Griffey in Topps next year – excitement and a little sad

Topps made a pretty surprising announcement yesterday that it has signed Ken Griffey Jr. and will include his cards in its 2012 products.  This is a pretty big deal – right up there with adding the notoriously difficult signer Koufax last year – for a few of reasons.  One is that it’s kind of hard to get Griffey signatures through means not facilitated by Upper Deck - the best way in the past has been by purchasing something from Upper Deck Authenticated or on an Upper Deck insert card – I don’t know of him ever signing at a show or anything.  So his autograph is pretty valuable, period.  Also, this is the first time you could get a Griffey card in a Topps product.  The biggest reason is just what Griffey represents – to baseball card collectors, Ken Griffey Jr. IS Upper Deck.

I think I’ve got a bit of a unique perspective on this – I’m a huge Ken Griffey Jr. fan.  Griffey wasn’t the first athlete I idolized, but he’s my favorite.  When I was 12, I remember staying up late to watch his at bats every chance he was on TV.  When I went to college, I hoped against hope that it would be him and not Mark McGwire in 1997 and 1998 that would break Roger Maris’s record.  I have a 3-year old Dachshund named Griffey, most because I don’t think my wife would be OK with me picking that name for our first-born son. 

I can remember the excitement when he was traded “home” to Cincinnati.  To have your favorite player traded to your favorite team is pretty awesome.  I still have the article in the Cincinnati Enquirer that describes the trade and compares it to the Babe Ruth Sox-Yankees deal.  Obviously nothing on that level materialized, but I appreciated being able to watch him play for nearly a decade and seeing about 10 of his 630 home runs live.  Even when he was older and produced less, I didn’t want the Reds to trade him.  There’s something about having your childhood hero on your hometown team (even after you’re not a kid any more) that even trumps giving that team the best chance to win.   

So, on that level, I’m really excited that I can find Griffey Jr. in next year’s products.  Plus, the card above looks amazing!  I hope they do some cards with him in a Reds uniform, but I also hope Topps doesn’t go completely overboard – having too many Griffey cards could make me go a bit overboard.

In another way, though, this is a little sad.  Griffey’s rookie card is one of the most iconic cards in all of sports history.  If you asked me, it’s behind only the ’52 Mantle and the T-206 Wagner as the most influential baseball card of all-time.  A surprise pick as the #1 card in a fledgling set that changed the game (kind of like Topps said it’s going to do in 2012 :}), and a photo that captures the essence of “the Kid”.  This kind of signifies the nail in the coffin to Upper Deck’s run in baseball – and I’m sure that fact isn’t lost on Topps.  From everything I’ve read, Upper Deck kind of deserves it, but as someone who collected their products in the mid-90′s, I can’t help but be a little sad.

Autograph Q & A

Chris over at Nachos Grande had an interesting post today – he’s doing an autograph theme week, and kicked off the week with a questionnaire (that is always one of the hardest words for me to spell, by the way).  I thought this would be fun to do – here’s the questions, and my answers:

1.  What is the best autograph you own?

I have quite a few – and a lot of them aren’t on cards.  In fact, most of my very best ones actually aren’t cards.  My #1 is pretty easy, though.  I have a 1975 Cincinnati Reds pennant that I got signed by the starting 8 from the Big Red Machine.

2.  What is the best autograph that you’ve ever pulled from a pack of cards?

I’ve pulled a Jeter auto #’d to 5 out of 2008 Heroes, and a Prince Fielder SPX signed rookie card.  But hands down, nothing beats pulling a rare card of your favorite player.  In 1997, I had basically been done collecting for the past year – except I still collected Upper Deck SP.  In the lone box I bought, I pulled a buyback of Ken Griffey Jr.  It was from the year before – his ’96 SP card, and was #’d out of 312.  That was the highest print run of his many buyback autos, but that is still my favorite card I’ve ever pulled.

3.  What is the worst autograph you’ve ever pulled from a pack of cards?

We used to buy Signature Rookies when it first came out, we bought some of those packs, so I’m sure it’s somewhere from there.

4.  Do you try to get autographs through the mail?  If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?

In general, no, but I do have a good story from when I was younger.  First, my brother and I sent something to Nolan Ryan when he was pitching for the Rangers and got a picture back with a facsimile auto.  I also sent something in to Sam Wyche when he was the coach of the Bengals when I was probably 9 or 10, and he sent back a signed photo.

