2016 Black Friday COMC Order #10 - HOF Autos

I am finally coming close to the end of these posts from back on Black Friday.  The penultimate post features 2 new additions into my Baseball HOF autograph collection.

These aren't the two biggest names nor the most expensive autos but they were needs for my collection.

First up is a cut auto of HOF Umpire Al Barlick.  Barlick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, 6 years before his passing in 1995. Al was the umpire in 7 World Series and 7 All-Star games during his career.  He started as an umpire at age 26, one of the youngest ever at that time.  He missed two years of umpiring serving in the Coast Guard during WWII.  In a 1961 Sporting News poll, Barlick was recognized as the best NL umpire in several categories including best knowledge of the rules and best at calling balls and strikes.  He was probably best known for his very loud calls when he was umpiring behind the plate.

When I was making a list of which HOFers to target I struggled a bit as to whether I should include Umpires (and Managers, and Executive, and contributors to the game) in my collection.  I ultimately decided that I would target anyone who worked on the field of play so Umpires and Managers are in.

Next up is a nice cut auto of former Indians and Yankees infielder Joe Sewell.  Sewell was elected to the HOF in 1977 by the Veterans committee.  He started his career as a SS for Cleveland, later shifting to 3B and finished the last 3 years of his 14-year career manning the hot corner for the Yankees.  Statistically he is a below average HOFer and he didn't garner much support during his time on the writers ballot, peaking at 8.6% in 1960 and never being above 2% prior to that. During his playing days he did earn MVP votes in 6 of his first 8 seasons and 9 times over all.  He never made an All-Star game but the first one was held during his final season. Sewell is probably most remembered for his ability to avoid strikeouts.  He has one of the lowest strikeout rates in MLB history at one per 62.5 at-bats and also holds the record for most consecutive games without a strikeout with 115.

Only one post to go from this Black Friday haul, and it is a good one!