Summer TTM Recap!

Hey guys, Drew back here! I realized the other day that while TTM successes were trickling into my mailbox, I haven't posted any of them! I got two nice 8x10 successes, which will have their own individual posts coming up shortly, but here is the best of the rest! Enjoy!

Austin Meadows: c/o Home, 0/2 FAILURE

Austin Meadows, the Pirates' 1st round draft choice this past year, came back as a failure early on in the summer. Fortunately, his mom left me a note saying that he's already left for Florida! I'm going to mail the same card off to Florida when I get around to it, but for now I'm still empty handed on Meadows. It is pretty cool that she wrote a note to me though, and I'd laugh if Austin turned out being a star one day. I'll hang on to this!

Danny Hultzen: c/o Tacoma Rainiers, 1/1 in 14 Days

Danny Hultzen has been one of the best prospects in the Mariners organization since he was drafted 2nd overall in the 2011 draft! He's had his ups and downs throughout their minor league system, but as of right now he is 4-1 with a 2.20 ERA in Triple A Tacoma! It should be before long that he'll make his debut in the bigs, and I'm glad I got this when I did!

Didi Gregorius: c/o Arizona Diamondbacks, 1/1 in 70 Days

Mariekson Gregorius, otherwise known as Didi, has been a pretty solid player for the Reds and Diamondbacks in the 2 seasons he's played. He can do a little bit of everything and I'm excited to see him develop as his career continues! He signed a 2013 Topps for me, personalizing it and everything. Awesome success!

Doug Drabek: c/o Visalia Rawhide, 0/2 FAILURE

This failure was by result of my stupidity. I normally double check to make sure I'm sending to a valid address, but it now appears that Mr. Drabek is the pitching coach of the Hillsboro Hops! I'll have to find a different address... whoops!

Jarrod Parker: c/o Oakland Athletics, 2/2 in 129 Days

I thought this request wasn't coming back, but sure enough, young A's starter Jarrod Parker returned both of the cards I sent signed! They both look really nice, and I couldn't have gotten them at a better time! He's been one of my top pitchers on my fantasy team, with a 2.78 ERA in 87.1 Innings for me! While his year long statistics aren't as polished due to a slow start, he's turned it on and has been an important part of the Oakland playoff run!

Jason Grilli: c/o Pittsburgh Pirates, 1/1 in 8 Days

Grilli has one of the best stories of 2013, becoming one of MLB's most elite closers! He had 29 saves going into the All Star break, earning his 1st All Star selection, but unfortunately has only added 1 save since due to a forearm injury. He's been a big part of the Pirates great season, and as a semi-Pirate fan myself this was a request I really wanted to get back.

Joe Panik: c/o Richmond Flying Squirrels, 2/2 in 8 Days

By far my favorite success of them all was from Joe Panik, the young middle infielder in the San Francisco Giants organization! He is one of the Giants best prospects and could take over for Marco Scutaro's spot relatively soon. While all of that is cool, Panik actually grew up in the same county as me, and played for a local high school. He's one of our areas best athletic talents and our county's big baseball fans are all rooting for him to do well! Both cards he signed came out great, and I'm so glad I got a chance to write to him.

So far, it's been a bit of an underwhelming summer with TTM's, but I haven't sent many until just recently. Hopefully the next weeks will be filled with successes, and like I mentioned earlier I do have two more that deserve their own post. The quest to get caught up is going remarkably well, but for now, See Ya!

Mid June TTM Report!

Hey guys, Drew back here! Guess what? My junior year of high school is O.V.E.R., and I could not be any more excited! I completed my final test- the dreaded Chemistry state regents exam, this morning, and I'm now ready for a summer hopefully devoted mostly towards my lovely hobby! So, on that note, here's a look at some of the through the mail successes I've received throughout the first half of June (TTM's 118-120)! Enjoy!

