Just Met a Former Big Leaguer

Hey there!

I'm almost embarrassed to pop in here every two months or so, which seems to be the norm for the past year-plus, after I once fed this blog so regularly. I've never even updated you all on whether I went ahead and met Denny McLain a few months back at a local card show.

I did indeed and he signed a couple of things for me - including a ball on which he added umpteen inscriptions just for the heck of it. Despite having one of the more horrifically entertaining Wikipedia pages of all past professional players, Mr. McLain was a friendly, chatty man that day. I promise to post a photo of what he signed in a post soon.

Tonight I'm writing because I got to chat with another old timer. This one not as old as Denny Mac but in my estimation he is definitely an MLB near-great.

Who was it?

No, clearly it was not this man. But the player did appear in this set. By the way, how cool was Vada Pinson?

The former player I met appeared in MLB games in parts of the '60s and '90s - along with the two decades in between. He was not a pitcher. Those are my hints for now. Leave one guess in the comments and if nobody guesses correctly, I'll add a comment with another hint.

I don't have any great prize. I just thought this would be fun. That said, I will do my best to send you some cards of a team you collect or possibly from a set you're collecting (but those options are likely limited to 1982, 1984, 1985 Topps, 2011 Topps Chrome, 2014 Heritage and other 2011-ish sets). For the past two years, some random new pack purchases and 2014 Heritage notwithstanding, I'm strictly a vintage guy.

Still, I'll work to put a little something together.

By the way, I did bring some cards of this player along with me tonight as I had several from my youth collection on hand. I ended up handing four of them (three from 1976 Topps; one from 1979 Topps) to a family behind me (in the line of 12 total people) as the kids didn't have anything to get signed but toy sunglasses! They and the mom were so happy. Made my day.

The cards I kept are likely going to me, my daughter, my nephew and (in a few years) my young grand-nephew.

I should add that the former player was cordial enough and he was happy to sign all of my cards. He signed one ball as well and I had someone snap a pic of me and him on my iPhone. I'll share that evidence in an upcoming post.

I'm so mysterious tonight. It's somewhat annoying, I know.