95 and Counting...

Now up to 95 autographs for Project87. Here's the latest update:

A few months ago, I sent three cards to Ron Cey. He signed two of the three, one of which being the Cubs Leaders card that featured him and Steve Trout. I sent that card to Trout, and didn't hear back from him. Fearing that it might be gone for good, I sent Cey another one of the Cubs Leaders cards as well as the one he didn't sign last time. He signed both of them and returned them quickly, getting them back to me in just nine days!











Just ten days later (74 days after I'd originally sent them), I got these back from Steve Trout! Trout was a solid starter for the Cubs in the mid-80s, after having started his career with the White Sox. His best year was probably 1984 when he went 13-7, 3.41 for the NL East champs. The southpaw finished up his career with a few months with the Yankees and two seasons with the Mariners.











 Mike Fischlin was a solid, versatile defender who managed to have a ten season career despite not having much pop in his bat. His best season was 1982 when he had a .351 OBP in 322 plate appearances for the Indians.










While I still consider myself very much an amateur, my friend, Alex Hyde is a serious autograph collector. Not long ago he contacted me and asked if I still needed Dick Schofield for Project87. Indeed I did. Schofield was going to be signing at a show the next day in St. Louis, and Alex offered to get me his card signed for me.

Schofield had a very respectable 14 year career that spanned much of the 80s and 90s. He played mostly for the Angels, with short stints also with the Blue Jays, the Mets, and the Dodgers.  From 1986-88, he averaged a WAR of 3.3 per season, the two best seasons of his career coming in '86 & '88.

Schofield's father also played 19 years in MLB, including eight with the Cardinals.

I got a lot of six cards from Tom Tessier. They included:

Bobby Meacham was a first round draft pick of the Cardinals who was traded to the Yankees along with fellow prospect Stan Javier as a "make-good" for Bob Sykes, who ended up injured when the Yankees acquired him in October of 1981 in exchange for a young outfield prospect named Willie McGee. Sykes never pitched for the Yankees in 1982, while McGee starred for the World Champion Cardinals. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner threatened legal action so the Cardinals agreed to deal him two of their top prospects. Meacham was a starter for most of the 1984 and 85 seasons, leading the AL in sac bunts each season. He would only last six years in the MLB, but would stay in baseball and ultimately became the 2017 manager of the Blue Jays' AAA affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons of the International League.

Tracy Jones came up with the Reds and played for five teams in his six year career.

Tom Lawless is famous for two things: First he was the only player to ever be traded for Peter Edward Rose, having been sent to the Expos by the Reds when they acquired Rose to become their player-manager. Secondly, Lawless is the possessor of the most ridiculously epic bat flip in MLB history. In 1987 he had only two hits (in 25 at bats) for the Cardinals, but still found himself in the starting lineup of World Series. His fourth inning home run not only broke a 1-1 tie, but represented the only three RBIs he would get all season long. Even though it BARELY cleared the wall, Lawless acted as if it were out of the stadium completely.
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Chris Codiroli spent six of his eight years in MLB with the Oakland A's. In 1985, he led the AL with 37 games started as he went 14-14 with a 4.46 ERA.

Denny Walling spent 18 seasons as a corner infielder/outfielder, 13 of which were spent with the Astros. His best season was 1986 when he hit .312 with a career-high 13 home runs for the NL West champs. At the trade deadline in 1988, he was shipped to the Cardinals in exchange for one of my personal favorites, Bob Forsch, who I've written about elsewhere. Walling would spend the next two seasons in St. Louis before finishing up with a season with the Rangers and a few final at bats for the Astros.



Dane Iorg was a pinch hitter extraordinaire for the Cardinals in my earliest memories (1977-1984), and hit .276 throughout his ten-year career.

Connections: Eric, Trades, and the 1984 Olympics

I've written about Jeff Reardon on a previous occasion, when I chronicled my baseball trip 25 years after the fact. A couple months ago, I sent him 8x10 enlargements of a picture my friend Eric Hendrickson had taken when we were at Reardon's MLB record-setting performance for career saves. I included his 1987 Topps card as well, hoping to also get it signed. He either misplaced it or forgot to include it, because I got the the photo back signed, but no card! As it turns out, I later  decided to try to get the 1987 Topps Traded Set cards signed too, so I had a pair I needed to send him. He promptly signed them and sent them back to complete my Reardon collection!

