1993 Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons Greg Legg

Who is this? Lakewood BlueClaws hitting coach Greg Legg
What is this? A signed 1993 Scranton Wilkes Barre Red Barons team set card
Where'd I get it? I wrote to the Legg c/o the BlueClaws at the beginning of July and asked him to sign it. I got it back about a week later.
How much did it cost? I found it in a dealer's dime box at a card show earlier this year.

Why is this so special? Greg Legg played 14 games for the Philadelphia Phillies between 1986 and 1987, but that's not why I remember him.

Legg played for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Red Barons in each of their first six years of existence, though he only reached the 100 game plateau in two of those seasons. My family had relatives in the Scranton area, and every summer we'd go out to visit. Going to a Red Barons game or two was usually the highlight of the trip. While Legg was never a superstar, you have to admit he's got a memorable name.

Legg retired as a player in 1994, but he remained in the game as a manager and a coach.

Although its a bit small, Legg has a clear and legible autograph.

1988 Donruss Cory Snyder

Who is this? former Cleveland Indians outfielder Cory Snyder
What is this? An autographed card from the 1988 Donruss set
Where'd I get it? I wrote to Snyder after Thanksgiving and asked him to sign it. I got it back in Friday's mail.
How much did it cost? Postage, basically.

Why is this so special? Cory Snyder played in over 1,000 major league games during a nine-season career. He had a powerful throwing arm - in 1987, he had 16 assists in right field and made 9 errors.

Snyder also struck out a lot. He led the National League in Ks in 1993, and would have led the American League in 1987 except for a couple of guys named Rob Deer and Pete Incaviglia. But that made Snyder fun to watch - you never knew quite what was going to happen, but there was a decent chance that it would be exciting.

Before he turned pro, Snyder played for the U.S. Olympic team in 1984.

Here's the other card Snyder signed for me - it's a little easier to make out his autograph on this 1993 Leaf card.

1993 Topps Bob MacDonald

Who is this? Former Toronto Blue Jays reliever Bob MacDonald
What is this? An autographed card from the 1993 Topps set
Where'd I get it? I wrote to MacDonald at the beginning of November and asked him to sign a few cards for me. I got them back the day after Thanksgiving.
How much did it cost? Not much, beyond the postage.

Why is this so special? MacDonald was born in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. He spent parts of six seasons in the majors in the 1990s. Though he pitched primarily for the Blue Jays, MacDonald also played for the Mets, Yankees and Tigers. According to his Wikipedia page, MacDonald now manages a semi-pro slow pitch softball team.

MacDonald has a decent signature that would likely be quite nice on a larger item... it seems a bit cramped on the baseball cards he signed for me. Here are the other two:

1993 Topps Stadium Club Yankees Sam Militello

Who is this? Former New York Yankees pitcher Sam Militello
What is this? An autographed card from from the Stadium Club Yankees set.
Where'd I get it? Out of a dealer's $1 box at the local card show
How much did it cost? $1


Why is this so special? Even though I'm a Mets fan, I have a certain degree of fondness for the Yankees teams of the late 1980s & early 1990s. Something about rooting for underdogs, I guess.

Sam Militello was an August call-up for the 1992 Yankees, a team that finished 20 games behind Toronto with a 76-86 record. I'm not sure whether Militello's promotion was due to an injury or a youth movement, but I suppose it doesn't really matter.

He won his major league debut, pitching seven innings of one-hit ball against the Boston Red Sox. Millitello made eight more starts in his rookie year, finishing with a 3-3 record and a 3.45 ERA. He looked like he would become a solid major league pitcher, maybe even a star.

Unfortunately, he got hurt in 1993 and only pitched in three major league games. He tried to make a comeback, but it never really worked out. Militello went into coaching - he is currently an assistant at the University of Tampa.

Militello has a neat-looking autograph. It wouldn't have gotten him a good grade in penmanship, but it is easily readable.

1993 Topps Dana Stubblefield

Who is this? Former 49er, Dana Stubblefield.

What is this? An autograph card from the 1993 Topps set, number 64.

