tony perez is in my hall of famer collection

it's christmas eve, so here's a post featuring a card of that old man in the red and white uniform. no, not santa claus. i'm talking about tony perez, who is in my hall of famer collection with this card:

here's the back:

this card is pretty confusing. it is a 2002 fleer greats autographed card, yes, but it is actually the buyback version from 2004 fleer national pastime. that's why there is the hand-numbering on the card. it is even more confusing when you consider that, according to baseballcardpedia, the perez auto from 2002 fleer greats was not a redemption. makes you wonder how or why fleer had an extra 59 copies sitting around. or did they buy a bunch back? it boggles the mind.

as for perez, i wouldn't say that i put anyone in my hall of famer collection reluctantly, but, then again, tony perez is in my hall of famer collection. i wasn't really a fan, and he definitely falls within the scope of the collection featuring players who were in the 1978 topps set as i first became aware of perez when he was with montreal.  his 1978 topps card struck me as melancholy given his demeanor on the card, and i soon learned that he had been part of the big red machine but was now relegated to the national league east, so i thought maybe that was why he was looking glum.

in a perfect world, his entry in my collection would be as an expo, but a phillies or even a red sox card would have worked, too.  in the end, i opted for a card showing old man perez during his second stint as a red since i was too young to remember his early years in cincy.

perez deserves to be in the hall of fame, but being a steve garvey fan, i was jealous back in 2000 that perez got the call while the garv did not. keep in mind that perez was in serious decline by the time i started following baseball, while garvey was at the peak of his career. in the end, an objective look at the stats shows that perez had a great career and a pretty good peak 10-year run with the reds from 1967-76.

merry christmas everybody!

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relics

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relics

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph 

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autographs

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autographs 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback 048/147

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game

tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59

dave winfield - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 121/350

gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection

paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game authentic autographs

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame