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!

White Plains Card Show 1/22/12 Recap, Part Six!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I'm sure, most of you are sick of me blabbing on and on about how special this show was, and how lucky I am, etc etc. But, I promise you guys that besides a few small posts I have planned, I'm just about done and ready to move on with other stuff. Trust me though, this post right here is definitely worth the read, and I could use some help! So, without any further gibberish, here is Part 6, dedicated to my awesome door prize win!

PART 6: Door Prize Success... Again?

As most of you guys who have read my blog in the past know, the White Plains shows happen to give away door prizes every couple of hours, which requires just filling out a simple card and hoping to get your name pulled. Dad, Mike, and I have had a very good strategy with them over the years, and we've been able to win some things here and there! Today was no different. I took home this beauty, as a result of somehow getting my name pulled from the box again!

This photo is truly a thing of beauty! It's a 16x20 photo of Mickey Mantle, that is signed by 29 former Yankees players! There isn't any specific time span as to the players who signed the photo, but a majority of the players on here played on the Yankees pre-1980. Not all of them played with Mantle, for example Jesse Barfield and Chris Chambliss, but all of them had been pretty solid players over the years. I was so pumped up when they announced my name, and I'm pretty sure most of you can see why. 

As far as authentication goes, the photo came along with a letter of authenticity from JSA, explaining all of the exact details of the photo and guaranteeing its authenticity. It didn't name all of the players on the photo, but it says some of the key players on there are Moose Skowron, Ralph Houk, Gene Michael, Bill Virdon, Sparky Lyle, Johnny Kucks, Horace Clarke, Ron Blomberg, and Chris Chambliss! I identified pretty much all of those without having to look at the letter, but I can't seem to find Bill Virdon anywhere on this photo. I got him through the mail a while back, so I know what his autograph looks like, and I don't see it anywhere on here.

Now here's where I need your help. I've been able to identify a majority of the autographs on the picture already, but there are still some that I can't figure out yet. Besides the Virdon (mistake possibly?), can any of you name the autographs I don't know in the comments below? I numbered each autograph, and you can just tell me, for example: Auto 2 is Moose Skowron or something. I would greatly appreciate it, because some of these autos have me stumped.

1: Phil Linz (Played 1962-1965 for NYY)

2: Moose Skowron (Played 1954-1962 for NYY)

3: Art Ditmar (Played 1957-1961 for NYY)

4: Lee Mazzilli (Played in 1982 for NYY)

5: Ralph Houk (Played 1947-1954 for NYY, Managed 1961-63, 66-73)

6: Bobby Shantz (Played 1957-1960)

7: Ralph Branca (Played in 1954 for NYY)

8: Paul Blair (Played 1977-1979 for NYY)

9: Gene Michael (Played 1968-1974 for NYY, Managed 1981-82)

10: Cecil Fielder (Played 1996-1997 for NYY)

11: Jim Beattie (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

12: Tippy Martinez (Played 1974-1976 for NYY)

13: Don Gullett (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

14: Chris Chambliss (Played 1974-1979, 1988 for NYY)

15: Jesse Barfield (Played 1989-1992 for NYY)

16: Ron Davis (Played 1978-1981 for NYY)

17: Dennis Sherrill (Played 1978-1980 for NYY)

18: George Zeber (Played 1977-1978 for NYY)

19: Sparky Lyle (Played 1972-1978 for NYY)

20: Dan Pasqua (Played 1985-1987 for NYY)

21: Dennis Rasmussen (Played 1984-1987 for NYY)

22: Tom Carroll (Played 1955-1956 for NYY)

23: Lee Thomas (Played in 1961 for NYY)

24: Eli Grba (Played 1959-1960 for NYY)
25: Johnny Kucks (Played 1955-1959 for NYY)
26: Horace Clarke (Played 1965-1974 for NYY)
27: John Montefusco (Played 1983-1986 for NYY)

28: Ron Blomberg (Played 1969, 1971-1976 for NYY)

29: Rafael Santana (Played in 1988 for NYY)

I was able to name 21 of the 29 autographs, but again any help with the remaining 8 would be greatly appreciated. Also, I know a lot of you guys have experimented with these large photos signed by multiple players, and I wanted to know what your take is on whether I should start to add more players to it and fill it up more, or if I should leave it as is, frame it, and call it a day. If I do decide to continue the quest for autographs, I don't think I would include current players, because they simply wouldn't really fit in. I think that majority of the players on here were born before Mantle retired, so maybe that could be a good way to arrange it by. 

This will definitely go down as one of the best card shows, if not THE best one yet! I wasn't the only one to win, however, as my friend Mike came home with something too. I'll save that for a later post! We are so lucky, and I'm really fortunate that my Dad was able to take me to the show. It means a lot. 

See Ya!

**UPDATE: Got them all, thank you to everyone for the huge amount of help! Couldn't have done it without you all!**

Today's Mail for Mr. Cards

Hey guys, Drew back here with 2 great maildays. Before I start, I made a trade with a guy on the sport card forum, my 1st on the site, and if you ever have done one before, you'd know trades are differently done there than on other forums (like the Blowout forum). You have to dig up information and tell the MOD's about it before you make the trade and let them know what day you will ship yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, I didn't know that so when I received my cards from the guy I traded with I didn't know I was supposed to ship, so if you're reading dude, it was an accident and I didn't know about it at all, and I will ship A.S.A.P. Anyway, here is a look at the 2 great cards this dude sent me:

I know, the 1st one is impossible to see, I should deeply consider taking my pictures in brighter areas other than my dark room! The 1st card is a 2009 Legendary Cuts Mattingly jersey numbered out of 100! That one is a sweet one at the least! That is now my 3rd game used of Donnie Baseball! The second one is a Fleer (from some year) 70's Decade Greats Chris Chambliss bat card! I have Chambliss' autograph on an 8x10 but this is a great addition to that small set I own of Chambliss! Thanks dude, and again sorry bout that.

The second mailday for today is courtesy of the website that starts with an e and ends with a bay! This was my big purchase if you recall from a few days ago, shipped very fast! Here is a picture of one of the crown-jewels cards from my Cano collection!

Front:

Back:

I got this huge piece of my collection for about 20 bucks! What a great deal that was! Thanks for looking, and see ya!

Chris Chambliss

I forget to post this from Cooperstown but you might like this: