1967 Topps Twins Team Card with Oliva, Carew, Killebrew and Graig Nettles

Today's entry in my collection of 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball cards has a long story behind the four signatures. The newest signature on the card of that of Graig Nettles, rookie third baseman of the 1967 Minnesota Twins. The card was already signed by Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew and former Twins star, Tony Oliva.

If you want to read the blog entry about the Harmon Killebrew addition, click here.

If you want to read about the Rod Carew and Tony Oliva signatures, click here. The 1967 Topps Minnesota Twins Team card is card number 211 in the set of 609 subjects.

The Graig Nettles' signature was obtained for me by my friend and Graig's son, Mike. I have known Mike for about a year and as we have become good friends, I desired to ask Mike if he would help me with my collection. Mike and his wife, Beverly invited some friends over to watch the 2010 Tennessee/Florida College Football game at their house in Knoxville and I was honored to attend. In anticipation, I went through my collection of baseball cards and Sports Illustrated Magazines and found several Graig Nettles items. Mike offered to get his dad to sign the items for me and on September 27th, Mike called me and said he had the cards and Sports Illustrated autographed by Graig. Graig Nettles signed my cards with a black sharpie in his classic autograph.

Graig also lives in the Knoxville area now and I hope one day I will have the privilege to meet him and thank him personally for the autographs. In the meantime, I hope Graig and the entire Nettles' family understands my gratitude for helping me with my collection. This autograph is the 511th signature in my collection of 1967 Topps Baseball cards and the first card that has four signatures!

Graig Nettles' career in Major League Baseball lasted from 1967 to 1988. On September 6, 1967, Nettles was called up from the Twins' AA minor league team in Charlotte, North Carolina. He appeared in 3 games in the 1967 season with 1 double in 3 at bats. Graig played parts of two more seasons with the Twins in 1968 and 1969 before being involved in a 6 player deal with the Cleveland Indians. He started a run of three seasons with the Indians and blossomed into a star, averaging 24 home runs and 72 runs batted in. In the winter of 1972, Graig was again involved in a 6 player trade, this time with the New York Yankees. In New York, Graig played for 11 seasons, helping the team win 4 American League Pennants and 2 World Series Championships. He was named the Yankees captain from 1982 to 1984, which is a honor bestowed upon some of the Greatest Yankees. The list includes Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly and currently Derek Jeter.

Before the start of the 1984 season, Graig was traded from the Yankees to his hometown, San Diego Padres. His veteran leadership was instrumental with the Padres. The Padres made their first playoff appearance and won the 1984 National League Pennant before losing to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. After three seasons with the Padres, Graig became a free agent and signed on with the Atlanta Braves in 1987 and then again with the Montreal Expos in 1988.

During his 22 year career, which ended on October 1, 1988, Graig Nettles had played in 2700 games while batting .248 with 390 home runs and 1,314 runs batted in . He still holds the American League record of home runs by a third baseman. Always a superb fielder, Graig won 2 Gold Glove Awards and had a career .964 fielding percentage. Graig continues to be remembered for his clutch performances in the post season. His glove work in the playoffs helped the Yankees gain the momentum in the 1978 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nettles appeared in 6 All-Star games during his career and won the 1981 American League Championship Series MVP award. Many people believe Graig Nettles deserves Hall of Fame consideration and I would give my vote as well.

To learn more about Graig Nettles, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.  I also encourage you to read his book, "Balls" written in 1983 with Peter Golenbeck and published before the start of the 1984 season. As Graig chronicles his career, this book gives a great insight to major league baseball from an insider's perspective.


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1967 Topps Minnesota Twins Harmon Killebrew

Today's entry about my collection of 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball cards is a player who as known for his incredible power and tape measure home runs. He also hit a total of 573 home runs during his career and had retired as the leader in home runs by a right handed batter. He has been surpassed since by Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa and Hank Aaron. It is Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, infielder for the Minnesota Twins. Card number 460 in the 1967 Topps Baseball card set of 609 subjects.

This autograph was obtained on June 2, 2010 in Birmingham, Alabama during the 100th anniversary of the Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in America. My friend Ryan and I took a bus trip sponsored by the Tennessee Smokies Baseball Team to Birmingham to get an opportunity for the autograph and watch the game between the Smokies and the Birmingham Barons. Harmon Killebrew was a special guest for the event and threw out one of the first pitches of the game. Also in attendance were many of the former Negro League Baseball players and it was an amazing day of baseball nostalgia and history.  Mr. Killebrew agreed to sign autographs for the fans in attendance and I was fortunate enough to receive three cards from my 1967 Topps set signed. Besides his regular issue card #460, Mr. Killebrew signed card #241 American League 1966 RBI Leader, already signed by Frank Robinson and Boog Powell and the Twins Team card #212, already signed by Hall of Famer Rod Carew and Tony Oliva. If you want to know more about the Carew and Oliva autographs, read my story from my blog by clicking here. As of August 7, 2010, I have obtained 508 autographs in my 1967 Topps Baseball set.