With the evolution of the way relievers are used, Reardon has long since been passed by nine others on the career saves list. That fact notwithstanding, Reardon had an excellent 16-year career, being recognized four-times as an All Star, twice finishing in the top 10 of the Cy Young Award voting, and three times finishing in the top 20 for MVP.

I'll never forget the day. It was April 1st, 1987, and I had just heard the most amazing news on KMOX. Eric and I were going to go shoot baskets on the outdoor courts at Holy Redeemer Catholic School, so I jumped on my bike, rode over to Eric's house and he met me at his back door. I shared this almost unbelievable news with him: The Cardinals had traded for Tony Pena. When I told Eric, he thought it was an April Fool's joke. Cardinals fans had long felt we needed an upgrade at catcher, and Pena was the constant object of trade proposals on the KMOX's Sports Open Line program.

In the deal, they were giving up a serviceable young catcher in Mike Lavalliere, but this definitely was going to be an upgrade! To make the exchange of receivers, the Birds had to include somewhat promising pitching prospect (and 1984 U.S. Olympian) Mike Dunne, but the key to the deal was right fielder Andy Van Slyke.There was no denying Van Slyke's potential, but the Cardinals were willing to part with him because it opened up a space for 1983 first round draft pick Jim Lindeman. Lindeman hit around .400 with 8 home runs in spring trainingthat year, and appeared ready to give the Cardinals a second power bat to go along with Jack Clark.

Unfortunately Lindeman collided with the Mets' Rafael Santana on the second-to-last day of spring training, spraining his back. A month later, spasms returned and landed him on the disabled list. When he returned, it was only a week until the spasms placed him back on the DL once more. In addition to that, he was twice sidelined by hamstring injuries. Battling injuries all year long, Lindeman played in just 75 games, batting only .208 and hitting 8 home runs (the same total he had hit in spring training). He did however hit .321 in 28 postseason at bats, hitting one of the teams' two home runs in the NLCS and starting games 1, 4 & 7 in the World Series. The next two years would again find him playing sparingly though, as he batted .209 (in 43 at bats) & .111 (in 45 at bats). He was traded to the Tigers, and after that bounced around for a few years with Philadelphia, Houston, and the Mets. As it turned out, he never would reach the "heights" he had in 1987, as his 8 home runs and 28 RBIs that season ended up his career highs.

In 1984, Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics under the leadership of Peter Ueberroth. The Games proved highly successful, despite that fact that they were were boycotted by a bloc of  nations led by the Soviet Union. The first ever privately-financed Olympics, the 1984 Games resulted in a surplus of $250 million. As a result, Time Magazine's Man of the Year was  Ueberroth, who coincidentally was born the very same day that Pierre de Cubertin (founder of the modern Olympic Games) died.

After his success with the Olympics, Ueberroth took office in October of 1984 as the sixth commissioner of Major League Baseball. Though MLB experienced success under his leadership, the most notable facet of his tenure was probably the fact that under his leadership, owners colluded to suppress free agency, a move that ended up costing them $280 million in fines. He stepped down before the start of the 1989 season, being replaced by A. Bartlett Giamatti.

A tip of the cap to fellow 1987 autograph collector (and recent trading partner), Ryan Schear for giving me the idea of getting baseball folks such as Ueberroth to sign the checklists!

Still Call Them "Trading Cards"

I was looking through some things and just realized that I forgot to enter a blog post for a big trade I made last month! One of the real fun parts of working on Project87 these past few months has been connecting with a community of people who are also collecting '87 Topps autographs. Through Twitter, I've "met" a bunch of people who are further along than I am and some who are just getting started. It would seem that none of them is pursuing this goal with quite the tenacity that Ryan Schear is. Ryan lives in Arizona and (like me) just started going after 87s this year. Unlike me though, he has already accumulated 450 of them!

As sort of a "project within a project," I'd especially like to get all of the Cardinals cards signed in the set. When Ryan heard this, he mentioned that he had duplicates of Jack Clark, and asked if I had any that I'd be willing to trade. I looked through my old cards I had gotten signed at games back in the 80s and found two that I had "doubles" of that he needed: Tom Hume and Luis Aguayo. He said he'd include another of his extras (Ken Schrom) and we had a deal! We sent each other the cards through the mail and in a couple days the trade was completed.

