Sweet Hall of Fame Pickup! Steal?

Hey guys, Drew back here. Recently, rumors floated around the sports card forums about Cal Ripken Jr.'s new book for pre-teens. I don't normally read a whole lot, but when I do, I love Mike Lupica books, and his books are very much like this book that the "Iron Man" himself wrote with the help of author Kevin Cowherd. Not only was it something I could get my mom to buy me, because she loves to see me holding a book in my hands, but there was something more special inside it. Check it out:

Here's the cover from the book. The story is about a very young, humble player for the Orioles, a Babe Ruth League team. But eventually, he becomes a "Hot Head", and for some reason could not control his temper. His friends began to avoid him and the bench was coming closer and closer to this boy's future. The boy is soon faced with a challenge to get his act together before things got more embarrassing, and only the book will reveal if and how he does fix his attitude.

Seems like a good read to me! It's only 135 pages long, and it's fairly small, so I'm sure I could crank it out in a few days if I rush it. But I take my time, sometimes too much time when I read books. We'll see.

However, there's more than just the story of a young Nyjer Morgan that got my attention. Take a look at the inside cover...

HOLY SMOKES?!?!? Is that a Cal Ripken Jr. autograph I see? Or is it autopen, ghost signed, stamped, or pre-printed? Let's have a closer look shall we?

First off, Ripken has a beautiful signature. But anyways, it's perfectly clean, but does bleed through the page. Cross off pre print on your score cards if you're keeping track at home!

There's your proof everyone. Plus, with comparisons with other collectors that picked one of these up, there is a slight difference in the signatures. This is a real Cal Ripken Jr. autograph, and I purchased it for a grand total of approx. $17!

Ripken has been one of those Hall of Famers that I really wanted to own an autograph of. Heck, I want them all, but he's one of those must haves for baseball fans. You have to give the man props for playing 2,632 games in a row! It's hard enough to play a season without missing a game! Also a 19 time All Star, 8 time Silver Slugger, 2 time Gold Glover, 2 Time AL MVP, the 1982 Rookie of the Year, and a World Series Champion in 1983. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2007 on his first year on the ballot, with an incredible 98.53% of the vote.

Sure, I would have preferred a card, bat, ball, photo, or something else signed, but an autograph is an autograph no matter how you put it. Unfortunately, just today or yesterday, Barnes and Nobles stopped selling the autographed versions of the book (regular hardcover is still for sale), so I'm really sorry to say that unless you scoop one off eBay, you might've been a hair too late on the offer, and I'm sorry about that. I've heard people say they want to cut up the auto and mat it, or make a cut autographed card, but I'm just gonna keep it in the book where it belongs. Maybe one day I can add another Ripken piece to the collection!

What do you think of the offer?

See Ya!