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.

MLB All Star FanFest

I experienced one of baseball's annual traditions today - the All Star Game FanFest. Part carnival, part MLB exhibition, this week-long event can be a gold mine for autograph seekers. Today's list included a handful of Hall of Famers. I will post the ones I got. 

Wade Boggs

I was really excited to get this one in the mail today!  I had tried getting Hall of Famer Wade Boggs to sign before on a blank 3x5 card with no success. Baseball cards apparently did the trick!

Boggs was a great player for three American League East teams - Yanks, Sox, and Rays. He was always known for his high average.  He was instrumental (or so the story goes...) in changing the way that teams are assigned to players when they are inducted.

Boggs signed BOTH cards I sent him, meaning I have an extra one to trade!  

Thanks Mr. Boggs!  This one ends up being number 20 in my collection.

Phil Niekro

Update from the original post: I made a big trade and ended up trading away this autographed photo of Niekro, removing him from my collection. I'm now on the lookout for a replacement for this signature. I'm sad to see it go, but I think its for the best! Niekro is still living, and perhaps I'll be able to obtain one in person someday (or a smaller 3x5 card like many of my others).

I found this in a local card shop for a reasonable price.  Phil Niekro was an incredible pitcher - one of the last great knuckleballers of the modern era.  "Knucksie" may have had some incredible numbers, but this sharpie signed photo is pretty ridiculous.  From the bowl cut greying hear sticking out of the hat, to the glassy eyes...  it is topped off with the satin jacket tucked in to the road baby-blue 80s pants.  Wow.

Aside from the brilliance/ugliness of this photo, he played for my favorite team, in fact he was the first Blue Jay inducted.

Aside from all of that, I had already received a rejection letter from Niekro informing me that he charges for his signature, making this an easy purchase.

Tony Gwynn (1960-2014)

I found this one on eBay - only a few dollars, but no guarantee that the sharpie autographed card is legit. For now, I will count it as the next success in my collection.

Tony Gwynn was definitely one of the biggest stars as I was growing up. His style was less about mashing the ball, and more about finding ways to reach base.

I tried once or twice to get his signature through the mail, but had no success.

18 signatures out of 62 living Hall of Famers, gives me my highest percentage yet - 29%!

Update: Mr. Gwynn passed away on June 16, 2014.  

Ryne Sandberg

Finally! Another "through-the-mail" success! It has been months -- quite literally, since Jim Bunning returned my request last July -- that I have had a successful autograph attempt through the mail.  I'm wondering if it helps that this particular player, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, is a coach for the local Phillies ball club.  It makes me wonder if I should try again for some other former Phillies/current Hall of Famers through the team.

"Ryno" played for many years as an All Star secondbaseman for the Chicago Cubs.  Like Nolan Ryan, another former player serving in another role, he sent a blue sharpie autographed photo of his current job, rather than when he played.  He also returned the baseball card I had included for him to sign.

Lou Boudreau (1917-2001) and George Kell (1922-2009)

An affordable eBay auction caught my eye last week and I was able to get two (hopefully legitimate!) Hall of Famer autographs.  Lou Boudreau and George Kell were both incredible infielders for their respective ball clubs and moved to the broadcast booth once their careers were over.  Boudreau also managed in the big leagues.  Both signed on 3x5 index cards (which had been printed with their names) in blue sharpie pen.

Neither counts toward my collection of living Hall of Famers, but they add to my overall collection, which at this moment stands at 25 of the 300 players who have been elected.