Collector's Corner: Autographs Pt. 2

As promised, here are some of the best and worst autographs from recent Timber Rattlers teams.

Carlos Triunfel

My vote for the worst signature in Timber Rattlers history.  If you look really close, it appears that he actually has a pretty neat autograph.  However, after he finishes that nice, neat autograph, he decides to circle over it two or three times.  It looks like he had already crossed his "T" prior to the circles, so I am not really sure of there purpose.

Greg Halman

Some of these guys get some slack because they are from foreign countries, and Halman falls into that category.  A native of Haarlem, Netherlands, Greg signs his last name under his first name like Jeff Clement.  You can make out the "Greg" all right, but the last name gets a little funny, as it looks like it starts out "Gh".  I'm hoping that it just got lost in translation.

Chris Tillman

An artistic autograph with the "C" underlining the rest of his first name and opting for a one stroke "T" to start his last name instead of crossing it.  He gives two solid "l's" before squiggling the "man".

Tony Butler

Like Tillman, Butler also uses a one stroke "T", but Tony actually crosses his "T" by looping around.  On the mass signature ones, his loop gets a little big and makes it hard to tell it is a "T", but it is much more concise when he takes his time.  In his last name, Tony once again loops up to cross his "t" instead of picking up the pen.

Phillippe Aumont

Phillippe's signature can be pretty cool when he takes his time, but I have not seen too many where he actually took his time.  It's typically just a big "A" and a line for his last name, no upstroke for a "t" or crossing an invisible one.

Juan Ramirez

While he was here, he went by Juan Ramirez.  Often times now, he goes by J.C. Ramirez.  But he signed J. Carlos Ramirez.

Taylor Green

I like the "TGreen" look with the exaggerated crossing of the "T".

Cutter Dykstra

A really crisp, clean autograph that looks like it would be fun to sign.  You've got ups and downs, double "t's", and an oversized "C" and "D".  Just a real sharp sig.

Lorenzo Cain

Like Taylor Green, Lorenzo decides that his first name is irrelevant other than his first initial.  Lo Cain is very tough to get sweet spotted on a baseball, as he almost always refuses to do it, unless he gets paid to.  Very rare for a minor leaguer to refuse to sweet spot (other than high draft with memorabilia contracts), but Cain didn't like how much of his autographs were ending up on eBay so he started horse-shoeing the baseball.

Cody Adams

Just like the CIA and NFL, Cody only goes by an acronym, T.G.A.  Except that it doesn't say T.G.A., it says T.C.A. for Thomas Cody Adams.  He puts a odd flair on the front of his "A" which give the "C" the look of a "G".

Evan Frederickson

An "E" followed by a whole lot of mess.  We do customized t-shirts in the store.  One of my store workers comes up to me one day and say that someone wants to get their full name on a t-shirt and it won't fit.  She wants to know if they can just do his last name.  I look at it and say "His name isn't Fred Erickson, that's his last name, Frederickson, he's on the team."

Cameron Garfield

Apparently he doesn't realize that there are not any letters in Cameron or Garfield that need to be crossed.  Or he subscribes to the Carlos Triunfel theory of crossing out your name after you sign it.

Eric Arnett

Again a player with only a first initial, it must be the new trend.  The odd part of the signature is how his last name angles up, then he crosses a nonexistent "t".

Kyle Heckathorn

I like how he circles the "n" all the way around to cross his "t", because everyone knows that a "t" should be crossed from left to right.

Jake Odorizzi

A very vertical autograph as he make all of his letters skinny.  Very sharp looking.

Jeremy Jeffress

Apparently if you are not a "J", a "y", or an "f", you do not matter in this autograph.  Also, odd for minor leaguers to sign jersey numbers on a pro card, as they very rarely get to keep the number they want all the way up.

One of the new trends in cards are autographed jersey letter cards.  They are either off of a game-worn jersey, or they just manufacture the letters.  Most times the cards spell out the players last name, but it might be his team or a saying.  They look really great most of the time, but they must be really difficult to sign.  There is not much surface space, it's cloth, and there is stitching all over the place.  Other cards just feature signed patches of cloth.  The material is slippery and ridged.  It can't be easy to make your autograph look legible.