TTM Stats
- Sent: 11/20/2019 | Received: 11/25/2019 | 5 Days
- ’73 Topps, ’73 Topps, ’77 Topps, ’63 Topps
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Dave Giusti is a former right-handed pitcher in the major leagues. He played from 1962 through 1977 for the Houston Colt .45’s/Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs.
Giusti was born and raised in upstate New York. He attended Syracuse University and pitched in the 1961 College World Series. He was signed by Houston, who were then known as the Colt .45’s, in 1961 as an amateur free agent. He made his first appearance the next year on April 13, 1962. He appeared in 22 games that first year but wouldn’t be back to the big club until 1964.
The end of 1968 was a bit turbulent for Giusti as a professional. He was traded to the Cardinals who then left him unprotected before the 1068 Expansion Draft. The Padres drafted him with the third pick, but then they traded him back to the Cardinals two months later. That’s a lot of change before you even play a game with the Cardinals. Then after the 1969 season, the Cardinals traded Giusti to the Pirates.
Giusti had some really great years with the Pirates. He moved into the closer role with them and dropped his ERA by at least a run for most of the years he was in that role. 1971 was a great year for him individually and for the Pirates. The Pirates won the World Series and Giusti was the Sporting News Reliever of the Year, leading the league in saves with 30. Two years later, Giusti would get his one-and-only All-Star nod.
He closed out his career with the Athletics and Cubs. The Pirates traded him to the Athletics in a deal that also send Doc Medich to Oakland and brought back Phil Garner among others. The A’s then sold him to the Cubs and the Cubs released him after the 1977 season.
The Score on Dave Giusti – 5.0
I only sent three of these cards to Dave. He sent back the 1963 card which is now the oldest card in my collection. Normally I would rate a ball point pen signature on a card lower than a five, but the fact that I got another card back overrides that a bit. It looks like Dave signs a bit like Tony La Russa in that it’s usually smaller and then he tries to find a “black” space to sign.
Thanks Mr. Giusti! I’m giving this return a 5.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.