Unpossible Autograph Friday- Unpossible No More?

In a somewhat happy turn of events, I have now profiled all of the "unpossible" Orioles autographs in my collection, meaning that this feature will be suspended until it unfortunately becomes necessary again in the future.

However, since I have profiled a few of the former Orioles players who have passed away, I have been able to upgrade the autographs I have of them in my collection.

John Anderson's autographs are few and far between. His only Orioles card was in the Crown set and he largely "disappeared" near the end of his life around the time that set was issued, so I really don't know if he ever signed one of them. This small black and white autographed photo shows John during his time with the Miami Orioles, a minor league affiliate of the O's back in the day, and might be the closest I ever come to getting an Orioles autograph of him.

A knowledgeable autograph dealer that I have purchased from in the past recently told me that the autograph of Carl Powis that had been in my collection was likely not authentic, so I had to put him back on my need list. Enter this "beauty" of a cut autograph taped onto a 3x5 index card. Like John, Carl's autographs are in very limited supply, so this might be as good as it gets for me.

This signed Senators card of George Brunet joins a signed index card in my collection. George was featured on an Orioles card during his playing days and his autograph turns up marginally more often than those of the other two players shown here, so I'm still holding out hope that I can add his autographed O's card to my collection one day. I got this signed card at a great price but his autograph is generally quite pricey, so it might be a matter of finding one at the right price. 


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." 

Unpossible Autograph Friday- Frank Kellert

(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 a few pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.") 


Finally, here is the third of the three autographs my dad gave me for Christmas. (I already showed off my Lou Jackson and George Brunet autographs.)

Frank Kellert was a member of the inaugural 1954 Orioles, having come east with the franchise from St. Louis where he played with the Browns in 1953. Frank appeared in only 10 games for the Orioles, all in September, and had seven hits, including two doubles, over 34 at-bats. He played in only 122 games over his four seasons in the Majors from 1953-56, and is best known and remembered for being a member of the World Series Champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. He was actually the batter when Jackie Robinson famously stole home, a play that Yogi Berra still disputes to this day, which makes him an interesting foot-note in baseball history. He certainly had the best view of the play and I believe I read somewhere that, years later, he agreed with Berra's take that Robinson was out. 

Frank enlisted in the Army during World War II and spent over three years serving his country. He even survived a torpedo attack by the Germans when he was aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea which caused thousands of U.S. soldiers to lose their lives. I can't imagine dealing with a tragedy like that! 

After his baseball days were over, Frank returned to his native Oklahoma and became the director of a credit union while also serving on the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. He certainly led an interesting and varied life. He passed away from lymphoma at only 57 in 1976. RIP Frank.

I think that his autograph is so hard to track down because of three reasons. 

1) He was a member of a very popular World Series Championship team.

2) He died 35 years ago and was relatively young when he passed away.

3) He was a fairly obscure, part-time player during his career, so likely wasn't hounded for too many autographs.

Frank's only major issue card was his 1956 Topps card, which pictured him with the Cubs. His only Orioles card was the 1991 Crown card, which came out 15 years after he passed away, so he obviously never signed it. So this index card is in my collection for good, and Frank's name is permanently scratched off of my list. I'm very happy to have this PSA/DNA certified copy, even if it's a bit of a pain to store in my binder. 

And I have to say that Frank's autograph is amazing. You can make out every single letter and the flourishes on the F and K to start each name really give it some character. However, if I saw that F all alone, I don't think I would guess it was an "f", but rather a strange "g" or maybe a "t". Regardless, his autograph is gorgeous and I'm very excited to have it in my collection, thanks again dad!

Unpossible Autograph Friday- George Brunet

(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 a few pennies short of a dollar, says "Me fail English? That's unpossible.") 

Two weeks ago, I featured a Lou Jackson autograph that I had received as an early Christmas present from my dad. It was one of the three autographs he gave me at the time that brought me within only one autograph of "completing" my collection. Here is the second autograph he gave me, a signed index card of pitcher George Brunet.

On paper, Brunet has possibly the most interesting career of anyone who has suited up for the Orioles. From Baseball-Reference.com, here is the list of teams that he pitched for over his 33 (thirty-three!!!) year career in professional baseball. He pretty much pitched anywhere and everywhere in North America where professional baseball is played from Vancouver to Veracruz.

George spent only the latter half of 1963 with the O's, going 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA over 16 games, but continued to pitch in their farm system until the middle of the 1964 season. His longevity helped him to achieve the all-time minor league strikeout record with 3,175 and he also holds the Mexican League shutouts record with 55. He was even posthumously elected to the Salon de la Fama (Mexican Hall of Fame) in 1999 for his accomplishments south of the border.

So why are copies of George's autograph so scarce? From what I understand, it's because he rarely-to-never returned to the U.S. from Mexico after he began pitching there in 1973. At least one other Orioles collector that I've spoke with even said something along the lines that Brunet dropped off the map in the years after he stopped pitching until shortly before his death in Mexico in 1991. He was only 56 when he passed away. I've seen a few signed Brunet cards for sale but never have had the timing or luck to add one to my collection.

He was featured on a 1964 Topps card as an Oriole (although not in an Orioles uniform, I don't know who ever wore collared shirts under their jersey, but I'm guessing it was the Houston Colt .45s), so theoretically, there might be a few signed copies of that card out there somewhere. He was also included as an Oriole in the 1991 Crown set that came out shortly before he died, but it's pretty unlikely that any of those cards made it to him to sign in Mexico in the months between their release and his death. RIP George.