larry walker is another player who was a late addition to my hall of famer collection. he is represented by this card:
that is a 1997 donruss signature series authentic signature card, signed by walker sideways, as is his typical approach to autographed cards. here's the back:i added walker to the collection following his induction in to the real hall of fame in 2020 - his final year of eligibility for the writers' vote. as the second canadian so honored, i decided to bring him in to the fold.
i followed walker's career with a lot of interest. i didn't collect every canadian player, but i did collect walker, along with fergie jenkins (the first canadian inducted in to cooperstown), terry puhl, and later, eric gagne before abandoning most of my player collections in 2003. today, i do have cards of vladimir guerrero jr (yes, he's canadian) set aside in what, i suppose, could be called a player collection. anyway, walker made the hall after much hand-wringing about his having played for nine-plus seasons with the rockies in the thin air of coors field.
i never saw walker play in coors field (i didn't make it there until 2006), but i did see him play once in san diego at jack murphy stadium against the padres. it was may 27, 2002, and walker was 1 for 4. i recall wandering around the stadium with my dad as we weren't too terribly interested in either team. we did stop to watch walker bat, however, and somewhere i have a photo that i took of him at the plate.
statistically, walker's hall of fame status benefitted from the recent focus placed on stats like ops+ and war, as opposed to the traditional "counting" stats like hits and home runs. his 72.7 war and 141 ops+ are high, while his hit total of 2,160 and 383 home runs are "low". i do understand the critics - his batting average at coors field was .383, and in other stadiums, he hit only .281 in almost the exact same number of plate appearances. i certainly discounted his performance in 1997 when i really wanted mike piazza to win the national league mvp instead of walker (he didn't), but i've since recognized walker's career as hall of fame worthy.
here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:
honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relic
nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75
eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
yogi berra - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1640/2000
sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000
roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic
warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints certified autograph
pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic
ray dandridge - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts a place in history cut autograph 31/43
carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
tony perez - 2004 fleer national pastime 2002 fleer greats authentic autograph buyback 30/59
ozzie smith - 2019 topps finest finest origins autograph
gary carter - 1999 fleer sports illustrated greats of the game autograph collection
vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
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
nap lajoie - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
tris speaker - 2011 topps tribute dual relic green parallel 53/75
eddie collins - 2002 topps tribute milestone materials relic
george sisler - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic
rogers hornsby - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame tribute relic
jimmie foxx - 2013 topps tribute retired remnants relic 91/99
mel ott - 2011 topps tribute quad relic 15/99
dizzy dean - 2001 topps tribute relic
hank greenberg - 2004 topps tribute hall of fame 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
roy campanella - 2001 topps tribute relic
stan musial - 2002 topps team topps legends autograph
sandy koufax - 1998 donruss signatures significant signatures 1707/2000
roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic
mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic
ernie banks - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
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
brooks robinson - 2001 topps golden anniversary great autograph
don drysdale - 1993 nabisco all-star autographs
harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
pee wee reese - 2001 topps tribute relic
lou brock - 2018 topps archives signature series 1989 buyback 53/61
ray dandridge - 2006 upper deck sp legendary cuts a place in history cut autograph 31/43
jim hunter - 1998 donruss signature series significant signatures 0736/2000
willie stargell - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
johnny bench - 2019 topps definitive collection legendary autograph 09/25
red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549
red schoendienst - 2012 panini cooperstown signatures 038/549
carl yastrzemski - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph
joe morgan - 2001 upper deck hall of famers cooperstown collection signature jersey
jim palmer - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
rod carew - 2004 topps retired signature autograph
fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333
gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
fergie jenkins - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 154/333
gaylord perry - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3
hal newhouser - 1993 front row premium all-time greats autograph
tom seaver - 2013 topps five star baseball autograph 44/50
reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autograph 19/60
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
george brett - 2001 topps finest finest moments autograph
robin yount - 2001 upper deck ultimate collection ultimate signatures 112/150
carlton fisk - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures
kirby puckett - 1998 upper deck retro sign of the times autograph
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
eddie murray - 2004 upper deck sp legendary cuts legendary sigs 45/50
dennis eckersley - 2017 topps archives signature series 1984 topps buyback 47/99
paul molitor - 2016 topps museum collection archival autographs 021/125
wade boggs - 2005 upper deck baseball heroes autograph red parallel 30/49
ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50
bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites certified autograph
ryne sandberg - 2016 topps five star autographs gold parallel 17/50
tony gwynn - 1997 donruss signature series millennium marks autograph 0702/1000
cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75
goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants past time signatures
cal ripken jr - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 32/75
goose gossage - 2003 topps finest finest moments autograph
andre dawson - 2000 fleer greats of the game autograph
bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph
ron santo - 2004 topps retired signature autograph
tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90
bert blyleven - 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams autograph
tom glavine - 2019 topps tribute autograph 18/90
greg maddux - 2018 topps luminaries masters of the mound autograph 13/15
pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60
ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph
pedro martinez - 2018 topps high tek portraitek autograph 09/60
ken griffey jr - 2003 upper deck game face autograph
mike piazza - 2014 topps five star autograph 35/50
tim raines - 2018 topps tribute tribute autograph green parallel 26/95
vladimir guerrero - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures
jim thome - 2020 topps archives signature series 2012 topps mini 1/1
jack morris - 2004 donruss timelines recollection collection 1986 buyback autograph 23/45
alan trammell - 2001 fleer greats of the game autograph
roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23
larry walker - 1997 donruss signature series authentic signature
roy halladay - 2017 topps archives signature series 2004 topps buyback 15/23
pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25
roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph
barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs
roger clemens* - 1995 upper deck autograph
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.
If I ever sit down with Walker, my first question would be... why do you always sign your cards sideways?
ReplyDeletemy initial thought was that he did this with ip autographs to make them less sellable, but doing it on a card that he was paid to sign discredits that theory. let me know what he tells you!
DeleteIt's probably not an opinion shared by many, but I think the couple of autos from that set where the guys didn't sign where they were supposed to, are the better looking/more interesting cards.
ReplyDeletedefinitely more interesting, and allows for a larger signature not confined to the allotted space.
DeleteWalker was one of my favorites growing up. I actually followed Les Expos a bit and hoarded all the cards of Delino Deshields, Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker I could find.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the sideways auto is easier because he's left-handed? Just a thought, but probably not the reason.
that's possible, i suppose. i saw a mockup today of a 2021 topps transcendent walker auto, and he signed it right-side up. maybe he's making a change?
Delete