Clark was the one big bat in the Cardinals' pennant-winning lineups of 1985 & 1987. In '85, he only hit 22 home runs, but Andy Van Slyke was the only other player on that team with more than 10, and he only had 13! In 1987, Clark was the most dominant offensive player in the National League with a 1.055 OPS. Unfortunately, with 24 games remaining in the season he injured his ankle and was unable to start another game. Cardinal fans were left to wonder how things might have been different if only they'd had "The Ripper's" big bat for the World Series, which they would lose to Minnesota in seven games.

What Clark is best remembered for though is the two-out, ninth inning blast he hit off Tom Niedenfuer in Game 6 of the NLCS to send the Cardinals to the World Series. The image of (future Cardinal) Pedro Guerrero slamming his glove to the ground and Clark's tortoise-like trip around the bases will forever be cemented in the minds of fans of the 1980s Cardinals!

As for the second card in the deal, I honestly didn't even remember Schrom as a player. Turns out that he pitched exactly 900 innings in his seven year MLB career, going 51-51 with a 4.81 ERA. Mostly used as a starter, he pitched for Toronto, Minnesota and Cleveland, representing the Indians in the 1986 All Star Game. 1987 would turn out to be his final season in the majors.

Getting Caught Up

What a great run I've had lately in terms of TTM returns!


Lance Parrish played the first ten years of his 19 year career with the Detroit Tigers, but this was his last card with them as the 1987 season would be his first in a different uniform, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies. The second half of his career was nowhere near as accomplished as the first, but all told, he put together quite a career. Parrish made the All Star team eight times, won the Silver Slugger six times, and was a three time Gold Glove winner.

I'm not exactly sure why I sent this card to Parrish without sending the All Star card that is also in the 1987 Topps set. Regardless, I did. Turns out there also is a Parrish card in that year's Traded set, so I guess we'll send those to him together.

My favorite team ever is the 1985 Cardinals. Perhaps more than any of the Whitey Herzog-led teams of the 1980s, they embodied what came to be know in St. Louis as "Whitey-Ball," relying on speed, pitching and defense. The team's only true power hitter was Jack Clark (and he only had 22 home runs). But as for speed, boy did they have speed! The team stole an amazing total of 314 bases, almost two per game. Three players (Ozzie Smith, Tom Herr & Andy Van Slyke) exceeded 30 stolen bases in addition to MVP Willie McGee, who had 56, and Rookie of the Year Vince Coleman, who stole 110! Defense-wise, Ozzie and Terry Pendleton gobbled up basically every ground ball hit on the left side of the infield, while Herr played a steady, if not spectacular second base. In the outfield, hardly anything dropped in as Coleman, McGee and Van Slyke comprised perhaps the fastest outfield ever. Pitching-wise, Danny Cox won 18 and Joaquin Andujar won 21 (topping 20 wins for the second straight year), but the star on the mound was first-year Cardinal left-hander, John Tudor. Tudor started out the season 1-7, but from June 1 on, he was virtually unhittable, going 20-1 with a 1.37 ERA. In his 26 starts over those four months, he averaged over eight innings pitched per start. Perhaps the most amazing stat that season was how successful he was pitching on three days rest. Going into the seventh game of the World Series, he had started on three days rest eight times. In those eight games he went 8-0 with a 0.66 ERA, while averaging 8.5 innings per start. Unfortunately, nothing went right in game seven, and the Cardinals fell to the Kansas City Royals. Tudor would never quite return to the level of success he had in 1985, but he was very good for the remainder of his career. In his five years pitching for the Cardinals, he went 62-26 with a 2.52 ERA, and he will forever be one of my favorites to don the Birds on the Bat.