Sam lived in my hometown – his daughter graduated from the same high school as me, about 6 years earlier. Anyways, a few months later, he spoke in the gym at the local high school and there was a line to get his autograph.  I waited in line just to say thanks for sending one back to me earlier, and he said “thanks, what’s your name”.  Twenty minutes later, in the middle of his talk, he called me up out of the crowd and used me as a prop for his motivational speech.  He dressed me up in NFL-sized pads and pants, which was pretty funny, but for a 9-year old, it was the highlight of my young life.  He came to the high school basketball games every now and then, and I remember going up to him and saying “remember when you dressed me up like a football player” – and he said “yeah – you’re pretty famous for that”.  On a day when we were reminded that some football coaches can be the worst monsters in society – it’s good to remember that there are and were coaches like Sam Wyche.  He’s one of the good guys.

5.  Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?

Whitey Ford – I went to an autograph show with my dad and I got his 1962 Topps card autographed.  I wish I knew where that was.

6.  Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?

I’d say I have a “passive” attempt to get an auto on a Rawlings Major League baseball of anyone who’s had 3,000 hits, 500 homers.  My favorite one is of Willie Mays.  I got his auto in Cooperstown a few years ago, and he was very friendly.

7.  Which is better:  Autographs or Relics?

I’ll go with the majority here (Autos) – but here’s my logic.  You know (ok, you can be reasonably sure) that an autograph is the player depicted.  But the way they word the relics – you could have a Babe Ruth relic that was worn by Phil Hughes.

8.  What do you think of cut autos?

Like almost anything, I think they’re pretty good if the design is good; it’s a way for the card company to be creative.  I’d prefer it not to be of someone who’s alive, or at least not of someone who signs a lot.

9.  What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?

This one.  It’s basically because I like the set so much, but this card in particular just goes really well with the signature.

That said – would anything possibly beat getting this card?

10.  If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?

Charles Barkley and Hulk Hogan because they’re awesome.  Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, because that’s actually a combo that would beat the Gehrig/Ripken one above.  And add to that Griffey – he’s my favorite player, so he’d have to be on the list.

Also, I’ve always thought it’d be cool to have a baseball signed by an “All-Time Team” – having the foresight to get the player you think is the best all-time at each position.  For me that would go, in chronological order (particular apologies to Ty Cobb and Ted Williams):

SS – Honus Wagner

P – Walter Johnson

RF – Babe Ruth

1B – Lou Gehrig

CF – Willie Mays

2B – Joe Morgan

C – Johnny Bench

3B – Mike Schmidt

LF – Barry Bonds

That would be a heck of a baseball!

The Ghost of 3000 Present – Jeter gets his hit

#28 – Derek Jeter – July 9, 2011.  Home run off David Price.  Yankee Stadium (#2), New York, NY.  (3,003 and counting)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t do a post about the milestone that Jeter passed yesterday.  I now live in the greater NYC area – and it’s been all the talk shows could discuss the last couple of days.  So on some level, I’m just glad it’s over.  All the “should the Yankees have called Friday’s game so early?” “should they have forced the Rays to do an afternoon doubleheader?”.  I’m glad we can move on.

But I’m also glad for Jeter.  He has never been my favorite player.  In fact, I used to kind of dislike him – I think because Ken Griffey has long been my favorite player, and for a long time, Jeter seemed to always be the other player who truly had a “Madison Avenue” marketable presence in baseball.  I always thought he was a bit overrated – he was continuously compared to A-Rod as a great player, and to me, he just didn’t measure up.  Since then, I’ve begun to appreciate his greatness, however.  If you throw out A-Rod, Ernie Banks and Robin Yount out because they played half their careers at other positions, Jeter is probably the 3rd best Shortstop to ever lace ‘em up. Behind Honus Wagner and Cal Ripken.  At baseball’s most demanding position, that’s pretty impressive.  Where I used to dislike him because of jealous comparisons to my icon growing up – I have since acknowledged that he and Griffey are the two all-time greats who played in the steroid era with their image intact.

How he did it was amazing – just the 2nd to reach it on a home run.  Funny, for all the great home run hitters who do have 3,000 hits, only Wade Boggs and Jeter reached it that way.  And to go 5-for-5 and carry his team to a victory when they really needed it, also impressive.

