[FrankWakefield]

At the end of college days I knew a few days in advance that I'd have a chance to meet Jim Bunning. I asked him to sign 3 or 4 cards, which he gladly did. One was a really nice Topps rookie card of his. That card was worth more than his autograph. Thinking through what's been said, seems like rookie cards are less likely to be signed, therefor worth more? For me it wasn't about money or resale value, I recall seeing him pitch for the Phillies, I was glad to have his signature on a few of his cards. That meeting was about 35 years ago, I'm glad I still have them.

My recollection was that back when, it wasn't that unusual to encounter a player who wouldn't sign a baseball card. I have mailed cards to players with SASE's and sometimes I got a signed 3x5 and the card back unsigned, sometimes just a signed 3x5. Sometimes I would get signed 3x5s, and some privately printed cards that the player had gotten made, which he'd signed. And a couple of times I send two 3x5s and an SASE, then got back blank 3x5s and a signed card, they didn't like signing a blank piece of paper. I respected the players, so I respect their individual approaches to signing...

So, getting vintage stuff signed? What's the goal? To increase value so you can sell it for more money??? Grrrrr... Get a card signed because you collected autographed cards, or autographs of a team.... I think some players resent autograph seekers who are gonna get an autograph for free so they can then sell it for a profit. Those "some" feel like they should benefit financially from the sale of their signatures. Some players are indifferent to it all. I think if you collect that stuff / team / year / set signed, then fine. I don't recall ever selling anything I've gotten signed. I guess one day I may well sell some of that stuff...

The first baseball player autographs I ever got were of 3 Philadelphia Phillies before a 1965 game in St. Louis. Dad had gotten lower deck seats on the visitors side of the field. I'm a kid with a scorecard, it's still during batting practice, and players are signing. I borrow a pen from Dad and go down to the rail on Dad's suggestion. I was a bit scared, by myself. Cookie Rojas was signing, and he was the player I had heard of, an All Star that year. He was talking to a man (who then seemed old to me) so I gravitated to two other players who were signing. A big tall player was first, I looked at his number in the scorecard, he was Gary Wagner, a young pitcher. He willingly signed and I thanked him. Then there was this old guy, he had gray whiskers and hadn't shaved in a couple of days, a fair amount of gray in his hair. He politely signed and I thanked him. I moved toward Rojas, and waited and waited... he was still talking to this man, and they were talking about restaurants in St. Louis. Eventually he reached toward my scorecard and pen, and he signed. I joyfully thanked him and ran back to my family. Dad asked me who had signed. I told him Cookie Rojas, Gary Wagner, and some old guy. Dad looked at he signature and said "that's Lew Burdette, his is the best autograph you got." At that time I had read and reread my copy of Carmichael's My Greatest Day in Baseball. My baseball awareness was based on bits of history I could remember from about 1962, and what I had read in that book. Nothing about those Milwaukee World Series teams were in my awareness yet. As the years went by I can better see that Dad was right about that.