Homer at the Bat, autographed

One of my first big "collecting projects" after returning to the hobby as an adult was picking up an autograph of each of the "Springfield Nine"-- that is, all nine MLB stars who guested in the classic "Homer at the Bat" episode of The Simpsons. (And one of my first big "blogging projects" was the "Simpsons fortnight" series spotlighting those 9 players.)

I've recently expanded that goal to now also include an autograph from the entire cast of the episode, not just the ballplayers.

The episode premiered 30 years ago today (2/20/1992), and so I figured it would be a good day for this post (and work as a deadline for myself to get everything together).

Ok, here we go, signatures from the complete cast of "Homer at the Bat":

Updated my cardroom display shelf with the cast for the episode, in order of the end credits.

Let's take a closer look.

Kicking things off with the Simpsons family. Homer and Lisa are from 2000 Inkworks The Simpsons 10th Anniversary, while the 4-quadrant design is from 2001 Inkworks Simpsons Mania. Julie Kavner doesn't have much in the way of certified autos on the market-- she's not included in either official auto card insert set-- so I got crafty with a signed piece of paper that I made a custom overlay for. The auto seems fully legit with some backstory but I think I'll do a separate post for my Simpsons customs one of these days and not go into them much now. 

Maggie Roswell is another one where I had to resort to custom assistance because she doesn't seem to have any real autograph cards out there. And the signed piece of paper I acquired for her just so happens to also have Tim Conway's signature on it. (Seems the original autograph hunter made it to the set of The Tim Conway Show, a variety show from 1980 that featured Maggie Roswell in the main cast.) Did my best making an overlay for awkwardly positioned autographs, but again, I'll talk more about the customs another time. In the episode, Maggie voices the nurse who's concerned about Griffey's gigantism and the woman Canseco helps whose house is on fire. 

The only scene with Ms. Krabappel was cut from the episode, though Marcia Wallace still got listed in the credits. Since I'm using the end credits as my "checklist" for the project, she's in. I have a few additional Simpsons autos that aren't included here because the voice actors aren't in the cast list for this episode (such as Pamela Hayden [Milhouse appears briefly but doesn't speak], Tress MacNeille [Mrs. Skinner appears briefly but doesn't speak], and Russi Taylor.)

Love my custom Boggs TTM auto, though I have been meaning to re-do my old Simpsons customs.. kinda give them the "digitally remastered" treatment. They were some of the first custom cards I ever made, and I've gotten better at it since then.

I think that 2004 Retired refractor is my only Jose Canseco autograph, on loan from that setbuild. And I need to upgrade my Clemens auto to one that isn't a stickergraph. I've got a custom overlay spicing up this drab Prizm auto. I know both Canseco and Clemens sign for a fee, and have been meaning to one day print up Simpsons customs to try to get signed, similar to the Boggs. Maybe someday I'll get around to that.

Pulled the Griffey (redemption) personally, so that's cool. I need to upgrade my 2004 Retired Mattingly refractor to one with a bolder signature and preferably ungraded. I also have a horizontal auto from him I was going to use, but didn't quite fit in the display.

Strawberry is another one of my customs I got signed, this one acquired with help from a guy involved with a signing held at Dave & Adam's Card World a few years back.

If you'd like to revisit the aforementioned Simpsons Fortnight posts from back in 2014 where I feature each player a bit more in depth and make a pair of customs for them, here are the links (in reverse order because that was easiest to copy and paste):

• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 9: Darryl Strawberry h... 
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 8: Ozzie Smith visits ... 
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 7: Mike Scioscia pulls... 
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 6: Steve Sax goes to j... 
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 5: Don Mattingly shave...
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 4: Ken Griffey, Jr and...
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 3: Roger Clemens cluck...
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 2: Jose Canseco out of...
• The Simpsons Fortnight, Day 1: Wade Boggs gets pun...  

Finally, Terry Cashman, the man behind the 1981 song "Talkin' Baseball", which he himself spoofs as "Talkin' Softball" over the closing credits. Again, not much in the way of certified autographs on the market, but when this signed, PSA slabbed Rookies App custom popped up at a solid price, I knew it was just what I needed to knock a tricky name off my "cast list auto card" project. I think it was the last piece I needed, though printing out the Kavner and Roswell overlays last week was what completed the project.

So there you have it, an autograph for every voice in Homer at the Bat. That was a fun project to put together!