I posted the inautographed version of this recently… This is the one I had signed in person at the national many, many years ago. It was a pleasure meeting Mr. Mays. He wasn’t all that friendly, but it was still exciting as a teenager to meet on baseball’s all-time best.

Willie Mays was arguably the best player to ever play the game. He was great defensively, had incredible hustle, and was a great hitter as well. He had a long, successful career at the highest level. When I was a kid, at my first national, he was signing autographs for $20 each. I didn’t have anything for him to autograph, I went to a dealer and purchased this 1961 Topps card to get signed. This, clearly, is an unsigned version. I’ll have to dig out the autographed copy that I have that I eventually sent in for PSA DNA authentication to protect the card.

The first vintage card I ever bought. Had to be 87 or 88.

I’ll never get rid of this one. Don’t mind the hole in the middle.

Another card I picked up today from the same run as the Mantle. Also sending to the grader.