1952 Bowman Bobby Brown - Former AL President

This is a followup from our #tbt posting last week where we saw some Official Major League Baseballs from years past

 1952 Bowman #105 Bobby Brown

Former AL President Bobby Brown never had a Topps card issued while he was playing, but he does have a couple of cards on the Bowman checklist including the 1952 set.

Its interesting to see Bobby Brown's facsimile signature on his 1952 Bowman Card, presumably from a contract he signed with Bowman around 1949. And then take a look at the UD card from 2009

2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary #1014 Subway Series/Interleague Play
The lower baseball has Bobby Brown's signature as AL President. He took office in 1984 which means there is roughly 35 years difference in the two signatures. I am no handwriting expert but it is interesting to see the similarities in the two autographs. 

1991 Score
While working on our Year of the No-Hitter Project I ran into this 1991 Score Card

1991 Score #568 Bob Welch

While most of the 1991 Score base set is a bit tired, the cards are so overproduced they can be found EVERYWHERE, there are a few interesting cards spread throughout the set.

There are a lot of subsets within 1991 Score, plus there are base cards like the above Bob Welch gem. The close up is used to display Welch's grip on the split-fingered fastball. In an 800 card set the image jumps off the page. An interesting nuance one may never think about, unless they are checking in on the differences in Official MLB Baseballs, is that it is an Official AL ball of the era signed by Bobby Brown.

So we have found at least two baseball cards that are so detailed that we can see one time AL president Bobby Brown's signature on the horsehide.

FLIP
Fear not Bob Welch Fans

1991 Score #568 Bob Welch (b-side - click to enlarge)

For those collectors that are dismayed that there isn't a player photo on the front Score did put a nice action photo on the b-side. In addition to the pix there is a nice synopsis of Bob Welch's experience with the Split-Finger. Sorry about the blurriness here, if you click on the photo it should enlarge and be a bit easier to read.

Sources and Links
baseball cardpedia
phungo (ibid)
SABR bio of Bobby Brown by Mike Huber

1952 Bowman #11 Ralph Kiner

Last week the Hall of Fame didn't get any bigger. One good thing about this is that I don't have to bother moving cards over to my HoF collection.

I am not sure that I have any collecting goals for 2012, but I am considering adding one Hall of Famer to my collection each month.  I am looking to add cards from for each player from the years when they were active.  I think I am covered for anybody that had a career that reached into the 1960s.

 At the Valley Forge Show last month I crossed the Hall Member of my list.
 

1952 Bowman #11 Ralph Kiner

As you can see, I don't get to concerned about condition. The crease would be a lot less noticeable if it wasn't across Mr Kiner's eye. The card is damaged, but looks a little better then this scan shows. Typically I will but up with some creasing but won't take on cards with writing on the front.  Not as picky about the reverse.
 
Ralph Kiner  didn't get into the Hall on his first ballot or the 2nd or the 3rd. In fact Kiner appeared on the ballot in 1960 but was not voted in until 1975. His career numbers while good, but questionable at best - 369 career Home Runs, 1451 hits - Best MVP finish was 4th in 1949 (Jackie Robinson). He was a six time all-star who never played in the World Series. Kiner's did lead the NL in Home Runs during the first seven years of his career - very impressive - I can't imagine that it has ever been duplicated.

For The Collector

In early December this card went for $5.50 at the PhillyShow in Valley Forge. This appears to be about as cheap as your likely to find the card. $7.95 is the lo-bay finish currently. 5 auctions finished under $10. The Highest closing auction was $85 for a card listed as PSA NM 7.