When I first started collecting autographs through the mail a few months back, I noticed that NBA Hall of Famer and former US Senator, Bill Bradley sometimes signed through the mail. I didn't have any pictures or cards of his, but I decided to send a couple index cards his way in hopes that I might get them back. Over three months later, I was thrilled to open my mail and find the index cards signed and returned! Bradley is a native of Crystal City, Missouri, not far from St. Louis. The father of one of my high school friends/teammates actually played with him there. And my uncle Jay went to Princeton to play basketball with him as well

About ten years ago, I read the Roger Kahn classic, The Boys of Summer. Though my dad had grown up a New York Giants fan, I must admit that the book more than piqued my interest in the Dodgers of the 1950s. Of course there were the mong the Hall of Famers (Robinson, Campenella, Reese, Snider) as well as other greats (like Newcombe & Hodges), but for some reason, Carl Erskine grabbed my interest. A 20-game winner in 1953, Erskine started seven World Series games, including three in 1953, a season in which he went 20-6.  I picked up this card at a card show in Fort Worth, and was thrilled to not only get it back signed from the 90-year old Erskine, but to receive it with a note thanking me for writing him!

In 1987, I had one of the great summers of my life. That baseball season I was perpetually at Busch Stadium, going to a total of 25 Cardinals games. The Redbirds rewarded me with an NL Pennant, and once more made it to game 7 of the World Series, before falling to the Twins. One of the key players on that Minnesota team was slugging outfielder, Tom Brunansky. The Cardinals would actually acquire Brunansky early the next season in exchange for Tom Herr. He would be a key component to a 1989 Cardinals team that would battle the Cubs all season long for the NL East title, but would be dealt to Boston early in 1990 for closer Lee Smith. In retrospect, it seems like Brunansky was with the Cardinals for more than just 24 months, and looking at the numbers, it's amazing that they were able to get Lee Smith for him!

Another member of the 1987 world champion Minnesota Twins was manager Tom Kelly. Along with his 1987 Topps card, I sent a Fleer team sticker to have him sign. I think it turned out nicely and was a kind of neat, unique item. Kelly twice won the World Series with the Twins (1987 & 1991).

For a ten year period from 1985-1994, Jimmy Key was one of the best lefties in baseball. For that decade, he averaged a 15-9 record with a 3.32 ERA. He played with the Blue Jays and went 2-0 in the 1992 World Series, starting game 4 and then picking up a win in relief in the 11-inning game 6 clincher. After the season, he signed a free agent deal with the Yankees, where he experienced continued success, and was ultimately a member of the 1996 world champs, before moving on to the Orioles for the final years of his career.











Jim Acker had a solid ten year career, spent mostly with the Atlanta and Toronto. He was drafted by the Braves with the 21st pick of the 1980 draft. Two years later, the Blue Jays acquired him in the Rule 5 draft. In 1986 they traded him back to the Braves, who three years later traded him back to the Blue Jays.


After bouncing back and forth between the two teams for more than a decade, Acker signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Mariners heading into the 1992 season. Ironically, that October the Blue Jays and Braves would meet in the World Series, thanks in part to the NLCS-clinching hit by Francisco Cabrera, who just happens to be one of the players for whom Acker was once traded.

Expanding the Strike Zone

As I followed along on Twitter and watched other folks get their TTM autographs back, I noticed two things:

1) Almost everyone was getting multiple (sometimes three, four or five) cards signed.
2) Often folks have an extra autographed card from one set that they are willing to trade for a card from another set that they are collecting. 

While I am intent on working on the 1987 Topps set specifically, I figured it might be a good idea to start sending out an additional card with my requests, be it either to keep for my collection or to possibly trade for a 1987. Because I have a couple friends collecting the 1985 Topps set (and because I'm crazily nostalgic about 1985 in general), I figured I'd send out one of them with my 1987s on most requests.

Against that backdrop, I had a day last week when I got TTM requests back from three different former players:


I can't exactly remember why I sent out a 1986 to Mark Gubicza instead of a 1985, but for some reason I did. I guess maybe I hadn't settled on the 85s yet. Regardless, Gubicza was a mainstay of the Royals pitching staff for 13 years, ultimately becoming the last remaining player from their 1985 World Series championship team. His best year was 1988 when he went 20-8 with a 2.70 ERA. The two-time all star could never quite regain that form, as he battled injuries throughout much of the remainder of his career. He finished up his playing career hurling 4 2/3 innings for the Angels in 1997 and ultimately ended up in their broadcast booth as a color announcer on their television broadcasts. I got back his cards in 23 days.





