Chuck Nazty TTM Recap!

Hey guys, Drew back here. A few weeks ago, I was surprised with a through the mail success from Nationals pitcher Doug Fister. This week, I was greeted with yet another, this time courtesy of a certain Colorado Rockies up and coming star.

Charlie Blackmon: 1/1 (c/o Colorado Rockies)

Charlie Blackmon, otherwise known as "Chuck Nazty" on Twitter, enjoyed a breakout season in 2014; making the All Star team for the first time in his rather brief career. He recorded 6 hits in a game on April 4th of that year, and everyone seemed to question whether he was a fluke designed by the ballpark effects of Coors Field. His home/road splits clearly indicate that he benefits by playing at home, but he still is quite the player either way.

Perhaps the highlight of Mr. Blackmon's has more to do with his impressive facial hair than his abilities on the field. He may agree. His Twitter biography reads "long hair dont care, and ya... i have a mustache too! Don't act like you are not impressed." Between his charismatic personality, excellent long whiskers, and All Star talent, what's not to like about this guy?

I had my 2014 Topps Update Red Parallel signed over the course of a few month waiting period. Again, I lost my file containing the dates of when I sent everything out, so I couldn't tell you any additional details. But the card came out great, and I guess that's all that truly matters.

Thanks Chuck Nazty! See Ya!

Summer TTM Mailbag!

Hey everyone, Drew back here! After working the summer away, covering for everyone going on vacation, it is officially my turn to kick back and relax. While I'm gone, I figured I would take some time to catch up on all that I have yet to post. Believe it or not, I haven't done a TTM Mailbag post since May 24th. Unfortunately, I've only gotten 3 successes in that span, and while having an iPhone malfunction, my note detailing all of my TTM batches was lost. I don't know how long any of these returns took, but a success is a success nonetheless.

Tyson Ross: 2/2 (via San Diego Padres)

Ross has been a staple of many of my fantasy teams this year after posting phenomenally underrated numbers in 2014. He has recently been impressive, but this season has for the most part not been very kind to the young Padres stud. I was hoping he would be moved to a better offensive team at the Trade Deadline, but San Diego instead chose against selling their stars, which hurt teams such as my Yankees. He signed two cards for me in about two months, and the 2014 Topps looks better in person than in the scan. The Heritage card isn't my favorite shot, but any card from that product looks excellent signed in my book.

Eddie Butler: 1/1 (via Colorado Rockies)

The Rockies top prospect pitcher that isn't Jon Gray signed his rookie card for me after again, about a two-three month wait. Butler was highly regarded as a prospect, but his stints in the majors have not gone as planned. In 15 starts this year, he has gone 3-9 with a 5.50 ERA, and unsurprisingly, much of this is due to pitching over half of his starts at Coors Field; the worst pitcher's ballpark in baseball. I would like to see him traded so he could fulfill his potential, but a trade does not seem to be in the imminent future for the 24 year old.

Chris Chambliss: 1/1 (via Home Address)

Ever since I first saw this card of the Yankee playoff hero, I knew I would one day have a signed copy. Upper Deck Masterpieces is one of my all time favorite sets, and I'm almost glad that Upper Deck no longer makes them. I've grown a bit sick of Allen & Ginter, which has been one of my personal favorites as well for years, so I'm glad only two full Masterpieces sets were ever produced.

Chambliss is one of the few 1970's Yankees stars my Dad and I have yet to meet. He was recently announced as part of a card show lineup in October, so I may consider saving up to have him sign a photo chronicling his famous 1976 ALCS Home Run against the Royals. Outside of his home run, he was a big part of their championship seasons in 1977 and 1978. This card was signed in about a month's time!

Until more comes into the mailbox, that will do it for this edition of my TTM Mailbag. See Ya!

TTM Mailbag: Angel in the Outfield

Hey everyone, Drew back here! Slowly but surely, I am beginning to receive some more TTM successes in the mail. I can't say I've been even the slightest bit impressed with how few MLB players have been consistently signing this year. The outlook seems worse than ever before. Or maybe it's just me. Anyway, I got one success in on Saturday that I didn't see until Sunday. Here it is:

Kole Calhoun: 1/1 in 19 Days (Received May 16th)

Angels up and coming outfielder Kole Calhoun signed a 2014 Topps card for my collection in a little over half a month! Calhoun is extremely underrated in the Angels lineup all thanks to that Trout character, but has became one of the better run scorers in the game. Last year, he scored 90 runs while smashing 17 home runs and driving in 58 runs, and keep in mind he is just entering the prime of his career. In 2015, he's batted .302 with 3 home runs batting leadoff mostly for an underwhelming Angels offense. While he will more than likely never go toe to toe with his teammate and fellow outfielder, I think Calhoun can be a productive player for five or six more seasons. Hopefully by that point more people will actually know who he is.

