Graphing the Ducks 2014-2015

I've made a few trips out this year to graph the Anaheim Ducks. They're a solid team pushing the pace for best in the NHL this season and have their usual standouts being stronger than ever. Team captain Ryan Getzlaf is playing like a beast right now and on pace to be leading the conversation for league MVP at the end of the season.

Each season I've worked on graphing the Ducks I've liked to get a team set of cards done. I made some progress on last year's Score set getting a few guys that I've missed and started this years O-Pee-Chee team set.

I added a few other nicer items getting a few pucks and some photos done to go along with the cards I got signed by the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf autographed puck.

Scott Niedermayer autographed puck.

Cam Fowler 2014 Olympics autographed 8x10 of him scoring the go ahead goal to beat Russia.

Ryan Kesler autographed 8x10 photograph from his time with Vancouver.

Scott Niedermayer autographed 8x10 photograph from when the Ducks won the 2007 Stanley Cup.

Cam Fowler 2014 Olympics autographed 8x10 of him scoring the go ahead goal to beat Russia inscribed "Go USA"

Ryan Kesler autographed 8x10 since joining the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf autographed 8x10 photo.

Corey Perry autographed 8x10 photo with the Ducks.

I got Sami Vatanen, Ryan Getzlaf, Cam Fowler, Frederik Andersen, Ben Lovejoy, Devante Smith-Pelly, Bryan Allen, Patrick Maroon, and Kyle Palmieri started off my O-Pee-Chee set and finished off some of the active Score cards I needed.

 Kyle Palmieri, Patrick Maroon, Hampus Lindholm, Ilya Bryzgalov, Andrew Cogliano, Francois Beauchemin, Jakob Silfverberg, Corey Perry signed some of the inserts and team cards I needed for the team set.

 Matt Beleskey, Patrick Maroon, Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Getzlaf, Sami Vatanen, Frederik Andersen, Eric Brewer, and Ben Lovejoy all signed their team card for me.

The Ducks are a great team and the couple of days I've spent graphing them has really had me come away with some great signed pucks, photos and cards.

RBI (221) Andre Reed at Dr. Alex Corbin Liu's 11/16/14

As I posted before, Dr. Alex Corbin Liu held an autograph signing with NFL Hall of Fame receiver Andre Reed at his practice. It was a great signing with everything affordable, well run and moving along quickly. 

Reed played most of his career for the Buffalo Bills and a lone season for the Washington Redskins. He's been inducted in the NFL Hall of Fame and the Bills Hall of Fame for his service. He is a 7-time Pro Bowler and 4-time AFC Champion. His 951 receptions went for 13,198 yards and were good for 87 touchdowns.

It was a nice day running into a few friends and I was more than happy to get this Andre Reed autographed 11x14 photo.

RBI (216) Don Sutton...

I made the trip down to San Diego to graph the Atlanta Braves. I made a silly mistake and neglected to bring with me a card for the broadcast crew as there was Hall of Famer Don Sutton working for them. I was able to get ahold of a card down there from another grapher for a buck in case I had the chance to get Sutton.

Sutton pitched for the Dodgers from 1966-1980 and made his way to the Astros, Brewers, Athletics, Angels and finally back to the Dodgers for a final retirement season in 1988. His numbers are standout at 324 Wins supported by a 3.26 ERA and 3,574 Strikeouts. Throughout his career he was however only a 4-time All Star, though he was the MVP of the 1977 All Star game. His number 20 was retired by the Dodgers  in 1998 the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as the only inductee into Cooperstown that year.

I got this Don Sutton autographed 1988 Score card by literally accidentally walking into Mr. Sutton in the street after the game. It was a nice surprise pick up and its always a good day when you can add a Hall of Famer to your collection.

RBI (212) Tony La Russa...

As you're all aware Albert Pujols is currently in the midst of a milestone season where he has crossed the 500 home run plateau. In recognition of this Tony La Russa his longtime manager was brought to Angel Stadium to partake in the celebration where Pujols was given a gift from the Angels' franchise. I've never gotten La Russa's autograph and in August it will become officially more difficult as he is inducted into the Hall of Fame.

La Russa needs no real explanation for his induction or why I was so anxious to graph him at the stadium. He's a 4-time Manager of the Year, won the award in both the American and National Leagues. To go with his 2,728 career wins he's a 3-time World Series champion. He's one of extremely select few that has ever won both Manager of the Year and World Series championships in both leagues. To say he deserved his election into the Hall of Fame with Joe Torre and Bobby Cox would be an understatement.