Ted Power was another pitcher who has remained involved with the game. Power had a 13-year playing career in which he played for eight teams (including the Cardinals in 1989). Although he did start 85 games in his career, he mostly was a reliever, leading the NL with 78 appearances in 1984, and then registering 27 saves in 1985. Power was a pitching coach in the Reds' minor league system for 17 years before finally getting promoted back to the bigs in 2016. Now the Reds' bullpen coach, Power signed and returned my cards quickly, getting them back to me in just 10 days.

Also getting cards back to me in just 10 days was Bill Almon. A former #1 overall draft pick (note the 1985 special card!), Almon never became a star, but he did manage to put together a 15-year MLB career, playing for seven teams. In addition to his two cards in the 1985 set and his regular 1987 card, Almon also had a 1987 Topps Traded card. He only had 62 plate appearances for the '87 Mets (who Cardinal fans of that era not so affectionately referred to as "Pond Scum"). I guess this accounts for why I have no recollection of him playing for such a heated (and hated) rival. Almon's best year was the strike-shortened 1981 season when he batted .301 and finished 19th in the AL MVP voting.

All in all, the eight cards from three players represented the best day of TTM success that I've had so far. Hopefully we'll have more days like this in the future!

A Pair of Clubbing Cubbies

Kind of a funny story here. I wrote a request letter to Ron Cey very early on in this project, but I didn't send it. The reason was that I had Cey's A's card from the 1987 Topps Traded set and I had the Cubs Leaders card featuring him and teammate Steve Trout, but (to my amazement) I couldn't find his regular card amongst my collection.

As I mentioned in a previous post, when we were on vacation, I went to a card show and picked up a complete 1987 Topps set  to fill in the various cards I couldn't track down. So finally, almost two months after I wrote the request letter, I was able able to send it off. In just eight days, an envelope appeared in my mailbox containing the three cards. As you can see in the picture though, only two of them are signed. Turns out (upon closer inspection of the Sports Card Forum Mail Manager) that Cey's normal practice is to just sign two cards, even if more are sent. Turns out I could've just sent the ones I already had a long time ago! Oh well. Next up I guess I'll send the Cubs Leaders card to Trout and we'll just go from there.

A day after getting the mid-1980s Cubs third baseman and six-time all star,  I moved around the diamond to second base and got their ten-time all star, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg. The 1984 NL MVP, Sandberg is the third Hall of Famer I've gotten through the mail, and (I would argue) the best player yet.

If you're in the Hall of Fame, there are probably a lot of teams you've had success against. That said, Sandberg always seemed to be REALLY tough on the Cardinals. I checked on it and sure enough, he hit more home runs against the Cardinals than any team in baseball. None of those home runs were more memorable (or more infamous for Cardinal fans) than the game-tying home runs he hit off Bruce Sutter in the ninth AND tenth innings one Saturday on the NBC Game of the Week in his MVP season of 1984. A lot happened in the game: Willie McGee hit for the cycle, the game went eleven innings, and the Cubs won 12-11. Despite everything else that happened though, it is simply known as "the Ryne Sandberg game."

Back from Vacation

We took a trip to Dallas to visit my wife's parents, and had our mail held while we were gone. I looked forward to coming home to a number of TTM success stories. Unfortunately that number ended up being just one. That one was former pitcher and current Washington Nationals pitching coach, Mike Maddux. The brother of Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux, Mike spent 15 years in MLB as a pitcher (1986-2000) and has now equaled that total with 15 seasons (since 2003) as an MLB pitching coach for the Brewers, Rangers and Nats. I got the card back in 31 days, my longest successful wait yet.

Technically speaking, I also got another card through the mail when I got back from Dallas. Alex Hyde (@AlexHyde21 on Twitter) is the person who inspired me to get back into autograph collecting, and is kind of a mentor to me in the hobby. He recently purchased a couple Greg Brock cards from Signatures for Soldiers (@Sigs4Soldiers). Alex is collecting 1985 Topps autographs so he got that one for himself. The second card he got was the 1987 Topps one though, and he very generously had them send it to me for my fledgling collection. Thanks again, Alex!