Harmon Killebrew played 22 seasons in the major leagues from 1954 to 1975 for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals. His first appearance in 1954 was 4 days after signing the contract with the Washington Senators as a bonus baby. The bonus baby rule back in the 1950's and 1960's stated that the player must play in the major leagues for 2 years immediately after signing the contract. He was the youngest player in the major league at that time, 17 years old at his debut! During those two seasons, he had only 93 at-bats and hit 4 home runs. After the two years period expired, Harmon spent time between the minor leagues and major league for 3 seasons before return in 1959 for good.


Harmon "Killer" Killebrew had a breakout season in 1959, hitting 42 home runs and 105 runs batted in. He established himself as one of the premier power hitters of all-time over the next 15 seasons. His career statistics include 573 home runs, 1584 runs batted in, 2086 hits and a career .256 batting average. Killebrew appeared in 13 All-Star games during his career and 3 postseasons, 1965 World Series and 1969 and 1970 Playoffs. He led the American League in home runs 6 different seasons and hit over 40 home runs in eight seasons. In 1969, Harmon Killebrew was named the American League Most Valuable Player and in 1984 he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his fourth year of eligibility.



After his playing days were over, Harmon spent time as a television broadcaster for several team from 1976 to 1988 and has been a hitting instructor for the Minnesota Twins. To learn more about Harmon Killebrew, read his biography at wikipedia.org. 

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1967 Topps Twins Team Card with Tony Oliva and Rod Carew

The empty mailbox streak of 7 days has ended in a BIG way! Today, the mailbox had a super surprise waiting for me. It was an envelope from Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins post marked from Fort Myers, Florida, the spring training home of the team. Enclosed in the envelope were several items including this card for my 1967 Topps Autographed Baseball card set. It is the Twins Team card, number 211 in the 1967 Topps set of 609 cards. It has been signed by Tony Oliva and Rod Carew!

There is a long story behind this autograph card. The story begins during my Spring Training trip three weeks ago to Florida. On March 4, my friend Jim and I visited Fort Myers to see the Twins practice and then saw the Twins and Boston Red Sox play a game that night. Knowing that Tony Oliva was a member of the Twins front office, I had brought his 1967 Topps card, #50 just in case I ran into him. During the day, we waited for the players and coaches to arrive and we noticed that Tony Oliva and Rod Carew had driven to the ballpark together. They drove past the autograph collectors without signing any cards. I guess that was strike one. As the practice progressed, Mr. Oliva was instructing several Twins players in the batting cages along with Rod Carew. After a break in the practice, I asked Tony Oliva if he would be willing to sign my card for my collection.

He refused and said he was working. Strike two. Undeterred, I continued to follow Tony during the practice and at one point he saw me standing alone as he came out of the clubhouse and I asked if he would sign me card. Again, he refused and went back to work. I guess that was a foul ball, no third strike yet. As the practice started to wind down and the players and coaches started the leave the field, Tony was called over by a couple of fans and he started to sign some autographs. As he was signing the autographs, I asked if he would sign my card for my collection. He passed me over a couple of times, but I did not give up. Finally, he took my card and signed it with a blue sharpie that I provided. Persistence paid off.

I thanked Tony Oliva for the autograph, shook his hand and asked if he would take a picture with me and he obliged. That would have been a great story in itself, but it did not end there. After I arrived home, I decided to write Tony a letter apologizing for being so persistent in pursuit of his autograph. Enclosed with the letter, I included two 8x10s of the picture of me and Tony Oliva, two more 1967 Topps cards, the Twins Team card above and the 1966 American League Batting Leaders card, #239, and a gift card to Outback Steakhouse. I asked if he could sign one of the 8x10s and keep the other and asked he if could sign the Batting Leaders card, already signed by Hall of Famer Al Kaline and the Twins Team card. I also asked if he could have Hall of Famer Rod Carew sign the team card as well. I mailed the envelope on March 10, 2010 and received it back 12 days later with both photos signed and both cards signed. Even Rod Carew signed the team card. Thank you very much, Mr Oliva and Mr. Carew!

Tony Oliva's career lasted 15 seasons in major league baseball, all with the Minnesota Twins. He started his career in 1964, winning the American League Rookie of the Year award and named to the American League All-star for the first of eight consecutive seasons. He ended his playing days in 1978 with a career .304 batting average, 220 home runs and 947 runs batted in, 329 doubles and a total of 1917 hits in 1676 games. Tony's eight consecutive All-Star appearances to start his career broke the previous record set by Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio of the New York Yankees. Tony Oliva won 3 batting titles during his career, 1964, 1965 and 1971 and won a Gold Glove award in 1966. The latter part of his career was hampered by injuries and there has been much debate about his place in baseball history. Considered one of the best players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Tony Oliva deserves his place in Cooperstown.

To learn more about Tony Oliva and his career, go to his biography at wikipedia.org.
 
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