Blog Bat Around: My All Autograph Team

I used to lament the disappearance of these kind of group-blog posts that were once a mainstay within the card collecting/blogging community. Now that there's been a recent resurgence in the "Blog Bat Around's," I find myself being too lazy to participate.

Well, no more to that.

I'm going to get off my fat bum and put something together.

So, with out further delay here is my "All Autograph Team." This Blog Bat Around is brought to us by "Torren' Up Cards, " and as you can guess we are to put together the best possible team using only autographs from our own collection. Furthermore, I will take it a step further and include only Dodger players on my team.

First up is the Catcher, and I've got quite a doozy to share with you. Featured on the right is my 11" x 17" B&W autographed photo of Roy Campanella. As you can see, he is giving instructions to a young lad while crouched down on the field.

I had gotten this signed at a weird card show located near LAX in the mid-90's that was put together by an outfit that represented athletes. Campy, along with numerous Hall of Famers from several other sports, was there for a signing. Best yet, it cost me just $50.00 (if I remember right) -- chump change these days. Of course, at the time I was a struggling college student so that was a sizable amount of money for me. Nevertheless, I decided to go-for-broke and put it all on my credit card.

Money well spent, I think.

Next on the diamond is First Base and I've chosen Steve Garvey to man that position. Following Garvey is Davey Lopes at Second Base.

At Shortstop is Maury Wills. I actually have an Pee Wee Reese autograph at home, but that sits buried in a box that I refuse to search for right now. It was a part of a large lot of autographed photos I purchase years ago, and I never got around to having it framed.

With apologies to Night Owl, I think the obvious choice for Third Base is Adrian Beltre. Although he didn't play anywhere near as many games in Dodger Blue as Ron Cey, he is clearly the better talent. After all, Beltre will be going into the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, he won't be a Dodger on his plaque.

On a side note, if I had a Jim Gilliam autograph I would have chosen him instead. Not because he was the best at the position, but because you gotta give the Devil his due.

Now we get to take a look at the Dodger Outfield. With no regards to actual positioning, I have pulled out autographed cards of Duke Snider, Gary Sheffield and Willie Davis to be on my All Autograph Team.

While Snider was an obvious pick for this team, I though both Sheffield and Davis would be somewhat controversial. Gary Sheffield only spent four season in Los Angeles, but slashed an amazing .312/.424/.573/.998 while here. Willie Davis, on the other hand, spent 14 years in Dodger Blue, but is often forgotten about.

I'll have you know, though, that Willie Davis holds numerous Los Angeles club records (1958–present) for career hits (2091), runs (1004), triples (110), at bats (7495), total bases (3094) and extra base hits (585). Willie also has the longest hitting streak in team history at 31 games, is an two time all-star and three time gold glove winner.

Now that we have the field covered, it's time to take a look at a five-man Pitching Staff. In no particular order of greatness, I pulled out autographed cards of Sandy Koufax, Orel Hershiser, Clayton Kershaw and Don Sutton. Lastly, check out an autograph bat with an Don Drysdale autograph (I'll have this pic up later tonight. I had forgotten to take a pic before heading to work this morning).

BTW, I have a side story on the above Don Drysdale autographed bat. I had gotten this signed at a card show at the convention center in Anaheim, and it was obvious from the get go that he, along with just about everyone else at the show, did not want to be there. I say this confidently because this show happened the weekend (or maybe the second weekend - I forget now) after the Rodney King Riots in Los Angeles.

If you recall back to those times, just about all of Southern California was shut down. And if it wasn't shut down you certainly didn't leave the house if you didn't have to. I, unfortunately, felt like I had to. The reason being, I was still selling cards at shows, and the promoter of this particular event refused to cancel and refund exhibitor money. So, I was stuck. I had to be at the show in hopes of making something out of nothing. Obviously, from the look on Drysdale's face, he was given a similar ultimatum.

Out of the pen will be Reliever Eric Gagne. Even though he fell from grace, I still consider him the greatest reliever I ever saw.

Lastly, I thought I would include a manager card to this All Autograph Team. Featured below is a Sweet Spot autograph of Tommy Lasorda.

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