I’ve had the two RCs of his, shown above, for a long time.  Probably since 1993 – I completed both sets when I was a kid collecting Upper Deck only.  I’m pretty sure I sold a second copy of the SP rookie for 15 or 20 bucks back then as well.  Oh well.

It’s funny, but 3 out of my top 10 pulls (actually, it’s probably 3 out of my top 6) are actually Jeter cards.  And 3 actually came from the same box – my incredible 2008 Upper Deck Heroes box.  Here are the relics of Derek Jeter that I’ve pulled:

1) 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Auto #/5

2) 2007 SP By The Letter Patch Auto #/20

3) 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Quad Jersey #/50, with DiMaggio, Jackson, Berra

4) 2008 Upper Deck Heroes Jersey

“Mr. Cub” and a Heisman

I went to an autograph show in Somerset, New Jersey today.  It definitely needed to be called an “autograph show” as opposed to a “card show”.  There were hardly any cards there, but the autograph list was the most impressive football listing I’ve ever seen.  It seemed to be focused on Super Bowl MVP’s and Heisman Trophy winners – it had the likes of Tim Brown, Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Hines Ward, Cam Newton, Drew Brees among many others.

I went for the only baseball player I saw on the list – “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks. I’m slowly accumulating autographed baseballs of 500-HR and 3,000 hit guys.  The man famous for saying “Let’s Play Two” is one of 3 players I’d want to get sooner rather than later based on their age.  The other two are Hank Aaron, who I missed when he was in New York city for a signing in December, and Stan Musial, who I wonder if I’ll ever get the opportunity to meet in person.  But Mr. Cub sure seems to be doing well – he was friendly and great to have a brief chat for.  My wife was with me and he asked if we were married – then wanted to see if I got her a good ring!  She showed him her diamond, and he made a move saying “oh, that’s bright”.  All said, this was one of the neatest encounters I’ve had in these shows.  My mom grew up in Chicago, and her Dad is a lifelong Cubs fan, so this was a neat story to tell.  I’ve always kind of liked Ernie Banks because of the Chicago connection, but he’s certainly got a new fan and I hope he’s still making appearances at Wrigley for years to come!  The picture above is actually from Great American Ballpark – he threw out the first pitch of the Civil Rights game last year.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m also a big Wolverines fan (tough loss for the Hockey team on Saturday).  Desmond Howard falls into both the categories above – Heisman and Super Bowl MVP, and I bought a replica helmet and got his autograph on that.  Fellow Wolverine and Heisman winner Charles Woodson was also there, and I intend to get his signature on that helmet someday.  But for today, his price was a bit too expensive after getting autos from the other two guys.  We had a great chat with Desmond, as well.  I mentioned that my wife is an Ohio State fan, he laughed and asked when I was going to convert her.  We told him we’d moved from Columbus after 7 years there, and he joked “they ran you out like they did Herby”.  Anyways, another neat experience – Howard, Elvis Grbac and the Fab 5 were my first memories of any sport outside of baseball, and the excitement that those guys brought really turned me into a sports fan the years just before I was a teenager.

Pinstripe Passion show

This weekend I went to the Pinstripe Passion show in Secaucus, NJ. I got four autographs at this show – Lou Piniella, Wade Boggs, Yogi Berra and Don Larsen. I’ll discuss below in a little more detail. One thing about moving to the Northeast, and in the NJ/NYC area in particular, there seem to be many more autograph shows than what was in Ohio. Every now and then you had one in Cincinnati or Cleveland, particularly something for the Reds, which was cool. But there are way more here. That said, aside from getting to meet the 4 players and get their autos, this show wasn’t particularly well run. More on that below, I’d rather start with the 4 guys.

Saturday I got Lou Piniella’s autograph on a 1990 World Series pennant I have. This was to me the highlight of the four because it’s on an item that I really care about. There was an event in Cincinnati a few years ago in honor of the 1990 Reds, and I got my pennant signed by everyone who was there – Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Tom Browning, Billy Hatcher, Ron Oester, Joe Oliver and Mariano Duncan (who was also at the Pinstripe Passion event this weekend). I also got Joe Nuxhall to sign it, because he called the games with Marty on WLW that year. I still had a lot of 90 Reds missing – manager Piniella, Paul O’Neill Jose Rijo and Chris Sabo stick out most notably, but there are quite a few more – all 3 Nasty Boys (from what I hear, Randy Myers will be next to impossible), Hal Morris, Todd Benzinger and Danny Jackson. But, either way, I got one of those knocked off this weekend, and I think I can get Paul O’Neill sometime in the future since I live in the NY area. “Sweet Lou” was very nice, and he said it was cool to see a Reds fan in that area.