I'm glad to have gotten this Tony La Russa autographed baseball as an unexpected bonus to going to the Angels vs White Sox game.

RBI (211) Harmon Killebrew...

Recently I went to my local card shop and found a big collection of signed baseballs stacked up in the case. Unfortunately a collector passed away and his wife sold off his collection to the shop. I perused some of the balls and settled on this nifty vintage pickup of a Hall of Famer.

A Harmon Killebrew autographed American League baseball inscribed 573 HR which I bought for a pretty reasonable price. I've always wanted a Killebrew and the vintage ball is what made me jump on it. Killebrew autographs will always float around but balls from that era will only become harder to find, especially in such nice condition with the autograph holding so well.

RBI (208) NFL HOF'er Warren Sapp...

As you all know it's Derek Jeter's farewell trip around the league so fans are turning out in droves to see their final chapter of the captain's playing career. I made out to the Big A to try graphing the Yankees and didn't have too much luck. One random graph that I was happy to get was a fan that came out who had fans himself. NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp came to Angel Stadium to catch a game.

Sapp was a 7-time Pro Bowler, had 4 First team All-Pro selections, won Super Bowl XXXVII,  was named to the all-decade team for the 1990's and 2000's and for good measure won the Defensive Player of the Year award. All while playing as a DT instead of the more heralded DE position. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2013 and has maintained a visible profile as a retired player appearing as a commentator, judge on BBQ Pittmasters and runner up on Dancing with the Stars.

I was really surprised to see Warren Sapp at the stadium, but really glad he was spotted. I asked him if I could get his autograph and if he'd sweetspot the baseball and as I started to point out where to sign he told me not to worry that he had me and immediately knew where to flip the ball to. Awesome. He signed it nicely and inscribed "HOF 13" on the ball.

I'm glad to put him in the collection and already have my Warren Sapp autographed ball next to the ball I got signed by fellow NFL star Tony Gonzalez.

Dodgers Fanfest 2014 Summary

Well I don't often make it to Dodger Stadium to get autographs so it was nice to have Dodgers Fanfest 2014 happen this week for the opportunity to get some Dodger autographs.

That was one of the few nice things besides hanging out with my friends. Basically I misplayed most of fanfest and then didn't get some help from the most important part of a grapher. My pen.

The day started out well because instead of going to an early autograph session I actually graphed. I staked out a spot and started my day getting Nomar Garciaparra's autograph. Only I didn't notice until I got home that the pen also streaked. Which I don't understand, but it was the theme of my day. Great.

After Nomar I was able to get Orel Hershiser's autograph on this baseball. Using the same pen, but the autograph looks infinitely better. Great.

After Orel signed autographs Jerry Hairston Jr. came over and autographed a card Rob hooked me up with.

After getting Jerry Hairston's autograph I proceeded to start the rest of my day. My first autograph was Yasiel Puig on this 11x14. Only Puig was too busy flirting with the handler and leaning back bored while signing to actually have any sort of interest in the autographs he was giving. Oh and the perfectly fine and prepped pen I had fell on the table somehow and streaked. Great.

After Puig I didn't understand what was happening and Jaime Jarrin autographed this 8x10 photo inscribing "HOF 98" with the same streaky pen. Great.

Not to be deterred I switched pens with Rob for the next autograph session which was for Carl Crawford's autograph. Apparently it didn't matter what pen I used because that one didn't work either as soon as Crawford took it from me despite it being prepped and working fine on the prep paper. Great.

So that's my Dodgers Fanfest summary. Great. At least the Orel came through and looks good or it would have been a total waste.

Oh and that Jerry Hairston is nice to. Great.

Update. I have to admit that I was pretty upset about the Puig encounter. I wasn't happy with how some of my other autographs came out, but that's just how the day went for me. Some days that's just how the hobby goes. What I wasn't okay with was being treated dismissively and ignored at a fan fest after I had paid for an autograph ticket. So I contacted the Dodgers. Here's where most of you are thinking oh well the Dodgers are going to send him something to make up for it. They're not.

That's not the point of this update either. The point is both fan relations people I've spoken to said they'd work with their baseball operations people to help the players (Puig) understand the importance of not ignoring the fans, and that he's young so please bear with him. Considering his reckless driving case was just dismissed apparently that's the feeling everyone has for him. That's crap. I'm over him already, and people need to stop making excuses for him.

