Dilferules's 1988-present Oakland A's autograph thread

[Dilferules]

Big addition!

Larry Arndt - Played 2 MLB games, both for the A's in 1989. He was out of baseball by 1991 and passed away in 2012. He had an A's card in the 1990 Topps MLB Debut set so you would think that he would be easier to find, but this is the first I've seen since I started this project a few years ago.

That means I'm down to 3 needed - Devin Sweet and Angel Felipe from 2023 (I've seen autos of both but they were priced a bit high), and Marcus Jones from 2000 who pitched a single MLB game and is impossible to find.

768/771.

 

[Dilferules]

Huge upgrade today:

Frank Thomas - This buyback auto out of 2023 Bowman upgrades an 8x10 with a no-name COA that I got at a card show in the mid-'90s.

Still at 768/771.

 

[Therion]

That one is greatness!

 

[MrMet2.0]

Huge upgrade today:

View attachment 354489Frank Thomas - This buyback auto out of 2023 Bowman upgrades an 8x10 with a no-name COA that I got at a card show in the mid-'90s.

Still at 768/771.

Awesome!


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[Dilferules]

I have finally taken the jump to expand my collection all the way back to the start of the Oakland years in 1968, greatly expanding my needs (and haves!). Since it looks like they could be out of Oakland as soon as next year, it will bring a finite endpoint to this project...I'll continue collecting them as long as they are the A's, but it's a good excuse to stop going after rando relievers that pitched 3 games and save a little cash.

I already had plenty of pre-'88 autographs of course, but I have also added most of the low-hanging fruit I was missing. At this point I am missing fewer than 150 players. I'll try to share all the players I have before opening day, when a whole new group of A's will start. I'll start with the oldest and work my way up towards 1987. Unlike the 1988 to present players, I don't really have any hope of fully completing 1968 to present...there are a few very rare high dollar autographs of people who I of course have no memory of and don't really care about. So I will just try to do the best I can and see where that gets me.

Reggie Jackson - May as well start off with the best. I have a few Reggie autos, this one is my favorite.

Catfish Hunter - Since he passed away before pack-inserted autographs took off huge, he doesn't have a whole heck of a lot. This one and a logoless Jimmy Dean Sausage card are his lone A's autos.

Rollie Fingers - I have dozens of Rollie autos. 2005 Ultimate Signature is one of my favorite sets of all time so let's go with that one!

Sal Bando - If you check his stats, he was a better player than you'd think.

Bert Campaneris - Got the mad hits.

Rene Lachemann - He was later the third base coach for the 1988-90 A's teams, as well as the first manager of the Marlins.

Tony LaRussa - I'm sure I must have shown this as part of the 1988-present collection as a manager, but he also played for the A's in parts of 5 seasons.

Rick Monday - He was the number one draft pick in the first draft. And he looks like a good pick until you see that Johnny Bench went in the second round.

Blue Moon Odom - 2-time All-Star for the A's.

Joe Rudi - During the A's 1970's dynasty he finished second in the MVP vote twice.

 

[Dilferules]

Jack Aker - Reliever pitched 4 seasons for the Kansas City A's plus the inaugural Oakland campaign. He had a pretty killer 1966 with 32 saves and a 1.99 ERA but other than that he was pretty mediocre.

Danny Cater - Finshed second to Yaz in the 1968 AL batting race. That's about all that's interesting with him; one of those real average players that lasted quite a while in the majors.

Chuck Dobson - So-so starting pitcher for the A's in parts of 7 seasons.

John Donaldson - No relation to Josh Donaldson.

Dave Duncan - Much more well known as a pitching coach under Tony LaRussa for the A's and Cardinals.

Jim Gosger - Outfielder somehow played 10 years in the majors with a career .226 batting average.

Dick Green - Well I guess that's the right color for it to be if you're playing for the A's. Spent his entire 12-year career with KC/Oakland.

Mike Hershberger - He led the AL in sacrifice flies in 1966!

Lew Krausse - His claim to fame is starting the first game at the Oakland Coliseum in 1968.

Ted Kubiak - He was a utility infielder on the 1970's World Series winning teams.

 

[Dilferules]

Finishing up the 1968 players:

Jim Nash - Not Toe Nash.

Jim Pagliaroni - Backup catcher with the A's for a couple of years. He would have probably found more success nowadays because he walked a decent amount.

Phil Roof - Crappy hitter but put together a 15-year career as a backup catcher, two of those in Oakland.

Ken Sanders - Not a photogenic guy. Love his signature, though.

Diego Segui - Father of David Segui won the 1970 AL ERA crown and pitched for 15 years in the majors.

 

[Dilferules]

1969 debuts:

Vida Blue - 1971 Cy Young winner (24-8 with a 1.82 ERA and 301 K's) finished in the top ten in CY voting 4 other times, made 6 All-Star teams, and finished his career with 209 wins. He sadly passed away last year.

Gene Tenace - Led each league in walks once and had a career .388 OBP despite hitting only .241. 1972 World Series MVP (he hit 4 homers).