One of the really neat parts of getting into this hobby in this day is the fact that via Twitter, I really feel like I've joined a community of really nice folks who are working on similar projects. One of those people is Gary Vassar (@garyvassar3), who I "met" on Twitter when I saw that he (like Alex) was trying to get the whole 1985 set autographed. When he found out I was going to be in Dallas, he informed me of a card show that he was going to be at and invited me to meet him there. It was fun to meet a great guy like him in person and get to know him a little better.

I had a real fun time at the show, talking to some of the dealers as well as picking up some cards. I was really impressed with the kindness of the folks that were there, especially the gentleman from Dallas Card Show (@DallasCardShow) who sold me a complete set of 1987 Topps for $5.00 and straight up GAVE me this card that he had gotten signed by Tatu when he heard me mention that I had been a fan of the MISL back in its heyday

One final thing: While in Dallas, I found out that there was a great card shop not far from my in-laws' house. Somehow, I've failed to realize this for the 18 years that we've been visiting them, but I was glad to finally find Nick's Sports Cards (@NicksSportCards). It's a real nice shop with lots of older cards that were a blast to look through. I even picked up one of fellow Webster Groves High School alum and former St. Louis Cardinal Charlie James that I hope to send to him and see if I can get it signed. Amazingly, one of the guys who works at Nick's actually lived in Webster Groves briefly  back in the 1960s!

TTM: Making Up for Lost Time

Over the last couple weeks, I've recounted the tale of the trip I took with my friend Eric Hendrickson some twenty-five years ago. In order to have my daily posts about that trip uninterrupted, I've refrained from any updates on the autograph collecting front. So as I get things caught up today, we have a couple weeks worth of TTM autographs to share:

 



Some of my earliest sports memories are those of watching the Mizzou Tigers play football in the late 1970s, with exciting quarterback Phil Bradley throwing the ball to Kellen Winslow, handing off to James Wilder, and running the ball himself. Nevertheless, it was baseball that Bradley would go on to play as a professionally, putting up a career .286 batting average in a career that included one all star season (1985: .300/26 HR/88 RBIs).

Another of the cards I was excited to get back was that of Vance Law. The son of former Cy Young Award winner, Vern Law, Vance follows the 1985 Cardinals Twitter account I run (@HeckOfAYear). It was thrill to see the first time Law "liked" one of my tweets recounting the 1985 Cardinals season day-by-day, and it was a thrill once again when I not only received his 1987 Topps card back in the mail, with a note written on the envelope commending the Twitter account!

Another player whose cards I was especially excited to get back was Sid Bream. I've written about him before, and he was one of my favorite non-Cardinals in the late 80s and early 90s. He had his bes years with the Pirates, but is most well-known for his time with the Braves, specifically when he scored the NL Pennant-winning run in 1992.

 

Frank Tanana won 240 games throughout his 21-year career. A three time all star, Tanana accumulated a career WAR of 57.9, which is higher than that of Whitey Ford and many other Hall of Fame pitchers. A native of Detroit, he spent eight seasons with the Tigers.

Greg Gross hit .287 over a 17-year career. He now puts to use those skills as hitting coach for Diamondbacks' AAA affiliate, the Reno Aces, a post he has held for five seasons. He previously had two stints as hitting coach for the Phillies.

His 143 pinch-hits ranks fifth all-time in MLB history, and at one time he was only seven short of Manny Mota's then record total of 150 pinch hits.

Gary Pettis was a speedy center fielder who won five Gold Gloves and stole 354 bases during his eleven-year MLB career. What I'll always remember about Pettis though is the fact that he had his 16-year-old brother Lynn pose for his 1985 Topps baseball card! If I were pursuing the 1985 set, I'm not sure who I'd send it to to get it signed, Gary or Lynn. Maybe both of them?

Without question, one of the favorite Cardinals of my youth was Bob Forsch. I had four different cards he signed for me when I was a kid, not to mention a 1986 pocket schedule.

Forsch is the only Cardinal to throw two no-hitters, and is (with Ken Forsch) part of the only brother pairing to each throw a no-no. A member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame, he started Game 1 of the NLCS & World Series for a World champion (1982) and is 3rd all-time in wins by a Cardinal. He even started perhaps the most memorable game I ever attended.

I don't think he really enjoyed signing autographs, but I also don't think I ever saw him turn someone down. One Saturday afternoon, after he had starred in the  NBC Game of the Week, I witnessed him signing for nearly a half hour as his family waited for him.

