Lance Parrish Autographed 1992 Leaf Black Gold #269 California Angels Card

This is a much more interesting issue than Parrish's regular 1992 Leaf #269. The 1992 Leaf Black Gold #269 is the special parallel version of his California Angels card, personally autographed by the eight-time Major League All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, six-time Silver Slugger winner and 1984 World Series champion. Beckett specifically catalogs Parrish as 1992 Leaf Black Gold #269 with the California Angels.

The 1992 Leaf Black Gold set is historically noteworthy as one of the hobby's earliest pack-distributed parallel sets. Rather than being a separate design, Black Gold paralleled the regular 528-card Leaf checklist while replacing the standard silver-colored elements with a distinctive black card face, gold-foil inner border and gold-colored back.

Distribution is what really separates Black Gold from the regular Leaf issue. The parallels were inserted one per foil pack, requiring collectors to pull them individually rather than simply finding them as ordinary base cards. The complete Black Gold checklist contains 528 cards divided into two 264-card series.

Parrish's #269 falls right at the beginning of Series Two, making it one of the earliest cards in the second half of the Black Gold set. The surrounding checklist includes Jose Canseco #267, Mike Boddicker #268, Parrish #269, Jose Vizcaino #270 and Chris Sabo #271, with Barry Bonds appearing shortly afterward at #275.

This also gives us a nice distinction from the regular 1992 Leaf #269 we just covered. Both use the same card number and basic design, but the Black Gold version is a genuine pack-inserted parallel rather than simply a minor variation. Contemporary hobby references track the Base and Black Gold as two separate Parrish versions of the 1992 Leaf card.

The card represents the final portion of Parrish's California Angels tenure. He began 1992 with California before moving to Seattle during the season, making his Angels cards from this release part of the closing chapter of his four-year stay with the organization.

Card Details:

• Player: Lance Parrish
• Team: California Angels
• Year: 1992
• Manufacturer: Leaf
• Set: Leaf Black Gold
• Card Number: #269
• Pack-inserted parallel of regular 1992 Leaf #269
• Black card face with distinctive gold-foil inner border
• Gold-colored back rather than the regular Leaf silver treatment
• Inserted approximately one Black Gold card per foil pack
• Part of a 528-card parallel set issued in two 264-card series
• One of the hobby's early pack-distributed parallel issues 
• Series Two issue
• One of Parrish's final California Angels-era cards
• Eight-time MLB All-Star
• Three-time Gold Glove Award winner
• Six-time Silver Slugger Award winner
• 1984 World Series Champion
• 324 career home runs
• 1,070 career RBI
• Personally autographed
• Condition: NM-MT or better

Authentication: Signature obtained through a private signing conducted by Under the Radar Sports Promotions and guaranteed to pass any third-party authentication service.

For the Parrish run, I definitely like this one more than the regular 1992 Leaf #269. It's not simply a color variationthe Black Gold was a pack-inserted parallel of the entire Leaf set and is recognized as an early example of the parallel-card concept that would become enormously important throughout the hobby. That makes the signed #269 an excellent addition for collectors of Lance Parrish autographs, California Angels memorabilia, Leaf Black Gold parallels, early insert cards, or comprehensive signed player collections.