2018 National Paid Signer - Fred Lynn

One of my goals for this year's National was to knock off a bunch of cards for my 1987 set.  I paid for three of the lower end autos at $39 each, then paid for one big signer who happened to have two cards in the set.  The first of the paid signers that I'll show will be Fred Lynn.

Lynn (b. 1952) played in the majors from 1974 to 1990 for the Red Sox, Angels, Orioles, Tigers and Padres.  He had 1,960 hits, 306 home runs and a .283 batting average.  He was the 1975 AL Rookie of the Year and also the MVP.  He was also an All Star and Gold Glove Award winner that season.  He batted .331 while leading the league with 7 doubles and 103 runs scored.  He was the AL batting champion in 1979 when he batted .333.  He was an All Star 9 seasons in a row from 1975 to 1983 and ended up with 4 Gold Glove Awards (1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979).

He was the 1982 ALCS MVP when he batted .611 (11 for 18) with 1 home runs and 5 RBI across 5 games (which the Angels LOST).

Signed as a free agent by the Orioles in December 1984, Lynn would spend four seasons in Baltimore until he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for two players to be named later (minor leaguer Cesar Mejia and Robinson Garces) and a young catcher names Chris Hoiles.

For all of Lynn's early-career accolades and solid career stats, he only appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot twice (1996 and 1997) and only received a high of 5.5%.  I believe he is one of those players who deserved a lot better from the writers.

Lynn was really nice in person.  I asked him why he hasn't been to Orioles Fan Fest, and he said he hasn't been invited, but now that Eddie Murray is back with the Orioles, maybe he will be there.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Alan Trammell

I added one other Hall of Famer on a baseball at the 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention.  Alan Trammell was a Sunday pickup, as I was about to wrap up my spending.  He is my 141st Hall of Famer on a baseball, and one of the last cheap ones that I will be able to get for a while.

Trammell (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1977 to 1996 for the Tigers.  He had 2,365 hits, 185 home runs and a .285 batting average.  He was a six-time All Star (1980, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990) and a four-time Gold Glove Award winner (1979, 1980, 1983 and 1984).  He won the Silver Slugger Award three times (1987, 1988 and 1990).  His best MVP finish was second in 1987 (to George Bell).  He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1984 and won the World Series MVP that year.

He managed the Tigers from 2003 to 2005 to a record of 186-300 (.383) and managed the Diamondbacks for three games in 2014 to a record of 1-2 (.333).

Trammell spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot between 2002 and 2016, but only received a high of 40.9% of the writers' votes.  He had to wait until 2018 to make the Hall via the Veterans Committee.

TTM Success - Andy Van Slyke

I got another 1987 Topps taken care of for my set with a private signing of Andy Van Slyke via sportscollectors.net.  I paid a fee of $20 for his auto, which someone on Instagram remarked that his auto wasn't worth that fee.  Since I am working on this set, and Van Slyke is a tough autograph to land, I think it was well worth the $20.  I like how keyboard jockeys like to offer up their opinions on everything.  I was happy to get this card back, and knock another name off of my list.

Van Slyke (b. 1960) played in the majors from 1983 to 1995 for the Cardinals, Pirates, Orioles and Phillies.  He had 1,562 hits, 164 home runs and a .274 batting average.  He was an All Star 3 times (1988, 1992 and 1993), a Gold Glove Award winner 5 times (1988 to 1992) and a Silver Slugger Award winner twice (1988 and 1992).  His best finish in the MVP voting was 4th, which he did twice (1988 and 1992).  He appeared on the 2001 Hall of Fame ballot but received no votes.

I mailed to the private signing on April 24 and got the card back on June 1, for a 38-day TAT.

TTM Success - Rick Rhoden

I added another card to my signed 1987 Topps set through a private signing for Rick Rhoden on sportscollectors.net.  Rhoden's signature turned out really well on this card.

Rhoden (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1974 to 1989 for the Dodgers, Pirates, Yankees and Astros.  He had a career record of 151-125 with 1,419 strike outs and a 3.59 ERA.  He was an All Star in 1976 and 1986.  He was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner (1984 to 1986) and finished 5th in the NL Cy Young race in 1986.  He appeared on the 1995 Hall of Fame ballot, but didn't receive any votes.

I mailed to the private signing on April 24 and got the card back on June 1, for a 38-day TAT.

2018 National Card Show VIP Party Free Signers

This year, the free signers for the National Card Show were pretty decent.  Luis Tiant is a legend, and I was happy to add him on a few nice cards.  I especially wanted this 1969 Topps Deckle Edge in my album, and got one done.

