A One of a Kind TTM Mailday!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I've been collecting a few great through the mail successes lately to eventually put into a post together for you all to check out... and here we are:

Daniel Hudson: 2/2 (460 Days, Received July 19th)

Talk about a player who just can't seem to catch a break. Hudson emerged in 2011 as a potential future ace for the Diamondbacks, but in 2012 he underwent Tommy John surgery, and on his way back from the surgery he tore the ligament in his elbow for the second time, which required a second procedure. Luckily, he is starting to pitch again, and while he may never be the same pitcher with 16 wins and an ERA well under 4, it'll be nice to see him grace the mound again. In the meantime, after over a year of waiting, he signed and personalized two cards for my collection! Both came out beautiful, and I'll be rooting for him to come back stronger than ever before!

Ken Singleton: 2/2 (12 Days, Received July 19th)

I've listened to Ken Singleton call Yankee games with Michael Kay my whole life, and while he may not be recognized for his work; I've always considered myself a fan of his. He signed a 1972 and 1973 Topps card for me, and now I can say I have both primary Yankee announcers autographs (I obtained Michael Kay's at FanFest last year)!

Mike Cameron: 2/2 (14 Days, Received July 21st)

I'll always remember Mike Cameron for his defensive prowess, so it was only fitting that I had him sign a 2007 Gold Glove card! He was a very underrated, great all around player throughout his 17 years in the league, and I'm really glad I got to add his autograph to my collection.

Ty Hensley: 2/2 (14 Days, Received July 21st)

Pretty cool right? I had a brief but effective stint last year buying some of Hensley's cards while he recovered from hip surgery, and I ended up sending him two of those cards requesting an autograph. I would normally never risk sending a card as valuable as a printing plate, but I knew he was a reliable signer, and I have the cyan plate too just in case anything were to go wrong. I thought it would be cool to own a signed printing plate, but I also told Ty I'd be willing to trade him both printing plates I owned for some game used memorabilia. He didn't seem to have interest in the offer but signed the plate for me, as well as the blue parallel to the left numbered to 500. I hope Hensley can recover from all his injuries and pitch like he did before, because he could end up being a difference maker one day for the Yankees!

Bobby Doerr: 3/2 (15 Days, Received July 22nd)

I felt kind of bad sending to Mr. Doerr again, especially as he continues to age, but I really wanted to get the two Pacific cards he has signed for my set. I bit the bullet, and they both came back signed, and you can clearly see that Doerr's signature is beginning to get a little shaky. However, at 96 years old I'm pretty sure that's something to be expected. I absolutely love the painting card on the left, and these cards mark numbers 21 and 22 in my Pacific autograph set!

Doerr also gave me a signed 2007 Topps "Distinguished Service" insert on top of the cards I requested! I think this mistakenly placed in my envelope, but I'm not complaining because I really like this insert set and the cards look even better sporting signatures. It's really awesome to have something reflecting on a different part of Doerr's life as opposed to his baseball career, since he's lived an amazing 96 years full of achievements. This was as good of an added bonus as its going to get.

Vernon Wells: 2/2 (18 Days, Received July 25th)

Unfortunately, the Yankees didn't get an awful lot out of Vernon on his pit stop in the Bronx, but I'll always remember him more for being the star of the Toronto Blue Jays as I began to watch baseball (along with Roy Halladay). Wells ranks around the lines of Mike Cameron as far as stat lines go, but the presence Wells made as a five tool player in his prime was frightening to face for a while. He also was in the lineup at the first baseball game I ever went to, so it's definitely a signature I've needed for a while. He signed a 2001 and 2014 Topps card for me, and both cards came out great!

July was a really successful month for my collection as you can see. I was able to add some needed autographs without spending anything but the price of stamps! This month I've got some more in store, as I'm starting to work on fixing up my basement and sort things out before I leave two weeks from now. I've got a card show and a bunch of TTM requests to send out in the meantime, and I'll let you all know how things go when I get there! But for now, See Ya!

TTM's 52-55! Damage Everywhere

Hey guys, Drew back here. I've gotten a few TTM's back recently, but haven't been too excited in showing them. Due to some reason in which I have no idea, most of my recent customs are coming back damaged. I've needed to resend to many players due to this, and it's starting to get ridiculous. My dad brought up an idea that the glue I've been using to glue the cards to the card stock might be causing the front to smear, as well as possible roller marks. Well, hopefully I can make an adjustment and they will start coming back mint again like the good old days.

