Witness Statement #2

This comes from Rod Richards of Padrographs:

After viewing the card in Mr. Peterson's possession I can verify its authenticity. On the back is a small roller mark on the lower left corner. This is the card that I pulled from a pack, which I purchased at a 7-11 in Escondido, when my ship pulled into San Diego. I kept the card in the pages of a book by Pat Conroy, until I decided to buy a house. I sold my card to a gentleman in Rancho Santa Fe and was able to purchase a small home in Portland, OR. I used to show this card to a select few other Padres collectors. I did some research into the identity of the young lady on the card and found out that at the time of the photo she was a 21 year graduate student at San Diego State, who did what she did to win a $500 bet. I talked to her last week and she is doing fine, wondering how something she did in a moment could make something so valuable. Punk Rock Paint is extremely lucky to have this card, it is good to know that the card is in the hands of a true fan of Tony Gwynn.


Authors note:
Thank you, Rod. I am blessed to have it in my collection. And thank you for the offer to get the card autographed, but I will have to pass. Last time I showed it to Tony, he offered to trade me his 1980 NL MVP award for the card. I was shocked that he did not own one! He said he hadn't seen one since the early '80s. He thought at the time that the card was one of the many forgeries. He confided in me that, to that very day, he still remembered the look on the crew-cut, young man's face when he refused to sign the card. That heart-broken look is the reason he never turns down an autograph request.

I guess that young sailor was you, Rod. It really is a small world.