TTM Stats
- Sent: 6/21/2018 | Received: 7/2/2018 | 11 Days
- ’80 Topps
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Al Hrabosky played for 13 major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta Braves. He was a relief pitcher for his entire career and was known “The Mad Hungarian” because of his name as well as his fiery personality.
Hrabosky grew up in California and was originally drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 1967 draft. He didn’t sign with the Twins and two years later was the Cardinals made him their first round choice. He made his major league debut against the Padres a year later on June 16, 1970 and pitched a scoreless inning.
Al was known for his antics on the mound, and while that made him a fan favorite it did not endear him to hitters. Between each pitch, Hrabosky would walk towards second, rub the baseball, take a deep breath and slam the ball into his mitt. He head back onto the mound and stare down the batter. He wore an amazing moustache (Hulk Hogan style, although Hogan was after Hrabosky really) and had long hair for part of his career. Some years the moustache was a bit shaggier than others. In 1977, when Vern Rapp became the Cardinals manager, he made him cut his hair and shave the moustache.
He was a good relief pitcher with a 64-35 record, 3.10 ERA and 97 saves for his career. He led the league in saves in 1975 with 22. But it’s Al’s personality and the show he put on when he was on the field that added so much character to the game.
The Score on Al Hrabosky – 8.5
I love a good nickname inscription and I haven’t gotten one in a while. This is one of my favorites (probably with Hensley Meulens signing “Bam Bam”). This is actually the second 1980 Topps card of Al’s that I have in my collection, but on the first one he didn’t put his nickname on it. As far as Al’s signature goes, it’s small, actually smaller than the facsimile signature, and it’s nothing crazy. But the addition of the nickname for me means everything.
Thanks Mr. Hrabosky! I’m giving this one an 8.5.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.