Lilly (b. 1939) played professionally from 1961 to 1974 for the Cowboys. He was an 11-time pro bowler and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980. He won Super Bowl VI with the Cowboys.
Lilly was really nice. His line moved super slowly, but he took his time to sign and talk with everyone.
I had picked this 1978 Topps football card up from the same vendor with the signers cards, but was in line for one of the other free guys while Michael got Thomas for me. So, I didn't actually meet Thomas.
Thomas (b. 1951) played professionally from 1973 to 1977 and 1979 to 1982 for the Steelers and Broncos. He had 20 interceptions in his career. He won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 1974, 1975 and 1979.
Barker was nice, as he had been in 2018 also. I only got the one card signed; I wasn't waiting around for them to call wild cards on him, but I believe they did.
Baerga was really nice. I was glad to get a few extra cards out of my slider box, since I spent a lot of time finding his stuff.
Belle (b. 1966) celebrated his 58th birthday today (August 25). He played in the majors from 1989 to 2000 for the Indians, White Sox and Orioles. He had 1,726 hits, 381 home runs and a .295 batting average. He was a 5-time All Star and 5-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Thanks for seeing this ball and pointing it out to me, Michael.
Jones (b. 1992) played one game professionally in 2016 for the Bills. He os more known for his collegiate career at Ohio State, winning the college football national championship for the 2014 season.
Snyder was cool again this year. I had some cards remaining after the show, so I'll have to put them somewhere in case he shows up at another National.
Golic (b. 1957) played professionally from 1979 to 1992 for the Patriots, Browns and Raiders. He had one interception, for one touchdown. He was a three-time Pro Bowler.
Golic was really nice when we met him. His line moved slowly, but I enjoyed meeting him.
Charboneau was really nice, again, and I added two new cards to the autograph album.
Cousineau (b. 1957) played professionally from 1982 to 1987 for the Browns and 49ers. He had 10 interceptions for 91 yards. He was a two-time All American in college and was also the first overall pick in the 1979 draft by the Bills.
His autograph is always a nice one. He tales a while to sign, since he has such a nice signature and talks with everyone. Still, that's worth it; way beyond the folks who barely speak a word to you or look up at you while signing.
I always appreciate meeting Petrocelli. He's a great guy.
Grossman (b. 1952) played professionally from 1974 to 1981 for the Steelers. He had 119 receptions for 1,514 yards and 5 touchdowns. He was part of 4 Super Bowl Championship teams (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979).
Tabler (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Cubs, Indians, Royals, Mets and Blue Jays. He had 1,101 hits, 47 home runs and a .282 batting average. He was an All Star in 1987. He won the World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.
Cummings (b. 1961) played professionally from 1982 to 2000 for the (San Diego) Clippers, Bucks, Spurs, Supersonics, 76ers, Knicks and Warriors. He had 19,460 points with a .484 FG %. He was the 1982-1983 NBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time All Star (1984-85 and 1988-89).
Quaid (b. 1950) is best known as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon Vacation movies and also as Russell Casse in Independence Day. He also appeared in the aforementioned Midnight Express, Hard Rain (another underrated movie) and Kingpin. He is the brother of Dennis Quaid and uncle of Jack Quaid.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1973's The Last Detail.
Smith was really nice, as was expected. He showed the card off to the handler at the table with him. I don't think Smith had seen the card before.
Smith's price has increased quite a bit over the last few years, but meeting him and getting my card signed was still worth it.
Ambrose (b. 1953) played professionally from 1975 to 1983 for the Browns. He had 5 interceptions and 9 fumbles recovered in his career.
I got the card from a vendor at the show who had cards of all of the free signers. He overcharges at $5/card, but when you think about it, it saves the pain of looking for needles in haystack. Normally, I'd trade away the free vouchers of guys I didbt have cards of, but I ended up keeping all but one of them.
I chose this card because when it came out back in 2008, I (and a former friend of mine) really enjoyed this panoramic shot of Manny in a Dodger uniform.
Ramirez (b. 1972) played in the majors from 1993 to 2011 for the Indians, Red Sox, Dodgers, White Sox and Rays. He had 2,574, 555 home runs and a .312 batting average. He was a 12-time All Star (1995 and 1998 to 2008). He was the runner-up to Bob Hamelin (seriously) in the 1994 AL Rookie of the Year voting. He won the World Series with the Red Sox in 2094 and 2007.
Ramirez played in Kinston in 1992, hitting .278 with 13 home runs. It would have been really cool to see him play at Grainger Stadium.
Tomczak (b. 1962) played professionally from 1985 to 1999 for the Bears, Packers, Browns and Steelers. He had 16,079 passing yards, 88 touchdowns and a QB record of 42-31-0. He won Super Bowl XX with the Bears. That's the first Super Bowl that I can remember watching.
Sosa (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1989 to 2007 for the Rangers, White Sox, Cubs and Orioles. He had 2,408 hits, 609 home runs and a .273 batting average. He was a 7-time All Star (1995, 1998 to 2002 and 2004) and the 1998 NL MVP. He hit 40 or more home runs 7 times; 50 or more 4 times and 60 or more home runs 3 times. His 609 home runs are 9th all-time.
Because Sosa has been linked to steroids through his questionable congressional testimony (he suddenly forgot how to speak without an interpreter), among other accusations, he was unable to secure election to the Hall of Fame during his 10 years on the ballot. The highest voting percentage he received was 18.5% in 2022. He will now be at the mercy of the Veterans Committee.
I gave one of the helmets to Jesse for his birthday and hung onto this one. I could maybe sell it, but I do like the throwback logo.
Frerotte (b. 1971) played professionally from 1994 to 2008 for the Redskins, Lions, Broncos, Bengals, Vikings, Dolphins and Rams. He 21,291 passing yards and 114 touchdowns with a QB record of 45-47-1. He played his college career at Tulsa.
Frerotte was the first of several non-baseball free signers that I met at this year's show. I went ahead and picked up cards of most of the guys who were signing so I'd have plenty of stuff to blog for a while.
I liked the photo that I chose, and the white paint pen turned out nicely. I really like the way they dod the photo, a mixture of color and black and white.
I had chosen several cool guys to meet this year, and some equally as cool cards to get signed. Stay tuned to see what else I got signed.
I picked up the above 8 x 10 amd had him sign that. It turned out nicely. I know I had some Santiago cards at the house, but not very many. Still, I was glad I could get the photo done.
I didn't add any huge stars to the sets, but there were a bunch of Yankees in thr 1962 pile like the above Elston Howard, a Bobby Richardson, a Whitey Ford in action, etc.
I have updated my needs list, so they are finally accurate, for now.
Because we didn't know ahead of time, I wasn't able to bring cards for Burks. I purchased an 8 x 10 and got this one signed in silver paint pen. The photo turned out great.
Later, they staged a bunch of photos at his table, so I went up and paid for another. I asked him if Tristar had Burks on standby, and he said no, he lives in Cleveland, so he drove on over for the signing.
I went through Burks's line a third time, not to get something signed, but to ask him where some good places to eat were. Pater in the week, we made sure to try one of his recommendations, Mallorca, and really enjoyed our meal.
Burks was super cool, and I'm glad he pinch hit for Sax.
