Andy Messersmith Autographs

gemint

Does anyone know why Andy Messersmith is a tough autograph? He's still alive. Is it a Mike Marshall situation where he just refuses to sign? His autographs are pretty expensive. He's a pitching coach for a college not far from where I live, so he isn't hard to find.

Dboneesq

SHHHHH ... a lot of people don't (didn't) know that! lol



I think much like Marshall, he just does not like to sign.



A few years ago I bought an off brand small set of about 30 cards (1975 I believe) that were signed. I think I paid about $125.00 for the set. It did not state in the auction that Messersmith was included. I was quite surprised when I opened the package from the auction house and saw the Messermith. Put it up on eBay that week and sold it for what I paid for the entire set.

strat4454

I wrote him about 12 years ago.
He thanked me for my nice letter and told me he does not do signings anymore,
Then he signed it Andy. I got half an autograph.

mrmopar

As was said, it seems he no longer likes to sign for fans, although he did at one point. I don't think his signature is all that difficult to locate though, so it may be a matter of supply/demand for a certain item or timing. I ended up scoring one card in a random card lot. I want to say it was 74 Topps and the seller made no mention of any of the cards being signed, but in viewing the posted photo I could tell the Messersmith was signed and ended up getting the lot for something like $2!

1954

Okay this is weird but I bought a 1976 Topps set a year ago and one of the cards in the set was autographed by Andy. I am not a collector of autographs so I had no idea it was a tough signature. Any ideas of the value for this card?

lostdart58

Messersmith stopped signing period when he retired as a player. He has not signed since.
He was a decent signer as a player so there are autoes out there.

Depending on the quality of the signature a signed 1976 Topps card may be worth $20-$50 or up to $100 on a given day.

1954

Thanks Lostdart for the information.

jmlabonner

Sorry to open up and old thread, but I was surprised to get this in the mail today! I had seen of various sites where he doesn't sign any longer. Just mailed it off about a month ago! Any thoughts on if it is legit? Thank you all in advance.

John

Nikklos

Compares well with this one. I'm not much of an qutograph guy but I picked this up 30 years ago at a show. Always wondered if it was real.



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UncleTwoPillow

Hmmm. Somewhat comparable. Andy's sig seems to have aged a bit crustily. He now calls himself Andy Besswan then added a symbol he borrowed from Prince.

jmlabonner

Originally posted by: UncleTwoPillow
Hmmm. Somewhat comparable. Andy's sig seems to have aged a bit crustily. He now calls himself Andy Besswan then added a symbol he borrowed from Prince.

Haha! I see what you did there!

PSASAP

Reminds me of the line by Rodney Dangerfield, "hold on, I gotta clean up this Messerschmitt!"