Unpossible Autograph Friday- Bob Turley & Grady Hatton

Sadly, two more former Orioles players have passed away since my last unpossible autograph post just two weeks ago. And both of the two that passed away had very kindly signed my TTM autograph requests in recent years. 

"Bullet" Bob Turley was the 1958 AL Cy Young award winner, three-time All-Star, and two-time World Series champion (he was even the '58 World Series MVP). All of those accomplishments occurred with the Yankees, but I'll look past it since it was so many years ago, and he was so nice to sign my card for me. He passed away on March 30, at 82 years old, from complications from liver cancer. 

Grady Hatton, whom I wrote about in depth here, just passed away yesterday from effects of old age. He was 90 years old, so at the very least, it's comforting to know that both of these guys lived long lives, although I don't know how comfortable Bob might have been in recent years.

I'm very appreciative that both of these men took the time to sign TTM requests. And in what has become somewhat of a theme on my blog, I will echo my statements that signatures always mean more to me when they are personalized. It just adds that little extra touch of acknowledgment for me I guess.

After my last unpossible autograph post from a few weeks back, I have finally ramped my TTM requests back up after a long hiatus. I enjoy writing the requests and putting everything together while I watch Orioles games, so they kind of go hand in hand.

I hope that both of these nice men rest in peace. Thank you both for having taken the time for your fans!




To briefly explain the misspelled/made up title of these weekly posts: Every Friday, I profile a former Oriole who has passed away. I've substituted the word unpossible for impossible as an homage to a line from "The Simpsons". Young Ralph Wiggum, who is not very smart, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible." 

New O's Autos

I had a pretty solid weekend as far as my collection goes: I made a trade with fellow O's auto collector Aaron to add Paul Mirabella, Johnny Schmitz & Darold Knowles to my collection.





I also got this totally unexpected Enos Cabell auto from fellow blogger Zach at Autographed Cards. He got it at Royals Fanfest this year and is an awesome addition to my collection. Thanks so much Zach! Let me know how I can return the favor.


And finally Bob Turley was nice enough to return my TTM request, not only signed but personalized. I always get excited when a former player returns card with their signature on it; it never fails to put a smile on my face!

More TTMs sent & a few additions

So I sent out a batch of TTM requests last night that are targeting vintage Orioles players. The first group I mailed are Billy Hunter, Duane Pillette, Don Lenhardt, Bob Hale, Sam Mele, Bob Turley and Hal Brown; all played for the Orioles in the 50s and/or 60s. I hope that they enjoy hearing from a fan of one of the teams they played on. I am way too young to have ever seen them play but still obviously need their signatures for my project.

I received a Bob Kuzava autograph in the mail that I had purchased on Beckett last week. It's a 04 Bowman Heritage Signs of Glory certified auto and I was pretty excited when it came. I hope to scan in a picture of it tonight to show it off. Apparently only 55 of these were signed by Bob so I'm happy that I was able to snag one of them.

Also, I had somehow not included the Jeff Ballard auto and a Shawn Boskie autograph on an Oriole Park card when I posted my last total so I am now up to 36.4%! That's 314 down, 549 to go...