Signature Sundays - Whit Merrifield Gets No Love

Back with another Signature Sundays post this weekend, and since it's projected to be an unseasonably warm 70+ degree day here in New England, we'll go with a recent baseball pick-up.

I'm a fan of the Archives Signature Series product that Topps has put out for the last few years, and have featured quite a few of them here on the blog over time.  While I won't spend the money to gamble on a one-card box of the stuff, I love picking up interesting ones for cheap coin on eBay.  Along those lines...

...here's a nice Whit Merrifield on-card autograph that I recently procured.  I know a few casual fans of baseball who are not very familiar with Whit at all, despite the fact that he led the American League in hits in both 2018 and 2019, the last two full-length MLB seasons.  He also finished third in the AL during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, with 70 hits.  So, why does Whit Merrifield get no love then?

Part of me thinks it's because of the market he plays in with the Royals.  If he played for the Red Sox, Giants, or Yankees for example, I can't help but think he'd be a superstar?  Maybe it's because he got a relatively late start to his MLB career?  He didn't debut until his age-27 season, so could it be that collectors aren't as into him because that negatively impacts his ability to rack up career numbers?

I'm honestly not sure, but what I do know is that I landed this 2018 Topps Chrome card, with Whit's on-card autograph, for less than $10!  I chose this one because the autograph presents nicely, and it's also a card from 2018, which was the first year that Whit led the AL in hits.  Would love to get a 2019 autographed card to accompany this one at some point, to have one from each of his hit-leading seasons.

Here's the back, though there's really not much to see here.  I think we're all familiar with the 2018 Topps/Topps Chrome backs by this point.

This particular card has some dust or junk that you can see along the top left edge.  It's actually inside the magnetic holder, which is odd and bothers my OCD to some degree.  At some point I may temporarily free Whit from his plastic prison, only to entomb him in a new, clean UltraPro OneTouch.

For now though, it's fine as is, and I'm really excited to add Merrifield to my autograph collection at a price point that can't be beat.  One of the more under-rated players in today's game in my humble opinion.  

That's all for today, thanks as always for stopping by, and enjoy your Sunday!