Ed Kranepool: c/o Home, 2/2 in 6 Days

Mr. Kranepool is remembered for being one of the few original, lifelong Mets; which has got to be an accomplishment in itself. All jokes aside, he was a solid contributor to their 1969 World Series team and helped pull the abysmal Casey Stengel-led team out of the ashes. He batted over .300 twice in his career, and his best season was in 1975 when he hit .323 with over 100 hits and 43 runs batted in. He signed a 1968 Topps card fresh from "the binder" along with a 1990 Pacific Baseball Legends card to put towards my ever growing signed set collection. 

Jim Lonborg: c/o Home, 3/3 in 7 Days

Back in January, my dad, my friend Schuyler, and I were at a White Plains card show in which the free signer was none other than the guy above. Schuyler was fortunate enough to get a nice oversized card of his signed, but by the time I was prepared to meet him his signing session was over. I wasn't going to complain since I already got to meet Cal Ripken Jr. and Steve Carlton that day, but I wanted to do something with the card my dad got me to have signed- the 1968 Topps card above. I went home and realized that the 1967 Cy Young winner was a very reliable TTM signer, so I put him on my list and recently got around to mailing to him. He signed my 1990 Pacific card along with the aforementioned 1968 Topps World Series highlight card. He also signed my index card and inscribed his 1967 Cy Young, however his sharpie did appear to be running out of gas. Regardless, these came out great and I'm happy to finally add him to my collection!

Jimmy Key: c/o Home, 1/1 in 8 Days

Key was well, a key piece in the Yankees' World Series win in 1996 to say the least. Over his three season stint with the team, he compiled a 49-23 record, and in the strike shortened 1994 season he was leading the league in wins with 17. His last start as a Yankee came in the 1996 World Series, where he battled to defeat Braves legend Greg Maddux en route to John Wetteland's closing and securing of the Yankees first title since 1978. To say I was excited to get his autograph on this 1996 Score was an understatement, and I'm really glad I took the time out to give him a try. He's a great signer, but keep in mind he only allows 1 autograph per request.

Max Scherzer: c/o Detroit Tigers, 0/1 in 51 Days FAILURE

Max Scherzer just won his 10th game of the season yesterday, and is well on his way to Citi Field for the All Star game. He used to be a phenomenal TTM signer, but now that he's become a pivotal part of the Tigers contending roster, the team requests a $10 donation to their team foundation in order for the card to be signed. $10 isn't bad compared to the apparent $40 they ask for Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but he isn't quite that caliber of a player yet so it's understandable. I don't believe I'll take part in this, but I figured it could be helpful in case anyone else wanted to send him (or any of the Tigers for that matter) a request.

What do you guys think of my recent haul? Happy Summer!

See Ya!

TTM #'s 73 & 74- Rookie of the Year? Plus a Failure

Hey guys, Drew back here. First off, SCHOOL'S OVER! "No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks!" I've got an unbelievable summer ahead of me, and the thought of not having to be in a classroom until September is a blessing in the skies! So, like last week I got these 2 TTM's as well as a failure, and I still wasn't able to post them. But here they are now, check them out:

First is Mariners phenom rookie pitcher Michael Pineda, who signed 2 cards for me in only 9 days! Pineda has emerged this season as a candidate for the Rookie of the Year award, so far being 7-4 with a 2.53 ERA in 15 starts. He's been overwhelmingly consistent for the Mariners, almost as much, maybe more consistent than their 2010 AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez! 

As you can see, the cards, in particular the bottom card have been EXTREMELY damaged, even though the autographs are great looking. I have no clue why this is all happening again, and it's been ruining my attempts at having nice looking autographed customs in my collection. Normally the Stars of Tomorrow cards don't get too damaged since most of the card is black, but for some reason this one came out horrible. I'm still planning on just hanging on to them, since his autographs are hot right now, and I definitely wanted one. It's a shame, but I'll still take it!

The second success came back from now Padres second baseman Orlando Hudson! "O-Dog" has had a fairly successful career in 10 years, mostly acting as a defensive player. He won 4 Gold Gloves, in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009. His best season was probably 2006, when he batted .287 for the Diamondbacks, with 15 home runs and 67 RBI's. 

The custom he signed, of course, came back damaged, with a noticeable circle marked over his face, as well as some damage over the Padres logo. It certainly doesn't look horrible but again it could be better. He's got a very nice looking autograph, and he inscribed his #1 for me. 

