TTM Autograph from a Yankee Hero

Hey guys, Drew back here! I am officially in the saving money stage of this hobby, so I made sure to get a bunch of through the mail requests out to help me cope with saving my money. I first sent a batch of 8 Jets players out on December 18th, and I've already received 5 of them back signed! Next I sent to 7 former Yankees, and what I'm about to show off was the 2nd of 3 successes from that group thus far. Finally, I was able to manage 28 envelopes into the mail and off to Florida and Arizona for Spring Training, and hopefully some of those will start to trickle in. It's been a busy few months, but hopefully I'll start to be rewarded for all of the hard work with some great signatures. Today, I show off an autograph from someone dear to Yankee fan's hearts and hated by everyone in Boston. Bucky F*****g Dent.

Bucky Dent: 1/1 in 27 Days (Received February 12th)

Bucky Dent is a Yankee hero without question, known for one of the most clutch home runs in baseball history. He kept the Curse of the Bambino alive when his towering go ahead home run against the Red Sox crashed and landed over the Green Monster in 1978! It was a game that decided who would win the AL East and make the playoffs (since the Wild Card had not been invented yet), and Dent's bomb off of Mike Torrez proved to be the game winner when all was said and done. The Yankees would go on to win the World Series that year in part to Dent's hot streak which took him all the way to winning the World Series MVP! He never was known for his contributions at the plate, but he finished his career with 2 World Series rings and 3 All Star selections; making for a nice overall statline.

He signed a 2009 Goodwin Champions card for me nicely in blue sharpie. This is now my 4th autograph of his in my collection, and I have been able to meet him and have him sign my Mantle 16x20 project. 

Thanks Mr. Dent! See Ya! 

2013 Fall Classic Card Show Recap! Pt. 2

Hey guys, Drew back here! In celebration of finally pushing the SAT behind me, my Dad & I made our way down to White Plains in an attempt to meet one of our personal white whales. Before I get to him however, we also met 3 other former players throughout the day, and I'll start with the free signer- Mr. Frank Howard!

Frank Howard played most of his career throughout an era filled with Mantle's, Mays', Aaron's, however many viewed him as the most powerful hitter of them all! He played most of his career on a terrible Washington Senators team, but had a few seasons that somehow were not enough to push his team over the hump. He led the league twice in home runs, and in 1969 he hit 48 home runs while knocking in 111 runs!

For a free signer, meeting "The Capital Punisher" was a complete steal! He was a very friendly guy, as we ended up talking to him on and off throughout the day. He's a huge guy, standing at 6'8, and when shaking his hand I swear I felt some of his bones crunch! It was sort of disgusting, but otherwise the experience was pleasant. He signed two cards of mine, including one from my 1988 Pacific Legends set, and a beautiful 8x10 that I'll gladly place in my autograph binder.

Next up was someone I've met before, but don't think I could ever get enough of, "Sweet Lou" Piniella himself! Although Lou was a solid player in his day, baseball fans will more than likely picture him kicking dirt in an umpire's face before they think about him losing a ball in the sunlight at Fenway Park. 

When I first met Lou, I was a little star struck, and I didn't have much to say. This time, I felt a little more at ease with him, and he was in a "sweet" mood. Go figure. Before we posed for a picture, he addressed me as "buddy" and put his arm around me. It was a little surreal, and it made me an even bigger fan of his. 

The third and final signer I'll talk about today was Yankee great Bucky Dent! I had never met Dent leading up to this day, but I've always heard that he's a good guy towards fans. Sure enough, the rumors were correct, and I think having Lou Piniella next to him all day made things all the better for us autograph seekers.

 

Dent signed my Mantle photo along with an 8x10, and they both came out very nice! Dent and Piniella both really enjoyed my piece, each calling it a beautiful project. It's definitely cool getting praise from guys who have gotten their fair share of praise in the past!

I believe that every Yankee fan should have a piece of this nature in their collection, because most likely if you love the Yankees, you hate Boston (if not, I don't know what to make of you). Dent's statement homerun in the playoffs is one of the most memorable images in Yankees history, and I had him sign it, inscribing "Curse of the Bambino"! It came out awesome if I do say so myself!

I don't know why I used red to highlight Piniella and Dent's autographs on the photo, but I believe you'll be able to find them if you do a quick scan of it. They both signed in solid locations, and Dent inscribed his number 20! I still don't know what to make of that Charlie Hayes inscription, but next post you'll see something that may be considered worse. Either way, they respectively were the 48th and 49th players to sign the photo!