Unfortunately, his signature did not come out good at all. It could be my fault, as I forget if I properly prepared this card or not. I'm going to assume that his sharpie was beginning to dry out, and that of the recent bunch of people he signed for I just happened to get the short end of the stick. But, an autograph is an autograph, and I'll take what I can get! 

Thanks so much Mr. Calhoun, and keep up the good work this season! See Ya!

A Sigh of Relief from Spring Training!

Hey guys, Drew back here! After a bit of a delay, Spring Training got a little bit better for me. I received two TTM successes on Monday, both from two above average relief pitchers; the first of which used to play for my favorite team!

Boone Logan: 2/2 in 37 Days (Received March 16th)

I just recently chose Logan as my left handed specialist in my All Yankees team bullpen, and it was ironic that these came back the day after I published my choices for the pitching staff. Boone was a huge part of our bullpen success for 4 years before he fled for the Rockies last year. He was originally part of a trade that sent Javier Vazquez to the Yankees for his second stint and Melky Cabrera to the Braves. Little did we know, Logan would be the more important piece of the deal than Vazquez. 

Boone signed 2 2014 Topps cards for my collection, one from Series 1 and the other from the Update Series. The Update Series card is one of the red parallels, which I pulled from a blaster box last Christmas. Both cards came out great signed in blue sharpie!

Koji Uehara: 2/2 in 328 Days (Received March 16th) 

If you've been really paying attention (it's okay, I don't expect you to), you may remember I mentioned getting an RTS already this Spring from Koji. I sent to the wrong Red Sox address, which appeared to be an issue for several forum members I know of. This success was from a request I sent last year to the right address, one that I had already written off. The moral of the story is to never write off any of your TTM requests. He was becoming my TTM White Whale, because I believe I sent to him three times without a success. Anyone who knows about through the mail successes in baseball know that Uehara has been one of the most consistent signers in the game for years.

Finally, I have my 2009 Topps and 2011 Topps signed nicely in blue with his number inscribed! From what I've seen, he signs his full name on certified autographs, rather than just the first name he exhibits on his TTM signatures, but that's perfectly okay with me. Uehara has been one of the better closers in baseball for the Red Sox, which is impressive considering he started his MLB career at the age of 34. Last season he was named to the All Star Team, finishing the season 6-5 with a 2.52 ERA and 26 saves. I may end up targeting him in my fantasy baseball draft tonight; who knows.

I was recently able to create a page on my blog that links directly to a Flickr account I've set up. Flickr seems to be a great service for uploading pictures, offering 1 TB of free space that I've barely even used so far. If you would like to check out some galleries of signed baseball cards, football cards, baseball pictures, signed baseballs, you name it; give it a look! 

Thanks Boone and Koji! See Ya!

Christmas Edition: 2014 Topps Update Blaster Recap!

Hey guys, Drew back here, and miraculously I have a Christmas post for you all! First and foremost, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to each and every one of you reading this, I hope you don't read this until later today and you're currently enjoying your time with your families, but since my holiday is wrapping up I figured I'd show you all how I did with a 2014 Topps Update Series blaster box I was given by my grandma! Enjoy:

Pack 1:

- Drew Stubbs

- Chase Headley

- Cole Hamels World Series Heroes

- Yoenis Cespedes ASG Red Border

- Kurt Suzuki ASG Red Border

- Masahiro Tanaka Rookie Debut

- Kyle Seager ASG

- Glen Perkins ASG

Pack 2:

- Pat Neshek

- Rajai Davis

- Miguel Cabrera Power Players

- Dee Gordon ASG Red Border

- Jon Lester ASG Red Border

- Marcus Stroman RC

- Tony Sanchez RC

- Jon Singleton RC

Pack 3:

- Paul Maholm

- Asdrubal Cabrera

- Chase Anderson Gold Parallel 1237/2014

- Michael Wacha The Future is Now

- Mike Trout ASG Red Border

- Aroldis Chapman ASG Red Border

- Drew Pomeranz

- Vidal Nuno

Pack 4:

- Mike Dunn

- Bryan Holaday

- Boone Logan Red Parallel

- Robbie Ray Red Border RC

- Scott Hairston Red Border

- Jason Bartlett

- Robbie Ross Jr.

