TTM Overhaul Update!

Hey guys, Drew back here. My favorite part of the TTM hobby is that even if you aren't involved in various other forms of collecting, you can still receive nice gifts from time to time. When I get some free time, I try to whip up a few autograph requests, and during my blogging absence I received quite a few substantial successes! Take a look at what I got the pleasure of adding to my collection:

IronE Singleton: 1/1 (145 Days, Received February 8th)

Any Walking Dead fans? I've recently become a bit of a TV fanatic but despite all the shows I've obsessed over, this one still is up there as one of the best. Singleton played T-Dog, who was definitely a likeable character. He inscribed this "To Drew, IronE Singleton, T-Dog, Truth + Love", and it came out beautifully on this 5x7 I printed on Snapfish!

Doug Drabek: 2/2 (167 Days, Received February 14th)

Drabek was just before my time, but had a few very good seasons throughout the 1990's with the Pirates, and began his career with the Yankees! He personalized both cards out to me, which some people hate but I personally love. I wish more players would personalize instead of not signing at all, because I've never had any intentions of selling my TTM successes. 

Bill Campbell: 4/4 (7 Days, Received April 29th)

Two time Rolaids Reliever of the Year Award winner Bill Campbell signed 3 cards and personalized an index card out to me within a week's time! I love knowing when players read my letters, which normally are pretty standard except for when it's someone I really want to add. I mainly sent to Campbell to add his autograph to my Pacific set, which I recently realized was a two year set with the same design for both years. There are over 200 cards between the two years, and I've got about 20 signed thus far!

Gary Peters: 3/3 (7 Days, Received April 29th)

Peters was a 2 time All Star and the 1963 American League Rookie of the Year, so I figured getting his autograph for free was a must. He signed a 1988 Pacific, a 1960 Topps (signed in ballpoint, very difficult to see), and an index card with his Rookie of the Year inscription! On April 29th I received 7 total autographs between Peters and Campbell, so it was a pretty big day for me. 

Bill Virdon: 2/1 (9 Days, Received May 1st)

I already got Virdon a few years back on one of my custom cards and an index card, but I needed to add him to my Pacific project as well. He signed that for me and also threw in an additional signed card, which I assume was supposed to be someone else's. I'll take an extra autograph any day!

Dick Groat: 2/2 (9 Days, Received May 1st)

I've also gotten Groat before, but it didn't seem right to not add him to my set given his great credibility as a TTM signer. Seriously, if any of you haven't gotten Virdon and/or Groat yet, you should definitely get on it. Both were key contributors to that legendary Pirates team that beat the Yankees in 1960, and Virdon was a former Rookie of the Year, while Groat was a former NL MVP! Groat also signed my 1967 Topps, which came out as a carbon copy of the facsimile autograph directly below it!

Alvin Dark: 1/1 (10 Days, Received May 2nd)

Al Dark was a 3 Time All Star and the 1948 Rookie of the Year, and on top of that he managed throughout the 1960's and 1970's after his playing days came to a close. He won a World Series with the Giants as a player in 1954 and with the A's as their manager in 1974! He's now 92 years old, as you can probably tell by the autograph he gave me on my card below. He also included a little prayer pamphlet, which doesn't interest me all that much but is interesting nonetheless. All in all, a very cool success from a man who has accomplished a lot during his time in the game.

Mike McCormick: 0/2 (Failure, 13 Days, Received May 5th)

Former Cy Young Winner Mike McCormick left me a note on my letter that read "Because of E.B.A.Y. I now charge $5 for signed cards, Sorry" and left his address below. Well, he's not getting my $5, so I guess everyone loses in this case.

Rich Reese: 2/2 (15 Days, Received May 7th)

I'm not quite sure why Reese was included in this set, as he was simply a mediocre player for the Twins in the 1960's. However, he's indeed part of it, so I now have his ballpoint pen signature in my set, along with a signed index card!

David Phelps: 1/1 (16 Days, Received May 8th)
I am really growing to like what David Phelps brings to the table. He's been one of the Yankees most consistent pitchers this season, and it's great seeing how much he's grown since he first got called up a few years ago. Of all of the successes I got in this post, this (and maybe the Walking Dead one) was my favorite! He signed a 2014 Topps card for me beautifully with his number inscribed. Safe to say I'm an even bigger fan now!

Eric Young Jr.: 2/2 (17 Days, Received May 9th)

This guy is pure electricity, and I absolutely love that in a ballplayer. He doesn't hit for much average, but he's a sparkplug and this season he's stolen 22 of 25 bases! He signed and personalized both cards for me, the 2014 Topps even included #R2BI, which is apparently something he started that stands for "Refuse to Be Ignored". I love the way the National Chicle card came out, and these are both pretty awesome additions as well.

Ken Holtzman: 1/2 (64 Days, Received June 25th)

Holtzman was my most recent success, and although it didn't come out pretty (probably one of the worst autographs I've ever seen), it was my 20th signed card in my Pacific Legends set! He threw 2 no hitters, made 2 All Star teams, and won 3 World Series', so he had a pretty solid career to say the least!