Wade Boggs signed a baseball because they had a reduced price and a free inscription for his auto, which I wanted to get “3,010 Hits”. I sort of have a collection of 500 HR and 3,000 Hit guys going. Unfortunately, due to the hurriedness of the show, I completely forgot to ask for the inscription. Not Wade’s fault – he was very friendly and I have no complaints toward him. I just wish the organizers didn’t treat the paying customers like herded cattle – scratch that, I don’t even mind being herded cattle, just do better organizing the herd!

On Sunday, I got autos of Don Larsen and Yogi Berra on the ball. Larsen signed his name on the sweet spot with a perfect game inscription, and Yogi signed his name in the area above that. Both were friendly and smiled and said “thank you” in response to my “thank you”. I don’t have quite as much to say to them as I could to someone like Lou, since I never saw them play and they don’t have an association with my favorite team, but it was cool to meet them and get this item all the same. Yogi was upstairs in a different room, and I heard rumors that he may not sign much, if at all, after this event. He’s had some health issues the past few years. Anyways, it actually worked better having him in his own room – it didn’t seem like the chaos in the rest of the show. It felt similar to when I got Willie Mays autograph in Cooperstown a couple of years ago – you knew you were getting something autographed by an all-time great.

So all 4 guys were very friendly. Overall, though, as far as the show goes, I was a little disappointed in what was there. It was basically an autograph signing event with a bunch of tables with other autographed items. There were hardly any cards there, just a few tables, and I didn’t find any baseball card items past the point I’m at in my project (1986). Not a big deal; I was going to get the autographs. But I was hoping that maybe I could pick up some junk wax era Topps to avoid ordering them later and paying the shipping. However, the autograph part wasn’t that great, either. This had nothing to do with the players – they were all very friendly. But it just seemed very disorganized. The autograph area was in the back, with the players lined up on tables against the wall. There was one guy calling out numbers, and he was standing in the lone entrance to the autograph area. So he’d call “numbers 1-70 for Moose Skowron and #’s 1-35 for Rick Cerone. There were one or two other guys as helping him organize. The problem was, everyone would crowd around that one entrance, and it just made for a bit of chaos. I got the feeling that they weren’t sticking completely to the numbers; I saw a couple times where somebody clearly had a later ticket and they just let that person pass because they were causing more clutter. I’m not an event organizer, but there’s a better system to this and it would start with more space between the auto area and the dealer area, and keeping the area where people whose tickets aren’t up yet further away from the auto area.

The National

I made the 3.5 hour drive down from Jersey to the National yesterday in Baltimore. It was really cool, though I didn’t get to walk around quite as much as I really would have liked. I got autographs of Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken, $150 and $90 a pop. Both are HOFers with Baltimore on their cap, and were thus immensely popular. They called you up by ticket #, so I didn’t have to completely wait in line, but I had to keep coming back and checking. You got to take a picture with Ripken, so it took really long. I almost missed Murray because I didn’t check quite enough.

Former Red (and National as the locals will remember) Dmitri Young was also there as a dealer; he collects PSA 10 rookie cards. For 20 bucks that was donated to Livestrong charity, I got his auto on an 8×11 and had a 5 minute chat about the Reds. He seemed like a really great guy, and it’s neat to know that he also collects cards.

Anyways, so I didn’t get as much of an opportunity to walk around as much as I wanted. I did, however, purchase the following:

• 1981 Topps Traded set – I decided I’m going to collect these as I go
• a box of 1982 Topps (both the above were from the BBXC, who had a booth there – so I saved on shipping!)
• a 1986 Topps box
• a couple of other set fillers from commons boxes (not Topps)

So I’m now have bought all the boxes I need through ’82. Need to get to updating!

Also, I’m going back and making some minor updates to the 1980 season post. Since I use this blog primarily to look back on what I’ve done – I’ve got some things I want to note.