Jay Payton played 12 seasons in the Major Leagues with six different teams between 1998-2010. He made his Orioles debut on April 21, 2007 and appeared in 258 games with the O's over the 2007-08 seasons at which point his career was definitely in a decline. In my opinion, his two years in Baltimore were the two worst years of his career. He was a fiery presence around the team, but unfortunately, his play could no longer match his attitude.
This autograph was one of the first I got when I re-entered the autograph game in 2008 and the results obviously weren't the best. Back then, I neglected to prep my cards or use a marker that would "stick" to glossy surfaces so this bubbly mess is the result of my lack of preparation. I got this card signed at an Orioles away game in Tampa Bay during my first visit to the giant spaceship Trop. I'm happy to have an in person signature from Jay, and it's great that he was nice enough to sign for the Orioles fans in Tampa.
I also have to note that it doesn't seem like Jay's signature has looked like the pre-printed version on the Topps card since before his certified autographs were included in some mid to late '90s sets, so I kind of wonder where he might have signed that version of his autograph.
