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This Ain't No Joke
Do you know what Paul Molitor, Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersley, Andre Dawson, Jim Palmer, Orlando Cepeda, Rollie Fingers, Whitey Hertzog, Gaylord Perry, Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice, Tony Perez, and Tony La Russa all have in common?
They're all enshrined in Cooperstown and if you head over to COMC, you can pick up any of their autographs for $10 or less. On the other hand, you can be like me and spend ten of your hard earned dollars on an autograph of a career .215 hitter:
Now before you start calling me the "April Fool", give me a chance to defend myself. I've been a fan of baseball longer than just about everything else in my life. In fact... off the top of my head... I can only think of threethings (outside of people) that I've liked longer than baseball: food, music, and television.
With that fanfare comes my passion for collecting baseball cards. I spend most of my "hobby" budget on my player and team collections, but every now and then I will focus on other things. This time it was owning a piece of baseball history.
A few weeks ago, a caller on the radio mentioned the Mendoza Line, which made me wonder if Mario Mendoza has a certified autograph. As luck would have it... he does. In 2003, Topps included him in their Archives Fan Favoritesautograph set and there happened to be a couple listed on eBay. A few bids later, ten dollars poorer, and I was the proud owner of an on-card autograph of the Mendoza Linenamesake.
And I have absolutely no regrets either. Kinda makes you wonder why I'll spend so much money for the signature of a below average hitter... while refusing to pay less than a buck to complete a set (my 1984 Donruss Mickey Mantlepuzzle) that I've been building for the past few years. Honestly... sometimes I don't even understand myself.
Happy April Fools' Day and sayonara!
More...
They're all enshrined in Cooperstown and if you head over to COMC, you can pick up any of their autographs for $10 or less. On the other hand, you can be like me and spend ten of your hard earned dollars on an autograph of a career .215 hitter:
Now before you start calling me the "April Fool", give me a chance to defend myself. I've been a fan of baseball longer than just about everything else in my life. In fact... off the top of my head... I can only think of threethings (outside of people) that I've liked longer than baseball: food, music, and television.
With that fanfare comes my passion for collecting baseball cards. I spend most of my "hobby" budget on my player and team collections, but every now and then I will focus on other things. This time it was owning a piece of baseball history.
A few weeks ago, a caller on the radio mentioned the Mendoza Line, which made me wonder if Mario Mendoza has a certified autograph. As luck would have it... he does. In 2003, Topps included him in their Archives Fan Favoritesautograph set and there happened to be a couple listed on eBay. A few bids later, ten dollars poorer, and I was the proud owner of an on-card autograph of the Mendoza Linenamesake.
And I have absolutely no regrets either. Kinda makes you wonder why I'll spend so much money for the signature of a below average hitter... while refusing to pay less than a buck to complete a set (my 1984 Donruss Mickey Mantlepuzzle) that I've been building for the past few years. Honestly... sometimes I don't even understand myself.
Happy April Fools' Day and sayonara!
More...