NN Leon Day
First off, I know nothing about this card. There is no number and no stats. I think that it is was made in 1992 since it has "Leon Day's Honors in 1992" on the bottom and those end in September. Either he didn't get any more honors that year or this card may have been made in 1993. The back only has tidbits about records he holds and feats that he accomplished. The picture on the front is pretty cool. It has a Goudey feel to it.
Leon Day pitched mostly in the Negro Leagues. He also played some in Canada and Puerto Rico. Most of his career was with the Newark Eagles, but he also played for the Baltimore Elite Giants and the Baltimore Black Sox. It looks like the picture is from one of the Baltimore teams.
Leon was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. He died seven days after learning that he had been selected. According to Wikipedia, he is the only player in the Hall to wear a cap on his plaque that is from a team that is not in the U.S. or Canada. The cap is of the Los Tiburones de Aguadilla, a Puerto Rican team.
I got this card signed through the mail around 1994, I think. I got this card signed in the same way as Brooks Robinson and Hoyt Wilhelm. All three of them were in the same Beckett article about retired players that will sign for a small donation. When I wrote about the Wilhelm card, I thought that I may have got these signed around 1996. Leon Day died in 1995, so it was obviously before that.
This is a cool card. It is the only Negro League card that I have signed. The only other autograph that I have from a Negro League player is a signed ball from Buck O'Neil.
