joe pignatano through the mail success!

eighty-year old joe pignatano recently (and very kindly) signed and returned three cards i had sent him. they were his 1958 topps card, his 1961 topps card,

and his 2005 topps all time fan favorites card.

the brooklyn native signed with the hometown team in 1948 and made his debut for them in 1957, their final year in the borough. his last year in los angeles was 1960 as he was purchased by the kansas city athletics prior to the 1961 season. he finished his career as an original met in 1962.

i tried to trace joe's 'trade legacy' and wound up hitting a dead end in 1989. that's not too bad for a guy who last played in 1962. this is how it works:

in 1961, joe was traded for jose tartabull, who was traded in 1966 for ken sanders. sanders was traded for don mincher in 1970 and mincher was traded for lew krausse in 1971. krausse was traded for ken brett in 1971, who was then traded in 1975 for doc medich. medich was traded for phil garner in 1977, and garner was in turn traded for johnny ray in 1981. in 1987, johnny ray was traded for miguel garcia, who last played in 1989.

thanks baseball reference, and thanks joe!