[steveinphilly]

In 1983, the Phillies put out a series of Nostalgia Night postcards, with Dick Perez paintings (sets are easy to pick up on eBay). On August 26, the greatest third basemen in Phillies history card was issued, with Puddin' Head Jones, Pinky Whitney, and some guy named Schmidt. Jones died of cancer at age 58 on October 18, less than two months later, in Cincinnati. Whitney died in 1987. It's rare that a Mike Schmidt autograph is the cheapest one in a bunch, but on that card it is. I have seen the card signed by Whitney and Schmidt for around $300. I've never seen one signed by Jones as well, although a dealer in Philly told me he had one that was stolen from his table at a card show in the 1990s. I can't imagine there are a lot of those--one basically would have needed to write to Jones during those few weeks he was alive and then followed up with Whitney within 4 years. I imagine a lot of people trying to collect the set signed might have focused on the active players like Schmidt during the season and then mailed to the old-timers in the offseason, by which time it would have been too late for Jones.