I received this autograph today…bought it from a collector clearing out some of his extras.

When I think of the Reds, there are a few things that come to mind.  Sean Casey, Danny Graves and Pete Rose jump right out.  The other thing is the prospect duos of Adam Dunn-Austin Kearns and Jay Bruce-Joey Votto.   In both cases most people considered both great prospects, but people generally favored Bruce over Votto, and Kearns over Dunn.  And, in both cases, people were pretty off.

For me, I always liked Votto more than Bruce, though I think it was more because Votto was the one that was willing to sign through the mail.  This of course beings up another problem that you occasionally run into while collecting prospects:  it sucks when you become a big fan of a guy and he comes a superstar…since then all his stuff is extra tough and expensive to get.

Votto has obviously made it to that level, and his stuff is just as expensive as you would think it is.  The biggest problem collecting this stuff is that he just does not have a lot out there; Topps has released him in a few sets but they are all stickers…and that is not going to do.  His only on card autograph that I can think of is his 2004 Bowman rookie.

I actually got him IP in 2011, and he was a great IP signer in the stadium.  He is very careful about one per–that is cool–and while not talkative does sign for just about everyone.

Sent this almost a year ago today.  John Lamb is a pitching prospect for the Kansas City Royals.

John Sickles:

15) John Lamb, LHP, Grade C+: Tommy John guy. Just have to wait and see. Recovery of stuff and/or command is far from automatic.

He is actually a nice story too:  in HS he broke his elbow in a car accident, and it ruined his draft position…but he fought back and was eventually taken in the 5th round of the 2008 draft and signing a relatively small $165,000 bonus from the Royals.

When you collect 40′s and 50′s Cleveland Browns I find that it is best to set your expectations pretty low.  The autographs of many of the guys are hard to find, and depending on who is selling them (when you do run across a tough one) they can be super cheap or prohibitively expensive.  The best bet is just build a wantlist, plug it into Ebay or Google every once is a while, and hope for the best.  And when you do run across one, jump on it hard.  I have to stress this last part–there is a small buy hardcore group of guys who also collect vintage Browns autographs and I have learned that they tend to bid fast, bid high and don’t like to lose out on stuff.

Anyway.  John Yonakor is one of those autographs that i thought I would never run into…but sure enough a couple weeks ago I got a hit on Ebay and won this for just over $20.

Who is John Yonakor?  He is yet another player that if the general football fan had any sense of history, or the game had not changed as much as it had over the last 70 years, people would probably know him better.  Paul Brown said that he was one of the three best defensive ends that he ever coached, the other two being Paul Wiggins and HOF Len Ford.  All told, he would play with Cleveland from 1946 to 1949, and the Browns would go 38-3 (!) and being the dominating the AAFC.   It does not help that he only stuck around the game until 1952.

Half way mail day, I guess.  Sent this two weeks ago…and pretty sure I sent $20 with it.  I guess I was $5 short.  And at $25 I think it will be easier–and cheaper–to snag his autograph on Ebay.  When I do get a nice one, I will do a full right up….he deserves one.  Gaylord was one of the best Indians pitchers the franchise ever had, and a HOF’er as well.  Not only that, but he was quite the character…a gruff dude who did not get along with everyone, notable his manager Frank Robinson.

When you are a Browns fan, you have to hold tight to the good quarterbacks…since it’s been about a thousand years since we had one.  I guess we had it coming.  The following list is guys who

1946-1955:  Otto Graham

1956:  George Ratterman, Babe Parilli, Tommy O’Connell

1957:  Tommy O’Connell, Milt Plum

1958-1961:  Milt Plum

1962:  Jim Minowski, Frank Ryan

1963-1967:  Frank Ryan

1968-1971:  Bill Nelsen

1972-1975: Mike Philips

1976-1983: Brian Sipe

1984: Paul McDonald

1985-1993:  Bernie Kosar

1994-1995:  Vinny Testaverde

1999:  Tim Couch

2000:  Tim Couch, Doug Peterson

2001-2002:  Tim Couch

2003:  Kelly Holcomb, Tim Couch

2004:  Jeff Garcia

2005:  Trent Dilfer

2006:  Charlie Frye

2007:  Derek Anderson

2008:  Derek Anderson, Charlie Frye

2009:  Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson

2010:  Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme

2011-2012:  Colt McCoy, Seneca Wallace

Yes, The Browns have had some problems at QB.  While I will always love Bernie Kosar, Brian Sipe was really the last consistently great QB we have had.

Drafted in the 13th round of the 1972 Draft, it would take two years for him to join the active roster.  His career as a starter would start a little bumpy, but by 1978 would be one of the leagues best.  He would helm the Browns teams that would famously be remembered at the “Kardiac Kids”.   His 1980 season would be one of the best of any Browns QB ever:  4,132 yards passing and 30 TD’s/  He would be a Pro Bowler and the NFL MVP.  He would be with the team until 1983.

His career stats were 154-149 with 23,713 yards and a 74.8 QB rating.

He is now a coach with the Arizona Aztecs.

