Featured autograph - Mike Mussina

Mike Mussina returned the cards I sent to him signed in blue Sharpie in about two weeks - the first card was a dual player card I first sent to Chien-Ming Wang during last year's spring training. I like dual signed cards, but not when I cannot immediately complete the pair.

I was holding onto this card for much of the year, wondering when I would send it to Mussina - I figured I can send something to him anytime.

While Mussina has generally been considered a 'face' or 'role model' type, he seems like he doesn't always like the attention given to him - to his credit, after all the last 15 years or so, he has dutifully signed everything through the mail with nearly the same, consistent autograph. To the best of my knowledge, he hasn't changed his signing habits or suddenly stopped for whatever reason.

Ever since he entered the league, Mussina has been considered a 'star' and his career numbers are impressive - while there is a lot of discussions on forums and blogs about his Hall of Fame credentials, maybe he fall just falls short of election to the Hall of Fame because he wasn't able to win 300 games and/or win at least one championship after signing with the New York Yankees.