2016 National Card Show Pickup - Mike Mussina Signed Baseball

A new National Card Show is upon us, and I was able to make my first purchase well into the Wednesday Sneak Peek.  I had spent a good bulk of the first day of the show waiting in line for one of the free signers, so I was really anxious when I had only one hour to really look around.  I found a dealer with a few signed baseballs, and noticed an auto that I have been needing in my collection for a long time.

I got this Mike Mussina auto for only $20, since the seller didn't have any authentication to go with it.  I know Moose's auto pretty well and am confident that this is a legit ball.  I have been wanting to get a ball signed by him for a while, and finally was able to get a great deal!

Mussina (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1991 to 2008 for the Orioles and Yankees.  He had a career record of 270-153 with an ERA of 3.68 and 2,813 strike outs.  He never won a World Series or Cy Young Award, which are probably the reasons he isn't in the Hall of Fame... yet.  He was a 5-time All Star and a 7-time Gold Glove Award winner.  He finished as high as second in the AL Cy Young Award voting (1999 to Pedro Martinez) and as high as 19th in the AL MVP voting.

I finally have a Mussina ball, and I didn't need to spend a ton on it the first day of the National.  I'm really excited to see how the rest of the days go!