He Said/He Said: A Debate of Old School vs. New School

Which side do you agree with?

East Coast National Card Show Trade!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted, especially since I told you I'd have something to share. I still do, but it's been pushed aside because I'm now in my second week of college! It's been an enormous transition for me, but so far everything has worked out relatively well, and my classes don't seem to be too over demanding for my first semester. I'm studying Sport Management here at my school, so that one day I may have a role in a professional organization (that's the goal)!

A few weekends ago, my Dad and I spent a day at the White Plains "East Coast National" meeting players and buying all sorts of things for my collection! I mostly added some supplies, and I bought a few cards that I don't have scans of on my laptop, but it was nothing overly notable. But, I did make a big move. If any of my long time readers may recall, way back at one of my first card shows I won a signed and framed Tom Seaver photo, and ever since I've had it framed in my closet. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Mr. Seaver, but the piece had never quite fit into my collection. I said in the blog post over 4 years ago that I'd be keeping thepiece for a "lllllllonggggggg time!" I think 4 years would be considered a long time, and I finally realized I could get something I'd prefer in exchange for the piece.. and I did just that. But I got two great pieces for the price of one!

My dad and I have worked out a lot of deals with a man named Joe at the shows in the past. Joe is a big collector around our area, and actually doesn't live far from us, but he deals at the White Plains shows and even the Cooperstown show we went to last year with the Regenthal clan! He made me a great offer, and was able to trade me these two signed baseballs for the Seaver photo:

First off, he filled in an enormous hole in my collection with this Goose Gossage signed baseball! I have a bunch of items signed by Goose, but for some reason I never thought of adding a ball to my PC! He has a beautiful signature, and the HOF 2008 inscription is the icing on the cake!

I also got this sweet "Lousiana Lightning" Ron Guidry autographed baseball in the exchange! Guidry inscribed "Yankee Captain 1986-88" below his signature, and it looks really good despite his sloppy handwriting! Getting these two baseballs saved me a lot of money I'd wind up spending to meet them in the future, and I can now focus on getting them on other items (I really need Guidry on my Mantle photo)! 

Thank you so much Joe for being such a great business partner and friend over the years, and I hope the Seaver photo has served you well! I'll have more to report on this show in the near future, but for now, See Ya (college edition)!

2013 "Parade of Legends" Recap!

Hey guys, Drew back here! For as long as I've lived, I've wanted to see a parade. No, not one of those local town ceremonies highlighting the mayor and local boy scout troops, but a real top of the line parade (nothing wrong with boy scouts of course). When I first heard of the "Parade of Legends", the new Cooperstown Induction Weekend tradition, I knew the trip would be worth every penny. We didn't expect to get any autographs there, as the players all were atop beautiful new Fords. Apparently, a few of the players signed when they got off their cars, but I'm going to pretend I never heard that for my own sake.

Kicking off the parade were some of the Hall of Fame board of directors, followed by a car starring Tommy John along with the man behind "Tommy John Surgery", Dr. Frank Jobe, who was honored earlier that day. The parade went down Main Street and parked at the Hall itself, where the players gathered for a nice dinner. I could only imagine some of the stories they had to tell. After my experience with Tommy John earlier this year, I would have paid good money to get into the Hall that night.

The parade started from the earliest inducted players that attended all the way to the most recent electees. Whitey Ford was in town for the night, so he was the first player to stroll by! I was really glad to see Whitey, as he appeared to be looking relatively good for his age. I met him last summer, but he's one of those guys you can never meet enough.

Ralph Kiner followed up Whitey, and he appeared awake, which was a good thing. The marquee player of the event however, was the true Home Run King, Hank Aaron! Aaron looks great for his age, coming from a guy who has never seen him in person before. He looked really happy to be there, although had he done an autograph signing earlier that day, his attitude may have been a bit different.

