Eric Gagne was an awesome reliever for a couple teams over his career but is most remembered for winning the NL Cy Young as a Dodger. His career ended as a member of the Brewer’s bullpen. I acquired a couple scorecards from Lanny Frattare’s broadcasting career that intersected Gagne’s career. Gagne had a signing with Jim F (jimfalbo21 on SCN) so I sent them in to the signing. Today they arrived on my front step. Yes, on a Sunday. Yeah USPS! Both scorecards were signed exactly where I wanted, with what pen I wanted, and with what inscriptions I wanted. I now have a scorecard from these two games in my collection:
09.24.2008 Pirates @ Brewers with “Last MLB Hold #12”
09.25.2008 Pirates @ Brewers with “Final MLB Game 718th MLB K”
The scorecard for the 25th was not completed by Lanny but it shows the final line from newspaper clippings taped to the scorecard.
A Pair of Completed Sports Illustrateds!
The 11.01.2004 issue of Sports Illustrated showed Mike Matheny sliding into second base with Mark Bellhorn jumping over him. It is a really cool cover photo. I had one already signed by both and another pair signed by just Bellhorn. When I saw that Michael T (Goodbyehalloween on SCN) had an upcoming signing with Matheny I figured I would send in the other two to complete them. I received them today and they look perfect! Great signatures with John 3:16 by Matheny.
A Runner Up ROY
Paul Skenes won the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year with an amazing season. Coming in second place was Jackson Merrill of the Padres. Jackson’s autograph is really a scribble and fairly ugly but since he had such a great year I decided to send in to Alan Moore’s Sports Graphing signing and bought a baseball from him. It arrived today and the signature is more than a scribble. Jackson took his time on it (probably since it was a paid signing event) and it is beautifully signed. It also included Beckett Witness authentication. I am very pleased with how it turned out!
Farming Away
Jack Greene (JackGreene on SCN) had a signing with Kyle Farmer to raise money for Hurricane Helene victims for a reasonable price so I sent in five cards. I received them today signed beautifully. The cards are:
2 @ 2024 Topps #379
4.7.23 Topps Now #68
4.7.23 Topps Now #68 #09/25
4.7.23 Topps Now #68 #05/49