Signed by Legends

These two items were Net54 pickups. I don't collect many autographs but I've always wanted a Jim Brown signature and this was hard to pass up.

I used to regularly buy items from Gateway Stamp when they were in business back in the 80s and 90s. Their catalogs were amusing (and sometimes hard to decipher!). But they had cool stuff.

This was one of two available Johnny Unitas items. I didn't care much for the artwork on the other one, so I chose this one instead. I have a couple of Unitas signed items but when you get the chance to add something from your childhood hero, you do it.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get caught up on packages I've received, cards to be sent, and slogging through my '74 Topps set build. All that to be updated soon.

Some Colts signed cards

It's been awhile since I added anything to my Baltimore Colts binder so finding these 1999 Fleer/SI Greats of the Game cards on COMC was cool. I think I had seen some before but hadn't paid much attention at the time. I was too busy chasing down the vintage Colts cards for my project.

I haven't check to see if there are others I'm missing but these four will do for now. Nice that these are on-card sigs. The folks in charge of this used actual covers or really nice SI-type pics.

Here are the front and back of the John Mackey card. BTW...if you are still wondering why Andrew Luck could walk away from the NFL while he could still function, look up John Mackey.  Or watch the video below the cardback.

All the card backs were the same as this only name and logo changed.

Mackey defined the tight end position, invented it really. And was kept out of the Hall of Fame for many years because his work on behalf of the Players Association. Total bullshit. Like John Unitas, he finished his playing with the Chargers.

OK, no more down notes. Enjoy the other three cards....

Earl Morrall. He had an underrated career.

The amazing Lenny Moore!!! My picks for the top five most fun-to-watch players...Earl Campbell, Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Barry Sanders and Lenny Moore. Oh, and you want more reason feel Luck did the right thing? Look at what Earl Campbell is fighting these days.

Finally, Bert Jones, The Ruston Rifle. Does anyone remember his final year, the one he spent with the Rams? Didn't think so. I'm not sure why all great Colts players ended up in California to finish their career.

Orioles Signed Postcards circa 1988

Digging further through boxes of 'stuff' as I attempt to organize my shelves I came across these Orioles team-issued postcards. I got them signed on one of my last trips to Arlington Stadium. I'm guessing 1988 or '89. After that I was too busy with kidsand coaching to make the regular trips to watch the Birds.

Nothing spectacular here. I used to stay at the same hotel as the team which was just across the parking lot from the ball park. Even though I am not much into autographs I enjoyed getting cards signed there. Most of these were signed in the lobby or hotel restaurant, a few in the parking lot. I always asked the player to sign to me and for the most part they did.

Funny thing, I wouldn't dream of approaching a player for a signature like that now at my age.

The last time I collected an autograph 'in the wild' was at Nationals' Spring Training when Matt Williams and Tony Tarasco came over to talk to us in the team box seats. Oh, and I did flag down Dennis Martinez at Minute Maid Park.

RIP Frank Robinson

My scanner hates bright white borders. I had to bump and bruise these cards to get images.

It was in the parking lot there at Arlington Stadium that I heard Eddie Murray speak for the first time. I'd previously been convinced that he was mute.

More fun stuff from my 'vault' coming soon.

Tribute to an old friend

I got word yesterday (belatedly, I'm afraid) of the passing of Mary Alice Fee, 'Miss Fee' as she was known to family and friends. She had turned 100 last fall and I'd known her most of my life. I met her when she was my aunt's next door neighbor in Baltimore nearly 60 years ago. She looked after my cousins (and me and my siblings when we visited) and was a dear friend to my aunt through the years.

I was always close to my aunt and cousins, and she was essentially part of the family. She was funny and kind and was an Orioles fan of the first order. She knew her baseball despite never attending a game in person. Her thing was following the Birds on the radio. She had lost her sight in recent years but she still enjoyed the games. She had opinions on the state of the team and was never afraid to voice them.

In her honor I'm posting a signed IP 1975 Brooks Robinson TCMA/SSPC from the Superstars set. I came across it and a couple other related Orioles signed cards while digging through my old hobby storage boxes the other evening.

A love for Brooks Robinson was another thing Miss Fee and I shared.

These next three are from the SSPC set.

This final pic is Miss Fee and myself at Amicci's in Baltimore's Little Italy during a trip about ten years ago. RIP Miss Fee 💔

My First IP Signature

A year ago I posted my story of meeting Elston Howard and his signing photos for my best friend and I. When I posted that I was still trying to locate the photo. I came across it last month along with some cards I had given up on. But that story will hold for now. I just wanted to post my Howard photo tonight.

