Vintage Fridays: Jim Palmer, 1975 SSPC #380

I guess a full week is long enough to leave you hanging. Here's the card that I had signed by Jim Palmer last Saturday at FanFest. It's a classic 'Cakes card, in that he's posing without a cap, the better to air out his luxuriant chestnut locks. I made a remark to Palmer in that vein, and he told me that once he posed for a photo while wearing former pitching coach Ray Miller's cap. He assured me that "the Rabbit" had a huge noggin, hat size eight-something, so it was a funny visual. (To be fair to Miller, a quick check online for game-used memorabilia suggests that he wore a seven and a half, barely bigger than Palmer's seven and a quarter cap size.) I likened it to the time that Adam Jones swiped the Oriole Bird's oversized headgear and tried it on for himself. So that's the context for these photos, helpfully snapped by my sister. From left to right, Brian Matusz, Caleb Joseph, and Palmer are seated at the autograph table.

As for the signature, I'm glad that Jim appended the "HOF 90" inscription without being asked. I'm sure he takes a lot of pride in his first-ballot selection to the Hall of Fame, but it makes the autograph that much more special to me.