the penmanship of the father shall be visited upon the son

most of the time when i send out a ttm request, i am doing so on a wing and a prayer.  past success does not guarantee future results and all of that.  so, even if i see someone post a success, i don't automatically think i will succeed.  still, when someone lists a success with a former dodger or a player who has a 1978 topps card, i pounce.  and, of course, i am always happy if and when they return my request fulfilled.  if they don't, that's ok, too - i expect nothing.

such was the case recently with dave laroche.  i think of laroche as the guy who mopped up the final game of the 1981 world series for the yankees and served up his 'la-lob' pitch to strike out davey lopes.  he's also the father of former dodger andy laroche. anyway, he was kind enough to scrawl his john hancock across his 1978 topps card

and i do mean scrawl.  at least there's some personality to his signature.

i have also sent ttm requests to his aforementioned son as he was featured on a few cards as a dodger before being sent to the pirates as part of the manny ramirez trade.  here's his 2007 topps turkey red card

and his 2007 topps update & highlights card

i would like to go on record as saying i do not like cards with facsimilie autographs.  no, i do not like them at all.  at least the younger laroche is somewhat consistent with his signature, or scribbling as it were.

i regret that andy was traded before he could appear as a dodger on a retread topps 'father & son' subset.  it would have been a first for the dodgers.  maybe tim wallach's kid will make it in a few years.

andy, by the way, is in camp with the a's this year.  i kind of wish the dodgers had given him a shot as casey blake is on the down side of his productivity it seems.  maybe such a move would bring back free andy laroche.

in all seriousness, thank you laroches for signing my cards!