1967 Topps NL Rookies with Gary Sutherland and Don Shaw

The mailbox was empty today, but yesterday I received a nice surprise. It was a card returned from a through the mail request to Gary Sutherland, rookie 2nd Baseman/Shortstop of the Philadelphia Phillies. Card number 587 in the 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card set of 609 cards.

I mailed this card to Gary Sutherland to his home in California on February 22, 2010 and 32 days later, Gary returned the card with a blue sharpie autograph with a slight smear. I don't mind the smear too much, it kind of fits the card with the multiple creases. This autograph marks the 480th different signature that I have obtained for my collection. I still have about 150 more autographs to go to complete the set.

Gary Sutherland played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1966 to 1978. His career started with the Philadelphia Phillies and ended with the St. Louis Cardinals. He also played for the Montreal Expos, the Houston Astros, the Detroit Tigers, the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers. During his career, Gary Sutherland amassed 754 hits and a .243 career average, hit 24 home runs and 239 runs batted in. As a curious note, Gary scored the first run in the Montreal Expos franchise history on April 8, 1969 against the New York Mets.

Now it is time to contact Don Shaw and see if he would be willing to sign the card also. Wish me luck...


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