1994 SIGNATURE ROOKIES BILL PULSIPHER
Ah, the promise this card once represented.
First off, it’s a genuine autograph numbered to 7,750, which actually seemed pretty cool and limited back in 1994.
And of course, it’s the left-handed vertex of Generation K, that pitching triforce that was supposed to bring the Mets a decade of pennants and parades.
Long ago this was a binder card, living the good life beneath PVC-free sheets with the Ryans and the Ripkens. Now my copy sits somewhere in an 800-count box.
And not a good 800-count box. More like a 13-19, 5.19 ERA 800-count box.
Signature Rookies was one of the 4th-tier brands that proliferated in the early to mid ’90s. These guys certainly were not Topps, and they weren’t Donruss, Fleer, Upper Deck, or even Score either.
In the Jackson family of card manufacturers, they were Rebbie.
The company appears to have folded up shop by 1998 or so, by which time Bill Pulsipher had been moved to Milwaukee for Luis Lopez. Bill lingered in the bigs until 2001, and then popped up briefly again in 2005, pitching four innings for the Cardinals.
He still haunts the independent leagues to this day– he’s spent the last couple of years with the Somerset Patriots.
And I still haven’t decided whether his persistence is foolish or heroic.
When all is said and done, it’s probably a little bit of both…
Have you ever heard how long they give the players to autograph cards? I mean, it’s got to take some time to sign 7,750 cards. I imagine it’s fun for about 30 seconds and after that it’s a chore.
Do they video the guy doing it? I mean if it was me, and they shipped the cards to my house, I’m sure I would have other people helping out…
There have been some well-known cases where wives/friends/girlfriends/flunkies ended up signing cards, so the companies have stepped up their authentication efforts over the years.
Nowadays, most autographed cards contain sticker autographs. The autograph subject is sent a sheet of X number of stickers to sign, and then the company is contractually allowed to affix the stickers to cards for a given period of time. (Which explains the Bernie Mac autograph I once pulled from a set that came out a year or so after he passed away…)