1995 Topps Kerry Collins

Who is this? NFL Quarterback Kerry Collins
What is this? An autograph card from 1995 Topps.
Where'd I get it? I got this card signed in 2001 when the NFC Champion New York Giants practiced against the New England Patriots at Bryant College in Rhode Island.
How much did it cost? I got this card out of a pack in 1995.

Why is this so special? Kerry Collins was a Quarterback in the NFL for 16 seasons, playing for the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders, Tennessee Titans, and Indianapolis Colts.

While he is unlikely to be ever by elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he would be an ideal candidate for a Pro Football Hall of a Good Career. Collins was a two-time Pro Bowl selection (1996, 2008) and led his team to the playoffs four times (1996, 2000, 2002, 2008), highlighted by his Quarterbacking the New York Giants to an NFC Championship and the Super Bowl in 2000.

Collins was the first draft pick in the history of the Carolina Panthers franchise when he was selected fifth-overall out of Penn State, where he was an All-American and recipient of the Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Sammy Baugh Award, and College Quarterback of the Year in 1994.

Kerry was very nice about signing after the scrimmage, especially considering that almost all of the fans at Bryant College were Patriots' fans.

1995 Signature Rookies Old Judge Jimmy Hurst

Who is this? Former Detroit Tigers outfielder Jimmy Hurst
What is this? An autographed insert card from the 1995 Signature Rookies Old Judge set
Where'd I get it? The discount box of a card dealer at the local card show
How much did it cost? 50 cents

Why is this so special? Jimmy Hurst spent 17 seasons as a pro baseball player. A 12th round draft choice in 1990, Hurst eventually made it to the major leagues for 13 games with the Detroit Tigers in 1997. He got three hits, including a home run off New York Yankees All-Star David Wells.

Hurst played home games in at least four countries during his career - the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan. He was a star in the Atlantic League in the later stages of his playing career. He suited up for the Newark Bears, Nashua Pride and Atlantic City Surf. For the 2002 Atlantic League Champion Bears, he hit .341 with 35 home runs and 100 RBI.

Hurst's autograph is a little sloppy, but that could be forgiven considering the relatively small size of the card and the number he had to sign.

1995 Signature Rookies Old Judge All-Stars Signatures #AS5 Chris Stynes

Who is this? Former major leaguer Chris Stynes
What is this? An autographed card from 1995 Signature Rookies
Where'd I get it? A dealer at a local card show
How much did it cost? This is one of 7 autographed cards I got for $5.


Why is this so special? I wrote about Stynes in December. It's interesting to see how little his signature changed during the 15 years between signing this card and the ones I got back before Christmas.

I like the idea of the rectangle of color on an otherwise black & white card, but the results seem a bit awkward.

1995 Signature Rookies Old Judge Hot Prospects Signatures #HP2 Brad Clontz

Who is this? former Atlanta Braves reliever Brad Clontz
What is this? An autograph card from a 1995 Signature Rookies set
Where'd I get it? a dealer at the local baseball card show
How much did it cost? This is another of my 7-for-$5 autographed cards

Why is this so special? Clontz appeared in 272 major league games over six seasons. He spent most of his career with the Braves, where he appeared in two World Series and won a ring in 1995. Clontz also pitched briefly for the Dodgers and Mets before moving on to Pittsburgh to finish his major league career.

Clontz retired from baseball after the 2006 season, when he played for Albuquerque in the Pacific Coast League (AAA). In 2005, he pitched for the Somerset Patriots, where he won an Atlantic League championship.

Clontz' autograph isn't too bad - I probably would have simplified it further if I had to sign 1,500 cards.

1995 Fleer Rookie Exchange Set Brian Boehringer

Who is this? former New York Yankees pitcher Brian Boehringer
What is this? An autographed card from the 1995 Fleer Rookie Exchange Set
Where'd I get it? Boehringer signed it for me at the MAB Celebrity Services Pinstripe Passion show in Secaucus yesterday.
How much did it cost? $10


Why is this so special? I wrote about Brian Boehringer for Dec. 22, 2010.

This card is one of nine in a rookie mail-away set produced by Fleer in 1995. It included Edgardo Alfonzo and 1996 NL Rookie of the Year Todd Hollandsworth, but Fleer did not choose a bunch of future stars. I bought my set for a quarter at a baseball card show in 2008, mainly for the Alfonzo card.