Marcel Lachemann - Rene's brother, he also went on to MLB coaching success.

Larry Haney - The very definition of a replacement-level player, he accumulated 0.1 WAR over 12 seasons as a backup catcher. His son Chris was slightly more successful, racking up 3.1 WAR in 11 seasons as a pitcher.

Joe Nossek - He went 0-for-6 for the '69 A's. The rest of his career wasn't a heck of a lot better.

Tommie Reynolds - Had the best season of his career for the '69 A's, hitting .257 in 315 at-bats. The A's promptly sold him to the Angels.

Jose Tartabull - Danny's dad, father and son both played for the A's.

 

[MrMet2.0]

Vida! Good dude, was waiting to see him, sad to hear he passed


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[Dilferules]

1970 debuts:

Felipe Alou - All 3 Alou brothers played for the A's at one time or another, but Felipe is the only one I have a signature of for now.

Tommy Davis - Played parts of two seasons for the A's.

Bob Locker - The A's traded away Locker twice, once to pick up Bill North and the next time to get Billy Williams. He was also excellent in relief in parts of 3 seasons.

Dooley Womack - Closed out his MLB career with 2 appearances for the 1970 A's.

 

[Dilferules]

1971 debuts:

George Hendrick - Spent the first two seasons of his long career with Oakland. The A's traded him for Ray Fosse.

Larry Brown - Spent a couple of years in Oakland as a utility infielder, hitting below the Mendoza line.

Adrian Garrett - Hit .185 in 163 MLB games spread over 8 seasons, including 3-for-33 in 2 years with the A's. He did manage to hit a homer!

Mike Hegan - Pinch hitter over 3 seasons with the A's, later had a long broadcasting career with the Brewers and Indians.

Darold Knowles - Good relief pitcher on the '70s World Series teams. He managed to pitch in all 7 games of the 1973 Series.

 

[Dilferules]

1972 debuts:

Orlando Cepeda - Yep Cepeda appeared in 3 games for the 1972 A's, going hitless in 3 at-bats. He got a sweet card showcasing the old Coliseum, though.

Ken Holtzman - Was a starter for 4 seasons with the A's, never winning fewer than 18 games. Had a 2.30 ERA in 13 postseason appearances.

Brant Alyea - Hit below .200 in 20 games with the '72 A's, and they managed to trade him away two times in one year. Passed away earlier this month at 83 years old.

Tim Cullen - Closed out his career with a season as a utility infielder for the A's. Later went on to work for the Fresno AAA team.

Dal Maxvill - Hit very poorly over parts of 4 seasons with the A's.

Don Shaw - Knocked around for 10 runs in 5.1 innings with the A's. Claim to fame is winning the first game in Expos franchise history.

Bill Voss - Played 40 games for the 1972 team...he hit hit a homer, I guess that's his highlight.

 

[Dilferules]

1973 debuts:

Ray Fosse - While he is more famous nationally for being absolutely demolished by Pete Rose in the All-Star Game, he holds a special place in A's fans hearts for broadcasting A's games from 1986 through 2021, when he passed away from cancer. RIP Ray!

Bill North - Led the league in stolen bases twice (including 75 in 1976), but also led the league in caught stealing four times. His 395 career steals ranks him 79th all time.

Manny Trillo - Played the first 38 games of his career for the A's. Bless Upper Deck for including an auto of him in 2004 Timeless Teams.

Glenn Abbott - No relation to Jim or '90s A's prospect Kurt. Glenn was a swingman for 4 so-so seasons with the A's.

Pat Bourque - 1B/DH type who didn't hit much but the A's still traded for him twice.

Billy Conigliaro - Tony's brother. Not as good as Tony.

Phil Garner - Played the first 4 years of his career with the A's and made the All-Star team in 1976. I'll have to upgrade to a signed A's card someday to replace this Dodgers card from my '88 Topps set.

Rich McKinney - Didn't do much in parts of 4 seasons with the A's, but he's smiling like he's got a juicy secret on this card.

Jose Morales - Started his career with 6 games in Oakland before being sold to the Expos.

 

[mrmopar]

Interesting. I maybe didn't pay close attention to the time frame you were previously chasing. Like me, if you include a former version (Brooklyn for me), if becomes an impossible task, with LA being hard enough. If you opened up to KC and even Philly, then it's crazy. Hope to see you knock out Oakland though.

Who would you say are the top 5 Oakland targets you think may be impossible? These kinds of collecting goals and discussions are the most interesting to me, learning about who the real toughies are.

 

[Dilferules]

Interesting. I maybe didn't pay close attention to the time frame you were previously chasing. Like me, if you include a former version (Brooklyn for me), if becomes an impossible task, with LA being hard enough. If you opened up to KC and even Philly, then it's crazy. Hope to see you knock out Oakland though.

Who would you say are the top 5 Oakland targets you think may be impossible? These kinds of collecting goals and discussions are the most interesting to me, learning about who the real toughies are.

