Baseball players are interesting folks. This post examines the basic approaches players tend to employ regarding autograph requests on “error cards.” Some refuse flat out to sign them… end of story.
Other players (Eric Patterson comes to mind) will autograph an error card while explaining that it isn’t their photo on the front. Obviously they are not concerned with any perceived extra or lesser “value” assigned to the card.
A third subset of players choose to handle the situation similar to Koyie Hill as in this example by flipping the card over and signing their stats. That leaves the grapher with the interesting prospect of having to remember to try to get the front of the card autographed by the player depicted in the photo. In this instance, I will need to bump into Alan Zinter again before I can file this 2005 Topps Total card (no. 401) with my other completed autographs.
Speaking of Alan, this 1990 Score card (no. 671) illustrates Zinter’s unique signature. This card is a double, and is currently “in the mail” as part of a small trade of autographed Mets cards to Paul’s Random Stuff.
Personally, I get a kick from these oddities as they provide an interesting topic of conversation amongst collectors, and also serve as an excellent icebreaker prior to hitting a player up for a signature. Have I mentioned lately how much I miss Topps Total?
- Kris
Tags: autographing
November 28, 2008 at 7:50 pm |
I think every autograph collector — not to mention a good number of team collectors — misses Topps Total.
Alan (and friends) arrived in my mailbox today. I’ll be posting them shortly. Hopefully your end of the trade has reached you by now.
Thanks Kris!