When I looked through the cards, I realized that I'd seen 5 of the 9 players in the Atlantic League after their major league careers ended. I was able to get Alfonzo and Frank Rodriguez to sign their cards before or after Newark Bears games, but Boehringer, Darren Bragg and Brad Clontz were long out of the league.

After getting Boehringer's autograph, I now have a third of the set signed.

1995 Classic Brooks Kieschnick

Who is this? Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Brooks Kieschnick
What is this? An autographed card from a Classic set in 1995
Where'd I get it? A dealer's dollar box at the local card show.
How much did it cost? $1


Why is this so special? Brooks Kieschnick is one of the more interesting baseball players from recent years. The Cubs selected him with the 10th overall pick in the 1993 draft. He was chosen as the National Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year twice and was a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural class.

Kieschnick began his pro career as a hitter, and had cups of coffee in the majors with the Cubs, Reds and Rockies. But it had become apparent that he would not be the star in the major leagues that he was in college.

In 2002, Kieschnick took up pitching and by the next year, he found himself on the Milwaukee Brewers' roster. He pitched, he pinch hit, he played outfield - in an era of ever-expanding bullpens, how could you resist a player with that kind of versatility? In 2004, Kieschnick worked solely as a pitcher (and occasional pinch-hitter). It was his final year in the majors, though he spent one more year in the minors before retiring.

For a guy who had to sign over 3,000 cards for Classic, Kieschnick had a pretty good autograph.

On a separate note, I'm absolutely fascinated by the monthly traffic stats for this site. GCRL's John Wooden autograph is the most popular post this month (and all-time.) That makes sense - he's one of the most famous names featured on the blog.

The next most popular post? My cards autographed by New Hampshire Fisher Cats trainer Bob Tarpey and strength coach Brian Pike. I can't quite figure that one out.

Thanks to Stale Gum and Autographed Cards for referring the most traffic.

1995 Fleer All Rookies Frank Rodriguez

Who is this? Frank Rodriguez, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds

What is this? An autographed card from the 1995 Fleer All-Rookies set

Where'd I get it? I got the card signed before a Newark Bears game in 2008

How much did it cost? Less than a quarter

Why is this so special? Frank Rodriguez had a great collegiate career, earning the Dick Howser Trophy and leading the Howard Junior College (Big Spring, Texas) to the National Junior College World Series Championship in 1991 .

The Boston Red Sox drafted Rodriguez as a shortstop in 1990, but he didn't sign until the next year. They turned him back into a pitcher in 1992, and he made his major league debut in 1995. The Red Sox traded Rodriguez to Minnesota for Rick Aguilera.

In Minnesota, Rodriguez spent most of his time in the starting rotation. He did not enjoy much success. His career big league record is 29-39, with a 5.33 lifetime ERA.

Rodriguez did not play professional baseball in North America between 2002 and 2007, but he attempted a comeback with the Newark Bears in 2008 at the age of 35. It didn't quite work out, and Rodriguez retired again.

Rodriguez has an interesting abbreviated autograph: F_k R_d_z

In 1995, Fleer produced a nine-card All-Rookies set that could be obtained by mailing in a redemption card found in packs. I bought the complete send-away set for a quarter at a local card show.

I actually saw five of the nine players included in the set in Atlantic League action between 2005 and 2008. Unfortunately, I didn't get the card set until 2008 so I was only able to get two signed.

M1 Edgardo Alfonzo (2006 Bridgeport Bluefish, 2007-08 Long Island Ducks)
M2 Jason Bates
M3 Brian Boehringer (2006-07 Bridgeport Bluefish)
M4 Darren Bragg (2005 Nashua Pride)
M5 Brad Clontz (2005 Somerset Patriots)
M6 Jim Dougherty
M7 Todd Hollandsworth
M8 Rudy Pemberton
M9 Frank Rodriguez (2008 Newark Bears)

1995 Signature Rookies Preview Ryan Luzinski

Who is this? Ryan Luzinski, a former minor league catcher

What is this? An autograph card from the 1995 Signature Rookies Preview set

Where'd I get it? I don't really remember. I have a ton of 1995 Signature Rookies cards, so I think I bought a lot of them somewhere along the way.

How much did it cost? No idea, but it couldn't have been much.

Why is this so special? Ryan is the son of former Phillies slugger Greg Luzinski. The New Jersey native was the first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992. He played professionally for eight seasons, but never reached the majors.

