In late 2021, I had the late Frank Thomas (the Original One), sign my 1955 Bowman card of him. You can see that card and others from Mr. Thomas here. My favorite players to send to during my TTM binge of late 2021 were the old-timers, as well as the really old-timers. It's sad that many of the baseball heroes of the 1950s have passed away, but there was still time to make a connection with a few of them via their 1955 Bowman cards. So, just after the calendar turned to 2023, I set out to do just that. I believe this is a comprehensive list of players from the 1955 Bowman set who are both still alive and still signing their cards through the mail:
- Joe Amalfitano (age 89)
- Carl Erskine (age 96)
- Hobie Landrith (age 92)
- Bobby Shantz (age 97)
- Vern Law (age 92)
I just sent out Carl Erskine's card to him about a week ago, and still need to get Vern Law's in the mail. If I can get those back, I will have six signed cards in the set, which I think is pretty neat. I don't typically like buying autographed cards, so that will probably be all that I collect for this set. It's kind of crazy to get cards signed that came out 68 years ago. I appreciate these gentlemen graciously returning them to me.
Those are some well-known cooperative autograph signers on that list. You should have little trouble, provided their situations haven't changed.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how many are still alive that don't/can't sign?
ReplyDeleteI know of Billy Gardner and Bobby Morgan, who both used to sign, but don't appear to be anymore. Can't think of any others that are still with us, but if I recall correctly SCN has tracking by set of who is still alive. I'm not a member there anymore, though.
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