Dick Perez, Sports Artist and Donruss Diamond Kings

Rick has a few minutes with the legendary sports artist, Dick Perez. Perez’s entry into baseball started in 1972 as a team artist for the Philadelphia Phillies. His paintings of all the Hall of Famers with ties to Philadelphia reside in a permanent collection at Citizens Bank Park. While working with the Phillies, he also became the official artist for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Perez has painted every Hall of Famer’s official portrait. In 1980, the popular Perez-Steele Hall of Fame postcards were released and updated every year with every new induction until 2002. By the end of the project’s run, there were 270 postcards. The larger postcards have become favorites among autograph collectors. There were also the popular Diamond King baseball cards put out by Donruss. “I loved doing them because I had the freedom,” stated Perez who was appearing at the Robert Edwards Auctions booth at The National. “(Donruss) got the license to do cards and they wanted to separate themselves from the pack.”