1981 Donruss Bert Campaneris

#50 Bert Campaneris

I had met Bert twice in person at events held by the Kansas City T-Bones. Those events were about eight years ago and, while I got cards signed by Bert, I did not get his '81 Donruss signed. Most of my '81 D were bought in an unopened box back in 2008. Since the cards were twenty-seven years old, and Donruss put gum in their inaugural packs, each pack had one card with a peice of gum glued to the front of it. Of course, the only card of Bert in that box had gum on it. So, I had to buy this card and get it signed through the mail. I did that in 2014 and got the card back two months later.

Yesterday, I went to Royals Fanfest. While I was able to get in some autograph lines, unlike last year, I still did not do very well. I came home with just eleven cards signed by five guys. That hardly justifies the $45 it costs to get the family in the doors. If I would have got Salvador Perez, it would have been a good day. Instead I got Ned Yost, Scott Alexander, Chris Young, Rex Hudler, and Hunter Dozier. Out of those, Hunter was the only one that I did not have anything signed by. We missed out on all the big name players and did not even see any Royals alumni signing.

While I have always criticized the Royals for how they run their autograph lines at Fanfest, they seem to get worse and worse every year. For starters, you have to get in one of five lines and hope for the best. They do not tell you who is signing where or when. It's a crapshoot. Then, they only allow 150 people in that line. We got to Fanfest as it opened and headed for the furthest line from the door. When we got there, the 2:30 line was full already. So, we got in the 3:30 line. Perez signed for the 2:30 crowd and we got Dozier at 3:30.

After we got Dozier, we got back in line. Of course, the 4:30 was full already, so we got in the 5:30. Scott Alexander signed at 4:30 and a third of the people in line jumped out to hope for a better person in whatever line they could get in. Did they let more people in line to make up for the mass exodus? Of course not. That would have made too much sense. So, Scott signed for everybody in his line in a mere twenty minutes compared to the fifty-five minutes it took for Sal to sign for his line.

Since I have cards signed by all the big name Royals except for Perez, I would have been more than happy picking off some of the younger or newer guys that aren't as popular. But, since they only sign for the people that made it into the line before it got closed off, whether those people stay in that line or not, that is impossible to do. The lesser known guys sign for the people in less than twenty minutes and then pop smoke and vanishes.

Less than five years ago, we used to be able to hit up more than one line per session. Yesterday, we were doing good just to get in a line for every other session.

"81 Donruss Tracker: #182

1981 Donruss, Ed Farmer

#40 Ed Farmer

If you haven't figured it out yet, nearly all of these '81 Donruss I am going to be posting for the next couple of months were signed through the mail. It has been a few years since I got one of these bad boys signed at a game. I have two to post that I got signed at the College World Series and four that my wife bought me. The rest were all signed TTM, just like this one was. I sent this card to Ed in 2013 and I had it back two and a half weeks later.

Ed had a long professional career. He started playing in 1967 and his last season was 1986. During his two decades of pro ball, he pitched in the Majors for parts of eleven seasons with eight different teams- the Indians, Tigers, Phillies, Orioles, Brewers, Rangers, White Sox, and A's. Some of his stints were so short with a few of those teams that he doesn't even have a major card for half of them.

Ed pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen throughout his big league career. During that time, he racked up a 30-43 record with 75 saves and a 4.30 ERA. He never really had a defined role with a club until he was traded to the White Sox in the middle of the 1979 season.

His time on the south side lasted two and a half years and Ed made the most of it. He got into 42 games in the second half of the '79 season and he responded with a 2.43 ERA and 14 saves. In 1980, he had a 3.34 ERA and recorded a career-high 30 saves. The 30 saves was third in the league behind Goose Gossage and Dan Quisenberry, who each had 33. Ed made his lone All Star team that season.

Ed's ERA ballooned to 4.61 in 1981 and his saves dropped to 10 and the Sox let him walk after the season was over. But, over those two and a half seasons in Chicago, Ed had a 13-19 record with 54 saves and a 3.31 ERA.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #181

1981 Donruss, John Stearns

#35 John Stearns

Here is another through the mail request that I sent out in 2014. If I remember correctly, John was working with the Tacoma Rainiers at the time. I sent this card to him at the tail end of the season and I got it back a week later.

John played in the Major Leagues for eleven seasons. After being the number two pick in the 1973 draft, John made his Major League debut with the Phillies the following year. He got into just one game for them and went 1-2. The Phils traded him to the Mets after that season and John would go on to spend the rest of his career with them. During that time, he was the team's primary catcher from 1977-1982 and he had a .259 average with 46 home runs and 312 RBI as a Met.