Where'd I get it? At a free autograph signing around 1994.

How much did it cost? Whatever a pack of '93 Topps cards cost.

Why is this so special? This card is special because it is featured on Auto-Matic for the People. All of us (including me) have been slacking of late (we are probably too busy buying up all of the new '09 baseball cards). So, I figured that I should post something.

As for this card, I got it signed at one of the local car dealerships in 1994. Luckily, one of my neighborhood friends heard about it on the radio and we were able to snag a ride over there to get some signatures. I got this card signed (it was the only one I had of him) and I got a 1994 University of Kansas schedule-poster signed. The signing was free.

Stubblefield had a great rookie season in 1993. He notched 10.5 sacks that year and was the Defensive Rookie of the Year. His sacks steadily dropped for the next three seasons. Then, in 1997, he had a 15 sack season. He was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year Award. He then went to Washington via free agency. In his three years there, he never had more than 3 sacks. He played three more seasons in San Francisco and Oakland but could not rekindle his old glory.

His name came up in the BALCO investigations and he is currently serving a two-year probation. He also appeared in the movie "Reindeer Games".

I hate the photo on this card. He was a first round draft pick and I would have preferred a photo of him playing in college. Instead we get a training camp photo of him warming up in shorts, without shoulder pads on, and with his last name on the front of his helmet so all of the coaches will know who he is.

1993 Team Stadium Club Ryan Klesko

Who is this? Braves first baseman Ryan Klesko.

What is this? An autographed 1993 Team Stadium Club card, card number 26.

Where'd I get it? EBay auction.

How much did it cost? One penny.

Why is this so special? As I stated over here, I've gone on some real eBay binges lately. One such binge recently netted me four cards for this blog. Here's how it happens: I'm looking for something completely unrelated, often not to buy but for a blog post. I find a cool auction and click on the seller's other auctions. I find something I ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE. Then I look through the rest of the listings to see if I can combine shipping and save some money by spending even more money. I discover in the fine print that if I buy 10 or more auctions, I seve even MORE on shipping. Now, I'm buying the store because I am an idiot. I ended up with a ton of cool stuff though and it was all under 15 bucks. Gotta love penny auctions. That's where I got this card. Here's the disclaimer from the listing:

I GOT THIS CARD IN A COLLECTION I BOUGHT. IT LOOKS LIKE A GOOD SIGNATURE BUT I CAN'T GUARENTEE IT, THIER'S NO PROOF EITHER WAY,BUT I'VE LOOKED AT COA AUTO'S BY HIM AND IT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD.

So yeah, it's an autograph card with no COA and dubious provenance of a player that could be described as a 'minor star' if you're feeling generous that day. Who freaking cares? It cost me a penny. The signature doesn't look a whole lot like my other autograph card of him, but it does look like the signature on another '93 Stadium Club card. I remember clearly that these exact cards were signed, placed in a blister pack and sold in Wal-Mart and book stores in the early nineties with a COA, so this could be one of those cards. Or it could be a total fake. Again, it cost me a penny. Ok, plus 50 cents for the shipping. Where else could you get such a thrilling mystery for 51 cents? Maybe a used book store in the bargain section. I'll save my money for the cards and read up on the mysteries online.

1993 Upper Deck Clutch Performers Terry Pendleton

Who is this? Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton.

What is this? An autographed 1993 Upper Deck Clutch Performers card, number R16.

Where'd I get it? A dealer at the 2008 Braves FanFest.

How much did it cost? Eight dollars.

Why is this so special? I found this looking through a box of Braves autographs hoping to find some two-dollar bargains. After finding nothing of interest in the first row of the box, this card was the first one in the second row and I knew this autograph was much better than getting a handful of no-names. The autograph is gorgeous and has the 91 NL MVP inscription on a nice insert from 1993 Upper Deck. A few years ago Terry was vilified by some for "stealing" the MVP award from Barry Bonds in 1991. Times have changed. Terry is currently the hitting coach for the Braves and is considered to be a top managerial prospect. Terry is the heir apparent to Bobby Cox in Atlanta, assuming Bobby ever retires.