rick rhoden through the mail success!

the third time was a charm when it came to a rick rhoden through the mail success. he was one of the first dodgers i targeted when i started my modest 1978 topps dodger autograph project, sending 1978 topps and o-pee-chee cards to his home address. after waiting for a few months, i tried sending just a 1978 topps card c/o the dodgers. still nothing. so, i sent another 1978 topps card to his home address, this time with a modest donation. bingo. and it took just 10 days!  here is the 1978 topps card i received back:

but that wasn't all. rhoden also sent his 1976 topps card

1977 topps card

1987 donruss diamond king card

and 1988 topps card

awesome! and i was worried i was going to have to start attending golf tournaments in the hopes of getting his autograph. 

as much as i like jerry reuss, i was upset when the dodgers sent rhoden to the pirates in that trade on the eve of the 1979 season. reuss was disappointing in his first year as a dodger, and rhoden was unfortunately sidelined that same season (except for one start) with bone spurs. still, rhoden wound up spending 8 seasons with the pirates, most of which were pretty good considering the teams the pirates put on the field after winning the world series in 1979. he finished 6th in the cy young voting in his final year in pittsburgh (1986), the same year he made the all star team and won his third consecutive silver slugger award.

as the silver slugger awards would indicate, rhoden was one of the better hitting pitchers in the big leagues. even after he was traded to the american league in 1987, he was used once as the designated hitter by billy martin, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. for his career, rhoden was a .238 hitter with 9 home runs and 75 rbi. these days, rhoden is playing golf, and playing well.

this is the 27th card in my modest 1978 topps dodger autograph project (ed goodson, where are you?). 

here's the tally

team card (red adams) - through the mail success!
team card (mark cresse) - through the mail success!
team card (boog powell) - through the mail success!
dusty baker - through the mail success!
glenn burke
ron cey - through the mail success!
vic davalillo - ebay success!
terry forster - ebay success!
mike garman - through the mail success!
steve garvey - through the mail success!
ed goodson
jerry grote - through the mail success!
burt hooton - through the mail success!
charlie hough - through the mail success!
tommy john - in person/through the mail success!
lee lacy - through the mail success!
tom lasorda - ebay success!
dave lopes - through the mail success!
ted martinez - ebay success!
rick monday - in person/through the mail success!
manny mota - through the mail success!
johnny oates - ebay success!
doug rau - through the mail success!
lance rautzhan - through the mail success!
rick rhoden - through the mail success!
bill russell - through the mail success!
reggie smith - through the mail success!
elias sosa - through the mail success!
don sutton - through the mail success!
steve yeager - ebay success!
nlcs (davey lopes) - through the mail success!

 27/29 = 93%

 thanks rick!