A plain white envelope (PWE) showed up in my mailbox unexpectedly. The return address was from Roy in Colorado, who’s a Colorado Rockies fan and has bought several cards from my eBay Store.
His note said he got the enclosed card signed and wanted to find a good home. It is a former Cubs player on a 1989 Fleer baseball card.
The player is Gary Varsho, I jokingly refer to as the original Gary V on social media. Before we get to Gary Vee I must show off the Varsho signed card.
1989 Fleer looks great with autographs, and Varsho has a really nice signature. The Marshfield, Wisconsin native was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the fifth round of the 1982 MLB Draft.
Varsho made his big league debut with the Cubs in July 1988. He appeared in 153 games for the Chicago Cubs from 1988 to 1990 before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fun fact: Gary Varsho’s first MLB home run was hit in 1992…against the Cubs. The long ball was hit off Cubs pitcher Shawn Boskie.
Gary has three children, including one son and two daughters. Daulton Varsho plays in the Arizona Diamondbacks farm system. Most recently, the younger Varsho was in double-A.
I actually saw his oldest daughter, Andie Varsho, play softball on the ASA circuit in 2010 while she was in high school. Andie went on to star at Purdue University.
Andie Varsho went into the softball coaching ranks and was head coach at Wisconsin-Platteville for a few seasons. She remains in Wisconsin and is now a high school administrator. Gary’s other daughter, Taylor, played Division I college basketball at Colorado State.
Gary Varsho isn’t the only Gary V autograph I have in my collection. Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as Gary Vee, is a big name in the hobby as a collector.
Vaynerchuk also teamed up with Topps in 2019 featuring his own set that was available online and released during the National in Chicago. Gary Vee had a booth at the show and was selling some of the cards that he autographed. Cole Roederer was in the Direct 360 set, and for $8 I had to buy one signed by Gary.
Thanks to Roy for bringing back some great memories of my childhood watching Gary Varsho, as well as covering softball, and my meeting with Gary Vaynerchuk.