Sunday, January 31, 2010

1967 Topps Willie Horton Detroit Tigers

Watching the Baseball Seasons show on the MLB Network today about the 1968 season gave me the inspiration to show this addition to my 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card set.
From the 1968 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers, today card is that of Willie Horton, outfielder. Card number 465 in the set of 609 cards.

This autograph was obtained through the mail by sending it to Willie Horton care of the Detroit Tigers on July 27, 2009. Willie signed the card with a blue sharpie and included his number 23. He returned the card 11 days later. Thanks, Willie.

Willie Horton's career lasted 18 years and while he spent 15 years with the Tigers, he also played for the Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners. During his career, he batted .273, hit 325 home runs, and drove in 1173 runs. Willie was a 4 time All-Star and was named the 1979 Comeback Player of the Year.

He was the youngest of 21 children of James and Lillian Horton and grew up in Arno, Virginia. Willie was honored by the Detroit Tigers with a statue outside of Comerica Park in Detroit in 2000 and his number 23 was retired by the Tigers in 2003. He still remains involved with Detroit Tiger baseball as an Special Assistant to CEO Dave Dombrowski. To learn more about Willie Horton's career, read his biography at wikipedia.org.

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