Collecting White Sox Autographs Since 1991
One project I’ve been working on is getting an autograph from every player that made an All-Star team during his time with the Sox. I haven’t made much progress on this recently, as all of the players I still need are from the 1950s or earlier. I finally found a good price on 1944 All-Star Thurman Tucker.
If my calculations are correct, I now need 5 guys to complete the project.
Rip Radcliff (1936)
Ray Scarborough (1950)
Al Simmons (1933-35)
Jim Wilson (1956)
Rudy York (1948)
I recently decided to start collection Hall of Fame baseballs signed by White Sox Hall of Famers under the HOF logo. When possible, I’d like a HOF inscription as well. Here are the first four balls in my new collection.
I was pretty excited when Kenny Williams finally got his man and signed Adam Dunn. He ended up having one good year and was pretty terrible the rest of the time. Still, he had a pretty good career as a TTO slugger.
Every time I see Fernando Tatis mentioned, I get annoyed. It still blows my mind that we traded him for “Big Game” James Shields. How he got that nickname, I’ll never understand. He seems to have come up short in every big game he’s ever pitched. And he stunk for the White Sox. Imagine Tim Anderson, Luis Robert, Fernando Tatis Jr, Jose Abreu, and Eloy Jimenez all in the same lineup. It boggles the mind.
I debated whether or not to add a Tatis ball to the collection, since he never even played a game in the Sox organization. But Mill Creek had a pretty good deal on one, so I bit the bullet.
I’ve been trying to pick up a nice Sammy Sosa baseball for years. For the longest time, there weren’t many nice, authenticated Sosa baseballs available. And the ones that were available were like $300. I finally found a nice ball for a nice price during Mill Creek’s holiday sale. I’m very happy to finally have this in the collection.
I don’t know if any of these guys are going to blow up, but if they do I’ll be happy that I already have a signed baseball in my collection. I definitely don’t want another Luis Robert situation, where I end up having to get a second mortgage to be able to afford his autographs.
I don’t think Dylan Cease will be a star, but a Jon Garland type career wouldn’t be a shock. Michael Kopech and Andrew Vaughn both have the potential to be legit stars.
I wasn’t thrilled when the White Sox signed Dallas Keuchel. He had been trending downward for a while, and I thought the Sox were going to be stuck with a mediocre pitcher. That could still happen, but Keuchel was pretty damn good in 2020. He definitely would have made the All-Star team had there been one. So I went ahead and picked up a signed rookie.
George Bell. George freaking Bell. I still can’t believe Ron Schueler traded Sammy Sosa for George freaking Bell. Imagine The Big Hurt and Slammin’ Sammy hitting back to back in their primes. It would have been something to see! Anyway, here are my two BAS authenticated Sammy Sosa rookies. I think they’re a couple of beauts!
I won’t lie, I’m not the biggest Jermaine Dye fan. I’ve met him a few times, and he hasn’t struck me as the friendliest guy. I was actually kind of sad when he won World Series MVP in 2005. I would have loved for a beloved mainstay of the team to win the award. Somebody like Mark Buehrle or Paul Konerko. Still, I can’t deny that he ended up having a pretty good career with the Sox.
I have two copies of his rookie card signed. The one that has been slabbed by PSA has his early full signature, which I think is pretty cool.
Jake didn’t quite live up to expectations during his time with the Sox. He made three great starts in 2009, had a solid 2012, and was otherwise pretty mediocre. But there was never any doubt he was giving his all. I met him during spring training in 2011, and he seemed like a really nice guy. He signed tons of stuff for me. I was thrilled to see him go on to win the World Series in his first two seasons after the Sox traded him.
