Sunday, April 21, 2013

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Bert Blyleven

Yes, you are reading the inscription correctly.  The ball, in fact, DOES say "I love to fart".  If you are easily offended, then this post is probably not for you.  I picked this baseball up off of Ebay (and it was on sale).  I had the auction page open and let my son practice his reading by reading the inscription.  He read it out loud like most first graders do "I... Love... To......" and he looked back at me as if to make sure it said what he was thinking it said "fart?"  I said "Yes, Chris, it says I love to fart."  He had just stuffed a swiss cake roll in his mouth, covered his mouth and said something that sounded like "That's hilarious."  I'm just glad he didn't choke on his swiss cake roll...

This ball definitely goes into my top two, as far as inscriptions go, right up there with my Pete Rose "Im sorry I bet on baseball".  It is pretty awesome, actually.  At least Blyleven is honest.  He has given interviews in the past about his love for flatulence.

I met Blyleven in person in 2010 at an Orioles-Twins game.  We spoke for a bit, but I didn't have time to get a baseball out and ask for an autograph.  He was really nice, but he didn't fart while we were talking.

Blyleven (b. 1951 in Zeist, Netherlands) played in the majors from 1970 to 1992 for the Twins, Rangers, Pirates, Indians and Angels.  He had a career record of 287-250 with a 3.31 ERA and 3,701 strikeouts.  He won the World Series in 1979 with the Pirates and 1987 with the Twins.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2011 (his 14th year of eligibility) with 79.7% of the vote.  He is my 84th Hall of Fame signed baseball.

4 comments:

The Lost Collector said...

He might have farted while you were talking...

The Dutch Card Guy said...

Awesome ball, going to chase one at some point as well to complete my Blyleven "flying Dutchman" collection, grats !!

Once a Cub said...

That ball probably has something to do with this photo:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj8mmvymEk1qiyr8ho1_500.jpg

Dodgerbobble said...

That is too funny!

That's the second amazing inscription I've seen today. Riddick Bowe had a public signing in LA yesterday and someone had him inscribe "I knocked the Bitch out! And his mama too!" on a picture of him knocking Evander Holyfield out. I got a couple of laughs today.