Quote:
Originally Posted by egri
When I started my signed 1953 Topps project by writing to the surviving players, I was in college, so it amounted to buying champagne on a beer budget. That meant I had to buy the cheapest cards I could find, and often a difference of a couple dollars determined which card I got. I found #211 J.W. Porter on some site that didn't have pictures but advertised the card's condition as 'Good'. It was $1, with shipping another $2, so I pulled the trigger. It showed up in a plain white envelope, and as you can see (if my picture loaded...) calling it good is a stretch that would put Rose Mary Woods to shame. When I sent it off to Mr. Porter, he sent it back with one of his own signed custom cards, and a note saying he felt so bad about the condition mine was in that he threw in the custom to make up for it. |
JW Porter worked security for a spring training camp. I can’t remember which one. Maybe it was the Cardinals? But I do remember this old guy in a security shirt walking around and every now and then someone would show up with a 53 Topps for him to sign and tell everyone who he was. They were always cool moments. There would be this retiree in a yellow shirt just standing around and a person wild go up to HIM for an autograph. Everyone there would be wondering what happened and then the guy would come back and say something like “that guy played with Satchel Paige.” Porter seemed like a really nice guy.