I also had this 1968 Topps that I got done, since Tiant was signing multiples.  Nate got me the above 1979 Topps, since he only wanted one card.

Since I don't collect basketball cards, I picked up a few Calvin Murphy cards for myself, and my friends.  He was really cool, so I am glad I went ahead and met him.

Finally, I met former player and manager, Mike Hargrove.  He was also really nice, and we talked about his time with the Orioles, briefly.

I had to make sure I got one of his Orioles cards signed, and this 2004 Topps was the one I picked.  I have only a small handful of 2004 Topps cards in my album, so I am glad another one was added.

Autographs For Sale At The National

My trip to the 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland was a little different this year, as I was on a mission to knock out as many cards as I could for my 1987 Topps set.  I had autograph vouchers for a few of the signers who were on-hand that were in the set, and also brought some cards for the VIP signers.  I was also on the lookout for anyone who had any of the signed cards  for sale.  I ended up finding the proverbial "needle in a haystack" when I happened upon a table that had the above gem beneath a piece of plexi-glass.

My good friend, Nate, and I were almost through the last row of tables when I saw the above 1987 Topps Astros team card.  Almost forgotten in time, Yogi Berra was a coach on that team.  Since he passed away recently, I pretty much reserved myself to getting Hal Lanier on the card and calling it a day.  I hadn't seen any signed by Berra, and assumed they would be at astronomical prices if I had seen one.

This seller had gotten the card at the Berra Museum for a cheap price, as typically, anyone who wants a Berra auto will want it on Yankee items.  He sold me the card for $20.  I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough.  This might have been one of my all-time favorite card show finds.

I had also found a few vendors who had albums and boxes of IP and TTM autos, organized by set.  One such vendor had a ton of 1987s that I needed at on average $2-$3 a piece, with a few being higher.  I knocked off a bunch of guys that I had gotten TTM, but failed to send a 1987 in the bunch.  Guys like Oddibe McDowell (actually, he sent my 1987 back unsigned), Kent Oberkfell, Dale Sveum, Greg Gagne, etc.  I also added tougher sigs like Davey Lopes, Bubby Bell and Mike Laga.

I also saw a couple deceased players in the album, and picked those up.  I was afraid I would have to search a long time for Jim Fregosi, but was able to knock it off of the list easily.

One of the cards that was high up on my list to look for was this Mike Flanagan.  I had searched for one on Ebay for a while, but had no luck in finding one.  The auto isn't the best, but it definitely is Flanny's, and I can say I own one.  It is still a shame that he took his own life; I really wish I had met him when he was living.

While going through the albums, I saw this 1985 Benny Ayala and had to pick it up.  That may be one of the most unique autos I have ever seen, and had to grab one of them.  I also found the above Matt Lipka in a dollar IP auto box that the guy had.

While Virgil Trucks and I corresponded back and forth before he passed, I had never sent him any cards to sign.  I always felt bad that I was keeping track of how many Topps autographs I had, but had no Trucks in any of those years.  I bought each version that the seller had, including the above 1954 Bowman.

In my opinion, the vendor wanted way too much for his Trucks autos, especially this 1956 Topps.  However, I wanted to think that I provided a good home for these signed cards, as I feel I had a decent enough connection to Trucks.

He really was a good man, and I'm sure he probably would have been a little miffed at the guy writing to him a bunch of times for autos, just to sell them.  So, they will be added to my albums and preserved as a true fan should.

I have come to realize that in building any signed set, you can't really turn your nose up anymoe to the "pro" graphers who sell what they get.  I mean, I would have had no shot at some of these guys, so I guess I have to buy the ones that would be tough otherwise.  It can be a bit of a moral dilemma, but in the end, they have the supply, and I have the demand.

Dugan Comes Through

My good friend, Dugan, really came through for me on his last day of vacation in Miami.  He had taken a few Don Mattingly 1987 Topps with him, in hopes of getting one signed for me.  He had struck out the first few times he saw him, but in the end came away successful.  The Mattingly cards in the set have proven tough to get, but he helped knock one out.  I'll send another of his cards TTM next spring training.

Dugan also got me three Jeison Guzman cards signed.  I think these were mine that I handed off to him to get done, but I'm not 100% sure.  Regardless, they turned out great.

I really appreciated Dugan's help with these autos.  I recently helped him land several Mudcat players, so it is definitely graphers helping out other graphers.  Plus, he is a good friend, so I don't mind getting stuff done for him!

Thanks so much, Dugan!