The Dodgers people were great, they were respectful and heard out all my thoughts and concerns. I'm generally pleased with how they interacted with me, but I'm still annoyed that Puig gets off again with other people covering for him.

RBI (151) Mariano Rivera...

I'm not sure I really need to say much more about getting an autograph from one of the arguably greatest MLB players of all time. A sure thing first ballot Hall of Famer who is an icon for not only his dominance on the mound but also for his humility and charity.

He has the MLB saves record surpassing 630 Saves, a number that at the end of this season will be etched in stone as one of the untouchables considering the factors that went in to his ability to set the mark. Longevity, consistency, team success and dominance for twenty years that will likely never be truly rivaled or witnessed again. He's an all-time great, one of the Yankees Core Four, the key cog in the Steinbrenner dynasty that brought a fist full of World Series rings to New York.

It's a true honor to be able to this Mariano Rivera autographed baseball and I'll treasure it forever. Without a doubt it is something that will always be special to me. It's another sign of his humility and generosity that Mariano not only signed for me but had knocked out a significant number of autographs for fans at Angel Stadium, working his way up and down the line for fans. He gave everyone a clean signature, truly gifting his autograph to the people that supported him throughout his career.

As a final note, it was great being able to get Mariano's autograph next to my good friend well known grapher David who got a great item signed. Last year we were able to get Derek Jeter's autograph together and this year Mariano, it'll be great to see who we can get together next year.

RBI (127) Who dat? An NFL Hall of Famer...

You can probably guess from the title that I was able to get the autograph of a Hall of Famer who shined for the New Orleans Saints. I had the opportunity to meet former offensive lineman Willie Roaf and was able to add him to my collection. I was very excited to add an autograph of a NFL Hall of Fame tackle who will reside in Canton.

Roaf was drafted in the 1993 NFL draft 8th overall by the New Orleans Saints. The rest is history as he went on to play for the Saints from 1993-2001 and then the Kansas City Chiefs from 2002 until his retirement in 2005. Of the 189 games he played in, he started them all earning recognition from his colleagues almost every season. He was a 11-time Pro Bowler, 6 time First team All Pro, 3 time Second Team All Pro, 8 time All-Conference, and named to the All Decade team for 1990 and the 2000's.

He was elected into Canton in his second year of eligibility in 2012.

Willie Roaf autographed this photo of him unveiling his bust to be enshrined in the Hall Of Fame in Canton at his induction, he inscribed "HOF 2012"

The tackle they nicknamed "Nasty" was kind enough to sign this 8x10 of him playing for the Saints against the San Francisco 49'ers about to lay down a block, and he inscribed "N.O. Saints" under his name and number 77.

It was great to add these Willie Roaf autographed photographs to my collection. Now that I've brought him into my collection I've gotten the autograph of a Hall of Famer from the MLB and NFL. I'll need to go out of my normal comfort zone to add an NBA and NHL player to my collection so that I'll have someone from each major U.S. professional sport to display proudly.

RBI (126) Hall Of Famer Tony Gwynn...

And definitely one of the more meaningful ones to me to add to my collection. I was able to get Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn's autograph at a free autograph signing in San Diego before the 2013 season started, and I was pretty excited to finally add him to my collection.

Tony Gwynn was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the 1981 MLB Draft and flew through to the Majors debuting for them in 1982. Gwynn was one of the few players to enter the Hall of Fame having played his entire career for a single team. His career stats are obviously impressive seeing as they got him into Cooperstown. He was an 8-time NL Batting Champion, 15-time All Star, won 7 Silver Sluggers, and 5 Gold Gloves. His career .338 average knocked in 1,138 RBI's with only 135 Home Runs coming out of his 3,141 hits. 

Gwynn received plenty of knocks through his career for his lack of home run numbers but he was a consistent doubles hitter with 543 in his career. Teammates who accused him of being only worried about his own stats didn't have the luxury of Baseball Reference which said with Runners In Scoring Position he batted .349 which is absurdly high and beneficial to his team. 

Gwynn was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, coming a mere 13 votes short of an unanimous induction. At the signing I got this Tony Gwynn autographed baseball inscribed"HOF '07" on the sweetspot. He's definitely a great signature to add to the collection and I also got Gwynns autograph on my RBI Collecting Bat.

