1993 Ted Williams, Bert Campaneris

#44 Bert Campaneris

This is the third and final Bert Campaneris card that I got signed at the Willie Wilson Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City. The game was held in July after the All-Star break. You can see the first card that he signed here and the second one here. Also, you can see the one card that I got signed by him the previous year here.

There really isn't anymore to say about this autograph that I didn't say in any of the other Campaneris posts. But, like I said in the last Wills post, this set is great for autographs. This one is black and white and the black Sharpie really stands out. The Wills card had some color and the blue Sharpie really went well with the Dodger Blue in his uniform. I wish that I could say I planned it that way.

1993 Ted Williams, Maury Wills

#17 Maury Wills

Here is the third and final Maury Wills card that I got signed at a Ft. Worth Cats game in August. You can see the first one here and the second one here. I got all three cards signed by Maury after he made his way up to the concourse after catching the ceremonial first pitch from some former Indy car driver. Of the three cards, this one probably looks the best. It seems like these cards were made for autographs.

During the game, they had a table set up where Maury was signing. Even though I had my cards signed, I decided to go through the line so that I could get team-issued photocard signed. It is not the best looking card that I had ever seen (the main picture is modern day Maury in a suit, with two smaller pictures as a Cat and Dodger), but I figured that I would get it signed. When I got to the front of the line to get the card signed, Maury looked up at me and then looked at the usher and said like "I don't what it is about baseball, but it has a way of making grown men smile like little boys". I can't remember if he said smile or gleam or what, but it was something like that. I thought it was pretty funny.

1994 Ted Williams, Virgil Trucks

#34 Virgil Trucks

This is the third Virgil Trucks post on here. For the first one, I didn't have a card of him, so I sent him a Tigers sticker. For the second post, I sent him a 1954 Bowman card. On that second attempt, he threw this card in with it. So I ended up with a signed '54 card and a signed '94 card.

I posted a couple of cards from the 1993 Ted Williams set at the end of April. I had actually bought a few packs of that set at a card show. But, this is the first and only card from the 1994 set that I had ever seen. I thought that the Ted Williams set was out for only one year and was done. I wonder if they made a set in 1995.

As a quick reminder, Virgil threw two no-hitters in 1952.

1993 Ted Williams, Al Dark

#52 Al Dark

I got this card signed through the mail this past December. When I got it, two things stood out to me. The first thing is that Al tried to sign the card with a ballpoint pen. You can see that on the scan pretty easily by his A. The second thing I noticed is his signature. Al is creeping up on 90 years old and it looks like he was having a little bit of difficulty signing this card. It is very cool that he still signs through the mail at his age.

Al was a three time All-Star in the early '50s with the New York Giants. After his playing days, he went on to manage four different clubs (with two stints with the A's) and won one World Series title with the A's in 1974.

As for this Ted Williams set, I don't have too many of these cards. The only place that I ever found them was at a card show in '93. Most of the cards were of older players and they even included some Negro League cards, retired players in their minor league uniforms, and cards of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. I think that they might have even included some cards of Juan Gonzalez and Frank Thomas.

I like the design of the card. It reminds me of 1992 Studio, but without a border and with a better picture than the posed senior portrait.

1993 Ted Williams, Sal Bando

#42 Sal Bando

This card was a gift to me, I guess you could say. Back when I was basically given the '69 Topps Frank Howard card, this card was thrown in. I had the Howard card on my want list and Scott, from A Pack A Day, filled that void for me. I sent him a self-addressed stamped envelope and he sent the card to me. When I got the card back, I noticed a weird inscription under his return address. It said "You stole my A's". I had no idea what that meant until I opened the envelope and saw this card. Scott is from Philly and I live in Kansas and am a Royals fan. Once I put two and two together, I thought that it was pretty funny. Thanks, again, Scott.

Speaking of funny, I have had kind of a funny day. I woke up early and drove for three hours to Kansas City for the Royals game. I got there just before noon and set up shop by the Royals parking lot. When I got there, it was cool and cloudy, just like the weather report predicted. Then, it started to mist and then rain (not in the forecast). Then it stopped. I got a couple of Royals to sign for me while it was dry. Then it started misting again and that continued for the next two hours. By the time that I had had enough, I was up to 21 signed cards and I was cold and wet. So rather than go get something to eat and get ready for BP (which I was pretty sure they would not be having), I got in my car and drove the three hours back home. What a day. Only a couple of the cards smeared because of the persipitation. After the best pitcher in baseball (right now) signed my three cards, I figured that I had had a good enough day.