The April, 27, 1981 Sports Illustrated magazine pictures the Oakland A’s starting five pitchers inside their locker room. It shows Rick Langford, Steve McCatty, Brian Kingman, Matt Keough, and Mike Norris posing together. It is really tough to find this magazine signed by any of them much less all of them on the same issue. I was fortunate enough to get Mike Norris to sign one years ago and then found a seller selling an issue with Steve McCatty’s signature on it. Coliseum Kingz (Carlos Lopez) recently had a signing with Norris so I sent in the issue signed by McCatty already and received it back today. Mike Norris signed it perfectly. I now have two down and three to go! I know this one won’t ever get completed but it is ready if the other three decide to start signing.
UPDATE: I received a message on this post from a buddy of mine that Matt Keough has passed away. So, now I know this one will NEVER be completed! I guess that makes Matt a REALLY TOUGH signer now!
Category: Private Signing
The Knobber
Chuck Knoblauch came onto the baseball scene with a flourish in 1991. He was a fast and steady, top-of-the-order, on base machine early in his career helping lead the Twins to the 1991 World Championship earning Rookie of the Year on the way. Later on, he got the yips and could not throw the ball from second base to first base. It was later revealed he was a PED user and ended up having domestic issues. A sad tale really. But, a couple items from happier times arrived in my mailbox today. Chris R (rifon on SCN) attended a signing event and got a pair of items signed by Chuck. My December, 1991 Baseball Digest issue and 1991 Opening Night Twins at A’s ticket were both signed nicely by Chuck. His signature has really deteriorated from his playing days. Back then his signature looked like his name. Now it is a C with some loops. But, he did include “MLB Debut!” on the ticket. A couple nice items to add to the Twins collection!
A Hugh(es) Addition
During the 2014 Twins season, Phil Hughes rarely walked a batter. In fact, he holds the record for least number of walks (16) in a season of over 200 innings pitched. He also holds the record for the best strikeout to walk ratio in a season (11.625). He had great control that year!
The last card I needed of Phil in a Twins uniform was his 2017 Topps #379 so when Todd B (moselder71 on SCN) had a signing with Phil I jumped on it. Today I received my card back signed! I am done with Phil Hughes signed Topps cards in my collection!
Out of the Woods
Todd B (moselder71 on SCN) advertised a signing with Simeon Woods-Richardson well before Twinsfest. I added a pair of debut tickets at Twinsfest last year but it was Simeon’s scribble loopy “signature”. I had a pair more debut tickets and did not want to risk not having his full signature so I sent them in to Todd’s signing. I had to pay extra for the full name on the tickets but they turned out great. I had also sent in a pair of cards hoping that Simeon was not in a group I was going to have to get through at Twinsfest. Luckily, he was not and I am able to use the two cards I got signed too!
The items that showed up today are:
Debut Ticket with full name and “MLB Debut” @ 2
2023 Topps #479
2023 Topps Heritage #65