Signature Sundays returns this week with yet another autograph from the first baseball card set I collected as a kid. From the 2019 Topps Archives Signature Series release, I give you Bobby Valentine!
Bobby, once a highly touted prospect from Connecticut, had finished his playing career a good decade or more before the 1990 Topps set hit the shelves. The Texas Rangers were his first gig as a manager, from 1985-1992, but he'd go on to manage the Mets and Red Sox as well, and even got in a few years behind the bench over in Japan.
As for the card itself, you may have noticed that this particular autograph is a '1/1'. I don't really care much about the scarcity of the autographs for this little side project of mine, just the authenticity. I'd gladly have snatched up a version of this card with more copies in existence to save a little coin, but as it stands this one only set me back around the cost of a retail blaster and I guess it's kind of neat to have a 1/1 in this collection.
My recollection of Bobby's lone season managing the Red Sox (2012) was that it was a bit of a disaster. He had a very unique style, and to this day I remember complaints about the odd training regimen he forced the players to adopt during Spring Training that year.
I don't think this stint with the Rangers was a whole lot better, and he was actually fired by George Bush in 1992! Cool bar stool trivia fact I suppose.
So, there's your autograph for the week, and the latest addition to my '
Topps Baseball Autographs of My Youth'
collection. That collection is now up to 6 autographs from 1990 Topps, 2 from 1990 Topps Traded, and a trio from 1992 Topps Kids. Coming along!
Well, that's a wrap for today. Until next time, thanks as always for stopping by and enjoy your Sunday!
1 comment:
I love the Topps Kids buyback autographs. There was a time when I was buying up lots of these cards on eBay... and right after looking for familiar names, I'd look to see if there were any Topps Kids cards.
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