Signature Sundays - Bernie Carbo

Since I posted a Red Sox autograph last Sunday, I might as well keep it rolling this week.  This is one that I actually picked up nearly three years ago now, but am only just getting around to scanning, posting and adding to my digital catalog...

The 2001 Fleer Red Sox 100th set is pretty much an essential for a Red Sox team collector like myself.  I've been plodding away at it casually for some time, and while I have a good chunk of the base set, Bernie Carbo here is just my third autograph.  He joins Rico Petrocelli and my prized Dom DiMaggio, both of which I picked up back in 2015.

Fleer did a great job with these autographs, they are on-card and feature big, bold signatures.  There are fifteen Red Sox autos in the set, plus a short-printed Yastrzemski for a total of sixteen.  I don't actively chase these, in fact there are a few autographs I'm missing available on eBay right now for less than $20 shipped, but they're just not a priority for me at the moment.

I couldn't resist this Carbo though when I happened upon it for just $11.  Bernie seems like a bit of an odd choice to me, certainly the most questionable of the sixteen autograph subjects in my opinion.  I'm grateful that they included him though, as there just aren't that many Carbo certified autographs out there.  In fact, my crack research in 30 seconds on eBay seems to indicate that Fleer may be the only company to have released a certified auto of Bernie, and there may be only two at that (this one, and one from a Greats of the Game set a couple of years later).

Bernie's tenure with Boston was relatively short, but he endeared himself to fans with his 3-run home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, which set the stage for Carlton Fisk's even more dramatic and legendary shot.  Aside from that, he was a very strange dude who certainly generated some interesting stories in his few years with the Red Sox.

Famous examples include the fact that Bernie used to travel with a life-sized stuffed gorilla which had its own plane seat on road trips, or that he once stopped a game for nearly ten minutes to locate his wad of chaw, which had fallen out as he made a dramatic catch.

I'm grateful that Fleer released at least a couple of certified Bernie Carbo autographs, and I'm happy that I was able to secure one for my collection.  He might not have been a HOFer, or even an All-Star for that matter, but Bernie seems like the kind of player that it would be refreshing to see included in a modern set like Allen & Ginter, or Topps Archives.  Am I right?