Collecting team autographs and the end of the hunt

I came home today to find that I had won a Bob Giallombardo autographed 3x5. After a good 5+ years of seriously chasing autographs specific to this project, this has officially ended my hunt to obtain all of the LA Dodgers player autographs. Now, just to keep it real, I am still missing a handful of more recent players from the last 2-3 years, but it is single digit numbers and I believe all are readily available for the time being. I prefer cards, so sometimes waiting for the right card of a new player at my price takes time (such as Adam Liberatore, for example). It is hard to keep up with current teams as they add many players near the end of a season and this collection will never end as long as new players keep playing for the team, but the point here was that my last retired hold out is home.

I can always extend my search into the Brooklyn era to keep the project fresh, which I have, but that is an impossible feat dating back to the 1800s. I don't have the time or money to complete that run in my lifetime. Chasing the Dodgers of LA allowed me to go back to a more recent time (1958) but also made it an attainable project. There are a number of toughies and obscure players but lucky for me, nobody that I would consider impossible (yet). My closest "scare" was one player who appeared on a Dodger card and died young and unexpectedly but never played a game for the Dodgers or MLB.

Anyway, this is the last piece to the project aside from annual new additions. Now who can I talk about that eludes me so…?

Very nice and impressive. How many players (not including the new years) does this cover? Was BG hard to find or just happened to be the last guy to add?

Ryan

Sent from my SM-G920V using Freedom Card Board mobile app

crazy. congrats
sounds like an amazing collection

So much awesome! Congrats!

Wow, what a cool project.

That sounds like a fun project. How did you decide to pursue? I have a few side collections that I try to add to when I hit a dry spell, but nothing that exciting.

So what's next...

Very nice!!! I'll never get all the Yankees, but I'll keep plugging away.
DANNY

I have always been a Dodger fan and love autographs, so it was a natural choice. I did a side project where I was trying to get all of the AS members, inspired by another message board member, but that got to be a pain in the butt. Too many new AS players each year to chase down.

I don't know exactly how many players this covers, as I have never actually made a list. I just went through the annual rosters at baseball-reference, to verify who I did and din't have and created a working want list from there.

Giallombardo is somewhat difficult apparently, in that he seems to be a bit of a hesitant signer. He is alive and will turn 80 next Spring. I have only seen a couple autographs of his on ebay in the time I have been trying to get all of the signatures. He only played a handful of games for the 58 Dodgers. I found out through an online source a few years back that he apparently charged $25 per signature, but with just about every TTM lead I get, I put it on the back burner and never sent anything. I actually have his only regular issue card (59T) set aside with the intent to send it, but the address I have is 2-3 years old and don't want to waste my time and lower my chances if he happened to have moved. If anyone bought the 2017 Harvey list and will confirm his address for me, I may just try finally. I'd much rather have a card anyway.

Bob Wilson may be my candidate for toughest autograph in the project. He also only played a handful of games in 1958, but he died in 1985 and little is published online about him. His only card that I am aware of that was issued prior to his death is a 1979 TCMA 50s card. I landed him on a 3x5 as well. It was the only one I'd ever seen offered.

To add some extra challenge, I have tried to add all of the managers, coaches and major executives as well. I wish more of this type of card/signature was available for the hardcore team collectors.

One of the cooler collecting projects I've heard about. Congratulations on completing it.

Scott F

1959 Dodgers world series ring --- I made a bid xx,*** cash no reply -- several years ago

I finally made a list. 894 players from 1958-2016 are included. I have also added in to the count all of the Managers, Coaches, GMs, Presidents, Broadcasters and some of the other key people, but not 100% (Owners, Chairman of the Board, etc) to bring the grand total up to 957 individuals. I would also add other significant individuals if I came across an autograph, such as team pilot, trainer/doctor, traveling secretary, director of concessions and a few other better known characters, but don't have them in the count.

When adding the non field level folks, my completion numbers drop a bit. I have most of the coaches, managers and other field level people.

RStadlerASU22 said:

Very nice and impressive. How many players (not including the new years) does this cover? Was BG hard to find or just happened to be the last guy to add?

Ryan

Sent from my SM-G920V using Freedom Card Board mobile app

Click to expand...

That is pretty amazing. I just got back in to collecting this year for the first time as an adult and just player collecting my 1 player seems like a daunting task that will never end.

How long have you been actively pursuing this collection?

I have been buying autographs for a good 15+ years, maybe longer. I was focusing on star players and such at first, but at some point decided that I wanted any Dodger player and any Dodger card. It is interesting how many certified Dodger cards are for players that eventually never played any MLB or at least not for the Dodgers. Those add to the total, only because they are pictured as Dodgers on the cards. Aside from my player collection, that is my passion.