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.

   

Ken “Hawk” Harrelson Hall of Fame Baseball

Ever since Hawk made the Hall of Fame, I’ve been on the lookout for a reasonably priced Hall of Fame baseball with inscription. The dealer that will not be named had some available, but at a pretty high price.

Last week I found some on eBay that allstarjef4ydp was selling for a much better price. So I jumped on one. I’m not sure what type of pen they used. It is a very bold signature. Let’s hope it holds up!

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Early Wynn Bat

I decided years ago not to get bats signed by pitchers. It made much more sense to have hitters sign bats than pitchers. But I had an opportunity to pick up this Early Wynn signed bat with inscriptions for a reasonable price. I decided to bite the bullet and pick it up. I mean, he played before the creation of the designated hitter, so he did bat quite a lot. Not only that, but he hit 17 home runs in his career!

Now that I have this Early Wynn, I may pick up a few more pre-DH HOF pitchers on bats.

SASES for Sox: Carlton Fisk

What can I say about Carlton Fisk that hasn’t already been said? The man is one of the best catchers of all time, and much of that was in a ChiSox uniform.

He has pretty consistently signed through the mail for a long time now. He isn’t cheap, but he charges a very fair price. Even better, the entirety of the fee goes to a very good cause, the Cancer Support Center.

I only got these two cards signed by Steve Carlton and Rich Gedman because I knew Fisk was so reliable. I love adding multi-signed cards to the collection, especially when both players are HOFers.

Send Date: 1/29/22
Receive Date: 2/4/22
Total Days: 6
Items Sent: 2 Cards
Items Received: 2 Cards
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie
Fee: $50 per card

   

Jim Kaat HOF Baseball

Jim Kaat has finally made the Hall of Fame. I don’t think he was a glaring omission, but I do think he was deserving. He falls a bit short when it comes to sabermetric stats, but between the 283 wins and 16 Gold Gloves, he certainly isn’t out of place.

I picked up a HOF baseball at a decent price from Tom Orr. It’s a beaut, and I’m thrilled to have it. Now I need to get a 16×20 with HOF inscription!

Sases for Sox: Harold Baines

FI think I’m the only White Sox fan on the planet that doesn’t love Harold Baines. I was actually disappointed when he was elected to the Hall of Fame. He had a very nice career, but c’mon, he was NOT a Hall of Famer. If I could replace him with Dick Allen, or Billy Pierce, or even guys like Wilbur Wood and Robin Ventura, I would do it in a heartbeat.

Harold never seemed very fan-friendly when I met him. You can’t blame it on a bad day either, as I have met him several times, and he was the exact same every time.

He has also been very hit or miss TTM. Sometimes he signs an item for $20, sometimes he returns the unsigned item and money in your SASE. Sometimes he’ll do an inscription, sometimes he won’t. I decided to take a chance with $20 and a 2021 Allen & Ginter card. He signed it very quickly for me. Thanks Mr. Baines!

Send Date: 10/1/21
Receive Date: 10/9/21
Total Days: 8
Items Sent: 1 Card
Items Received: 1 Card
Fee: $20
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie

Sases for Sox: Tony La Russa

I’m not going to lie. I was very unhappy when the Sox announced Tony La Russa as their new manager. And I think I was right to be unhappy, particularly in the first half of the season. He made so many mistakes, and completely threw one of his players (Yermin) under the bus. He was a bit better in the second half, but I can only imagine how good this team might have been with somebody like A.J. Hinch as manager. Oh well, I can only hope we have a new and improved manager next season.

With all that being said, La Russa is a Hall of Famer, and deservedly so. I’m certainly not going to pass up an opportunity to get his autograph, especially for free! So I send him his 2021 Topps Now card. I think it turned out pretty well. Thanks Mr. La Russa!

Send Date: 9/20/21
Receive Date: 10/6/21
Total Days: 16
Items Sent: 1 Card
Items Received: 1 Card
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie

Luis Aparicio Private Signing

I never thought I’d see another Luis Aparicio signing. Everything I’d heard pointed towards him being in poor health in Venezuela. But Brian Kritz put together a two part signing at the Venezuela home of the Sox legend.

Unfortunately, Aparicio can no longer sign baseballs. This was a bummer, as I desperately need him on a HOF ball, and I’d love a replacement for my Gold Glove ball that has a fading signature. But I’m not going to complain, as I’m just happy to get some stuff done!

I bought the Mitchell & Ness 1959 jersey ages ago, and figured I’d never be able to get it signed. I wish the signature was a little bit bolder, but it still looks pretty good.

I have one more card in the second round of the signing. With these 7 cards, I now have every Aparicio solo Topps card in a Sox uniform signed.

I’m pretty excited about these additions to the collection. I’m going to sticky this post for a week or two just so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. During that time any new posts will appear under this one.

   

   

   

       

       

   

Sases for Sox: Steve Carlton

Over the past year or so, I have become obsessed with getting multi-player cards signed. Every time I see a signing with a big name player that never played for the Sox, I check and see if they share any cool cards with a White Sox player. I really wish I had started doing this earlier, as there are some really cool multi-player cards from the 60s and 70s that I could have gotten signed.

I’ll be sending this card off to Gaylord Perry tomorrow. Hopefully it survives the USPS just one more time!

Send Date: 9/22/21
Receive Date: 9/27/21
Total Days: 5
Items Sent: 1 Card
Items Received: 1 Card
Fee: $40
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie