certified rauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuul

raul mondesi was my favorite dodger from 1994 through 1999. he was the first dodger to go 30/30 (he did it twice), and he was exciting to watch.

sometime last year i added a certified autograph of the 1994 national league rookie of the year to my collection, picking up this 1995 upper deck autograph card

i didn't scan the coa, so you'll have to trust me.

this card was part of the small set of autograph cards put out by upper deck that year. i have frank robinson and roger clemens as part of my hall of famer collection, but i doubt that i will complete the set. the other two are reggie jackson and willie mays. mondesi was coming off of his rookie of the year campaign, and so was included here over other retired greats and current stars. it's interesting to look back at checklists like this and see where the potential stars of the day wound up.

i also added his 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks certified auto

and i did scan the back of this one

comparing the two autographs, i can't say that they seem to have been signed by the same person.

as i mentioned up top, mondesi was, for several seasons, my favorite dodger player. as such, i have these cards in my "favorite dodger through the years" mini collection:

1994 upper deck sp holoview fx

1995 topps

1996 fleer e-motion xl d-fense

1997 topps finest

1998 upper deck collector's choice

1999 upper deck century legends

these days, mondesi is in jail on corruption charges stemming from his post-baseball political career. not the way anyone thought things would turn out for him. hopefully he can turn things around when he is eventually released.