I used my picture editor to crop out much of the very wide border this picture had.  It is actually about 11"x14" but the photo itself is maybe 7"x10".

You have to look really closely to see the inscription and signature. It's faded quite a bit over time. Yes, he signed it to 'Bobby Andrews' which is what I went by growing up.

Even cropping the inscription and blowing it up doesn't help much. but there it is. Looks like a pencil sig but it's actually done in black ink. And it is one of my few really meaningful autographs.

I'm very happy that I finally found it.

Lesson Learned (again)

I've been a 'stealth' Rusty Staub collector for a while. Along with pitcher Don Wilson, Staub was a player I enjoyed watching and rooted for when I first came to Houston in the late 60s. I continued to follow his career through his time with the Expos and, to some extent, the Mets and Tigers.

I don't actively track down his cards. I don't have a Staub checklist like I do for guys like Billy Pierce, Johnny Callison, and Mike Cuellar. But I used to put stick Staub's cards in one of my 'star' binders when I found one in my stash. And over the last few years I've added them in fits and starts, mostly from show bargain bins.

Now I don't chase autographs particularly but I like having one example in my player collections. It occurred to me that I had no signed Staub card. A month or so ago I decided to rectify that. I found this 2004 Fleer Greats card on eBay for a nice price and picked it up. I didn't pay much attention to it other than the fact that it was an 'authorized' signature card so I figured it was legit.

What I didn't figure is that it was a sticker autograph. I don't have anything against sticker autographs but if I'm going to just have one signed card of a player I'd rather it be an 'on card' one. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I guess I could have looked closer at the photo in the listing but I'm pretty quick on the trigger sometimes. This was one of those times. And besides...I did look at the text on the back and it didn't raise any red flags. Here's my scan of the back:

And here is a closer look at the key section of the back just in case, like me, you have aging eyes:

Notice that it says "PERSONALLY AUTOGRAPHED". Well, if we are going to get technical the sticker was personally autographed. The card? Nope. Here's the graph and blown up it's pretty obvious that it's a sticker.

It's not the end of the world. After all, it is a pretty attractive card. This is neither the first nor last time I'll buy or bid without looking at the small print as it were. So I'll quit kvetching over a first world problem and go stick it in my binder now.

Blog Bat Around -- Autograph Lineup

The Torren Up Cards blog started a Blog Bat Around where bloggers present a baseball lineup using autographed items from their collection. I'm not much of an autograph collector but I have enough to put this together. I played fast and loose with the original guidelines but I'm sure nobody cares. 

For one thing I expanded the lineup to a nearly full team. I used signed items I had already scanned (most have been posted here previously) and it is heavily weighted towards the Orioles. But let's roll with it. 

The Starting Rotation:

Sandy Koufax kicks it off. Not the best card ever produced but when you have to purchase a Koufax auto card you take what's affordable. 

After a lefty you schedule a righty. Jim Palmer on an Orioles team postcard. It was signed to my son when we met JP at a Jockey promo event in 1989. My boys were just a few months old.

Next in the rotation...my man Billy Pierce. This '61 Topps is one of the cards I sent him to sign.

The back end of my four man rotation is El Presidente!! Dennis signed this O's postcard for me a few years ago when he was the Astros bullpen coach.

Spot Starter: 
Do they even use the term 'spot starter' today? Back in the day when I heard that I immediately thought of Dave Leonard for the Orioles. Holding down the slot for my 'all sig' team is Hideo Nomo on a '96 Fleer. This one should get an asterisk because that signature could be anything!

The Closer:
Tippy Martinez on an 8 x 10. I believe I've told this story before but my wife brought it up again not long ago. I dragged her to Arlington to watch the O's one night about the time Tippy was debuting for the O's. Her being Mexican-American and me being an idiot I convinced her to ask him in Spanish if he was happy in Baltimore. He looked at me and said "I hope to do well in your city" in perfect un-accented English. I later learned he was from Colorado.

The Set-up guy: 
Kent Tekulve on an Archives sig card. Cool shades, bad uni. I got this card to fill out a '4 for $5' purchase at a recent card show.

The long man:
Moe Drabowsky on a Milton Bradley game card. A long-ago card show purchase.

And the position players.....

Catcher (and team ambassador):
Ellie Hendricks on another Orioles postcard. Outside of maybe Ernie Banks nobody loved being a big leaguer more than Elrod. He signed this for me at Yankee Stadium during his coaching days.

First Base:
Boog Powell on a Ted Williams Company card. Show pickup I think.