Thanks to all the players mentioned above for being total class acts! I appreciate you all taking out time in your busy lives to shake my hand (along with many other big fans')! As for you readers, I've got a big one coming up very soon... stay tuned.

See Ya!

July 14th MHCC Card Show Recap Part 2!

Hey guys, Drew back here! With another day comes another card show review post, and boy do I have some great stuff to show off here! Here are all the other cards Dad and I purchased throughout the awesome day at our local civic center:

First off is this sweet 2001 Upper Deck Yankees Dynasty dual relic of Wade Boggs and Joe Torre! This card certainly is a neat concept, in having a Torre relic on the card. It's not often that you'll find relics of managers in baseball card products nowadays, so this was definitely a unique pickup. 

Speaking of Joe Torre, Dad found this sweet buyback autograph of his and was able to get it for me for a pretty good price! Torre was one of my more wanted autographs in my collection, so I really appreciate him helping me knock that one off the list. I grew up with Torre managing so there will always be that special connection with me and him that I don't necessarily have as much with Joe Girardi. I'll always be stubborn that Mattingly didn't get the job, I guess. Oh, and also, this buyback is numbered 61 of 70, making it a pretty rare card all around!

Another autograph that has always haunted me has been Jimmy Key's, and I was also able to knock this one off the list this time around. It's not that he has a rare autograph, I mean he even signs TTM pretty consistently, but I just never got around to sending the 4 time All Star and 2 time World Series champion a request. However, this old Upper Deck hand numbered auto to 1993 finally fulfills my lazyness, and I like the card a lot. I'm not sure how rare it is, considering they printed way too many cards back then, but it's definitely a cool addition without a doubt.

Next, the first of two cards from this set, is this Mickey Rivers 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York bat autograph! Yesterday I watched a lot of "The Bronx is Burning", the old ESPN special about the late 70's Yankees scene, and Rivers stands out more than most, always opening his mouth and messing around. A modern player that kind of resembles Rivers to me is the Brewers' Nyjer Morgan, because they both have larger than life personas. I'm definitely glad I got to add this one as well, even though I did already have an autograph of his. 

The other card from that set we picked up was this Phil Niekro jersey autograph, which is apparently short printed out of 195! Niekro is another autograph who has eluded me over the years, but I was finally able to knock him off the list as well. He only played 2 seasons in New York, but the legendary knuckleballer certainly donned the pinstripes very well in those years. I've always loved watching knuckleball pitchers, especially RA Dickey recently, so it's definitely a cool card to have. 

It seems that the theme of our pickups here at this show are mostly of guys I have barely anything of, so it's fitting that Bucky Dent made an appearance as well. I literally had absolutely nothing worthy of mention of the man who hit one of the most clutch home runs in Yankees history, which is really pathetic. So, finally I got to change that, thanks to my awesome dad. 

Unfortunately, the run of newbies in my collection came to a close, as I got my 11th autograph of Nick Swisher on the day as well. I have this same buyback already, but it's encapsulated unlike this copy, which was probably once in a case. I'm starting to try to enjoy the last few months with him as a Yankee potentially, if he decides to sign elsewhere next year. He's just what the team needs though, so it would be disappointing to let him go. 

One autograph that Dad got me that also took me by surprise was definitely this Career Best autograph from  2009 Topps of Robinson Cano! Cano's card prices have skyrocketed, especially in New York, so this really was awesome. He is easily my favorite player in baseball, and I truly believe the reason he did horrible in the Home Run Derby was because he was saving his bombs for when it will count in the next few months! 

Unlike Cano, this Melky Cabrera guy absolutely raked in the All Star Game this year, taking home the MVP. I've always been a fan of his, especially back in his Yankee days, and that love came back this year as he has been an MVP candidate for my fantasy baseball team (what a draft pick!). I got this 2005 Topps Finest rookie auto of his for a solid price, which was unexpected because of how well he's doing. Gotta love it.

  
Finally, Dad decided to pick up this mini 5 card set of Yogi Berra, which was extremely cool because the first card in the set was signed! I've never seen this Front Row set before, but I'm really glad Dad introduced me to it by getting me it. It's only my second Yogi autograph, so I'm thrilled with this one over all of the other stuff.

But, there is still a lot more to come, besides just cards. Be sure to check out this site within the next few days if you want to be amazed! Ok, maybe not amazed, but if you want to see something cool, this is a good place to be! Thank you again Dad for all of the incredible stuff! I still don't get why I deserve all this!

See Ya!