Baseball card stories from Kent Tekulve

Kent Tekulve pitched sixteen years in the major leagues for the Pirates, Phillies and Reds. His best year was 1979, when he pitched in a league-leading 94 games, winning 10 and saving 31, finishing fifth in the Cy Young voting and eighth in the MVP voting. He topped that season off by saving three games in the World Series, including Game Seven. He is still with the Pirates organization today, as President of the Pirates Alumni Association, which raises funds for charity as well as assists former Pirates. He kindly shared with me his baseball card stories.

"I have one card when I was with the Phillies where I am pointing to my glove and have this "s*** eating" grin on my face. I have no idea when they would have taken that shot and more disconcerting is why any reputable company would pick that shot for my card when there were SO MANY other shots available. It is not like I was a rookie at that point and there were not many photos to pick from.

Actually my favorite card is of myself AND another player. I have a card with my stats and facts on the back and Bo Jackson's picture on the front. That will be the only time that my body and Bo's body will share the same conversation.

I collected cards when I was a kid but not now (although I do have a few complete sets from over the years that were given to me by some dealers). I now have many of my own cards as I have had the practice for years of not answering autograph requests that are sent to my home (I am a private person there) but do sign requests that are sent to any place where I am a public figure (ballpark, etc.). I also limit the autographs to three per person and I keep all of the extra cards to be used for charity events."

Thanks! It looks like there are quite a few Bo Jackson cards with Kent Tekulve backs from 1987 Topps, as there are multiple auctions for these online.