Frank Robinson is in my opinion one of the most underrated players of all time. He just never seems to get the credit he deserves. William's son Chris was as loud as ever throughout the parade, screaming out the players' names. He probably won't remember it since he's only 7 years old, heck I'm 17 and I don't remember what I did when I was 7, but Chris got a reaction out of almost every single player there. At least one member of our group was spotted out by a majority of the Hall of Famers!

Johnny Bench

Joe Morgan

Jim Bunning

Tommy LaSorda

Ozzie Smith

Eddie Murray

Wade Boggs

Believe it or not, this has been the third different occasion I've gotten to see Cal Ripken Jr. in person this year. Every time I see him I gain more and more respect for him also. Chris screamed "CAL!" until he got his attention, and Cal talked to him a little bit. That had to have made his day.

I'm sure Goose Gossage has met thousands upon thousands of fans in his lifetime, but I have a funny feeling that he recognizes my Dad and I at this point! Each time we've gotten the pleasure of meeting him, my Dad has brought up hunting and got to talk a good bit with him. He thanked us for coming out, and posed for a pretty awesome photo. Maybe one day I'll have him sign this, who knows. 

Here's classic Rickey taking all the glory in, enjoying the fact that he's finally among the greatest of all time (although he may argue that he was the best). I'll give him a spot in my top 15 ever, but I don't know how much farther I'd be willing to go.

However, probably the most memorable moment in my eyes from the event came when Bert Blyleven passed us by! Sure, Roberto Alomar snapped a picture of the crowd next to us, Phil Niekro showed Chris his knuckleball grip, and numerous players waved to us and thanked us for attending, but this one took the cake. William recently bought a baseball signed by Blyleven with the "I Love to Fart" inscription, which exists because Bert frequently wore a shirt in the locker room saying just that. My dad yelled to Bert "Pull my Finger!" Bert looked puzzled for a second... and then cracked up. My dad made a Hall of Famer laugh! 

I'm so glad we took advantage of going to the parade, as we all seemed to really enjoy ourselves. I love collecting autographs but sometimes it's nice to take in a special event like this without having to worry about being at the right place at the right time. Before I go, I'd like to send my best wishes to Tony Gwynn and his family, because while he was there, he sure didn't look very healthy. It appears as if his cancer may have reappeared, and he also gained back a lot of the weight he lost when he underwent his radiation treatment. I'm not sure if we just made some assumptions or not, but he didn't look all that well, so I'd like to wish him all the best going forward.

Well, that'll officially conclude my recap of Day 1 of the Cooperstown trip! It was hard for Day 2 to top this incredible day, but I've got plenty more to share with you all. Stay tuned for the next part! 

See Ya!

Three More for the Mantle Project! Part 2!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Phew, my AP exam is in the books, and it feels like a gigantic weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Although I still have plenty of finals and state exams to take, the biggest and baddest of them all is all wrapped up forever. So with that said, it's time for me to wrap up the May 5th White Plains Card Show I went to. I didn't buy a whole lot at the show, but I did add 3 names to my Mickey Mantle 16x20 photo project! One of them just happened to be one of the few living Yankee Hall of Famers, and the other was a phenomenal defensive player who contributed to their 1970's back to back World Series championships! I'm talking about Goose Gossage and Graig Nettles! Take a look at my encounter with the great Goose along with Golden Glove Graig:

Goose was as personable as he was the first time we got to meet him last January, and you can never complain with the signature he gives. Dad got to show him the turkey he shot the day before the show, which he seemed fairly impressed with! He always gets excited when he gets to meet guys known for being avid hunters, because he's as passionate with that hobby as I am with this one.

If you see in the video, I was sort of shoved away from Gossage to get Nettles, although my dad kept talking to Goose. I've heard some horror stories with Nettles in the past in terms of him being sort of crabby in person, however he seemed pretty high spirited and kind that day! Coming from a fellow third baseman, meeting him was really a special thing to me, just because I know how difficult some of those plays can be. He perfected almost every single one of them throughout his great career, so I have an awful lot of respect for him!

