It has been awhile but I picked up an autograph card of a past Dodger who I have never acquired before even though I have met him 3 times in my life.
Ismael was never the best of pitchers and had a very mediocre career as he posted a 104-105 record with an ERA over 4.00. But his best years were with the Dodgers when he won 61 of those career 104 wins.
When I worked at a car dealership in Carson back in the 1990's he walked in a few times and I helped him purchase a car ( full disclosure I am not a salesman ) but for some reason I never asked him for an autograph. Of course back then I did not carry around baseballs on the chance that I ran into a player nor did I have photos. Nonetheless you would think after the 2nd time I would have been prepared. Oh well.
So I was going back through past mini stars who played for the Dodgers and came across Ismael on my search and I promptly went onto eBay to see what on card autograph I could find of his. Found this old ( 16 years ) Donruss card on a BIN auction for a little over $2 delivered. Pocket change was sent to the seller and I finally had my first Ismael autograph to add to my collection.
Gotta love those '98 Donruss Signature cards.
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty cool you had real-world encounters with him.
Being in the auto industry helps. If I worked at a "luxury" brand (work at Ford) Im sure there would more players that would walk in through our doors
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