Remembering Dutch

Like all baseball and Phillies fans, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Phillies great Darren Daulton on Sunday night after his four year battle with brain cancer.  Doug and I met Dutch in September 2014 at the Valley Forge baseball card show and I wrote this at the time:

By far, the highlight of the day was getting to meet Phillies great Darren Daulton.  There were a number of current Phillies signing earlier in the day, but Doug's mid-morning soccer game meant that we didn't arrive until most of the current Phillies had already left. We scanned the list of upcoming autograph signers, and decided we'd like to meet Daulton. 

Dutch could not have been any nicer to us.  He took his time to talk to Doug and he graciously posed for several pictures.  As we were walking away, Daulton called Doug back over and said, "Now listen, here's the deal.  When you make the big leagues, you have to remember that you owe me an autograph."  Doug smiled from ear to ear, and shortly thereafter he announced that Daulton had joined the ranks of his favorite all-time players along with Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Mike Trout.

I followed social media all day Monday for the accolades and tributes that came pouring in from former teammates and coaches of Daulton's, and I'll pay tribute here with a gallery of his Topps baseball cards.  Thanks for everything, Dutch.

1986 Topps #264

1987 Topps #636

1988 Topps #468

1989 Topps #187

1990 Topps #542

1991 Topps #89

1992 Topps #244

1993 Topps #180

1994 Topps #380

1995 Topps #477

1996 Topps #85

1998 Topps #218