2018 National Paid Signer - Fred Lynn

One of my goals for this year's National was to knock off a bunch of cards for my 1987 set.  I paid for three of the lower end autos at $39 each, then paid for one big signer who happened to have two cards in the set.  The first of the paid signers that I'll show will be Fred Lynn.

Lynn (b. 1952) played in the majors from 1974 to 1990 for the Red Sox, Angels, Orioles, Tigers and Padres.  He had 1,960 hits, 306 home runs and a .283 batting average.  He was the 1975 AL Rookie of the Year and also the MVP.  He was also an All Star and Gold Glove Award winner that season.  He batted .331 while leading the league with 7 doubles and 103 runs scored.  He was the AL batting champion in 1979 when he batted .333.  He was an All Star 9 seasons in a row from 1975 to 1983 and ended up with 4 Gold Glove Awards (1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979).

He was the 1982 ALCS MVP when he batted .611 (11 for 18) with 1 home runs and 5 RBI across 5 games (which the Angels LOST).

Signed as a free agent by the Orioles in December 1984, Lynn would spend four seasons in Baltimore until he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for two players to be named later (minor leaguer Cesar Mejia and Robinson Garces) and a young catcher names Chris Hoiles.

For all of Lynn's early-career accolades and solid career stats, he only appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot twice (1996 and 1997) and only received a high of 5.5%.  I believe he is one of those players who deserved a lot better from the writers.

Lynn was really nice in person.  I asked him why he hasn't been to Orioles Fan Fest, and he said he hasn't been invited, but now that Eddie Murray is back with the Orioles, maybe he will be there.