Sadly, Mr. Forsch passed away a few years ago, so I had to purchase this card. I was more than happy to do so though, as his 15 years with the Cardinals comprised the bulk of my youth and given the fact that my memories of him are so fond.

Finally, what a joy it has been to have carried on a running correspondence with NFL Hall of Famer, Raymond Berry. I finally purchased an 8x10 of this great wide receiver and even finer gentleman, and sent it to him. Not surprisingly, he quickly returned it personalized and signed.

Keeping up the Pace on Project 87

Last week started slowly, not receiving any items through Thursday. Got one on Friday and two on Saturday though, to make it a pretty good week!

Thursday's card was of Dane Iorg, who in the late 70s and early 80s was a top pinch hitter for the Cardinals. In the 1982 World Series, he was the Designated Hitter in five games, batting .529 (9 for 17). What many Cardinal fans most remember him for though is another World Series memory. In 1985 (then playing for the Royals), Iorg had a pinch hit single in the 9th inning of game six, knocking in both the tying and winning runs, and forcing a game seven (which the Royals would go on to win).

1/1 in 15 days

One of the two I got on Saturday was former Cubs catcher, Jody Davis. Davis was the Cubs starting catcher for most of the 1980s. In the early 80s, our family got cable (including WGN, which showed almost all of the Cubs games). Even though I was a Cardinals fan through and through, I watched a lot of Cubs baseball. Catching afternoon ball from Wrigley with Harry Caray announcing was heaven for a baseball-crazed kid like me, even if it wasn't my team playing.

1/1 in 16 days

The other card I got on Saturday was Scott Terry. He was in the Reds organization 1986 and amost of 1987, until he was traded to St. Louis toward the end of the year.  He would spend the rest of his career with the Cardinals.

Perhaps his career highlight was a game on April 27, 1989. In that game he threw shutout ball for 7 innings before finally allowing a single run in the 8th. But as good as Terry was on the mound, it was his performance at the plate that was most impressive. He went 3 for 3 with a singe=le, a double, and a three-run home run.

1/1 in 8 days

A Hall of Fame Week

Last week's success TTM  was a matter of quality over quantity!

Jim Rice was one of the most feared hitters in baseball in the second half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. He took on the mantle that Ted Williams had passed on to Carl Yastrzemski as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. The three of them combined to hold down the territory in front of the Green Monster almost half a century from 1939-1987 (excepting the years that Williams served in the military). Rice manned the position well, putting together a career that earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

I sent a request to Rice with both his regular 1987 Topps card and the All Star card in that set. Both came back to me unsigned in just over a week. I noticed online that he often signs for a $5 "donation," so I sent another request for the two cards, including $10. This time the cards came back quickly again, with the All Star card signed, but the other one not. Wish he had signed them both, but thankful to add another Hall of Famer to the collection. Not sure if I'm going to try him again though.

1/2 in 9 days

An even better experience was the one I had with NFL Hall of Famer, Raymond Berry. I saw that he often signed TTM, and also that he and I shared some of the same interests. I didn't have any cards or photos, so I just sent him a couple index cards, requesting autographs for my brother-in-law (who is from Baltimore) and myself.

Not only did he sign the index cards with nice personalized notes, he also sent small sheets of paper with his Christian testimony, personalized and signed on the back.

Best of all though, he so appreciated the fact that we share a passion for our faith and an interest in genealogy that he hand-wrote a page long letter to me further discussing them and asking me to send him more information about the history of my family name. He even included a self-addressed, stamped envelope!

During his Hall of Fame career, Berry was John Unitas's go-to receiver. What a joy to make the acquaintance of an all-time great, who seems to be an even better person than he was a football player.

3/1 in 12 days

More from Project 87 and a Unique Item

Last week I got two more cards back from the 1987 Topps project. One of them was a testimony to my rookie status at collecting TTM. In my post a week ago, I mentioned that I had received a card back from Ray Soff. As I mentioned in that post though, I realized after I had sent the card to him that he appears on another card in the set (the Cardinals Leaders card). I subsequently sent that card to him thanking him for the first card and asking if he'd sign the second one as well. Not only did he comply promptly, he considerately signed in such as way as to leave lots of space for the other two players pictured (Mike LaValliere and Ozzie Smith) to sign as well.

