TTM Stats
- Sent: 12/6/2018 | Received: 12/15/2018 | 9 Days
- ’79 Topps, ’83 Fleer, ’83 Topps
- Address: Home (address from Sports Card Forum)
The Story of the Autograph
John Stearns played in the major leagues as a catcher from 1974 through 1984. He played a few games with the Phillies and spent the rest of his career in New York with the Mets.
John was born and raised in Colorado and after being drafted in the 13th round of the 1969 MLB Draft by the A’s, he decided to attend the University of Colorado instead. He played football while with the Buffalo too and played safety and punted. He help the school record for career interceptions with 16 (he might still hold it). He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1973 and then the Phillies made him the second overall pick in the same year. He was actually chosen ahead of Dave Winfield in both drafts. Stearns chose baseball.
He made his debut with the Phillies on September 2, 1973 but only played in that one game for them that year. Since he was behind Bob Boone he and others became expendable and was dealt to the Mets for Tug McGraw. He started as a backup but took the reins behind the plate in 1977. Stearns would be a four-time All-Star for a team that was usually at the bottom of the league. His best season was might have been 1978 when he hit .264, but had 15 homers and 73 RBI (both career highs) in 143 games.
Unfortunately injuries started to plague is career starting in 1980. Once the Mets traded for Gary Carter after the 1984 season that was pretty much it for Stearns. He became a free agent and tried to make some comebacks but ended up retiring.
The Score on John Stearns – 5.5
John has an find autograph. I would say from a score perspective it was a bit small and the marker wasn’t terribly strong. If it was a bit stronger that blue would have looked great on the Mets cards.
Thanks Mr. Stearns! I’m giving this return a 5.5.
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Information gathered using Wikipedia and Baseball Reference.