His autograph has always been a tough one for me to get, and I almost never see anything good on Ebay..even index cards.  I have written to him a couple times with no responses.  I whined about it on SCN and someone recommended I send to his school where he is a coach…and two weeks later I got this.  I feel really, really silly for not doing that sooner, I just had no idea he was coaching at a school.  Normally my researching skills are better than that!

1) Francisco Lindor, SS

2) Dillon Howard, RHP

3) Tony Wolters, SS

4) Jake Sisco, RHP

5) Luigi Rodriguez, OF

5) Ronny Rodriguez, SS

6) Nick Hagadone, LHP

7) Elvis Araujo, LHP

8) Felix Sterling, RHP

9) Scott Barnes, LHP

10) Cord Phelps, 2B

11) LeVon Washington, OF

12) Chen Lee, RHP

13) Chun Lee, RHP

14) Austin Adams, RHP

15) Jake Lowery, C

16) Matt Packer, LHP

17) Enosil Tejeda, RHP

18) Jorge Martinez, SS

19) Robel Garcia, 3B

20) Giovanni Soto, LHP

21) Jesus Aguilar, 1B

Here is the complete write up, with grades, notes and other Tribe prospects.

Baseball American also released theres, with the the big difference being  RHP Zack Putnam at #10.  Also notably, they have Chen Lee at #5.

I am obviously rooting for everyone on this list, but a few I am already pretty big fans of:  I met Matt Packer, Washington, Barnes, Chun Lee all last season and there were all pretty great to talk to, especially Packer.  I also was big on on Luigi Rodriguez, Aguilar and Lowery last season…and all signed through the mail as well.  I like that Cord Phelps made the list…and I hope that he gets another shot this season, either with us or another team.

2,458 autographs cataloged so far

143 Hall of Fames

145 Cleveland Browns in my Browns collection

418 are on base/insert cards

566 are certified, on card issue autograph

88 custom index cards

620 are on index cards

622 are on Sweet Spot cards

890 in black, 1545 in blue ink

Can be viewed above, or HERE

Everyone knows Kirby Puckett.  Despite being under 6 feet tall, he punished Major League hitters for 11 seasons.  He would spend his entire career with the Twins, and lead them to two World Series wins.  He would be selected to 10 All-Star games, six Gold Gloves, six Silver Slugger Awards, 1989 AL Batting Title, 1991 ALCS MVP, 1993 All-Star Game MVP and the Twins retired his number.  He would be indicted into the HOF in 2001 on the first ballot, with 84% of the vote.  More than just his numbers, he was an enthusiastic guy who inspired both his teammates and fans.   He was a renowned “good guy’, and everyone, both in and out of Minnesota, really loved the guy.

The end of his career would not be pleasant, though.  In 1995 Puckett was hitting .314 with 99 RBI going into late September, when a Dennis Martinez pitch shattered his jaw.  He would come back in 1996, but in Spring Training he woke up one morning and could not see out of his right eye.  He would be diagnosed with glaucoma, and would retire in July, 1996.

In 2002 Puckett’s reputation would be destroyed.  It would come to light that he had carried on an affair with a woman for 18 years, and both he and his wife would have restraining orders put out against them from two different woman.  Puckett would later be arrested twice, both times for abusing women.  Things would get so bad that an article would be written in Sports Illustrated, ”The Rise and Fall of Kirby Puckett”.  Puckett would die of a massive stroke in 2006 at the age of 45.  He is the second youngest HOF to die, with Lou Gehrig the first at 37.

Despite his image, Puckett is still very popular and his autograph prices show it.  I bought this card a few years ago when a collector was breaking up his partial set.  I was able to get this card, Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine all in one swoop…it was pricey but very much worth it.  This card may be his most sought after, and when one does pop up it normally runs in the $300 range.  Also, the few I have seen recently have had some funny fading issues, I assume to poor storage or a weak pen used when signing, so I am really happy with this card.

Boy, I sure do hate sticker autographs…but there are a few sets that I can stomach.  2007 Bowman Sterling is one, and I am not sure why.  The sticker are terrible…they are too shiny AND have “Topps autograph issue” printed on them.  But yet.  I have to say the overall design of the card is very nice, and the sticker look like they were put on by someone who was not drunk and/or blind.  Obviously this is another set that you can only daydream how awesome they would look on card.

I got both these cards in 2008.  I was a big fan of all these guys, especially Braun and Pence, and was able to get these while they were still kind of cheap.  The Votto/Bruce one cost me less than $20, while the Braun/Pence was just a little more.

There are a bunch of neat dual autographs in the set.  What stinks is that even now they still are just a little pricey, even the ones with a bunch of common guys or faded rookie prospects.  There is a Phil Hughes/Joba Chamberlain, Choo/Hu, Samardzija/Pie, Price/Hockevar and a  Crawford/Longoria that would be neat to get.  Still, they all run for around (or way over) $20 bucks.

]]> http://jdrusnak.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/showing-it-off-2007-bowman-sterling-dual-autographs/feed/ 0 jdrusnak photo 1 photo 3