Game 3

Twins 11 Royals 10 

George Brett and Felix Jose go a combined 7 for 10 in a losing effort. Brett also records his 1 SB of the season. 


What better way to honor the career of George Brett than to have his last Topps flagship card than this beautiful shot. One of the best pure hitters of my generation, or any for that matter. The only player to win batting titles in 3 different decades (70's, 80's, and 90's). 3000+ hits, two World Series apperances and led the Royals to their first title. Had the Yankees not been a late 70's powerhouse Brett potentially could of had at least one more ring. He was, and still is, the face of the Royals franchise.

I remember in 1988 after I had received a Jose Canseco autograph from mailing in a card to a show, I got hooked on collecting signatures. The first one I got back from an actual request from a player was Jim Presley of the Mariners. It started a 2 year contest between myself and two close collecting friends. We got some pretty decent successes. The two quickest responses that i got were Twins shortstop Greg Gagne and George Brett. Now, living in southern MN and Gagne being a solid ballplayer, it must have hit just right because i got it back in 3 days. George Brett, I also got back in 3 days somehow. The two cards I sent had 2 distinctly different signatures on them. The 1987 Donruss had a blue sharpie signature and the back was smeared, assuming that was from another card that was signed by Brett, or the clubhouse boy, or whoever. The 1988 Donruss featured a very nice black, thin signature that looked a lot like a rubber stamp. Not saying that Brett did or didn't personally sign the cards, but it seems really bizarre that he would be able to go through his mail as quick as Gagne did, or maybe he just randomly grabbed his fan mail back in the day and I got super lucky. Either way it is an enjoyable memory, and one I've passed on to two kids, as they have sent a few fan mail requests out the past years, so far with no success.

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