Ones That Speak to Me: Victor Martinez

When I first discovered Victor Martinez's AUTO, needless to say, I was impressed. It had all of my favorite qualities...Repetition, legibility, and the most powerful in this instance; Controlled Chaos. I had to have one to look at often.

I was literally hunting the right rendition of his auto since 2005. In 06 I got a co-signers of Victor and Ryan Garko for a song, but I got sick of the shiny stickers and Garko's lackluster development, and sold it.

I promised myself the "Right" one at a later date. It would be on-card, clear and LARGE. I wanted to be able to see every letter. With this one I got the bonus of it being on what I would call a great card design with a great photo of one hell of a good hitting catcher. All of these things contribute to one of the most favored cards in my collection. Victor rarely leaves anything on the diamond (to borrow a football analogy) and puts the same care into every signature of his that I have ever seen.

Craftsmen:Brian Bixler, The Brian Bannister of 2009

Even the shortest, most truncated versions are near masterpieces, and fit in many of my "recurring themes" categories. The UDX is the most detailed and has a perfectly executed "B repeat". The Sterling version has a very tag-like feel to it, as the bend of the second "B" is irregular snd possibly accidental. At the very least, his consistency is nothing less than admirable.

Evolution = change/time

I would like this to be a blog that makes people get up in the morning, drink coffee and change their lives, but it is not. I just post scans and pictures of Autographs and then either provide somekind of commentary on the design, signature, significance or the always popular, nothin'. Auto-matic for the People has it down for formatting the exhibition of auto cards, and I try not to bite others' steez.
From now until I make another shift due to pressures unknown, I will be organizing photos and scans in my "blogger" file in "recurring themes". some of the themes I have "brainworked" to date:
The Joy of Symmetry/Repetition
self-explanatory...

Controlled Chaos
What moves the pen...the mind or the hand?

Gentlemen
Percieved anachronisms

Then and Now
Classic, and with a market this big, how could I not?

Craftsmen
Taking Pride in your signature is a sign of confidence (or arrogance).

BIG TIME
Gotta be makin' a statement there pal.

Really!
That's how you're going to be immortalized?

Ones that speak to me.
I can have reasons or not have reasons all day long...

By My Hand
Autographs that I attained myself one way or another.

I think that this will at least give this blog some kind of structure. I jumped in with nothing but passion and basic computer skills. I think evident from all December posts. Also I love the feel of a subset. The categories mentioned above remind me of subsets that I might actually like to see exist.
others for consideration pending storage folder initiation:
Doh!
Cut and Run
Just a bit outside...
Fake as s***.

suggestions and submissions are, as always, welcome.

Peterson

Top "Nickname to AUTO Ratio" -Frank Thomas

Ratio Nickname/Autograph: 92/84

Nickname? Stamp! Autograph? St-Stamp! (signhere approved beer commercial reference)

Thomas has an extremely consistent auto with great pseudo-symmetry and an added "35" jersey # for your enjoyment.

Although the "big hurt" often referred to his triceps muscle in the later years, Frank Thomas is part of an elite group of four players (including Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams) to have at least a .300 batting average, 500 home runs, 1,500 RBI, 1,000 runs and 1,500 walks in a career.

This set of stats is truly painful for opposing pitchers to think about.

He was one of the only "hyped" rookies to come up in my first go-round with the world of card collecting from 86-93 that actually had a very productive career (fruitful sounds too weak for this guy, I mean he used to swing a piece of rusty rebar in the on-deck circle).

Jeff Conine says what?

-Peterson