His best season was the 1978 campaign. That year, John hit .264 with career-highs in home runs (15), RBI (73), and stolen bases (25). John made four All Star teams with the Mets, but he did not make the '78 team.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #180

1981 Donruss, Jim Kern

#27 Jim Kern

Here is the second card of Jim Kern that I got signed through the mail last spring. The first one was his '77 Topps that I posted last month. But we all know that the '81D was the real reason I wrote to Jim and I must say that this card came out looking much better than the '77. Nothing against Topps, but that dark jacket Jim was wearing in the photo was what did that one in. The blue Sharpie stands out much better over the baby blue road jersey on this card. Let's just face the facts- you cannot beat a signed '81 Donruss.

Jim pitched with the Rangers for just three seasons. He made the All Star team his first year there to cap off three straight appearances. That season, he was lights out. He finished the season 13-5 with 29 saves, a 1.57 ERA, and 136 strikeouts. His relief efforts won him tops honors for American League relievers that season.

Unfortunately, he would only pitch about half as many innings the next season and he would never go on to record double-digit saves in a season ever again. He did, however, pitch for nine more seasons, but was never able to recreate the success he had with the Rangers in 1979.

Jim finished his career 53-57 with 88 saves and a 3.32 ERA.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #179

1981 Donruss, Bruce Bochy

#20 Bruce Bochy

I finally got my scanner up and running last night, so I am back at it. Here is a card of Bruce Bochy that I got signed through the mail in 2015. Like the previous card of Grant Jackson that I posted, this one also took me two attempts to get signed. I originally wrote to Bruce during Spring Training in either 2013 or 2014 without ever getting the card back. Then, in 2015, I saw people getting him during the middle of the season, so I wrote him again. I got this one back after a month wait.

Bruce was a backup catcher in the Majors for nine seasons with the Astros, Mets, and Padres. Most of that time was spent in San Diego and he accumulated a lifetime batting average of .239 with 26 home runs and 93 RBI. His best season came with the Friars in 1986 when he hit .252 and had career highs with 8 homers and 22 RBI.

Since retiring, Bruce has been a huge presence in the National League West. He managed the Padres from 1995-2006 before heading north to San Francisco for the last ten seasons. I can't believe that he has managed twenty-two consecutive seasons, but he has. Over that time, he won one National League pennant for the Padres and three World Series with the Giants. Despite his success this decade, he has only won Manager of the Year once and that came with the Padres in 1996.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #178

1981 Donruss, Grant Jackson

#15 Grant Jackson

It has been about three weeks since I last posted a card thanks to my computer's power supply taking a dump. Luckily I was able to gt it fixed without encountering any damage. It just took a little longer than I had hoped. But, all is well now.

Here is the second card of Grant Jackson that I have posted on here. I posted the first one, his '71 Topps, two months ago and it can be seen here. The two cards were both signed through the mail in 2015. Obviously, this card was the main reason for writing to Grant.

Grant pitched in the Major Leagues for eighteen seasons with the Phillies, Orioles, Yankees, Pirates, Expos, and Royals. The lefty spent most of his career pitching out of the bullpen and he racked up a 86-75 record with 79 saves and 889 strikeouts. His winning record is surprising considering he was 23-43 through his first six seasons.

Grant had the privilege of pitching in three World Series during the '70s. He was with the Orioles in '71, the Yankees in '76, and the Pirates in '79. He came out of those Series with one ring and a 2.00 ERA over nine innings pitched.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #177

1981 Donruss, Ricky Peters

#10 Ricky Peters

It has been three years since I last posted a card from the '81 Donruss set. Over that time, I have got about thirty more cards signed from that set. So, be prepared to be seeing the '81D for the next few months.

The first one is of Ricky Peters. I got this one signed through the mail last year. I sent it to Ricky in November and I got it back three weeks later.

Ricky played in the Major Leagues for five seasons with the Tigers and A's. He hit .277 in the show with 2 home runs and 80 RBI. His first home run was a grand slam that he hit for the Tigers in 1980. Too bad they were down by seven when he hit it.

Ricky got most of his playing time with the Tigers from 1979-1981. He got into 208 games with them including a career high of 133 in 1980. That season, he hit .291 with both of his homers and 42 RBI. He missed all of the '82 season before getting released by Detroit. The A's picked him up and he played in 99 games for them during the '83 and '85 seasons before calling it a career.

I really like Ricky's signature. The star is unique.

'81 Donruss Tracker: #176

I originally started the Donruss Tracker to track them as I got closer to my goal of 100 cards signed from the set. Since I met and exceeded my goal, I figured that there is no need to track them out of 100 (ie no more 176/100).