Goose signed the picture towards the bottom right corner, but despite the location of the signature; his perfect penmanship will stick out pretty easily! Nettles picked a random spot, but that was fine with me, as his signature is also very neat. I really wish more current players took the time to sign like some of these older guys. I mean, just look at that above photo. All 5 full signatures in the picture are completely flawless! THOSE are signatures, not this or this. I'm glad my rule is that the player had to start his Yankee tenure before the turn of the century, because that may keep those ugly looking signatures off of the photo!

41 signatures done, and a whole lot more to go. I already know of two Hall of Fame players I'm going to have sign the picture over the summer, and possibly more! All the more reasons to keep drewscards on your feeds and bookmarks! Stay tuned, this summer is going to be a blast!

See Ya!

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

Hey guys, Drew back here! Now that the first half of the school year is in the rear view mirror, I can finally get back to this stuff for a few months without an extreme amount of stress. My desk is cluttered with cards and I need to get some packages out, so I better get to work! Let us now continue the card show review series, with part 5. Check it out:

PART 5: Experiences with Baseball Stars!
(Past and Present!)

This had actually been the first time ever that we planned on meeting every one of the signers attending the show!  Along with a free player, we met pretty much a player from the past, of recent, and of the future! I guess in order to do this in the correct order we are going to need to work our way back in time! 

The first player I met is a current Yankees prospect, center fielder Mason Williams! Mason is the 5th ranked prospect in the Yankees organization according to Baseball America, and he seems to have an awful lot of potential! They say he is the best defensive outfield prospect they've had in a while, and he is projected in their 2015 lineup. I've never met a younger player than him; at only 20 years old. He seriously looked like he could be a big time player in MY league right now. He was very nice, yet shy, but I could only imagine how honored he felt to sign autographs for money before he even made it big! I wished him the best of luck, and that I hope he would help bring home a World Series championship, and he really seemed to appreciate the support. 

Mason signed this 8x10 out "To Drew", and it came out pretty sharp! The funny thing is, he was a very good player on the Staten Island Yankees, who I've seen play my local Hudson Valley Renegades too many times to count. I'm almost positive I attended a game between the two last season, so I possibly got to see him. I'll have to look back and check. His stats for Staten Island were impressive: .349 batting average with 94 hits in only 68 games! Maybe he'll keep up those stats all the way to the big time!

Next up was one of my personal favorite Yankees I ever got to watch, Gary Sheffield! You know, over the years, I've been fortunate enough to meet some great players that have came through the majors. However, I never felt as much of a personal connection to any of these players as I did with Sheff. Yeah, he's not necessarily a fan favorite, although fans loved seeing his crazy foul ball swings that could kill a person, but it felt really cool to get a chance to meet someone I watched when I just started getting into baseball. I still find it bizarre that he got to 500 home runs, and I doubt he'll make the Hall of Fame due to his steroid admission a while back, but nevertheless, he was my favorite player in about 2005/06, and I'll always remember wearing my Sheffield jersey to Yankee games. It was a special moment, for sure.

As excited as I was to meet Gary, I had no clue what I wanted to get signed by him. I figured I'd do something awesome like a photo for example, but the 8x10's the dealers had to offer really weren't my favorites by any means. Just when I began to get desperate, I spotted out the 16x20 photo above, and immediately fell in love. It wasn't cheap, but I didn't care, because as soon as I saw it I knew it was what I wanted. He signed it perfectly, "To Drew, God Bless, Gary Sheffield", with his very slick autograph to cap it off. I got it authenticated by JSA and was extremely pleased with how the piece came out. Without a doubt it's going up on the wall after we re-paint my room soon!

