Category: Autographs

Ken Griffey Jr. Jersey

I’ve mentioned before that I have never liked Ken Griffey Jr. But he was a legendary player, and a no-brainer HOFer. Since he did play those 41 games in a Sox uniform, I’m going to collect the guy.

The Griffey signing with Tristar/Mill Creek wasn’t cheap, especially for premium items. And getting a licensed Griffey Sox jersey wasn’t cheap either. This item is definitely one of the most expensive in my collection. Maybe the second most expensive, in terms of what I paid to get it signed. The only item that I know I paid more for is the Michael Jordan 20×24 UDA photo. But I think it’s worth it.

Adam Eaton Private Signing

The same promoter that did the Alex Colome signing also did an Adam Eaton signing. Luckily, this signing went off without a hitch. I had been wanting an Eaton signing for a few years, so I was thrilled when it popped up on SCN. The promoter even gave me a solid bulk discount since I sent in 13 items.

Eaton has always had a small autograph. Look at how small the signature is on that baseball! I’m really glad I got the “Spanky” inscription, or else the autograph would be even tinier!

I’m really happy to complete the Heritage Frazier/Eaton card.

       

   

       

   

Alex Colome Private Signing

Alex Colome had a solid couple of seasons for the Sox. More specifically, he was solid in 2019 and incredible in the shortened 2020 season. He has never been a particularly easy autograph, so when I saw somebody doing a private with him on SCN, I sent in a few cards.

I got both of his Heritage Sox cards signed, as well as some rookie refractors. Unfortunately, a couple of the refractors didn’t turn out very well. One has a slight smear, and one has a fairly large smear. I’ve contacted the promoter, and he is proving to be difficult to work with. Every time I send him a message, he reads it and doesn’t reply. I’ll send another message a few days later, asking why he hasn’t replied to my message. He’ll reply to that one, asking which cards are smeared. This exact sequence has happened twice now. I’ve sent him images of the smeared cards twice, and just last night he asked me, once again, which cards are smeared.

I’ll make sure to post an update when this is resolved, one way or another. In any case, here are the cards I got signed. You’ll see that I got three different autographs. Three cards have “A—-“, one card has what appears to be “AC—“, and the 2019 Heritage has a more detailed autograph that looks like “AlxC—“. That obviously isn’t the promoter’s fault, I’m just pointing out how inconsistent the autograph is. At least he added his number to each one to add some bulk to the autograph.

       

   

Awesome New Carlton Fisk Items

Carlton Fisk is a player I have come to appreciate more and more as I got older. When I first became a Sox fan in 1991, I was all about the young exciting players. Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, all those good young pitchers, etc. I kind of thought of Fisk as a grumpy has-been.

I didn’t quite realize how great he was in his extended prime. I know now that he was truly one of the best catchers of all-time. And when I met him properly for the first time, he was very nice to me.

Years ago a collector friend of mine had a yearly opportunity to get stuff signed by Fisk for $20 per. I really regret not getting more stuff done then. Every year I’d get a few cards signed. If I had that opportunity again today I think I’d probably send 30+ items. Oh well!

These new Fisk items are now some of my favorite items in my collection. The jersey came from my sales rep at Fanatics. It’s part of a limited 25 piece run that hasn’t been made available to the public. The HOF baseball also came from him. The All-Star baseball came from a collector on Facebook.

   

Ken Griffey Jr. Cards

Ken Griffey Jr. recently did a couple of signings. He did a heavily publicized signing with the fine folks at Mill Creek Sports, in conjunction with Tristar. I did send them an item, look out for that post soon. But there was also a cards only signing with Tom Orr. It was a much better price than the other signing, so I sent in a couple of cards.

I finally got his iconic 1989 Upper Deck rookie card signed. I also got a second 2009 Upper Deck card signed that I didn’t know existed until recently. Both turned out perfectly.

I’m thinking about doing some kind of a display piece with the 89 UD Griffey and 90 Leaf Frank Thomas. Those are without a doubt the two most iconic cards from my childhood, and it’d be cool to do something with them.

