Index Card Felix Fermin

Who is this? Indians shortstop Felix Fermin.

What is this? An autographed index card.

Where'd I get it? BP Sports Card Show 11/16/08.

How much did it cost? Twenty-five cents.

Why is this so special? I totally got this guy confused with Braves shortstop Felix Millan. Oops. Felix wasn't a bad player... he was a terrible hitter, but not a bad player. He knew how to bunt. He was good at defense. I remember him most with the Indians, but he played with the Pirates, Cubs and Mariners as well. He was with the '95 Mariners division winning team that lost to the Indians in the ALCS. The dude is a great manager too as he's won five Dominican league titles and one Mexican league title. So I got the wrong cat-like shortstop. It's still a decent autograph.

So what's up with the index card? Well, a lot of people collect signatures that way. They are easier to send through the mail for one thing. I didn't send it through the mail though, I bought it from a dealer at a card show. He had a bunch of cheap sigs on index cards and bumper stickers and stuff, so I picked up a few of 'em. It's an uncertified auto on a blank index card, but to paraphrase Lewis Grizzard, "It didn't cost but a quarter". The signature looks like the other ones I've found online so it's either legit or a master forgery. It's a nice signature too, starts off strong with bold Fs and Felix gives up on his last name and just scribbles away. I do that too. The bell in my last name just turns into a bunch of loops just like Fermin is now Feeeeeeeeen. I'd say it's worth a quarter. I got a whole post out of it after all!

2007 UD Masterpieces Cliff Lee

Who is this? Indians pitcher Cliff Lee.

What is this? An autograph card from 2007 Masterpieces

Where'd I get it? Out of a pack of 2007 Masterpieces.

How much did it cost? Three bucks.

Why is this so special? Dadgum, UD Masterpieces shore has some purdy cards. This card came out of a retail pack I picked up at Target. They had no blasters so I grabbed a few looking to fill in my set. I didn't expect to get this. At the time it was a pretty blah autograph as Cliff was suffering through a terrible year. I remembered the Cliff from 2005 though and was pretty happy with it. The card looks great too, with an on card autograph on that perfect textured paper that sucks up the ink so well. t's an interesting signature too, while it borders upon squiggle it also conveys "C. Lee" quite well. I'm wishing now that I hadn't abandoned my fantasy baseball leagues now as Cliff was my very last pick in a live draft. I needed a pitcher, and took a shot on Cliff. It paid off, or would have if I had checked my lineup at anytime after May. Ah well, at least I'm good at drafting.

2005 Donruss Mariano Gomez

Who is this? Indians pitcher Mariano Gomez.

What is this? An autograph card from 2005 Donruss, card number 32.

Where'd I get it? I have no earthly idea.

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

Why is this so special? Mariano is now pitching for the Twins' organization in Triple-A Rochester. He's a lefty reliever with decent stats this year, so there's always a chance he could make his debut soon. Until then, I don't have a whole lot to say about him. With the sorry state of pitching in the league you have to think that an effective lefty would get a chance to pitch in someone's bullpen sooner or later. It's a decent looking card, I like the shiny holo stickers for autographs. At least you can see the sig unlike with that Marlon Byrd card. The signature starts off strong and then devolves into weirdness for some reason. One day I need to buy a pack of Avery labels and sign every dang one of them so I can feel the pain of these poor prospects that are leaned on so heavily for autograph inserts nowadays.

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.

2006 Fleer Greats Mike Hargrove

Who is this? Indians first baseman Mike Hargrove.

What is this? An autograph card from 2006 Fleer Greats, card number NG-MH.

Where'd I get it? Atlanta Sports cards.

How much did it cost? $5.

Why is this so special? I always knew Mike Hargrove as Grover, the Indians' great manager, not The Human Rain Delay. Apparently Grover was the 70's version of Nomar Garciaparra with his OCD routine at the plate. I liked the Indians team back in the mid 90's and I thought Hargrove was a pretty good manager. I liked the fact that the Braves beat them in '95 better, but I was rooting for them in '97. He also managed for the Orioles and Mariners before resigning out of nowhere in 2007 in the middle of a winning streak. He's currently managing an independent league team in Kansas, the Liberal BeeJays. No, I'm not kidding. They're really called the Liberal BeeJays. Bee Jay as in American League founder Ban Johnson you dirty-minded folk.

This card is the autographed version of the Nickname Greats insert set from Greats of the Game. Mike even signed it with the nickname inscription. It's a pretty sweet idea but I'm not too thrilled about the clear plastic sticker stuck on the card. It simultaneously mars the photo and makes the signature hard to read. That aside, it's a pretty neat autograph from a guy who made a big impact in the league, especially in Cleveland.