I doubt many people even need me to say who the next person I met was. I mean, the mustache pretty much gives it away (and his name is right behind him in the picture)! It's none other than Yankees Hall of Fame reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage! I always admired Goose from all of the Yankees highlight footage from the 1970's and 80's, because he seemed fearless and confident in his ability! I've been able to already add quite a few cards and autographs of his over the years, so I wasn't sure what I wanted to get signed next. Then I realized that I still needed him for my "Hall of Fame Heroes" custom set! Sure enough, that is what I got signed, and it came out awesome!

Goose's signature will never ever disappoint, as it has to be one of the nicer ones in the Hall of Fame! One thing I regretted was, although he did charge for inscriptions, he asked me if I just wanted the autograph or if I wanted anything else, and I just said the autograph, being the truthful person I am. Now, I want to smack myself for not getting the HOF inscription, but eh, I'll be okay in the long run. It still looks sweet! It was certainly a fun experience getting to meet him, especially since Dad talked hunting with him for a little while. Goose told me I should get into it because it's a lot of fun, and he told us about how he always loves to hunt with his sons. He was a genuinely nice guy, and I was thrilled to have the chance to meet him!

The final player Mike and I got to meet on this already amazing day was former Mets pitcher and 1973 NL Rookie of the Year, Jon Matlack! Matlack was the free signer for the day, and even though he was a Met, I figured it's never a dumb idea to add another former ROY winner to the collection! He actually was a very solid pitcher in the 70's, although he finished his career one game below .500, at 125-126. One other pretty cool accomplishment of his was that his performance in the 1975 All Star Game was good enough that he shared the All Star MVP with another player I've met, former Pirate Bill Madlock! The last fun fact I have to share about Matlack was that he gave up Roberto Clemente's 3000th, and tragically, final hit. 

I was able to print off 2 customs I made of his the night before the show, one for each of us, Mike and I. They both turned out awesome in my opinion, because as much as I can't stand most of the Mets, I will have to admit their colors are pretty sweet! Dad was able to get an 8x10 signed as well, since we all were eligible for 1 free autograph a person. He figured why not have it, because it would be a wasted opportunity not to. It looks pretty sharp, and while I definitely won't be hanging it up in the near (or distant for that matter) future, I'm glad to have it! 

All in all, the day couldn't have gone any more perfect... or could it? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

See Ya!

Vintage Cards From Pop Popps- Nice RC!

Hey guys, Drew back here. For Christmas, Pop Popps gave me a nice lot of cards, and there were some sweet cards in there. Take a look:

First off, we have a bunch of Hall of Famers, and a Maury Wills "In Action" card. I've gotten quite a few of these from him before, but you can never have enough vintage HOF'er cards.

And, we also have a 1975 Topps Batting Leaders card featuring HOF'er Rod Carew, an Indians team card with Frank Robinson as manager, and a 1975 Topps card showing the MVPs of 1968, which happened to be 2 pitchers, Denny McClain and Bob Gibson. We also have a few more vintage cards including a 1963 Fleer Jimmy Piersall and a Blyleven and Piniella. Sometimes Pop Popps tends to have mixed early-mid 60's cards in the lots, and I got 3 1963 Fleers this time. Finally, 2 sweet Hall of Fame Rookies, of Goose Gossage and Gary Carter! I already have a few of the Gossage rookies, but I did not have the Carter rookie yet, which will certainly stay in the mini Hall of Fame Rookie Card Collection.

Thanks so much Pop Popps! See Ya!

Drew's Top 10 TTMs

Hey guys, Drew back here. I worked up a list yesterday of my top through the mails, and I figured I would share the list with you guys. I listed it based on player/celebrity importance in society, legacy, being a great signer, a success I never imagined to get back, and some of the players I had to pay to get did not get as high of a rank as other players. Well, here goes, starting at number 10...

10. Virgil Trucks

Virgil never was a star pitcher in any way, although he is one of few few pitchers to throw 2 no-hitters in the same season. He is a tremendous signer though, for free I got my custom signed, index card signed, inscribed, and stamped, a bonus card signed, a stat sheet signed, and a personal letter to me! For a 93 year old man, I find Mr. "Fire" Trucks a truly remarkable guy.