It sure is nice to be back on here from time to time. I should have more coming in the future, and I'm planning on attending one last card show with my dad before I head off to college next fall! Stay tuned for all of that, but for now, See Ya!

January 19th White Plains Card Show Recap!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I literally just got home from my SAT test, and boy do I feel relieved! It wasn't easy, but even if I didn't fare all that well I still have two more chances to make up for it. Hopefully I won't be taking it for at least a few more months. Anyway, getting back on track, last weekend Dad, my good friend Schuyler, and I took the trip down to the Westchester County Center for our first card show since August! As most of you know, my collection thrives off of many great sources, but none can reach the amount of opportunities that JP's Sports & Rock Solid Promotions have provided me over the years! However, none of those shows brought anticipation quite like this one. But before I get to who I met, let me show you all the few cards I added at the show:

Dad bought me two cards towards my 1961 Topps set, the above Yankees team card and the Dick Groat MVP card! Any bit helps, as we approach the half way point of the entire set. I've been considering dropping the high numbers and just finishing the regular set, and worrying about the high numbers at a later time. The older sets are a lot of fun to work on, but the high numbers really seem to drag them out, especially when you're dropping $20 plus on cards of Rollie Sheldon and Ron Perranoski, for example. The Yankee team card is beaten up a bit, but it's definitely one of the cooler cards from the 60's considering how great they were in the 1961 season! They were certainly one of the best teams to ever take the field!

I find it pretty funny that of the money I put towards cards, all of it (with the exception of one card) were bought off of my good friends Rich and Hunter! They put out a nice affordable bargain bin, with prices half off on all of the cards, which are mainly relics and autographs from the mid 2000's. I feel like it's almost obligatory to buy a few Yankee relics once in a while, and I certainly did so at this show, without even realizing it. This Bernie Williams bat card was just something I couldn't pass up. I don't think I have enough of Bernie's in my collection, but then again, I don't think many people do, as he was one of the most underrated players of his era!

Billy Martin was another one of the Yankee's more underrated members. He wasn't the best of players, however he did outplay Jackie Robinson in the 1952 World Series, which has to say something. Through his life he was a gritty, tough-as-nails type of guy, but most of all, he really seemed to love the game of baseball. This is my first relic of his, back from his playing days with a beautiful pinstripe right across it. For 10 bucks, I couldn't pass it up.

I guess I really was sympathetic towards the underrated players last Saturday, considering I also picked up this beautiful dual patch of Vladimir Guerrero! Patches still intrigue me, which is sort of strange considering lately I've really ventured away from relics. There's just something so cool about a nice low numbered three color patch of one of baseball's quietest but most dangerous sluggers in history! I really enjoyed watching Vladdy play; chasing pitches in the dirt and still knocking them out of the ballpark. With the way prospects are being brought up today, I think it'll be a while before we see another player like Vlad.

The final card I bought at this month's show was this beautiful Yankee Stadium Legacy relic of who else but Yogi Berra! Two posts in a row topped off with a beautiful card of Yogi is something I know most collectors would be more than happy to do. Come on now, I know most of you hate the Yankees; but there's something seriously wrong if you don't like Yogi. I've been trying to expand my Berra collection a lot lately, taking advantage of any nice prices I see. Patches and wool swatches seem to really get my collecting gears on, and boy did they kick off what ended up being an incredible day!

Over the next few days, you'll see just what made this show experience above and beyond all the past shows we've been to! Thanks Dad for the 61 help, and to the rest of you, See Ya!

White Plains Card Show Recap 3/27/11! Part 3!

Hey guys, Drew back here with part 3 of the March card show series! In every card show so far, I've went out of my way to at LEAST buy 1 vintage card. However, after the addition of the mysterious binder, (which you still will have to wait to find out what hides inside of it), I decided to take a shot at the 1961 Topps set. Dad and I decided to do a little chipping away at the 587 card challenge awaiting my collection!

What a better way to start working on an enormous set by getting the first card! Dick Groat got the honors of first in the set, and he sure did deserve it! The season before, in 1960, Groat won the National League MVP and won the World Series! Talk about a season! Groat's got every reason to be smiling here, and in 1961 he hit .275 with 6 homers and 55 RBI.

I went on to pick up some cards of some former stars, in Bob Turley, Jim Kaat, Don Larsen, and Richie Ashburn. Turley won the Cy Young only a few years prior in 1958, but he struggled in 1961, going 3-5 with a 5.75 ERA. Jim Kaat was only in his third season, with a very mediocre Twins team, and he went 9-17 that year with a 3.90 ERA. Don Larsen went 8-2 with a 4.13 ERA with the Kansas City Athletics, and Richie Ashburn, in one of his final seasons, only batted .257 in 109 games. So, basically, for a lot of these old veterans, 1961 was an off year.

