I'm always game to add cards and memorabilia of Hall of Famers to my collection, regardless of teams or the player themselves.
In this case, I was able to scoop up this Blyleven autograph for just a couple of bucks. The auto by itself is a really nice one, but Bert goes above and beyond with a "#28" inscription. I think it looks great and is nicely slanted to fill up the 'auto-space' provided for Blyleven by Fleer.
Speaking of Fleer's design, I really dig the simplicity of this set. The silver foil in the corner is sharp and the full color action photo with name and team logo make for a nice card, if not an ideal piece of memorabilia on its own! Here's the card:
Blyleven is sometimes considered to be a controversial HOF selection. Fans of other players who have not garnered selection, pitchers in particular, often cite Mr. Blyleven and his statistics for argumentative purposes. He never won the Cy Young Award or an MVP but was a 2x All-Star and World Series Champion with one no-hitter to his name. He wasn't elected until his 14th year of eligibility in 2011 and I believe it is his place on the all-time strikeouts list - 5th - that earned him his entry.
And rightly so! Interviewed players that faced Bert have consistently praised him for his 'nasty' stuff and he was certainly a dominant pitcher during his time.
Here's the back:
Ho-hum :)
I'm ecstatic to add a Bert Blyleven autograph to my HOF Collection!
Thanks for reading!