Yeah including KC and Philadelphia would make it pretty impossible so I'm not doing that. I'm not sure yet who the toughest guys will be for the Oakland years since I just started going after the 1968-87 guys but I know there are some that are rare enough they would be in the triple digits if I could find them...just can't remember who they are at the moment. As far as big stars I think the main one I'm missing is Willie McCovey, who played 11 games for the A's in 1976. I'm not going so deep as to pick up coaches, or else I'd also have to get Joe DiMaggio.

 

[Dilferules]

1974 debuts:

Bill Parsons - Closed out his short career by allowing 0 earned runs in 4 relief appearances for the A's.

Gaylen Pitts - Short major league playing career (28 games with Oakland is it) but a long coaching and managing career.

Claudell Washington - Spent his first three seasons with Oakland...I should probably upgrade this card from my '88 set to an A's issue at some point.

 

[Dilferules]

1975 debuts:

Billy Williams - Hall of Famer finished his career with two years in Oakland.

Jim Perry - Hall of Famer's brother finished his career pitching 15 games for the A's.

Stan Bahnsen - I cannot think of anything other than star pro wrestler Stan "The Lariat" Hansen. Bahnsen strangely had an A's jersey card in 2002 UD Vintage.

Dick Bosman - 1969 AL ERA champ finished his career with 36 games started for the A's 1975-76.

Charlie Chant - Not Charlie Chan.

Billy Grabarkewitz - Pictured: the look on his face as he's thinking "Billy Gra...Grab...screw it, Billy G."

Tommy Sandt - Hit .209 in 67 career at-bats with the A's.

Jim Todd - Reliever pitched three nonconsecutive seasons with the A's.

Denny Walling - Started his career with 9 games for the A's before being traded to the Astros.

 

[Dilferules]

1976 debuts:

Chris Batton - 2 games for the '76 A's was his entire MLB career.

Wayne Gross - Was an All-Star as a rookie and a mainstay on the late '70s and early '80s A's teams.

Larry Lintz - Pinch runner stole 31 bases in 1976. He only had 4 plate appearances and managed to walk in two of them and hit a sacrifice in one, so he had a .667 OBP that year!

Ken McMullen - Utility infielder for one season with the A's.

Paul Mitchell - Available only at salons.

Jeff Newman - A bit of trivia, following his playing career he was actually the manager Tony LaRussa replaced in 1986...he was the interim manager after Jackie Moore was fired. He went 2-8 in 10 games, so he seems qualified to lead the 2024 A's.

 

[Dilferules]

Continuing with 1977:

Tony Armas - Starred for the A's in the early '80s and then was traded to the Red Sox for Carney Lansford.

Doug Bair - Spent a season with the A's before they traded him to the Reds. Had a 15-year career as a reliever.

Joe Coleman - Won 20 games twice then became a reliever later in his career. The middle member of a three generation MLB family; dad (also Joe) pitched in the '40s and '50s for the A's, and son Casey pitched for the Cubs and Royals 2010-14.

Steve Dunning - Finished up his mediocre career with 6 relief appearances for the '77 A's. According to Wikipedia his wife won 10 grand on Tic Tac Dough in 1983.

Dave Giusti - Picked up 6 saves for the '77 A's before being sold to the Cubs. Was top 10 in Cy Young voting 3 times as a closer for the Pirates.

Bob Lacey - Solid reliever for the A's for 4 years, then they traded him for future second baseman Tony Phillips.

Steve McCatty - Second to Rollie Fingers for the 1981 Cy Young award when he went 14-7 with a 2.33 ERA in the strike year. He lasted until 1985 but was never nearly that effective again.

Rob Picciolo - Accumulated negative 2.1 WAR in 9 seasons as a utility infielder. Coached for many years for the Padres and Angels.

Jerry Tabb - Tore up the minors but could never hit in the majors over parts of 3 seasons.

Jim Umbarger - 6.55 ERA in 12 games (8 starts) in 1977.

 

[Dilferules]

1978 debuts (part 1):

Mike Adams - Finished up his 5-year career with 15 games for the A's.

Pete Broberg - Finished his 8-year career going 10-12 for the '78 A's.

Bruce Robinson and Alan Wirth - A 2 for 1 deal! Unlike Dwayne Murphy, these two did not have long MLB careers.

Mark Budaska - Played 13 games for the A's over two seasons. Later was a hitting coach in the minors and majors.

Tim Conroy - A's first round pick in 1978 debuted in the majors that same year, where he was shelled in 2 starts. Didn't make it back to the majors until 1982, where he remained for 6 mediocre seasons.

Dave Heaverlo - Decent reliever was part of the package received from the Giants for Vida Blue. Was at one time nicknamed Kojak because he shaved his head.

John Henry Johnson - Also part of the Vida Blue trade. Went 11-10 with a 3.39 ERA as a 21 year old rookie in 1978, but was a reliever for the Rangers by 1980.

Rick Langford - Actually he was a 1977 debut, missed him in that post. Led the majors in complete games in 1980 (with 28!) and 1981, pitching 75 complete games over a 4 season span. Shockingly he battled injuries after that and was washed up at 31.