I had a lot of fun hanging out with David and Al before the signing at the San Diego Ford dealership Tony Gwynn was signing at. There was a pretty decent sized line because Gwynn is so popular a player in Southern California and who is going to turn down a Hall of Famers autograph? Definitely a reasonably well run event that I had fun at.

RBI (89) Excuse me Mr. Lasorda...

it would mean so much to me if you'd please autograph my ball. That's right folks, this weekend during the 2012 Angels vs Dodgers Freeway Series I was able to get Hall of Fame manager and Dodger icon Tommy Lasorda's autograph.

Lasorda played in the MLB for part of 3 seasons but in the International League became a pitching legend helping the Montreal Royals win 5 Governors Cups. He was counted as a member of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers who won the World Series. After retiring as a player Lasorda joined the Dodgers organization as a scout and began a relationship that would be legendary in baseball.

Joining the franchise as a scout Lasorda eventually worked his way up through the Dodgers organization. As a scout turned minor league manager and then being named 3rd base coach under Walter Alston in 1973. Lasorda was deemed Alston's eventual replacement and when he retired in 1976 he took over the club. As the club's manager he complied a 1,599-1,439 record that included 4 National League pennants and 8 Divisional titles. Of those 4 NL pennants he took the club to win 2 World Series Championships and also took home 2 National League Manager of the Year awards.

The Dodgers retired his #2 and the Cooperstown Hall of Fame Veterans Committee inducted him into the Hall of Fame in 1997. Since retiring as a manager in 1996, Lasorda has been an executive for the organization and entered his 6th decade working for the organization in various capacities. He has the longest running continual service in franchise history, edging out legendary broadcaster Vin Scully by a single season.

I was able to get Tommy Lasorda's autograph on my baseball in person at Angel stadium when he was in attendance to watch his Dodgers play the Angels during the 2012 season.

RBI (76) The Curious Case of Al Kaline is Solved...

Regular readers probably are already aware of my previous post regarding Hall of Famer Al Kaline. If you aren't a regular reader and don't want to read the post, it essentially boils down to he has some weird signing habits in person and through the mail and I wanted to see how I'd do.

Okay, usual preamble about Mr. Tiger even though I want to skip to the good stuff. Hall of Famer class of 1980 (88% the vote) played for 22 seasons only for Detroit, an 18-time All-Star, and nabbed 10 Gold Gloves. 3007 hits from a career .297 average knocked in 1583 RBI's that won a 1968 World Series and got his #6 retired by the Detroit Tigers. Want to know the real good stuff? Then seriously, read the other post.

Well I sent my $20 to Mr. Kaline, and this is what I got.

Yes it is a very nice clear blue signature on the card. Yes it's great to have a Hall of Famer added to my collection. But let's be honest. This is the exact same signature that I could have acquired with a letter and $5...maybe $10 and an extra set of postage. For $20 I could have tracked down a certified Topps autographed card on ebay. An extra $10-$15 dollars didn't get an "HOF" or "GG" inscription? I don't think Garret Anderson even charges that much for an inscription and he only signs like twice a year and in person only. Twenty bucks and my index card wasn't even returned to keep the envelope stiff let alone with a "Thanks" scribbled on it.

Now is it a little petty to complain about a Hall of Famer signing for so cheap? Maybe. But it's the principle that has me not so pleased with how this safari went. By his "normal" habits, this could have gotten 2-4 cards signed with the same autograph. Instead my letter went unanswered and my index card wasn't even sent back.

It's not that I was expecting an extra signed card, inscription, or change. But I was hoping to find Mr. Kaline on the side of the fan and not send a completely indifferent response. I guess I was hoping for the Hall of Famer to show something more and act a little classier than a nobody minor leaguer at a card show would. Is that so wrong? Am I expecting too much from a Cooperstown inductee?

Kaline signed the 2003 Topps after 22 days from his home address.

RPS (4) 2012 Angel Stadium Opening Weekend

The 2012 baseball season has officially begun at Angel Stadium and the autograph hunting is in full swing. Since it was Opening Day I decided to spend the whole day at the stadium 'graphing. Zack Hample may have his streak of 793 (as of 4/8/12) consecutive games with getting at least 1 ball, but I've got a decent streak of my own going.  If you read my 2011 summary post then you know I went to 74 games last year and got at least one autograph each game of a former or current player, I felt the pressure to continue the streak as Opening Day began.

