bert blyleven is in my hall of famer collection

bert "be home" blyleven is in my hall of famer collection, courtesy of this card:

that is a 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph card. here's the back:

you didn't think this collection would be complete without a card from that set, did you?  it is one of my favorite retired player sets, thanks to a dodger-heavy checklist, as well as the design. someone must have pointed out to bert that the signature is supposed to go on the year shield, as he signed this copy correctly. my other copy of this card, has the signature in a different spot.

blyleven is currently a broadcaster for the twins, and he is pretty popular around these parts. i've had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times at twins events, and he seems like a decent guy. still, i chose his pirate card from the set, rather than his twins one, to represent him in my collection. that's because the first card i ever saw of his was his 1978 o-pee-chee card that i pulled from a pack that summer. he was "now with pittsburgh" and so i regarded him as a pirate even though he was wearing a texas ranger uniform.

it was also while he was with the pirates that i saw him pitch in person for the first time. my dad took us to dodger stadium on june 15, 1979, and while i was happy to be there to see the dodgers and the pirates, i was just as excited about the batting glove giveaway! at any rate, it was blyleven against don sutton that night, and it was a pitcher's duel through 8 innings. with the pirates up 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth, blyleven was pulled for kent tekulve with two on and two out. tekulve retired ron cey to end the threat, and the dodger bullpen gave up 5 runs in the top of the ninth. i have to admit, i don't really recall anything related to blyleven's 7 and two-thirds innings of shutout ball, but ii do recall don sutton getting a base hit off of him, along with willie stargell knocking the ball around the park during batting practice.

even though i was living in orange county at the time, i never made it to the big a for a game when blyleven was pitching as an angel. after he retired (with 3,701 strikeouts - the third highest career total at the time) i waited for him to be elected to the hall of fame. it took a lot longer than anticipated, but he finally got the call in 2011.  as he was wont to say, it's good that he was on the right side of the ground when it happened.

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 relic

tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75

george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic

dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic

bob feller - 2001 topps archives certified autograph

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relic

ted williams - 1992 upper deck baseball heroes autograph 1067/2000

yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000

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 autograph

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

bob gibson - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

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

frank robinson - 1995 upper deck autograph

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic

jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000

willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures 

gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph

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

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

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autograph 43/45

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

phil niekro - 2017 panini donruss recollection collection 1983 donruss buyback autograph 13/33

don sutton - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

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

ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph

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

dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99

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

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures

andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph

bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph

pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60

tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95

alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph

roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23

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