1961 Fleer Autograph Project - Part 11

To give you some context about how far I am behind, I acquired the card below in July of 2017.  My hobby activity over the intervening 6 months has been minimal, so I don't have a huge backlog to catch up on.  But, I do need to get my act together if I am going to return to a normal hobby year in 2018.


I want to keep moving my set building moving forward, since I am 91 cards away from finishing the 787 card 1972 Topps flagship set, 156 cards away from finishing the 720 card 1970 set, and 63 cards away from finishing the 340 card 1956 set.

But, anyways, on to the reason for this post.   An autographed 1961 Fleer Red Ruffing:

Ruffing had a 22 year MLB career, the first six in Boston. An early season trade in 1930 sent him to the Yankees where he stayed for 15 seasons and participated in 7 world series. He missed 2 full and a partial third season to military service during WWII. He compiled a 273-225 record, with a 3.80 ERA across those seasons. Though he doesn't represent well under modern statistics, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1967. 

What isn't as known about Ruffing is that he was actually a good hitter, racking up a career slash line of .269/.308/.389.  He was often called upon to pinch hit during his career.  Unfortunately, the statistics in Baseball Reference get sketchier the further back you go. I tried to look up his career batting splits by position and they don't add up to his career totals.  Suffice it to say, he actually totalled 15.0 WAR as a hitter!

What I am listening to:  Keep Between the Lines by Sturgill Simpson