Orioles Alumni Autographs

Tomorrow, I'm going to start my 2010 Orioles Autograph Year in Review, but today, I need to write about this, finally. I really dropped the ball on the O's Alumni posts towards the end of the year, partially becuase I missed a few signings, and one or two others only had players who were already in my collection. If you don't know what this is all about, for the past two seasons the Orioles have brought former players in for signings prior to every Monday and Thursday home game during the season. I think they're awesome and have really helped my collection out!

On Thursday August, 5, prior to the O's-White Sox game, the Orioles did an amazing job by bringing in TWO alumni who I didn't have in-person autographs from.; "Diamond" Jim Gentile and "Disco" Dan Ford both were lined up to sign that day, along with local guy, multiple time signer, Bill Swaggerty. 

 

Jim Gentile was big-time slugger in the early to mid 1960s', hitting 160 homers from '60-65 and was a three-time All-Star during that stretch.  He was an Oriole from 1960-63 after being traded to Baltimore from the Dodgers and would likely have had even better big league numbers if he hadn't been blocked by Gil Hodges during his 9 seasons in the Dodgers' system.  Roy Campanella gave him the nickname "Diamond" in 1956 when he described Jim as a "diamond in the rough".

Jim was in Baltimore since he was lined up to sign at the National; I lucked out and got him for free at the O's game instead.  His signature is amazing and you can easily read every letter of his name.

"Disco" Dan was a member of the Orioles 1983 World Series Champs and spent the last four years of his 11 season MLB career with the O's from '82-86.  He was one of the nicest guys that I have ever seen at an O's Alumni signing and shook hands and talked to nearly everyone who passed through the line.  I always like when players act like that; Dan seemed genuinely happy to appear at the signing.  His signature is pretty legible, maybe outside of the r in his last name. 

A few highlights of Dan's career include when he hit for the cycle on August 10, 1979 while playing for the Angels, receiving MVP votes in '79, and homering for the O's in game 3 of the '83 series. 

That's Dan in the foreground, with Bill Swaggerty just past him, and Jim Gentile hidden in the back

Bill pitched for the O's from 1983-86 and frequently appears at alumni signings and other local Orioles events.  His signature is pretty solid too, especially considering he has such a long last name.  

An Interesting Card-Less Valuable Once Signed

Bobby Bonner 1980-83
Jeff Schneider 1981

I think that this is the only autographed card that I own that is worth considerably less because it's signed. I have a few autographed Vladimir Guerrero rookie cards that this could apply to as well, but not to the extent as with this card.

As most of you probably know, this is Cal's rookie card, and while it's not as rare as his '82 Topps Traded card, is still considered his de facto RC. I remember when my dad and I first got this card in the late '80s or early '90s: it went in one of those extremely thick top loaders and was worth $100+ dollars; not that I cared about that part. I had my favorite player's rookie card!

Now, this card might be worth near it's current book value of $40 if Cal had at least completed the triple auto, but since it's only signed by Bonner & Schneider, I don't imagine it's worth much. However, since I do this blog for the autographs and not for the value of anything, I present to you my Bobby Bonner & Jeff Schneider autographed card. I'm pretty sure that my dad gave me this card, which was very nice of him.

Bobby played with the O's for four seasons 1980-83 but only appeared in 61 games over that stretch. He retired from baseball after the '83 season and along with his wife became a missionary, traveling to Africa to spread his faith. It appears as though he's currently running a youth baseball league.

Jeff appeared in relief in 11 games over the 1981 season. He earned one save and had a 4.88 ERA over those games, his only action in the Majors. The O's took him from the Phillies in the 1978 Rule V draft and he was traded to the Angels in January 1982 along with Doug Decinces for "Disco" Dan Ford.