Next were a few League Leaders cards, all for the National League. While the two bottom cards have Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax on them, the top card stands out by a lot. Dick Groat tops the group, but the 3rd and 4th place guys, maybe you've heard of them? Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente? I think I know those guys!

Next we have the former keystone combination from the Chicago White Sox, Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. I never really knew much about these guys (I didn't even know that Fox was in the HOF), but I did some research on them and I can see why they're in. Fox, famous for his tobacco chewing, was the 1959 AL MVP, and he made 15 all star teams. Wow, can't believe I never knew much about him! Luis was also a 13 time All Star and 9 time gold glover, and he retired with great statistics.

Also, we got some Hall of Fame pitchers to go along with the rest of the cards. Don Drysdale was an outstanding pitcher for the Dodgers, with a 209-166 record and a 2.95 ERA. He was often overshadowed by Sandy Koufax but he ended up winning the Cy Young the year after this card came out in 1962. Robin Roberts also was a very successful pitcher at the time, even though in 1961 his career was slowly on the decline. He made 7 All Star teams and ended up pitching with the Orioles, Cubs, and Astros before his retirement in 1966. He recently passed away early last year at the age of 83.

To go along with the other Hall of Famers, we picked up cards of two of the most dangerous hitters in the game at the time! Willie McCovey just started his career in 1959, so here in his 3rd year, he was warming up to eventually become a Hall of Fame slugger. Five hundred twenty one home runs later and the man has a plaque resting in Cooperstown. Frank Robinson was even better though, as he was an all around legend. Here right in the beginning of his prime, Frank is shown poised to continue his incredible success. When he joined the Orioles in 1966, he made an immediate impact, winning the Triple Crown! Not many players have that opportunity anymore, only done by Carl Yastrzemski after Robinson accomplished the feat. He retired with 586 home runs, 2,943 hits and a lifetime batting average of .294.

The final card we bought is definitely one of the/if not the best rookie card in the entire set. The set consists of rookie cards of Juan Marichal, Ron Santo, Carl Yastrzemski (although his real RC is in 1960 Topps), and a few other not as notable players, except for this guy. It's the 1961 Topps rookie card of Billy Williams! Billy, who was inducted into Cooperstown in 1987, was a great hitter. His career stats show off a .290 lifetime average, 420 home runs, and 2,711 hits, but the one part that is coolest about this card is that it shows a young Williams who was eager to succeed. And boy he did. In his first full season he hit .278 with 25 home runs and 86 RBI's, good enough to win him the 1961 National League Rookie of the Year!

I'm very happy to be able to add this big card to the set, and I can't wait to begin the chase! I'll have more details in a future post, but for now..

See Ya!

TTM #40- Nice Old School Success!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Just yesterday I received my 40th Through the Mail autograph success! To say I'm addicted to that aspect of the hobby is an understatement, as I am printing customs like never before and I'm very stressed out right now in this hobby I'm supposed to love. Don't get me wrong, I certainly love the hobby, but when I'm working on preparing about 30 autograph requests for spring training, it's not fun! However, the best part about this hobby is you can work and work and work but it'll sure the heck pay off! It sure did here, and it was one of my fastest returns yet. Check it out:

Former Pittsburgh Pirates Shortstop Dick Groat signed a custom for me! In his 14 career MLB seasons, he spent 9 of his seasons with Pittsburgh, and was an 8 time All Star. He won the 1960 NL MVP Award with a .325 batting average that season, and was part of the team that beat the Yankees by one swing of the bat by Bill Mazeroski, one of the most famous games of all time. The MLB Network recently ran a special airing of that famous game live in Pittsburgh, and Groat, Vern Law, Bill Virdon, as well as many Pirates players and Yankees (Bobby Richardson) were there and interviewed about the game as it progressed. It was a really cool show, so I decided to reach out to a bunch of them for TTMs. You should see more Pirates in the near future!

Groat also played basketball in college as a guard for Duke, and was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. In 1951 and 1952 he was an All American, and was even drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the NBA Draft, and played one season for them (1952-53). So, you can say he was a great 2 sport player for sure!

He signed one custom card for me, inscribed with "Best Regards", in a total of 6 days. Wow! I'm pretty happy I got this success, and I highly recommend him to you for a future TTM request if you haven't gotten him already. One of my fastest returns yet, and a beautiful signature!

Thanks Mr. Groat, and See Ya!

1960 World Series Customs!

Hey guys, Drew back here. I recently got into watching the MLB Network broadcast of the 1960 World Series Game 7 that they dug up from Bing Crosby's; a former singer and actor and part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates; estate. They had a special live airing of the show in which Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson, Pirates outfielder Bill Virdon, and Pirates shortstop Dick Groat were on stage with Bob Costas being interviewed as the game progressed. Also in the crowd stood former Pirates champions from that team, and the widow of Roberto Clemente. It was a really good show, and so I decided to make some customs of the Pirates and Yankees from those teams. Check them out!

I'm not done yet, as I still need to do Hall of Fame cards for Mazeroski, as well as a few other players from the teams, but let me know what you think of them!

See Ya!