2025 National Free Signer - Milt Wilcox

The other of Wednesday's free signers at the National was Milt Wilcox.  He wa supposed ti be at last year's show, but had to cancel.  I wanted to get this 1971 Topps previously signed by Frank Duffy completed.  The card looks great now that it is complete.

They called Wild Cards on Wilcox, so Jesse and I used them up to get some more cards out of the box.  I got my well-worn 1972 Topps (left) and this sharp 1980 Topps (right) signed as well.  Both turned out great.

Wilcox (b. 1950) played in the majors from 1970 to 1975 and 1977 to 1986 for the  Reds, Indians, Cubs, Tigers and Mariners.  He has a career record of 119-113 with 1,137 strike outs and a 4.07 ERA.  He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1984.

I was glad to finally get some of my Wilcox cards (many of which I had pulled last year) signed and put away into my autograph album. 

Another TTM Success From Frank Duffy

Another TTM success came in from Frank Duffy, recently.  I found this 1971 Topps Reds Rookie Stars card in my box and wanted to go ahead and get Duffy to sign it with the thought to add Milt Wilcox at the National. Wilcox is one of the VIP signers, so I have a good shot to complete the card.

I had gotten Duffy once before on some other cards (including another 1971) back in 2017.  It would be cool to finally complete the two 71s and trade one to someone later on.

I mailed to Duffy on Mayb1 and got the card back on June 28, for a 58-day TAT.

TTM Success - Frank Duffy

I added some cool 1970s Topps cards to my autograph album with this success from Frank Duffy.  I picked up most of them from my LCS out of the vintage box, but a couple of them did come from my vintage stuff that I got from the Columbia antique shop as well.  I know the above 1971 Topp RC came from my LCS.

The 1975 probably came from my buddy, Max, but I'm not sure.  I have since added a bunch of 1975s to the ones he gave me a long time ago.  The 1976 probably came from the antique shop.

Finally, here is a nice 1979 Topps.  I'm pretty sure I got it from the LCS.  Or maybe the box of 78-79 Topps I got from the card show in February.  Does it matter?  I doubt it, but it is always nice to have an idea how he cards came into my collection.

Duffy (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1970 to 1979 for the Reds, Giants, Indians and Red Sox.  He had 619 hits, 26 home runs and a .232 batting average.

In 1971, Duffy was traded by the Giants (with Vern Geishert) for George Foster.  Foster would go on to have a pretty nice career with the Reds.

I mailed to Duffy on March 9 and got the cards back on March 20, for an 11-day TAT.