The closer I got to the stadium, the more pressure I felt until I got out of my car and saw some familiar faces. Needless to say the streak lives on and I had a pretty good weekend. However I'm not sure how long the streak will survive due to what I call the "Pujols Effect" which essentially means an obscene amount of people trying to get autographs every day. It's definitely going to take some serious effort to make sure I keep it alive.

Anyways, on to the summary. Unfortunately I wasn't able to photos of the graphing before and after the game, because I don't keep my Canon Rebel T3 on me while collecting since I don't want it damaged.

Going back to the "Pujols Effect" one of the biggest impacts Albert brings to the Big A, is the big ESPN deciding to cover more games than in years before. On hand to cover Opening Day, was Hall of Famer Barry Larkin who was very nice to the fans and signed during breaks from the broadcast. I was able to get him on this Rawlings Gold Glove Baseball, but he signed it with a black pen from the ESPN table.

On his way into the stadium, I asked if he wouldn't mind helping me work on the 1987 Topps set, and he signed one of those while he was walking. It was pretty cool getting to walk alongside Mr. Larkin with security escorting "us" and the rest of the ESPN crew toward the gate. I felt pretty important. You can see the "B" and "L" are consistent with the ball he signed sitting down, but as a Hall of Famer I wouldn't have minded him just scribbling an "x" let alone a decently consistent signature.

I present to you, your 2012 Kansas City Royals Opening Day roster down the first base line.

I couldn't get as nice a shot, but here is your 2012 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Opening Day roster down the third base line.

It's official, Erick Aybar now has the coolest friend in Anaheim. Oh and his friend Albert Pujols is now officially an Angel who has played in a MLB game.

First up some shots from Opening Day, Alex Gordon led off the night against Jered Weaver.

Howie Kendrick was up second for the Angels and is definitely going to have a big year seeing fastballs batting in front of Pujols.

Between all 3 games, I was able to get a pretty nice collection for my first weekend back into the season.  On Opening Day besides Barry Larkin, I got Rich Thompson to sign this 2011 Topps.

Mark Trumbo autographed this 8x10 of him against the Dodgers.

Angels owner Arte Moreno signed this 8x10 of him speaking at the Pujols press conference.

After the game I was able to get local product Royals 3rd baseman Mike Moustakas to sign his 2011 Topps Rookie Card. I told him how I had gotten a really nice shot of him fielding during the game and he said he'd sign it for me if I brought it.

On Saturday I didn't spend the whole day at the stadium, but I was able to get my first ball of the season from batting practice. Moustakas was nice enough to autograph this 8x10 I took of him on Opening Day.

I forgot to ask him to sign this 8x10 I printed out of the entire Royals team. But I was able to get center fielder Lorenzo Cain, All-Star reliever Aaron Crow, and Opening Day starter Bruce Chen to sign it.

On Sunday I was forgetful and left the team photo at home, but luckily remembered my cards. I had Gold Glover Jeff Francoeur sign my first ball from the day before on the sweet spot and my 2011 Topps.

The last autograph I was able to get for the series was future superstar Eric Hosmer on his 2011 Topps rookie card.

To summarize...awesome. It's nice to be back and have the streak extended.

RBI (72) Another Cooperstown hit....

Well today I decided to prepare for the coming season with a quick trip to my local collectibles' show to stock up on a few supplies. I didn't do anything too crazy, just a few specialty balls that I've got specific players in mind for and some card protectors. But while I was wandering around browsing for a few singles, I unexpectedly saw one of my friends at one of the card dealers. While we chatted I couldn't resist breaking open a box of 2011 Topps Lineage that was just calling my name as the lone box not neatly stacked with the others.

What was in it? Well there was a redemption for a Ian Kinsler autograph, which is pretty cool seeing as I'm never able to get him to sign at the stadium and he's not a reliable TTM'er. What else was in it? Oh just 2011 World Series Champion closer Jason Motte, which I'll probably do a separate post for later.

Those of you who have cracked open a box of Lineage know there are 2 autographs and 1 relic inside. The relic was a Game Used Jersey swatch from Cooperstown resident Hank Aaron. Yup, that's right. Hank Aaron.

