Denis Menke

Who: Third Baseman Denis Menke

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1972 Topps

Acquired: TTM 1/1 9/15/2009 (17 days)

Comments: I love how small and direct Mr. Menke signs his cards. He's signed a pair for me in the past, and they both had pretty small signatures on them. I love that he puts great though into the size, location and style of his signature on every card he signs.

The '72 Topps set is notorious for some mad airbrushing jobs, and here is no exception. This photo of Mr. Menke was obviously taken while he was with the Houston Astros. The Reds helmet was airbrushed on for the set. Denis gets a proper Reds card in the '73 Topps set. A nice, arty, action card at that.

Of course, this is another card towards the '72 Topps Reds Project. I've gotten out of gate fast with this project since there are a lot of great TTM signers out there. But, it's going to slow down dramatically now since I still need to acquire quite a few cards from the set and a few guys require a decent amount of dough to sign. But, it's a marathon, not a sprint. I'm in it for the long haul.

Dan Gable

Who: Olympic Wrestler Dan Gable

Team: Team USA, Iowa Hawkeyes

Card: 2008 Goudey Sport Royalty

Acquired: TTM 1/1 6/29/2009 (258 days)

Comments: This is one of my favorite returns. I sent this card to Coach Gable care of his wrestling camp last October. It took a while, but wrestling GOD Dan Gable took care of me. I'm so happy this came back.

Considering the general overview of the autographs on this blog, aside being a Goudey card, this one is probably coming out of nowhere for ya. See, I wrestled for two seasons in high school. It's probably the toughest physical thing I've ever been through. The matches, the practices, all of it - it's just flat out brutal. But, I can't tell you how much it teaches you about yourself - mental and physical toughness, how to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of, how to overcome obstacles... the list goes on. I played football in college, I've run 11 marathons and countless other races, I have pushed myself - but I don't know that any of it was as tough as wrestling. That said, I wasn't all that great at it. I won a grand total of two matches. Those were some great wins though!

So, back to Dan Gable. When you are learning the craft, the first name out of any coaches mouth is Dan Gable. He is the messiah of wrestling, a pioneer, the greatest champion of the sport. EVER. He's quite simply a legend. A legend as a wrestler and a coach. So, while I have my heros in baseball and football and other sports... Dan Gable is right up there too.

Also, with this card, I am starting a new category: Small Sigs. Yep, exactly. Small signatures. I've gotten a few cards back with some really tiny signatures. Nothing wrong with them at all, they are just nice and tight. Good things come in small packages, right?

Denis Menke

Who: Third Baseman Denis Menke

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1973 Topps

Acquired: TTM 2/2 5/4/2009 (7 days)

Comments: This is the second of two cards that Mr. Menke kindly signed for me. I really, really like the '73 Topps set, and this card is an extra special one. The bokeh of the background is crazy, giving the photo a very artistic, almost dreamy look. With Denis pictured in the quissential batter's follow through, it's really a nice moment in time captured here.

This may also be the smallest signature on any card in my collection.

Pete Rose

Who: Hit King Pete Rose

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1987 Topps Cincinnati Reds Leaders

Acquired: TTM 1/1 5/5/2009 (13 days)

Comments: I figured that if I sent the crumbiest card I had, Pete might sign it for me for free. Boy, did that work out. I get another card knocked off my Reds '87 Topps list, and I get an autograph from Pete! I'm not going to lie, I do love Pete Rose. If you grew up in Cincinnati before 1989, it was a law that any boy that played little leauge emulate their play after Pete's. You hustled like Pete. You worshiped Pete. Maybe not everyone did, but I did. It really did sound good at the time. I know he's not the world's greatest person, and will likely never get into the hall of fame, but there's still that little piece of me that can't let go of Pete being the man.

Denis Menke

Who: Third Baseman Denis Menke

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1974 Topps

Acquired: TTM 2/2 5/4/2009 (7 days)

Comments: Denis Menke was at the end of his career by time he joined the Reds in November of 1971. Playing during the early years of the Big Red Machine, he was the teams third baseman before Pete Rose was moved there from the outfield to make room for slugger George Foster - bringing the Machine to it's strongest point. This 1974 card features Denis in a Reds uniform, but he actually played for the Astros that season, logging 30 games in Houston before retiring.

Interesting note on the uniforms: This photo was certainly taken in spring training (as many baseball card photos are) as evidenced by the Reds uniform Denis is wearing. By 1972, the Reds were rockin' the non-buttoned polyester get-ups, while this buttoned uniform would have been worn up until 1971. In the days before the "batting practice jersey" players would often wear old uniforms for game. Another possibility would be that this photo was taken during spring training of '72 where Denis would have been new to the team, and the polyester uniforms didn't debut yet.

This uniform is probably my favorite of all the Reds uniforms. Red and white, simple and classic.

Pete Rose

Who: Hustler Pete Rose

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1987 Topps

Acquired: eBay

Comments: I figured I would be more stoked about my first Rose autograph than I am now, but I guess that's how it is with getting something like this off of eBay. Now, the autograph is pretty crumby in some ways - kinda small, in red ink, with a ballpoint pen, a little smeared, etc. But, Pete was signing a few cards like this TTM in December of 2008, red pen and all, so I have a pretty good feeling it's legit. Since Rose has three cards in the '87 Topps set, I figured I could drop $10 on this one for the sake of the project. If I ever have the chance to upgrade this card, I will, but hopefully not at great expense.

So, even though Peter Edward Rose isn't the greatest human being of all time, I still have a small spot in my heart for him. I was taught to hustle in all that I did when I was a kid - just like Pete Rose did it. I can't quite shake that... and I certainly don't want to. Thanks for the inspiration, Pete.

Bob Feller

Who: Hall of Fame Pitcher Bob Feller

Team: Cleveland Indians

Card: 2008 Goudey

Acquired: TTM 1/1 10/27/2008 (6 days)

Comments: Sent this card and $5 to Bob Feller. He returned it signed. Victory.