al downing through the mail success!

al downing was kind enough to sign and return the card i sent to him in only 8 days!

if it looks familiar to you, that's because i have posted that 1972 topps beauty here before. it's the glorious miscut that night owl sent to me a while back. i guess mr. downing took pity on me for having such a card, because he also included this one:

a 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams memorable moments card.the memorable moment is, of course, hank aaron's 715th home run which downing surrendered.

i actually met al downing about 25 years ago at some sort of fundraiser, and got his autograph at that time as well, although not on any cards. i remember being pretty impressed that this guy wore the uniform, and really didn't care that he gave up the home run to aaron. i am sure that he gets asked about it a lot, though.

downing had a good career. his big year was in 1971 with the dodgers when he won 20 games and finished 3rd in the cy young voting and 10th in the mvp race. he pitched in 3 world series (his teams lost them all, including the dodgers in 1974) and his career ended mid way through the 1977 season when he was released by the dodgers. i think a 1978 topps final tribute is in order here.

thanks al!