- Adrian Nieto RC

Pack 5:

- Joaquin Arias

- Logan Forsythe

- Cole Figueroa

- Robin Yount Fond Farewells

- CJ Cron Red Border RC

- Rougned Odor Red Border RC

- Starlin Castro ASG

- Tyson Ross ASG

Pack 6:

- Chris Colabello

- Daric Barton

- Tucker Barnhart RC

- Jose Abreu 1989 Topps Mini

- Clayton Kershaw ASG Red Border

- Tommy La Stella Red Border RC

- Jackie Bradley Jr.

- Kurt Suzuki ASG

Pack 7:

- Justin Turner

- Aaron Sanchez RC

- Mookie Betts The Future is Now

- Kyle Blanks Red Border

- Julio Teheran ASG Red Border

- Jon Singleton Rookie Debut

- Jon Lester ASG

- Yoenis Cespedes ASG

Pack 8:

- Roger Bernadina

- Ryan Wheeler

- Martin Prado

- Sergio Romo Power Players

- Chris Sale ASG Red Border

- Todd Frazier ASG Red Border

- Eddie Butler RC

- Dee Gordon ASG

Pack 9:

- Eric Chavez

- Delmon Young

- Manny Ramirez World Series Heroes

- Miguel Cabrera ASG Red Border

- Jose Abreu ASG Red Border

- Jake Peavy

- Allen Craig

- Aroldis Chapman ASG

Pack 10:

- Dustin Ackley

- Doug Fister

- Seth Smith

- Roenis Elias Red Border RC

- Erisbel Arruebarrena Red Border RC

- Brendan Ryan

- Scott Hairston

- Mike Trout ASG

Commemorative Patch: David Ortiz

Thoughts - 

Boy, it was a lot of fun to open some packs on Christmas Eve! I remember always asking for high end boxes to open every Christmas for a few year span, and while my priorities have since changed (be on the lookout for something soon!), the fun of box busting will never truly disappear. The Ortiz patch card appears to be on the move because it needs to get out of my house, but otherwise if anyone is interested in any specific cards I'll certainly be open to discussing a trade! My favorite pull of the box was either the Jose Abreu mini card or the Masahiro Tanaka Rookie Debut; both of which will remain in my PC. 

On that note, Merry Christmas everyone, have a great rest of your day and I'll talk to you all soon! Thank you to my Nonnie for the fun gift!

See Ya!

A Pleasant Birthday Surprise from a Best Friend

Hey guys, Drew back here! College is now 11 days away, and I'm more nervous than ever before. It's crazy thinking about the middle school version of myself that used to type away to you all on Blogger and how quickly time has gone. What dates me the most is when William and I talk about how long we've known each other, because it's been around 6 years now! Time flies when you're having fun, and it's safe to say my time in the blogging community has been a real blast. I don't plan on blogging from school because I won't have much to write about and I'll be caught up in numerous other things, but don't cut me from your blogrolls just yet because I'll have a lot of through the mail successes to share when I come home! 

On that note, William sent me a birthday present recently, and it was something I hadn't seen or heard about yet, but fell in love with the second I held it in my hand.

It's the short printed Masahiro Tanaka rookie card from this year's Series 2 edition; card number 661! Tanaka was extremely impressive to me in the beginning of the season, and I really hope he can recover from his nagging elbow problems and make an impact for the Yankees this fall. I don't see the Yankees going anywhere this season without him leading the pitching staff, because as impressive as Brandon McCarthy has been so far I'm not ready to trust him to be our ace in a playoff series. If Pineda and Tanaka can come back from their respective injuries and lend a hand, there's a slim chance that they could advance past some of the other American League challengers, but the guy on the card above is the X-Factor without question.

I absolutely love having this card in my collection, and I hope to add more Tanaka cards in the future to my collection (this is my second)! Thank you so much William for the great gift, as I've said countless times; you're the best, and I hope everyone that reads my blog reads his as well (he's much more active than I am anyway!). Have a great day everyone, and See Ya!

Just Checking In...

