1986 Donruss, Bob Boone

#17 Bob Boone

Here is the second card that Bob Boone signed for me through the mail in 2014. The first card was his '81 Donruss card and that one can be seen here. When I mail out an '81D to get signed, I rarely send out another card with it. But, I could not resist adding another signed Diamond King to my collection, so this one went out with it.

After spending his first ten season in Philadelphia, Bob went on to play seven seasons with the Angels. With California, he hit .245 with 39 home runs and 318 RBI. He made his last All Star team as an Angel and he won three Gold Gloves with them. His best season with them was probably in 1982, his first year with the team. That season, he hit .256 with 7 home runs and 58 RBI. He even got a few MVP votes that season.

The funny thing about Bob's seven Gold Gloves was when he got them. He got the first two in back-to-back seasons with the Phils in 1978-79 when he was 30 and 31 years of age. He won the next one in '82 at the age of 34. He then won his final four in consecutive seasons from 1986-89 at ages 38-41. It seems Bob catching skills only got better with age, which is usually not the case at that position. For comparison, Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who has the most Gold Gloves as a catcher, won his final one at the age of 35.