Getting to the successes. All 4 were of good players, so let's check them out!

The first success from the past week was from former Yankee Bobby Shantz. Shantz was a great pitcher, and one of the first pitchers to start their career as a starter and end it as a reliever. He did the transition really well and was one of the top relievers in the game during his time in baseball. Not only was he good reliever, but he also won the 1952 AL MVP as a starter, with a record of 24-7 with a 2.48 ERA. He won 8 gold gloves too, due to his prolific fielding at the pitcher position, and also won the 1958 World Series with the Yankees. His career record was 119-99 with a career ERA of 3.38. In my opinion, he should have been considered for the Hall of Fame more, not saying he would get in but at least be a borderline player.

Shantz signed my custom nicely on the autograph section. He only took 5 days too! But as I mentioned earlier, many customs were wrecked in the mail, and this was one of them. It would have looked great too, but unfortunately, I'm going back to the drawing board on these things.

Out of the 4 successes, this was the best. Not only did I pretty much write it off recently, but it wasn't damaged! Pro Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw signed a custom for me! I've been seeing a lot of his successes lately, so he must've been catching up on his mail. Bradshaw was the 1st player picked in the 1970 NFL draft, and the Steelers really made a fantastic pick. He was the face of their franchise for his 14 years in the NFL, and his Steelers team won 4 Super Bowls during his tenure with the team! His statistics weren't ridiculous, but he was a fierce competitor and a winner. He also made it to 3 Pro Bowls throughout the 1980's, and currently serves on Fox NFL Sunday.

Bradshaw took 117 days to sign the card for me. Not too long, but I had a feeling that he was starting to stop signing. Patience is the key to happiness in the TTM collecting hobby though, and I'm really happy I got this one. Stories have been told of a possibility of a ghost signer, but the signature does compare to certified autographs, so I'm going to assume it's real for now.

The next success was of former St. Louis Cardinals/Browns shortstop Marty Marion! Marion signed a custom and an index card for me in only 8 days. Marion played 13 seasons in St. Louis along with legends Stan Musial and Red Schoendienst, and was one of the more underrated players on that team at the time. He was the 1944 NL MVP as you see on the inscription on the index card, after posting a .267 batting average, 6 home runs, and 63 RBI. How he won the MVP that year I really don't know, since Stan Musial hit .348 that same season with 12 home runs and 94 RBI. However, he was a very good shortstop throughout his career, being elected to 8 All Star Games, and helping the Cardinals win 3 World Series titles.

Again, the custom has been damaged around the trophy Marion is holding on the custom, but otherwise it came out good. I love his signature!

My last success up to now is from Bobby Doerr. Doerr is probably one of the, if not the greatest through the mail signer of all time. I even got his autograph a while back, when I used to make custom cards on filler cards. But since then, I've transitioned to a thick art paper of some sorts, so I thought it would be strange to have a set with 1 card thicker than the rest. OCD Alert. Anyway, Doerr signed a new custom that was damaged a little bit as well, but what else is new, and he also signed an insert from 2008 Donruss Threads in 8 days. I actually picked up the card for the reason of sending it to Mr. Doerr to get it signed, so I'm glad I finally got off my lazy butt and sent it to him. It came out outstanding!

Doerr was a 9 Time All Star for the Red Sox throughout the late 1930's to the the early 1950's. He had a career batting average of .288, with 223 home runs, and 1,247 RBI. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 by the Veteran's Committee, as seen on both cards, where he inscribed his induction year. He is almost 93 years old now, god bless him.

Thanks so much to all 4 of the guys that signed for me! Outside of the damage and having to resend to Mr. Shantz, I'm pretty happy with these successes!

See Ya!

TTM #10- First Signed Custom!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I ended more busy than planned so I'll try to get some more stuff posted tomorrow. I had my 3rd game today, and we are now 3-0, and I went 1-2 with a single, two walks, a run, a steal, and an RBI. Not bad! Anyway, I gotta post this quick, here is a very special edition of Drew's TTMs.

Bobby Doerr! Well, having a cold streak on TTM's brought me to send out to Mr. Doerr. He is 92 yet automatic on TTM's, this one got back to me in about 10 days, very quick! The card looks good for the most part, that one spot is marker and there is a crease, but the design, auto and inscription make it look great! I love this card even though it's a Sock, but hey, any Hall of Fame auto is just plain awesome, even a Bubble Gum Blowing Hall of Famer is awesome to have, especially with a little piece of bubble! But yeah, thanks Mr. Doerr!

See Ya!