Duke coming up next month. Anyways, I sent the cards to Duke early in 2012 and I had them both back nine days later.

Duke, whose real name is Leon, played in the Majors for just four seasons with the Cardinals, Mets, and Yankees. The New York native spent parts of two and a half of those seasons in St. Louis in 1959, '60, and '63. In '61 and '62, he ended up in the Dodgers and Indians organizations, but never made it to the big leagues with them. In fact, he got traded by the Cardinals three times. After he got traded to the Dodgers and Indians, he ended back with the Cardinals before the next season in what Baseball Reference lists as an "unknown transaction". The third time he got traded was when the Cards shipped him to the Mets.

Duke played in 71 games with the Cardinals and he hit .186 with 1 home run and 5 RBI. That one home run was a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the ninth off of Roy Face that tied the game for the Cardinals. They went on to win that game two batters later.

1960 Topps, Russ Snyder

#81 Russ Snyder

Here is the first of two cards that I got signed through the mail by Russ Snyder in 2014. Come to think of it, I sent two cards to the guy in the previous post, too. Anyway, I sent this card to Russ at the end of January that year and I had it back about a week later.

These 1960 Topps cards that I am posting are going to lean heavily on the Kansas City A's. In fact, if it wasn't for an extra card a former player sent me, the cards from this set would all feature guys that played in Missouri. Being a Kansas guy and a Royals fan, I am always intrigued by the first Major League franchise in Kansas City. Because of that, I have quite a few Kansas City A's cards signed.

Russ played for the A's for just two seasons. He did well there, hitting .283 with 7 home runs and 47 RBI. After the '60 season, he and Whitey Herzog were shipped to Baltimore for a quartet of players.

1960 Topps, Bud Daley

#8 Bud Daley

Here is the first of about a half dozen 1960 Topps. This one features the the former Indian, Athletic, and Yankee, Bud Daley. I sent this card to Bud in 2014 and I had it back nine days later.

Bud played in the Bigs for ten years, never playing for a team for more than three and a half seasons. He both started and relieved throughout his career, getting the bulk of his starts during the middle of his career with Kansas City. Over the 248 games that he pitched in, he had a 60-64 record with 10 saves and a 4.03 ERA. His best season was with the A's in 1959 when he went 16-13 with a save, a 3.16 ERA, and 125 strikeouts.

Bud made two All Star teams as an A and pitched in two World Series with the Yankees. He racked up three strikeouts in 1.2 All Star innings, ringing up the likes of Ernie Banks, Vada Pinson, and Orlando Cepeda. In the Fall Classics, he pitched eight scoreless innings and was the winning pitcher in game five of the '61 series.