9. Rex Ryan

If the Jets couldn't pull out that game against the Lions he wouldn't be on this list, because he did many things that I questioned throughout the game. However, Rex was a longshot to get TTM, and I really like his attitude towards winning. Inscribed "To Drew", Rex Ryan was one of the better successes.

8. Duke Snider

Duke Snider is one of the best Hall of Famers you can get right now. The 8 time All Star and 2 time World Series champion is now 84 years old and in not the best of condition. His signature has gotten more shaky as seen on my card, so hopefully things will get better for his sake. I am very glad I was able to get him though.

7. Bob Feller

Another nice old school Hall of Famer success here. Mr. Feller, for 92 years old, has a legacy in baseball, and is a great man. After trying him earlier and getting my custom destroyed in the mail, I told him what happened and he signed my new custom for free! Not only is Feller a baseball hero, but he is an American hero as well for serving some of the years in his prime in military service. A legend indeed.

6. Goose Gossage

This one came in recently, after waiting about a month, but it was well worth the wait. As you all know by now, this picture will look beautiful with the other great Yankees signed pictures I own. Goose was one of the first great relievers, and he brought fear to all of the hitters he faced. The signature can be read with ease, as Mr. Gossage has one of the best signatures in the game.

5. Whitey Ford

This guy would probably have ranked higher if I didn't have to send him $50 to get the picture signed. I gave him at least $20 more than I should have to get a success, because I already tried him previously only to get a price list. I couldn't think of much of a better Yankee to spend $50 on then the "Chairman of the Board", so I was thrilled to see the picture signed in all its glory. He inscribed it "To Drew, Whitey Ford, HOF 74". Awesome.

4. Lil Wayne

How often do you get the opportunity to get a great rappers autograph? Not often! I sent this custom card of Weezy to him during his recent prison stay for gun charges. I listen to a diverse amount of music and Lil Wayne has to be up there in my opinion in the rap industry. He seems like he's changed throughout the prison stay, thanking all his fans for the love and support and singling them out one at a time on his blog. This was a great success for me and I never imagined I would own a Lil Wayne autograph!

3. Steve Young

This card doesn't look spectacular by any means, but it doesn't matter, Steve Young, one of the best quarterbacks of all time, signed it! He has never been a consistent signer, but he has been as of very recently, so if you haven't tried him already I strongly suggest you try and try now! His signature is bold and beautiful and is a great addition to my collection!

2. Peyton Manning

You can say that Peyton Manning is the best signing player in the NFL today, but no matter how often he signs for his fans, he seems to be the best free signer I can think of. Peyton has already left a tremendous legacy in football, similar to that of Steve Young, but getting to see Peyton play every week makes it more special to have his autograph than Mr. Young. Peyton has a great sig and I'm still pumped that I got him back.

1. Yogi Berra

Without a doubt my top success! Yogi is in the top 5 best living Hall of Fame hitters for sure, you may argue that he is the best catcher of all time as well. He won 13 World Series and made 18 All Star Games! That is unbelievable! And I got him for free at that!

Well I hope you all enjoyed that! I started writing players letters way back, my first being to Jets wide receiver Brad Smith. I never got back from him, but then I wrote a letter to Iditarod racer Jeff King because I did a project on him, and I got my card back signed. From then on I've acquired 30 autographs for typically around 88 cents each. I started making customs after seeing what people were making, and I keep getting better and better.

If you haven't gotten involved in the TTM hobby, I suggest you do. If you need help getting started, shoot me an email to yanks1996wsc@gmail.com!

See Ya!

Sweet New Pickups: Check Out My Cards!

Hey guys, Drew back here, with some nice new mail from Check Out My Cards I got in today. I've made 4 or 5 purchases off the site, if you haven't seen it before I highly recommend it for single purchasings. I bought quite a few cards, so let's not waste any time and get to the cards!

