1949 Bowman, Ned Garver

#15 Ned Garver

Here is a card that I got signed through the mail in November. I mailed the card on the fourth and I had it back eight days later.

This past summer, Ned was one of the guys that attended the Kansas City A's reunion that was put on by the Kansas City T-Bones. I intended to get to the ballpark early so that I could find these guys and get some cards signed. But, instead, I ended up being stuck in a four mile stretch of interstate for nearly two hours after there were two accidents in a work zone. So, rather than getting to the park early, I got there as the KC A's were being introduced. By the time I made it into the park, I got to see the final three guys take the field. I went down by the field on the side that the guys entered on, only to see them leave on the opposite side. Rather than trying to chase them down, I just stayed by the T-Bones dugout to get the few cards I had of them signed.

Throughout the course of the game, I was able to get eight KC A's autographs from seven different guys. But, I didn't get Ned's. So, when I finally dropped the $15 to sign up for SportsCollector.net, I got his address and I sent the two cards I had bought for him to sign. This was obviously one of the cards I sent and I was happy to find this card on checkoutmycards.com for about $3. I was totally shocked when I got the cards back because, not only did he sign them both, but he added two more signed cards (two different Diamond Signature cards) as well as a postcard for his book that had a note that read "Zach- Sorry I missed you in KC. Maybe next year. Ned". How cool is that?

This is now the second card from this set that I have got signed and it is also the very first signed St Louis Browns card that I have. In fact, thanks to writing to Ned, I believe that I now have three signed Browns cards.

If you had never heard of Ned, don't feel bad. I hadn't either. But, come to find out, he does indeed have a claim to fame. Ned was the last pitcher to win 20 games for a team that lost 100 or more. He accomplished that feat in 1951 with the Browns. He finished the season 20-12 (his only 20-win season) on a team that went 52-102. That may be an accomplishment that never happens again.

1940 Play Ball, Bob "Suitcase" Seeds

#91 Bob Seeds

This right here was the coolest Christmas present that I recieved this year. Actually, this is the best present that I have recieved in some time. This was given to me by my best friend, Dustin. Dustin used to do all of my scans for me before I got my own scanner and he was my lone reader when I first started this blog. He picked this card up from ebay. Apparently, my Lou Brissie post caught his eye when I was talking about my oldest signed card and he decided to get me an older one. This card is nine years older than the Brissie card. Not only is it my oldest signed card, it is also the oldest card that I own.

Prior to this card, I had never heard of Bob Seeds (aka Suitcase). That just makes it more fun learning about him and checking his stats.

Bob played for five teams in his nine year career. He was mostly a backup player, with the exception of the 1932 season. He was a career .277 hitter who had career highs in home runs (9) and RBI (52) in 1938 while appearing in only 81 games for the Giants. In 1936, he played in 13 regular season games with the Yankees and made it onto their World Series roster. He only made one appearance in the Series and that was as a pinch runner in game five.

In that game, the Giants grabbed a one run lead in the top of the tenth. In the bottom half of the inning, Bill Dickey lead off with a single and Bob was sent in to pinch run for him. The next two batters popped out and Bob ended the game by trying to steal second. At that point in his career, Bob had been successful in only 13 of 28 base stealing attempts. With the bottom third of the order up, the Yankees must have been desperate (or Bob said "screw it" and took off anyway). Even though they lost the game, the Yanks still went on to win the Series in six games.

On the back of the card, it says that Bob is the only Major League player to own his own ball club. That was the Amirillo team in the West Texas-New Mexico League. Also, it says that the Giants purchased him from Newark and he is called Suitcase because he has switched teams so many times.

Bob has been deceased since 1993, so I guess that this card could be labeled an "unpossible autograph".

Here is the dilemma I have with this card. This card is graded.



I'm not into graded cards and I don't have anyway to display this. Generally, I like to keep all of my signed cards in binders. So here is the question. Do I leave the card in the case or do I remove it? If I were to remove it, does anyone know the best way to do that with these cases?

1949 Bowman, Lou Brissie

#41 Lou Brissie

Normally, I would have waited to post this card after I finished off my 1996 cards. But, I was so excited when I got it back in the mail today that I didn't want to wait.

I got the idea to write to Lou Brissie from Carl Crawford Cards. A couple of months ago, he did a post on Lou and I learned a lot about him from that post. Lou took some shrapnel in his leg during World War II. The doctors wanted to take his leg, but Lou wouldn't let them. He still wanted to play ball. So after countless hours of rehab and almost two dozen surgiries, Lou was cleared to play ball agian with a brace on his leg.

The Philadelphia A's went ahead and signed him. After two years in the minors, Lou got a cup of coffee with the big club at the end of 1947. In '48, he stuck with the A's and made numerous appearances for them, both in relief and as a starter, until he was traded to Cleveland in 1951. He pitched for them into the 1953 season before he called it quits.

In 1949, Lou made the American League All Star team. He pitched the final three innings of the game and probably would have recorded a save if that was a stat then.

When I wrote Lou, I told him that I was sure that he had been awarded numerous awards and medals for his service. I asked if he would inscribe the card with the one that meant the most to him. He picked his Purple Heart.

I was lucky enough to find this card on ebay with a buy it now price of $2.29, with free shipping. Sure, it is a little beat up, but the card is sixty-years old. That seemed like a good deal to me. Plus, I now have a new oldest signed card. It is going to be hard for me to top this one.

Thanks CCC for the inspiration and the address!