TTM Stats
- Sent: 1/23/2020 | Received: 2/22/2020 | 29 Days
- ’89 Topps, ’90 Fleer, ’90 Upper Deck, ’91 Score, ’92 Donruss
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
Jeff Ballard is a former left-handed pitcher in the major leagues. He primarily played in Baltimore from 1987 through 1991 and then finished his major league career in Pittsburgh in 1993 and ’94.
Ballard is a native of Billings, Montana. He was first selected by the Brewers in the 16th round of the 1981 MLB Draft out of high school but never signed. Instead he went on to attend Stanford and earn his degree in geophysics. He would join their Hall of Fame in 1998 as a player who owned records in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched. In 1984 the Orioles drafted him in the 27th round be he still didn’t sign. A year later they came back to select him again in the seventh round of the 1985 MLB Draft and he finally signed.
He made his debut with the Orioles on May 9, 1987. He struggled in his first two years but was outstanding in 1989, his third year. That year he went on to put up an 18-8 record with a 3.43 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 215 Innings pitched. All of those were career highs and it was clearly the best year of his career and that included votes for the Cy Young. He would pitched two more years in Baltimore and work in relief for most of the 1991 season.
He bounced around in 1992 and then found his way to the Pirates in 1993 and spent two years there. In 1995 Ballard was in a car accident in Idaho and broke his neck and several ribs, ending his baseball career. In 2004 he was voted one of the Orioles fan’s 50 best-loved Orioles. These days he lives back in Montana and works for the family business.
The Score on Jeff Ballard – 6.0
Jeff has a really strong signature and these came out really well. The cards are busy and dark in some cases, but with the marker he used it really does a good job of cutting through all that. I like the “B” he has and the way he uses it to circle the “a” next to it. I think my favorite of this bunch is the 1992 Donruss from a signature perspective, but I like have an ’89 card of his signed given how good a year he had that year.
Thanks Mr. Ballard! I’m giving this return a 6 overall.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.