This card of Orlando Pena came up on eBay. He signed it with the years he played 1958-1975. That’s the first time I have ever seen a player use his playing years as an inscription.
My first gut reaction to seeing the years was that this was his lifespan. Like, the year he was born and when he died. Of course, that doesn’t make any sense that he would be born in 1958 and appear on a 1959 Topps card.
But just for a moment let’s imagine that a player did sign a card with his birth year and his death year. Heh. That wouldn’t be possible! How could he sign his death year? That autograph would be a fake!
Or I suppose if a player was on his deathbed, he might be able to sign a card with his death year. But that’s a bit weird.
What if a player liked to play tricks? What if every year, the player signed with his birth year and also the current year? Wait, he didn’t die that year? Oh man, I guess all the cards he signed that year are wrong.
There are players who purposefully try to damage cards when they sign, to decrease the value of the card. No joke. In high school, I sent a card to Mark Grace to autograph (this would be the early 1990s). A while later, the card was returned in the self-addressed envelope. The envelope had no folds or marks on it. But the card inside was totally crumbled up.
Apparently, Mark Grace didn’t want me to sell this card to make money. Which I can understand. So many people want the autograph not for the relic of meeting the ballplayer, but to turn around and sell it. So devaluing the card forces the autograph to merely be a relic, but not worth anything monetarily.
Anyhow, so a player signing with a new death year every year kinda does the same thing.
https://www.57hits.com/signing-a-card-with-your-lifespan-years-of-birth-and-death
#Autographs #OrlandoPena