1997 Donruss Signature Series Michael Tucker

Who is this? Braves outfielder Michael Tucker.

What is this? An autograph card from 1997 Donruss Signature Series, Millennium Marks serial number 0300.

Where'd I get it? Who knows?

How much did it cost? Couldn't have been that much.

Why is this so special? Michael Tucker was hot as anything in 1993 or 1994. I remember seeing his rookie cards all over the place. He was the Next Big Star! Him and Mike Kelly. I ignored him because he was a Royal and bought up all the Mike Kelly cards before he became a Star. Mike flopped and Tucker was traded to the Braves in 1997. So of course I snagged as many of Michael's cards as I could get my hands on. He had a good year with the Braves in 1997, an ok one in '98 and then got shipped off to the Reds with Denny Neagle. The only problem with this is that we gave up Jermaine Dye to get Tucker, and received Bret Boone from the Reds in return. OUCH. And this wasn't the 37 homer Mariners Boone, this was the hitting .252 stinkerooni Boone. So yeah, that didn't work out too well. Tucker had a decent career although he never came close to the star status predicted. He still lasted 12 years in the bigs as a platoon outfielder and had one last hurrah with the Mets in the 2006 NLCS. Plus he's fondly remembered by Royals fans apparently. I'm not sure where I got this, I probably paid too much for it in any case. It's still a Braves auto with a nice sig with the uni number inscription. It's got numbers stamped on the back too, wheee!

1998 Donruss Signature Ryan Klesko

Who is this? Braves outfielder Ryan Klesko.

What is this? An autograph card from 1998 Donruss Signature Millenium Marks, numbered 1032.

Where'd I get it? Received in a trade with Cincinnati Reds Cards.

How much did it cost? Received in trade.

Why is this so special? Klesko was one of the big group of Braves Rookies that panned out in the early nineties along with Chipper, Javy and others. He was a slugging first baseman/outfielder that was better with the bat than the glove early on. He got in Bobby's doghouse frequently which is why he had a hard time holding down a full time job until he left the Braves. Klesko is prominently featured on the Sports Illustrated cover for the 1995 World Series, which is apparently not as Iconic as I thought since I can't find it online anywhere. He was traded to the Padres after the 1999 season for Wally Joyner, Reggie Sanders and Quilvio Veras, none of which had even close to the impact that Klesko had with the Padres. Ryan Played for the Giants last year where he was Barry Bonds' hunting partner, oddly enough. Ryan is currently a free agent and has not signed for 2008. This is the Millennium Green version of Donruss Signature, which according to SCD the first 100 signed were blue, the next 1000 were green and all the rest were Red. This is actually his most common colored signature from the set, as he signed only 1500 total cards (100 blue, 400 red). The card and auto both look great. This came in a group of cards from Joe at Cincinnatti Reds Cards.

1998 Donruss Signature Aaron Boone

Who is this? Reds third baseman Aaron Boone.

What is this? An autograph card from 1998 Donruss Signature.

Where'd I get it? A card show at the now defunct Venture Mall in Gwinnett.

How much did it cost? I got a handful of autograph cards from a dealer for about 20 bucks.

Why is this so special? This was the last product Donruss released before going belly up in 1998. Aaron spent most of his career with the Reds, but is best remembered for one at bat with the Yankees. He spent only 54 games with that team before screwing up his knee in the offseason and missing all of 2004. He has a couple of lackluster seasons for Cleveland before becoming a role player for the Marlins last year. He signed with the Nationals this winter and will come off the bench for them in 2008. This card is being sent to Joe of Cincinnati Reds Cards to complete a trade for tomorrow's autograph card. This was an excellent signature set, and Aaron's auto looks nice on the card.