Wade Rowdon and My First Autograph

Cleaning out boxes at my parent's house last month was like taking a time machine.  A time machine to the distant past...all the way back to the year...1987.

It was summer. It was HOT.  I had a broken leg.  And I LOVED me some baseball cards.  My grandma had bought me a box of 1987 Topps, and I knew who all the guys were.  By that point, ol' Wade Rowdon had been traded from the Reds to the Cubs, and then sent to AAA -- Iowa Cubs.  My Dad took me to the game.  I brought along my card in case the Cubs were signing autographs.  Then look who came down the line.  WADE!

Wade Rowdon - Iowa Cubs - 1987

He was signing for any and all people with perms or bold-colored T-Shirts....or whatever criteria was used back then.  Eventually he came down the line to us, and I got my very first in-person autograph.

1987 Topps Wade Rowdon - #569 - Autograph