Playing a bit of catch-up…
Here are a couple private signing returns that came back during my recent hiatus. I’ll do a separate post with my 1981 Fleer Star Sticker set returns.
Frank Thomas (via rdaly42 on SCN)
I jumped at this one when I saw it pop up in the SportsCollectors.Net upcoming Private Signings listings. It was one of those that I originally clicked on assuming, “No way this will be in my price range.” I was very happy to be wrong.
“The Big Hurt” was always one of my favorite non-Yankees (unless, of course, you count his tenure in pinstripes from Mr. Baseball).
In fifth grade, my Upstate New York school took a field trip to the Hall of Fame. I’d been plenty of times before, but it was notable because one of my closest friends’ father was a chaperone. While everyone else came home with a souvenir pack of cards or a couple HOF plaque post cards, my friend got his father to spring for an autographed Frank Thomas 8x10. I was quite jealous.
Anyways… I’m thrilled to add him to the collection all these years later.
You all know Frank Thomas. You don’t need me to summarize his Hall of Fame career. Instead I’ll call out a few of his more random notables:
- Thomas was the only player in league history to have over 10,000 plate appearances without a single sacrifice bunt. The Big Hurt didn’t small ball.
- As early as 1995, Thomas advocated for testing MLB players for performance-enhancing drugs. “It means a lot to me because I did it the right way,” he said after hitting his 500th career home run.
- He had seven straight 100 RBI, 100 walk, 20 homer, and .300 average seasons.
- Final career numbers: 521 home runs, a .301 batting average, and a .419 on-base percentage. Four Silver Sluggers and two MVPs (1993, 1994).
Alec Mills (via Chicagoland Sports)
Mills’ September 13th no-hitter was one of the abbreviated season’s highlights. I was coaching a Little League team of 9- and 10-year-olds, and Mills was all the buzz on our Connecticut diamond the next day.
Mills, a 28-year-old former 22nd round draft pick, had racked up 649 Minor League innings before his Big Show moment. It was only his 15th MLB start, having previously gone no deeper than seven innings.
With a 90.1 mph fastball, he generated just five swinging strikes. His five strikeouts were the fewest in a no-hitter since 2013 (Henderson Alvarez, Marlins, 2013).
On the season, Mills posted a 5-5 record and 4.47 ERA over 11 starts.
The signing – my first through Chicagoland Sports – couldn’t have been easier. They supplied the card. I didn’t request the inscription (feeling that the Topps Now card spoke for itself), but he added it anyways. Score.
I can't remember who it was, but some other blogger recently got Thomas too, and I think maybe even on the same card too. It'd be interesting to know if you both got yours from the same signing as well? Frank was such a big deal when I was a kid, but it seems like his 'star power' really declined over the years, and I never could figure out why. He didn't cheat, put up plenty of big numbers, and to my knowledge, wasn't unpleasant with fans or the media, so by all accounts he should've remained uber-popular for the entirety of his career, and yet...
ReplyDeleteVERY underappreciated. The only slight (in my eye) is that after earning over $100 million, he's now peddling supplements. It seems odd since he was so outspoken against performance enhancers during his career.
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