2010 Bowman Starlin Castro RC

Good rookie, was a leftover $ purchase, only cost 24 cents or so. I think this kid's gonna be a true stud so I'm definitely planning on hanging on to this.

2008 Goudey Frank Robinson SP

Another nice one, now I only need 8 more to complete the Short Printed Legends set. This set has been a slow work in progress but I love the 2008 Goudey cards and they hold decent value too.

2009 Topps Sterling Dave Winfield /250

I never owned a single card from Topps Sterling, and now I get a general idea of why people buy it. Well, I still don't get paying over $200 for a box, but this is really nice, with a rainbow look in the background surrounding the player. The card is thick, but definitely pretty nice for 50 cents.

2009 Upper Deck Derek Dietrich Relic

I met Derek this year with my friend at a Renegades game, since he currently plays for them. He's a decent prospect, not really worth investing in, but I thought it was cool to have something of him other than the IP autograph. Plus, the jersey piece has stitching, and hey, maybe STEPHEN STRASBURG (bam, more views) touched it!

2010 Bowman J.R. Murphy RC Auto

J.R. is currently in the Yankees organization, as a young catching prospect with a lot of potential. Romine, Montero, Cervelli, Murphy, yeah, I think the Yankees will certainly be stacked at catcher when Posada calls it quits. Pretty happy to have this, hopefully he turns out!

2007 Topps Turkey Red Austin Kearns Autograph

First of all, this card is beautiful looking. It's like a crazy rainbow! Even with the sticker it looks decent, although it would look better on card. It was only a few bucks, and he's on the Yankees postseason roster so I thought it would be a solid pickup, even though he probably won't be with us next year.

2008 UD SP Legendary Cuts Goose Gossage Relic /99

This card fits under 2 categories of my collection, mainly my Yankees collection but also for the 2008 Legendary Cuts set I'm starting to work on. Pretty sure this is the 9th or 10th, as you can tell I don't pay attention much yet, because it's going to be a work in progress for sure. Definitely cool to add to the mini Gossage collection too for sure!

2001 Legends of New York Hank Bauer Relic /400

I didn't have anything of Bauer yet, so I saw this for a few $ and grabbed it. I love vintage relics, and it's numbered to 400 of a guy who played with the Mick, and was a great player himself.

2006 SPX Football Brandon Lloyd Autograph

I needed to get something of this guy, because although he's been in the league for a few years now, he has finally amounted into a top notch wide receiver! Lloyd, now on the Broncos, is leading the NFL in receiving yards, with 663. Kyle Orton and him seem to make a great duo!

1966 Topps Whitey Ford

Even though he's in his second to last season in the MLB on this card, this is my 1st Whitey Ford card from his playing days and I will definitely always hang on to it. The off centering is bad, and the corners are ok, but the surfacing is nice and the card looks great in general. Every time I make a purchase on COMC I always pick up a vintage card. Vintage has never been my thing, but I always love adding great old cards to my collection!

2000 Pacific Crown Royale Lance Berkman Rookie Autograph

This is also a very nice looking card. I had to pick up an auto of one of our big mid-season acquisitions, now I just need an autograph of Kerry Wood to get the 3 new guys! Berkman has had a great career, with a career batting average of .296 and with 327 longballs, and was elected to 5 All Star Games! At the age of 34, he may only have a few semi-productive years left but he's gonna be known as one of the better hitters of the last decade.

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Carl Crawford Autograph

This was the big card of the purchase! Crawford has always been a favorite of mine, and now since he's a free agent and the Rays can't afford to keep him, I would love to see him on our team. I don't know how we'd fit him in, we would have to bench or trade Gardner, which would be tough because he's been a pretty solid player for us. Nevertheless, an auto of one of the top hitters in baseball can always make my day better!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Check Out My Cards is a great website, and I definitely recommend that you check it out. What do you think of my new goodies?

See Ya!