Rollie Fingers

Hall of fame pitcher Rollie Fingers was on hand at this year's MLB All Star FanFest - handlebar mustache and all.  I stood in line for a few hours, and was able to get him to sign in blue marker (I think?) on a 3x5 note card.  

Mr. Fingers played for those flashy Oakland A's teams, and his crazy facial hair fit right in with the bright yellow and green 70s uniforms.  It was nice to get this one a few years after getting an unsuccessful return in the mail from him.  Even nicer to save the $10.

Christmas Wish List

As my list of failed requests continues to grow, a fascinating thing to look at is the various monetary requests given by some of the players.  I've received autographs from seven former players through the mail for free, but some are not quite so generous.

Here is the list as it stands so far...

Rollie Fingers, $10
Brooks Robinson, $37.99 and up (at his website)
Goose Gossage, $20
Whitey Ford, $20
Phil Niekro, $10 and up

Pretty modest requests (and they would certainly be much higher at a sports collectible store), but at this point I just can't justify spending that much on a signature.  Maybe that will change some day.  If anyone would like to donate to help my cause, I'd certainly be grateful!

Failure #2: Rollie Fingers

I missed getting Rollie Fingers' autograph at the recent All Star Fan Festival because I was in line to get Gaylord Perry's autograph.  Not to worry I told myself - Perry is the older player (and thus, probably will stop signing before Fingers) and I figured I could get Fingers' autograph through the mail.

Sadly, I was mistaken on the latter.  I received this form letter on the same day that Lee MacPhail's autograph arrived.  The small card informed me that in order to obtain an autograph, I must include $10 with my request.

Maybe someday when we have a little extra income I'll try again.