The card is currently residing next to my Jason Heyward pull, which will hopefully help him bounce back from last season and fulfill his potential this season. I'm not really sure if I need to do a full player bio for one of the greatest baseball players of all time, so here are a few highlights. He is a 25-time All Star with 755 Home Runs and 3,771 hits. He won a World Series in 1957 with the Braves and was inducted into Cooperstown in 1982 with 97% of the vote.

Awesome. Best impulse box buy ever.

RBI (71) A Cooperstown TTM for the 365...

I'm sure by the title some of you who read the batch summaries I post before I mail out the 365 letters can guess who responded. Hall of Famer and Red Sox legend Bobby Doerr was kind enough to sign TTM for me.

Of all current players for the Red Sox, second baseman Dustin Pedroia is without a doubt my favorite. He's intense, and leaves it all out on the field and in the batters box. He continues a tradition of excellence at second that Bobby Doerr instilled in the position for the franchise after first appearing for the club in 1937. A tradition recognized by the Red Sox who retired his #1 in 1988 for his service as a player and coach.

Doerr was a generational talent who played 14 seasons exclusively for the Red Sox, though it could have been 15 if he had not been called away to serve in WWII. The 9-time All-Star while being one of the top defensive second basemen in the league, was also a dangerous hitter. When he retired in 1951, his career average was .288 and his On Base Percentage stood at .362. He had assembled more than 2,000 hits, 223 home runs, and 1,247 RBI's. Legendary hitter and teammate Ted Williams asserted Doerr was the "silent captain" of the team, a great tip to Doerr considering Williams' fickle nature about speaking to the public.

After retiring reasonably young at 33 due to injury, Doerr remained around the game as a scout and hitting coach. He is credited along with Ted Williams as being a strong influence in Carl Yastrzemski's evolution mid-career into more of a power hitter. After leaving the Sox he was the first hitting coach for the expansion Toronto Blue Jays from 1977-1981.

Doerr was inducted into the Cooperstown Hall of Fame in 1986 by the Veterans Committee. He was inducted along with Willie McCovey who received 81% of the vote and Ernie Lombardi, also another Veterans Committee inductee.

 Mr. Doerr signed this 2001 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts card for me signed "Bob Doerr HOF 86"

It took me a while to find that legendary cuts card and ironically the day after I bought the card at a card shop I swung through the card aisle at Target. What was sitting at the top of the $4 pack of randomly assorted cards in a clear plastic hanger? Yup. This 1989 Topps commemorating the 1988 All Star Game.
Also signed "Bob Doerr HOF 86"


Mr. Doerr was kind enough to sign these two cards for me from his home address in only 14 days.

RBI (45) A pair of Hall of Fame hits...

Well not just a hit, but a true hitter. While we are in an era of slugging first basemen, Hall of Famer Rod Carew was never an elite home run hitter, but he was someone you were fearful of every time he came up to bat throughout his career.

Carew was signed as an amateur free agent by the Minnesota Twins in 1964, and while he made his name with the Twins he is an Angel fan favorite. Carew's career spanned 19 seasons and saw him be one of the most dominate pure contact hitters of his era using the entire field to punish opposing pitchers.

He would finish his illustrious career with a .328 average and 3,053 hits. The magical 3,000th hit would fittingly come against Frank Viola, a member of the Twins in 1985. Despite his 1015 RBI he only had 92 Home Runs at the end of his career, but managed to hit 445 Doubles and 112 Triples for a career .429 SLG. His ability to put the ball into play and drive runners in was possible due to his great plate discipline, retiring with only 1028 Strikeouts against 1018 Walks.

While he didn't win a World Series championship, Carew's career was highlighted by his perennial appearances in the Mid Summer Classic, being an 18-time, all consecutive, All-Star. Carew also won the 1977 AL MVP award and 1967 AL Rookie of the Year Award with the Twins. In 1991 Carew was a first ballot Hall of Famer with 90.5% of the vote, and has had his #29 retired by both the Angels and Twins franchises.

Even now Carew's popularity is visible as an episode of the USA network show Psych contained a scene with a photo of Rod being joked about by the main characters.

These cards are a 1986 Topps and 1982 Fleer that I received from Tom at The Angels, In Order. I was able to get Hall of Famer Rod Carew's autograph on these cards on separate occasions at Angel Stadium through the Angels' 50th Anniversary celebration. I was actually on my way out of the door to head to the stadium when the mailman luckily pulled up with the package containing the cards or I'm not sure what I would have had Mr. Carew sign.