1/1, 6 days





The other 1987 Topps card I got back this past week was from Dave Kingman. Nicknamed "Kong," this 6'6" giant was one of the pure power hitters of my youth. At one time he held the record for fewest base hits by a player with 400 home runs. He may still hold the record; I don't know. In either case, he was, in a sense, ahead of his time. Today's players rarely "shorten up their swing" with two strikes in an effort to make contact, preferring an all or nothing strategy. Kingman pioneered this approach, striking out over 1800 times in his career (nearly 1/4 of all his plate appearances). When he hit it though, it was gone. He contributed three home runs to one of my favorite games ever, and led the league in homers twice (including a career high 48 in 1979). He also held the odd distinction of having played for teams in all four divisions during the 1977 season, being traded twice and claimed off waivers once in a three month span!

1/1, 8 days

The last item I got back is one of my favorites and is sure to be for a long time. In 1992, my friend Eric Hendrickson and I went on a trip together going to games in six cities and visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. I plan on giving a day-by-day recounting of the trip next month, in honor of its 25th anniversary.

While on our trip, one of the stops was Fenway Park, where we were on hand to witness Jeff Reardon setting the all-time MLB career saves record (since surpassed by nine others). Eric had a regular old "point and shoot" camera and he took a picture of Reardon's teammates carrying him off the field. I've held onto it all these years, and I blew up the photo, making three copies and sending them to Reardon with a brief explanation. I asked him to sign one for me, one for Eric, and he could keep the third if he wanted to. I was thrilled to receive them all back in the mail just 12 days later. He personalized the autographs nicely and I look forward to sending Eric his!

3/3, 12 days

First Taste of TTM Success

Last week I experienced my first success in terms of collecting autographs through the mail (TTM).

Ray Soff had a brief stint in MLB with the Cardinals in 1986-87, logging just over 50 IP over those two seasons. He returned to the minors where he pitched for four organizations from 1987-1992 before retiring. He now lives in Blissfield, Michigan, where he once led the local high school to a state title.

Though not greatly remembered by most, Soff will hold a special place in my heart, being the first TTM autograph I received. Unfortunately, I sent this card to him before I realized he also is on the "Cardinals Leaders" card, and I had to send him that one separately, so we may be seeing Mr. Soff again in the near future.

1/1, 4 days

My 2nd TTM success was my first Hall of Famer. Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog, a.k.a. "The White Rat" was the architect and field general of the great Cardinals teams of the 1980s. I was thrilled to receive this card back in the mail as Whitey will forever be a favorite of mine and all Cardinal fans of that era.

Herzog, who still lives in St. Louis, managed the Cardinals from 1980-1990, serving also as General Manager in the early '80s. He won three NL pennants ('82, '85 & '87) in addition to the three AL pennants ('76, '77 & '78) that he had won in Kansas City. His crowning achievement was leading the 1982 Cardinals (who hit only 67 home runs as a team that season) to 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in that year's World Series.

1/1, 8 days

A New (Old) Hobby

As I've mentioned before, as a teenager I was not only an avid baseball fan, but also an active autograph collector. I still have over 100 cards that players signed for me outside the stadium back in those years

Recently I decided to take the hobby back up, especially (though not exclusively) targeting the 1987 Topps set since I already have 26 of those cards signed. This time though, instead of being a kid waiting for players outside the stadium, I will be an adult doing much of my autograph hunting through the mail.

Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted!

I'm Sold on St. Louis!

The summer of 1987 was an especially wonderful one for me. I had a job working about one hour per day cleaning a local drug store which netted me paychecks of about $42 twice per month. Almost every penny I earned that summer went to one of two things: baseball cards or baseball tickets.

It was a great season to be a Cardinals fan. The Running Redbirds would win their second National League Pennant in three years (in addition to a World Series victory in 1982) as Whiteyball reigned in St. Louis. It seemed that my friend Craig and I lived at Busch Stadium that summer. Even though we were only 15 at the time (I turned 16 the final weekend of the season), I managed to get to 25 games that season.

The other day, I found the following video of Ralph Butler and "I'm Sold on St. Louis," produced in 1987. It reminded me of what a wonderful era it was to be a Cardinals fan.