1981 Donruss, Darrell Jackson

#547 Darrell Jackson

This is the Darrell Jackson card that I got signed through the mail last November. It took just ten days to get this card back.

Darrell played in the Major Leagues for five seasons, all with the Twins. He was 20-27 with a save during his career and he posted a 4.38 ERA. His best season was in 1980 when he went 9-9 with a 3.87 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 172 innings.

I am not sure what is going on with Darrell's last name in his signature, but it is definitely unique.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 165/100

1981 Donruss, Bill Stein

#543 Bill Stein

Here is the second of two cards that Bill signed for me through the mail last year. The first card was his '77 Topps card and that card was posted in January. It can be seen here. It took just five days to get these two cards back.

As I mentioned in the first Bill Stein post, he was an original Mariner. He was their primary third baseman over the first two years of the franchise's existence before he started battling some injury problems. After the 1980 season, Bill was granted free agency and ended up signing with the Rangers. He spent five seasons with Texas as their utility man before hanging them up.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 164/100

1981 Donruss, Burt Hooton

#541 Burt Hooton

This is the Burt Hooton card that I was able to get signed through the mail. I sent this one to Burt last October and I got it back in eleven days.

I had tried to get this card signed by Burt at a couple of minor league games without any success. He is the Astros AAA pitching coach and I failed to get this card signed by him in Round Rock in 2008 and Oklahoma City in 2012. In both cities, he flat out ignored anyone that tried to ask him to sign. In Round Rock, which has one of the best setups for autographs, he actually jumped a couple of fences to avoid the area where the 'graphers were.

I guess he is just one of those guys who are strictly business at the ballpark. But at home, he is a willing signer through the mail. On SCN, he has a 92% rating with almost 300 successes coming from him. So, while he is tough to get at the park, he is not a hard autograph to acquire.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 163/100

1981 Donruss, Gary Thomasson

#531 Gary Thomasson

Here is the Gary Thomasson card that I got signed through the mail in February. It took one month for this one to make it back home.

Gary played in the big leagues for nine seasons and saw time with the Giants, A's, Yankees, and Dodgers. He played all three outfield positions, as well as first base, during his career. He was a .249 hitter with 61 home runs and 294 RBI.

His best season came with the Giants in 1977. He hit .259 that year with career highs in runs (63), doubles (24), homers (17), RBI (71), and stolen bases (16).

When I first saw this card, I assumed that Gary was a catcher based on his flapless batting helmet. Whenever I see one of those, I always think of catchers.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 162/100

19814 Donruss, Sal Butera

#530 Sal Butera

Next up is the Sal Butera card that was signed through the mail. I sent this card to Sal in January and I had it back thirteen days later.

Sal played in the Majors for parts of nine seasons with the Twins, Tigers, Expos, Reds, and Blue Jays. He was mainly a back-up catcher who never played in more than 67 games in any season. His best season was probably with the Twins in the strike-shortened 1981 season. He saw the most at-bats that year and he hit .240 with career highs in hits (40), doubles (7), RBI (18), and walks (22).

For his career, Sal was a .227 hitter with 8 home runs and 76 RBI. Though he made his Major League debut in 1980, he would not hit his first Major League home run until 1985. He went on to hit three of his eight that season.

Sal had the privilege of pitching in two games during his career. He racked up two scoreless innings with no hits, a walk, and a strikeout. The one strikeout belonged to the Cubbies Chico Walker.

Sal's son, Drew, saw a few games with the Dodgers this past season.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 161/100

1981 Donruss, John Goryl

#527 John Goryl

Here is the John Goryl autograph that I was able to get through the mail. I sent this card to John at the end of November and I had it back about eight days later.

John only got one chance to manage in the Major Leagues and it wasn't much of one. He was promoted to manage the Twins at the end of the 1980 season. He took the helm with only 36 games left and he lead the club to a 23-13 record down the stretch. He was brought back to manage the '81 club, but was fired 37 games into the season when the team started off 11-25.

That was the end of John's tenure as a Major League manager. He managed 73 games over parts of two seasons and went 34-38.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 160/100

1981 Donruss, Carlos Lezcano

#521 Carlos Lezcano

I've got about a month and a half to go on this set, but this one is the last of its kind. This is the final card that I got signed in-person. All of the rest of the '81 Donruss cards should be through the mail returns.

I was lucky enough to get this card signed at a Wichita Wingnut game this year. Carlos started the season as the hitting coach for the El Paso Diablos. By the time they made it to Wichita, Carlos was the manager for the Diablos, even though I did not know it at the time. Tim Johnson was the original manager, but he left the club because of an undisclosed medical issue. The Diablos were pretty hush-hush about the whole deal as I never saw anything about it on their website. Eventually I noticed that they removed Johnson from the website and some Google searching informed me of why he was not with the club. I was a little bummed out that he was not in Wichita as I had a '75 Topps mini that I wanted him to sign for me. I had met him the previous year and he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I hope he is doing OK.

'81 Donruss Tracker: 159/100