Back in 2015 I saw that an autograph dealer had a signing with Leon Everitt, who had pitched for the Padres in 1969 but never had a card with them. We decided that if I made cards for the dealer I would get a free signature and he could do as he liked with the other eight cards. We also reached terms on cards from other teams. We are still making cards ten years later as ShoeBox Heroes.
#1 Leon Everitt-Leons' entire major league career consisted of five games for the Padres in 1969. He passed away in 2016 at the age of 69.
#2 John Sipin-John played in 68 games for the Padres in 1969. He played in Japan from 1972-80. Evidently he was a big fan favorite in Japan. I tried many different addresses to get this signed and never received a reply. I ended up buying an index card and making a cut signature card.
#3 Van Kelly-played in 111 games for the Padres in 69 & 70. That was the extent of his major league career. I used SCN to find his address and sent him cards, I asked him to sign one and keep the others and he did.
#4 Rupe Toppin-pitched in 2 games for the Kansas City Athletics in 1962. Other than those 2 games he played in the minors from 1960-1969.
#5 Ron Allen-I am not sure why this is a Phillies card. Ron never made the majors with Philadelphia, he made his major league debut with the Cardinals in 1972. He played 5 games in 1972 and that was the end of his major league career. Early on in making the customs the photos came from the autograph dealer, which may be why it is a Phillies card. Ron is the brother of Dick and Harry Allen.
#6 John Hairston- John played in three games for the Cubs in 1969. He is the brother of Jerry Hairston, son of Sam Hairston, uncle to Jerry and Scott Hairston.
#7 Vance McHenry- Vance played in 15 games for the '81 Mariners and 3 games for them in '82. He played in the minors in various systems until 1985.
#8 Clint Compton-Clint pitched in 2 innings for the 1972 Cubs.
#9 Charlie Walters- Charlie pitched in 6.2 innings in 6 games for the Twins in 1969.
1969 fronts were easy to make, it is a just a matter of finding the right colors and fonts. I used the back of Tom Seavers' '69 card for Leon Everitts, just superimposing things on it. With John Sipins' card I started building the card backs. The more I worked with Publisher the easier things became. The '62, '81 and '72 cards involved an exacto knife and various other tools for the fronts.
3 comments:
That's a cool beginning to your custom cards.
My interest in custom cards started back in the 90's when I started seeing them in Baseball Cards magazine. But it really took off after seeing you and other bloggers include them in care packages. They are truly fascinating. I have kept every single one of the ones you've sent me over the years. My family really enjoyed the ones you created of me a few years ago. I included them in their Christmas cards during our last holiday family reunion.
Thanks for showing off the early customs and the stories behind them! Did you get that auto of Everitt, the page shows a clean card?
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