   

Bo Jackson Jerseys

It’s possible that there has never been a more larger than life athlete than peak Bo Jackson. Maybe Babe Ruth? Even Michael Jordan seemed more human than Bo did.

Bo was a truly great football player. He played parts of four seasons, and put up some great per game numbers in three of those four seasons. One Bo football stat I love is this: In three of his four seasons, Bo had the single longest run of the season. In such a short career, he had runs of 92, 91, and 88 yards. No other player in the history of the NFL has three runs that long.

He was much more raw on the baseball diamond. It sometimes felt like he was learning how to play baseball in the big leagues, which is nuts. But look at his OPS+. From 1986 to 1990, his OPS+ went 67 – 94 – 108 – 124 – 142. He improved every single year. From 1988 to 1990, his plate discipline got better every year. Were it not for the hip injury, there is a chance Bo could have been a truly great baseball player.

I’ve been wanting to pick up some premium Bo Jackson items for a very long time. I worked some overtime at work, so I finally bit the bullet. I picked up a white Raiders jersey and a black White Sox jersey from Fanatics. I had a pretty good coupon code that brought them into my price range. Both jerseys are Mitchell & Ness authentics.

I hope to get them framed together as a sort of Yin and Yang piece. Something like the image below:

Once these bad boys get framed up, this will be one of the center pieces of my collection.



Steve Sax Private Signing

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I am a big Steve Sax fan. Why am I a Sax fan? It’s certainly not because of the terrible 69 OPS+ he put up during two bad years with the Sox. It’s also not because of his charming personality, as he’s never been a super friendly guy to fans.

It all comes down to my mother. I grew up with a single mom in Southern California. My mom was a huge Dodgers fan. More specifically, she was a big Steve Sax fan. But she never referred to him as Steve Sax. He was always “Sexy Saxy”.

Let me be very clear. His “sexiness” has nothing to do with my fandom. My mom loved him, so I loved him. Later in life, I’d come to realize that Sax was overrated as a player. But that did nothing to dim my Sax fandom. And so, here I am, probably the only person alive that is a fan of both Sax and the Sox.

Steve Sax was one of many players attending the HOF Classic game in Cooperstown, NY this year. Jamie Blye conducted a private signing with a few of the players, including Sax. So I sent him a few items to get signed.

A couple of items didn’t turn out perfectly. One ball and one card are kind of smudged. But the most important item, the bat, turned out perfectly!

   

   

   

   



Cespedes & Colas Baseballs

Somebody on Facebook posted that they had a couple of Oscar Colas baseballs available for a decent price. I think the White Sox have five prospects with a legit chance to be a star. Colson Montgomery, Bryan Ramos, Lenyn Sosa, Norge Vera, and Colas. So I was very interested in a Colas ball. When I reached out, he mentioned that he also had Yoelqui Cespedes balls available. You’ll notice that I didn’t have Cespedes listed in that group above. He is kind of old for AA, and yet he is striking out too much, and not walking enough. The power is solid, but nothing special. I think he’ll probably make the bigs, but only as a regular for a few years while the team (the Sox or otherwise) hopes he’ll break out. Still, he is a name prospect, and the price was right, so I picked up a Cespedes ball as well.

   

Luis Robert Private Signing

The folks at Sid’s Graphs and Bergie’s Sports Card Dugout held the first ever public signing with budding White Sox superstar Luis Robert on Monday. I’m starting to think these signings are a Jinx for Robert. Last season, he got hurt right before his private signing, and the same thing happened again this year. Luckily, this year’s injury seems to be minor.

I sent in 6 items this time. Two jerseys and 4 cards. Everything turned out pretty well. I’m slightly disappointed in how the home white jersey turned out. It isn’t terrible, but the pen didn’t perform 100% perfectly. Oh well, what can you do?

I’m holding out hope that Luis can stay healthy and join the ranks of the very best players in baseball. I’m a bit worried that we might now have our own Byron Buxton. In any case, I’m thrilled to have these new items!