Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez Private Signing

Last month, MLSE had a private signing with Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Hernandez is mostly known for his exploits as a member of the Yankees. He did have one very memorably moment during his Sox career. Who can forget when he shut the door on a potential Red Sox rally in game 3 of the 2005 ALDS?

This signing was pretty pricey. I debated sitting it out, as I don’t usually spend this much on cards unless it’s a legit star. But I didn’t know when another signing would come around, and if one did, how much it would cost. So I bit the bullet and sent in 3 cards. Two that I needed for sets, and a rookie.

The cards turned out really nice. Hernandez has such a beautiful autograph. My wallet has a big hole in it now, but it was worth it!

   

Brian Anderson Private Signing

I have a category of favorite player that doesn’t really get talked about very much. Every Sox fan likes Frank Thomas, Jose Abreu, etc. I’m sure players like Juan Uribe and Ray Durham that had substantial careers have plenty of fans. But there are a few players that didn’t have very successful careers that I am very fond of. Some of these guys may not have gotten the opportunity they deserve. Or maybe they just weren’t any good. But for whatever reason, I consider myself a big fan. I’m talking about guys like Jordan Danks, Joe Borchard, Norberto Martin, and yes, Brian Anderson.

I’ve been a Brian Anderson fan ever since he first got called up. It drove me nuts that DeWayne Wise was getting playing time at BA’s expense. I really felt he just needed to be left alone and his bat would come around. The defense was always there, as evidenced by his catch to end the “Blackout” tiebreaker game in 2008.

I met Brian on numerous occasions. The first time I met him was at Soxfest in January 2009. He showed up looking like a movie star. He was so well dressed, and let’s just say my wife was swooning. We met him again at Picnic in the Park, also in 2009 I believe. My wife and I told him he reminded us of Michael Buble. The player sitting next to him (for the life of me I can’t remember who it was) turned to BA and said “Who is that?”.

BA answered “You know…” and started singing the Buble song “Feeling Good”, which is a really great song. And BA did the song justice! It was a fun moment that really cemented him as a favorite of mine.

So when I saw that Dana Dominion was doing a mail signing with him, I had to get some of my favorite BA cards signed. And much to my surprise, I had somehow neglected to get his 2007 Upper Deck card signed previously. So I knocked that out as well.

I have to say, I am absolutely thrilled with how these turned out. Every card is signed perfectly in bold blue sharpie. It seems like most of the recent signings have had something wrong. Some of these things were very minor, some were worse. But I have zero complaints about these!

                 

                 

                 

           

Sammy Sosa Private Signing

Tom Orr recently took part in a signing with former slugger Sammy Sosa. Sammy is one of the White Sox all-time “the one that got away” players. Fernando Tatis is the other recent big one, and will probably end up having an even better career than Sosa if he can stay healthy.

Sorry for bringing up those painful memories! In any case, Sammy Sosa signings are very expensive, so I was only able to send in the last Upper Deck card I needed signed. I’m slightly disappointed with the quality of the pen used, but I guess I’ll take what I can get! I am officially done with all Sosa cards that I “need”.

Sases for Sox: Cliff Politte

Cliff Politte was one of the most underrated members of the 2005 World Series champs. You’d probably be shocked to find out that he had a higher bWAR (Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement) than Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, and Juan Uribe. He was the highest rated relief pitcher on the team, and the fifth highest in the American League.

Cliff has always been a great mail signer, so I don’t know why it took me this long to send to him. In any case, I’m super happy to knock these two cards off of my Upper Deck and 05 Topps World Series project wantlists. Thanks Mr. Politte!

Send Date: 2/8/21
Receive Date: 5/1/21
Total Days: 82
Items Sent: 2 cards
Items Received: 2 cards
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie

     

Just Added: All-Time Upper Deck Checklist

I am, or should I say I was, a very big fan of Upper Deck cards. They were so much nicer than plain old Topps/Donruss/Fleer. They almost had a classy feel to them. To this day, the 1993 Upper Deck set is my favorite baseball card set of all time.

I’ve put together a page showcasing every White Sox base card that Upper Deck ever made… all 531 of them! You can view that page HERE.

The only other card set I’m likely to do this for is Allen & Ginter. There will be many more checklists coming, but it is too time consuming scanning images of every single card. Most checklists will have one sample image, along with the checklist itself.