Rick Anderson 81T

[mrmopar]

Wondering if someone here won this. I was watching this, but it was already at $1500+ when I spotted it, so no bids from me!

I am aware of his story and have looked on and off for his autograph because I am trying to get as many of the 77T-87T Mariners cards signed as I can find, but looks like this one will be a hole in my collection forever if this is the market rate for a Rick Anderson signed card!

However, something strikes me funny about this signature too. There is another Rick Anderson who is still alive, also a MLB pitcher, and his signature is similar. If the deceased Anderson is so scarce, and i am sure it is fairly uncommon to say the least given his short and unimpressive career, how did the PSA experts determine this was real? Did the other Anderson sign this card (but why would he), is this a fake thinking nobody would ever be able to tell or is this really that Rick Anderson?

I'd love to know that this is real and if other signatures are out there. I think this is his only MLB card.

[dgo71]

That's an insane price, and if another surfaced I would bet it wouldn't go nearly as high, since one of the two competitors already won this one. This was a perfect storm of bidding.

Side note - It's a shame Rodney Craig didn't sign this one to finish it off, as he passed away last year.

[sbfinley]

The seller is a frequent poster on another board, and with his reputation I wouldn't question the signature for a moment. He actually had cracked the card and had it in the hands of Craig's family to be signed at the time they found him diseased so it was literally days if not hours from being completed. I wouldn't, however, doubt that a second card couldn't match that price. Set collectors are a furious bunch, plus there are collectors like the OP who collect teams. Great card and a strong price.

[btcarfagno]

Rick Anderson is super tough. I have one of his signatures...not sure if it is on a postcard or an index card. I can imagine that his only baseball card would be nearly impossible.

Tom C

[MacDice]

The seller does have a very good reputation on the other board.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by sbfinley

He actually had cracked the card and had it in the hands of Craig's family to be signed at the time they found him diseased so it was literally days if not hours from being completed. I wouldn't, however, doubt that a second card couldn't match that price. Set collectors are a furious bunch, plus there are collectors like the OP who collect teams. Great card and a strong price.

Wow, I didn't know how close it was to having Craig on it, what a story! I know Anderson is tough, but he didn't pass away until 1989, hard to imagine there aren't more signed copies out there. He was found with an autograph request in his hand when he passed away so I always assumed he was repsonsive to TTM requests, was this not the case? Was he a notorious non-signer when he was alive?

[sbfinley]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

Wondering if someone here won this.

Someone mentioned on the other board that KO won the auction and matching up feedbacks verifies this. Looks like from the bid history he just put in a nuclear bid and it held up.

Originally Posted by dgo71

Wow, I didn't know how close it was to having Craig on it, what a story! I know Anderson is tough, but he didn't pass away until 1989, hard to imagine there aren't more signed copies out there. He was found with an autograph request in his hand when he passed away so I always assumed he was repsonsive to TTM requests, was this not the case? Was he a notorious non-signer when he was alive?

From what I understand with his situation he struggled with depression and other issues most of his short life after baseball. When had it under control he was very gracious, but unfortunately those times were few and far between. I can't imagine this is the lone example out there (I was told of collector who found a signed copy in a bargain bin at the National or another major show a few years back, but I haven't seen it to verify it), but yes indeed it is very rare.

[mrmopar]

Craig seems to be tough, but not super tough. His demise was a tragic case as well. That card triple signed would be amaze like Andersonng, as all 3 are not "common" common autographs!

The whole 81T Mariners team set is loaded with tougher than normal players. A nightmare for a Mariners auto collector like myself!

[r2678]

This card, too, piqued my interest. Like the OP, I think the signature on the card is similar to the auto of the New York Mets Rick Anderson.

Several years ago, I purchased a few thousand baseball autographs from the estate of a collector/dealer I had known for several years who actively collected into the early 1980's. I found these two Rick Anderson signed index cards in that collection. The first he identified as the Rick Anderson who pitched for the Mariners:


This one he identified as the Mets' pitcher:


Obviously, both are quite different. So, did PSA err?