Hey everyone, Drew back here (finally)! I can't even begin to tell you where the last few months have taken me, and I have to say that while I missed all of my fantastic following; I don't know if I've ever been happier. My life has really taken a turn for the best thanks to letting certain people into my life and moving away from others that did nothing but simply cause me pain. But, I'm back for now, and I can't promise how often, or if this will be anything like it once was, but this is my way of saying hello, while also giving a special shoutout to my great friend William! While I've been gone, I hope you all have been catching up with him over at foul bunt, because he's had an awful lot of awesome stuff to share lately. Me on the other hand, not so much, other than what he recently spoiled me with! Speaking of which, let's take a look at some of what he surprised me with over the past month!

First are some really nice cards out of the new 2014 Bowman baseball product! He must've opened quite a bit of Bowman this year, since he sent me just about all of the Yankees base and prospects! I never would buy Bowman back in my card prime, however I always enjoyed looking back at the prospects a few years later and seeing which ones would pan out. The Yanks' new 3: Beltran, Ellsbury, and McCann have been really disappointing so far this season, but there is still plenty of time for redemption. It's a long season.

Next were some more cool Yankees (and Cano) out of this year's Series 2 set, mostly of the new offseason additions. I love getting cards of the new players regardless of whether I like them or not, because I tend to get kinda bored with the typical CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova cards (like the ones above), and I enjoy fresh faces on my cardboard! I still can't get used to seeing Robby as a Mariner, oh well.

Ahhhh, I didn't realize how horribly I cut off the bottom of this scan. We just got a new printer and scanner since the last one died out on us, and I'm still getting the hang of it. Anyway, these are some other 2014 Yankees (and again, one Cano) that I'll be adding to my Yankees box soon. The 1975 Topps Rudy May is a buyback, and I have to say they really serve no purpose in the hobby. It'd be nicer without the stamp on it, because if I was collecting the 1975 set I wouldn't be able to use that as May's card. I don't know, I'm a stickler like that. Boy, it was fantastic seeing Yogi at Old Timer's Day this past weekend. He always makes me smile, and I wish I could get the chance to meet him but its looking increasingly unlikely as days pass on.

Here are some more assorted Yankees, most from the newest Gypsy Queen. I love the look of the Gypsy Queen cards, but I feel like they're overdone also at this point. It's hard to argue with the look of that Jeter insert though (Happy 40th Jete, by the way!). It's sad seeing where Mason Williams is at at this point of his career, especially after meeting him and thinking so highly of him. He got a DUI last year, and ever since his hitting hasn't been nearly as consistent. But, just like Dellin Betances proved so far this year, there is always still a chance.

Wow, I love this guy. Tanaka has become my second favorite current Yankee (behind The Captain), and without his remarkable consistency I don't know where the team would be, but it certainly wouldn't be in the playoff hunt. It isn't looking likely that we'll see him pitch in the All Star game due to the Yankees scheduling conflicts, but it sure has been fun to watch him thus far! I got to see Tanaka pitch in person with my girlfriend on May 3rd, which didn't turn out to be his best start this season, but it resulted in a win nonetheless. Here he is from that day:

Again, he's awesome. And thanks to William, I now have his rookie card, so thank you so much for that! But, on top of it all, he decided to get me a graduation gift, one that I didn't see coming at all.

This beautiful Thurman Munson triple relic has a nice story behind it. William had pulled this out of a pack 4 years ago and has been taunting me with it ever since. We had planned on making a trade in which I'd give him a Ripken autograph in exchange for this card, but ever since I met Ripken I've had a hard time letting it go. Sure enough though, for my graduation, William hooked me up with this beauty, and I'm so excited to add it to my small Munson collection. I never got to see Thurman play obviously, but I loved ESPN's Bronx is Burning special and my dad always talked about how much he loved him, so it's really cool to have a piece of his history!

Thank you so much William for all of the great stuff, and especially for that Munson! I know you really liked it, so maybe one day I'll have to get the guts to give up my Ripken and complete that trade! I hope everyone is doing well, and I'm looking forward to trying to be more active, as I've lately been transferring a lot of my computer files over to my brand spankin new MacBook Pro I received from my parents as a graduation gift! Yeah, it's pretty sweet!

Since I didn't quite get the chance, I also wanted to offer my condolences to the Gwynn family. He was far too young, but Tony Gwynn's legacy will last forever.

See Ya!