Second Base: 
Davey Johnson, lousy sig on O's postcard. Obtained at Memorial Stadium by my uncle who, btw, pretty much gave up on the club when Peter Angelos ran Johnson off as manager. Me? I was already pretty much off the baseball boat due to the '94 strike. But what little rooting interest I had at the time was lost when Johnson was pushed out the door.

Shortstop:
Yet ANOTHER Orioles postcard.  Cal Ripken signed this in Arlington on one of my last visits to the old (and much funner) Arlington Stadium.

Third Base:
The great Brooks Robinson. Not long after we had our daughter in 1987 we received this 8x10 from Brooks. It arrived out of the blue from his office at Crown Petroleum. He obviously had even filled out the address and return addy himself. Turns out my aunt got his phone number from a mutual friend and called him. He sent two pics when my boys were born a couple of years later, that time personalized to them. Again prompted by my aunt.

Bonus Brooksie sig on an Exhibit card, just because.

The Outfield:
Stan the Man on an Exhibit reprint. I got this thru his estate's website when they were selling off signed items.

Paul Blair on an Archives sig card. Bought on eBay.

Frank Robinson on a banner I made for display at Yankee Stadium in 1969. The story as posted here previously:

In 1969 I went with a buddy, also a Oriole fan, to see the O's play at Yankee Stadium on a mid-week afternoon. We'd decided that we'd make a couple of banners to support our club. We set to work dividing an old bed sheet and, with orange paint and a marker, we each created a work of art. His was the number '5' for Brooks Robinson. Mine was a '20' in orange with 'RF' added on.
We missed the Orioles' batting practice session but we hung out near the third base dugout in hopes the players would see our signs when they warmed up. Then a batboy approached me and asked if I would like him to take my banner to Frank in the clubhouse and show it to him. I said 'Sure' and handed it to him not knowing if I'd see it again. Moments later here comes my banner up the dugout steps being carried by Frank Robinson himself. He asked whose it was and brought it over to me and thanked me for bringing it. He asked for my pen and signed it right in the middle on the '0'. 42 48 years later I still have it. It's discolored and been stained a bit along the way, the orange color had darkened to a pinkish red and the autograph has faded some. But that banner still means more to me than any piece of memorabilia I own. 

A better look at the sig.

And a better FRobby sig on a Nabisco card.

Designated Hitter:
Manny Machado's card came from a Topps Now preseason set (I forget what they called it). Manny is the only reason to watch the O's in 2018.

Pinch Hitter:

Minnie Minoso. This was from a stack of $1 signed cards from a dealer I've known since we worked together at the Houston Post in the early 70s. More of these used below.

The Bench:

Rick Dempsey is the backup catcher, porn 'stache model and rain delay entertainer. I bought a bunch of these signed 4x6 photos years ago. They are made from 'Tadder' photos. Mort Tadder was the Orioles' team photographer from 1961 through 2003 when he retired at 74. During those years he shot thousands of pictures of Oriole players, stars and otherwise. 

Lee May, Tadder 4x6

Richie Ashburn from that $1 stack.

Eric Davis. This was my first (and only) big-time player sig pull from a pack. Colon cancer survivor, Comeback Play of the Year, Oriole late in his career.One of the most talented players I've ever watched.

Kenny Singleton. $1 stack card.

Alan Trammell. Ditto. He's headed to Cooperstown in late July. Well deserved.

Bip Roberts. Because it's a blog. $1 signed card stack.

Ron Hansen on a 1960 Rookie Stars. I love this subset.

Manager:
Earl Weaver. On the couple of occasions that I met Earl and had a chance to talk to him I didn't want to ask for an autograph. This Tadder photo may be the only sig I own.

Coaching staff:
Cal Ripken Sr. on a Donruss from 1982. Once a friend and I (he was a huge O's fan as well) were among the first to enter the old Arlington Stadium when the gates opened in the late afternoon for an Orioles-Rangers game. We went down behind the Orioles dugout and found Cal Sr. sitting in the box seats near the field, smoking. We asked him a few questions and he talked with us for quite awhile. I don't recall what the conversation was about but I do remember he said something funny about Earl Weaver.

Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Sparky Anderson. Just imagine sitting around a table at a hotel bar and listening to the baseball stories this staff would tell. All these are $1 stack cards.

General Manager:
Fuji...on a signed Fuji card! This team will need a smart, funny front office guy who's a tough negotiator. I figure Fuji, with his flea market-honed dickering skills, would be perfect.

So there it is. My Blog Bat Around signature All Star team. I'd go to war with these guys.