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.

larry walker is in my hall of famer collection

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:

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

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

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

ernie banks - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.