I've always wondered if Signature Rookies made the players number the cards as they signed them.

1995 Signature Rookies Hector Trinidad

Who is this? Cubs pitching prospect Hector Trinidad.

What is this? An autograph card from 1995 Signature Rookies, card number 35.

Where'd I get it? Who knows?

How much did it cost? Not much.

Why is this so special? Man, I don't know nothing about Hector Trinidad. He never made it past Double-A. I kind of forgot I had this post scheduled for today. Since this post sucks, I'll do another one tonight that's actually good.

1995 Signature Rookies Tetrad Jaret Wright

Who is this? Indians pitching prospect Jaret Wright.

What is this? An autograph card from 1995 Signature Rookies Tetrad, card number F12.

Where'd I get it? Atlanta Sports Cards.

How much did it cost? A buck.

Why is this so special? I still can't believe the Yankees got suckered into paying this guy. Ha! This is a pretty bizarre looking card. Forget the oh-so-'90s SR FORCE font on the top (teal and purple, brilliant!), There's so much other craziness going on it's hard to list it all. First there's the tilted photo with the three cutouts of various body parts. Another go-to '90s technique. There's several flags for unnecessary use of foil, first in the 'baseball' designation under the SR FORCE just so we know Jaret isn't playing lacrosse, the typical unreadable foil name (in script, no less) and the mysterious "You make the call!" logo which probably meant something in 1995 but certainly doesn't now. The best is the "1 of 6000" foil stamping alone with the hand written 1551/2500 serial number. It's like they printed up the cards, got Jaret to sign as many of them at gunpoint that they could then added the second serial number later. I guess this means the unsigned card is limited to 3500 since we know that no card company during the heady '90's would ever overproduce one of their cards. The back is worse than the front. More purple and teal, more inset photos of body parts, and the utterly fantastic hologram sticker that was stuck on the card by some intern guaranteeing that this card had an authentic sticker stuck to it.

Wright was a bit of a phenom for the Indians in '97 and '98, going 20-13 for the Tribe before arm problems turned him into a reclamation project for the Braves. Reclaim they did, as Jaret went 15-8 with a 3.26 ERA for the Braves. He immediately bolted for the Yankees but left his talent behind in his Braves' locker. Can you say 6.08 ERA? I'm hard on ol' Jaret since he was one in a line of free agents that bolted from the Braves for more money only to suck in their new homes. Jaret did turn one league-average year for the Yankees in 2006 to earn his 21 million dollar contract. He then turned in 10 and a third forgettable innings in relief for the Orioles in '07 and was cut from the Pirates in spring training. Poor Jaret. The signature is interesting though. I suppose I can see "Ja" with a flourish on the end, but I have no clue where Wright is supposed to be. I suppose it could be that bit under the flourish, but with the oversize J it looks more like July. Good month to post this card I suppose.

Ricky Bottalico

Who is this? Phillies pitcher Ricky Bottalico.

What is this? An autographed 1995 Pinnacle card, number 143.

Where'd I get it? A card shop outside Nashville, Tennessee in about '97 or so.

How much did it cost? Two bucks

Why is this so special? There was a really good card shop up in Nashville back when I lived up there. I have no clue if it's still around and I don't feel like driving the four hours to find out. It was a great store though. It was a huge brightly lit store with lots of singles, tons of wax, and some memorabilia. They had a couple of boxes of autographed cards on sale for two bucks each. They got them from a guy who was a big baseball and hockey fan. He'd go to spring training and a bunch of hockey games and get autographs, and sold a bunch to the store. Most of the stuff they had for baseball was picked over, but I have a few sheets of hockey autos I got from them. One of the few baseball autos I bought there was this Ricky Bottalico card. It's a little smudgy, but the signature is strong and readable. Markers didn't play well with those newfangled glossy cards back in those days. Ricky was the Phillies' closer when I got it, and was an All-Star the year before. That was pretty much the height of his career. He had arm surgery in '98, was traded to the Cardinals in '99 and bounced around the league as a reliever until retiring in 2005 after a season in the Brewers' bullpen. He was a broadcaster for the Phillies in 2007 and is currently the analyst for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs minor league team. Who knows, with a lot of hard work maybe one day he'll be as good a broadcaster as Harry Kalas. He'll never be able to say his name like Harry though... Bowtahllleecooo. Man, if I didn't have Pete and Skip to listen to, I'd be really jealous of Phillie fans who got to hear Harry all those years.