2005 UD Signature Decades -- 1990's & 2000's

I have a fair amount of certified auto cards but my favorite set is Upper Deck's 2005 Signature Decades. Overall the design is appealing and they are all on card autographs in a bright blue ink that stands out nicely against a white background.

To begin, here are my 2000's and one 1990's. For some reason there are very few of the 1990's series out there. Will Clark is my only one and his is serial numbered to 99. (The serial number is on the far left on Will's right arm.)

2000's

Stay tuned for the 80's.

Ernie Banks and the Thunderbolt Kid

I came across a great little anecdote that involves the writer Bill Bryson and Cubs great Ernie Banks. It's in Bryson's memoir The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.




"Once on a hot July afternoon I sat in a nearly airless clubhouse under the left-field grandstand at Wrigley Field beside Ernie Banks, the Cubs' great shortstop, as he autographed boxes of new white baseballs (which are, incidentally, one of the most pleasurably aromatic things on earth, and worth spending time around anyway). Unbidden, I took it upon myself to sit beside him and pass him each new ball. This slowed the process considerably, but he gave a little smile each time and said thank you as if I had done him quite a favor. He was the nicest human being I have ever met. It was like being friends with God."

David Winfield

I do have the Dave Winfield trifecta:

Rookie card

Relic card

Signed card

A little more interesting is an autograph I found in my grammar school autograph book.

My classmates and I received these when we graduated 8th grade in June of 1973. I guess our parents paid for them. They were, I suppose, for collecting autographs from fellow 8th graders who we might or might not ever see again. Indeed there are some of both inside. Better yet are some autographs of ballplayers.

In the summer of 1973 bleacher tickets at Wrigley Field were all unreserved and sold for just $1.00. My friends and I went to a bunch of games. The trip from our neighborhood was a bus ride to the Loyola El and a short train ride to Addison St.. We'd get to the park early, stand in line, and the bleachers being totally unreserved we'd get to sit in the front row. For some reason we always picked the left field seats.

Before the games we would toss our autograph books and pen attached to a piece of string over the outfield wall. We did get some signatures that way. I'm not sure if you're even allowed to do this anymore. In addition, we used to wait outside the visitors exit after some games and try our luck there.

I'd be lying if I said I remembered the specific circumstances of any of the autographs. It was a long time ago and my memory is such that I'm lucky if I can recall what I had for dinner last night.

Well, long story short?, Dave Winfield did sign my autograph book:


The pages in the book are a variety of colors. It's nice that he picked one that comes close to matching the Padres colors. It's also nice that he signed "David" Winfield. Looking at ebay today I only found only one like this, a slabbed index card.

The other interesting thing is that, though I can't recall the moment, I can tell you the exact date. It was July 17, 1973. The skies were partly cloudy and the temperature at gametime was 81 degrees. The Padres won the game 1-0 the only run of the game coming on a Nate Colbert sacrifice fly in the 5th inning.

Dave Winfield did not play. In fact his first appearance had only come the previous month, on June 19. At this point in the season and his career he had just 39 at bats, 13 hits, 1 home run and 4 RBIs. He was hitting .333.

Below are the four pages from my scorecard that day. The date is on the second page at the bottom right.

Card of the Day

2004 #SS-OC

Orlando Cepeda's pants! Orlando Cepeda's pants!

They're significant.

Two-Handed Bowling?

This was news to me.

Jason Belmonte

Legends of Baseball Postage Stamps

(click to enlarge)

Here are twenty Hall of Famers and members of the All-Century team. The stamps were issued by the Postal Service in the spring of 2000.

Card of the Day

The Card of the Day is a 1966 Topps Glenn Beckert. The Cubs color on these cards always reminded me of butterscotch Jello pudding, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The card says that "the Cubs feel that with a year of experience under his belt, Glenn is on his way." He did in fact have a good year in 1966 hitting .287 with 59 RBI.

Is it me or is this drawing a little creepy?

Tuff Stuff Flashback -- March 1993

I think most of us would agree that card collecting magazines used to be much better. I saved this one from 1993 because how can you toss anything with Muhammad Ali's picture on it.

An ad inside

Jeremy Roenick was in his heyday with the Blackhawks in 1993, scoring 50 goals and 107 points. The Hawks won their division and were third in the league in points but were swept out of the playoffs by the underdog St. Louis Blues getting shut out in two of the four games.

Card of the Day

Today's card of the day is a 2007 UD Ultimate Signatures Dennis Savard auto. Dennis may not have made it as the Hawks head coach but he was a hell of a player.

The Birdman, The Mailman, and The Warrior

Just because they're different, here are three cards from Upper Deck's 1992-93 FaniMation series.