Lastly, I got a failure from back in Spring Training, from Neftali Feliz. A lot of the Rangers have recently returned these preprint autographed "cards", such as Elvis Andrus, Feliz, and Adrian Beltre lately. It's a bummer, but at least it's better than nothing. He also left a note that said:

"Thank you for writing to me. I am so grateful to all of my fans and appreciate your encouragement. Due to the amount of fan mail that I receive, I am unable to sign the items that you sent. I hope you enjoy one of my cards.

I wish you all the best (translated from Spanish),

Neftali Feliz"

At least it's better than nothing! Does anyone have any ideas to help me with my custom damage? Thanks again guys. See Ya!

TTM #27, and a Weird One Too!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Usually I hate TTM failures, but this one kinda cracked me up. I got 2 envelopes in the mail yesterday, the first one I'll show was a nice success!

Giants Hall of Famer Monte Irvin signed a card for me! Right now the Hall of Fame autographs are rolling in, just add this to the list. Irvin if you didn't know played left field in the Negro Leagues for the Newark Eagles, then broke into the majors in 1949, shortly after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. His career batting average in the MLB was .293, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his Negro League play as well as for his contributions to the game. Today he serves on the Veterans committee for future Negro League elections into Cooperstown.

Monte signed the card beautifully in blue sharpie, inscribing his number 20! It took 14 days for the card to arrive home, and I sent him $5 because I normally do that to guarantee me a HOF autograph. Thanks Mr. Irvin!

Moving along to the odd one, I sent a custom Yankees card to Horace Clarke, a former second baseman for the Bronx Bombers back when they stunk it up in the 60's. People refer to this era as the Horace Clarke era for a reason! So when I got this letter back in the mail, I was not very surprised...

Instead of just signing the dang card, he had to write me a full letter on the back of my letter! This is what it says if you are struggling to read it like I did (and still do):

"Dear Fan, sorry to disappoint you since I think whom ever direct you to me for signatures has a money making business and because of what I've noticed over the years, I will no longer let myself and fans be used to whomever. Very sorry. Gon on website and mail your request to my address and don't deal with that money making guy who ever he is."

Ok... well that is pretty much the weirdest thing I've ever seen in a TTM. I get the point that, wait never mind, I don't get any points. So he took all this time and wrote this whole letter to me, and not only did he not sign the letter, but he accused me of being in a money making business? What the heck? Is he paranoid?

I'll leave you with that. Is Horace Clarke paranoid? His autograph never sells for more than 5 bucks so it's not a big deal if we sold it anyway, which I wouldn't have done.

See Ya!

Recent Aquisitions

Hey guys, Drew back here. Today I just wanted to catch up a little bit, tomorrow I do have a little review for you and giveaway, so stay tuned for that. This morning we had our 7th game and got our 7th win, final score... 31-0! Ha! I was 1-2 with 3 walks, so I feel like Nick Johnson for the last 3 games. Well, that isn't such a bad thing in little league though at least. Ok, here we go:

First up is a nice little contest package from Offy's Sports Site. I won one of his contests a little while ago and here is the card I chose. Allen Pollock is the 2009 #17th overall pick by the Diamondbacks, and this card is numbered /25. If this guy turns out to be good, this could be a great card of him! There isn't much about him online and it's for trade right now, but if nobody wants it then I'll hang on to it.

Offy also included 2 2010 Topps gold cards that I wanted from one of his flagship breaks, and they're really nice. One is for the Cano collection too, so thanks!

Here are 6 cards that I got from my dad today. After the game we went to this little store and they had some cards and I picked out these 6 for 2 bucks. 2 nice Jeters, an El Duque rookie, and 3 Tinos. The second Tino on the bottom row is numbered to 1,500 while the third is numbered to 5,000. Very nice!

Lastly for now, a beautiful price list from Andre Dawson. This is the first time I've heard or seen him charge although I did know that people were including some cash. He now wants $20 for cards alone and higher for other things. I guess he can do that since he's a Hall of Famer, but whatever.

Alright guys, See Ya!

AND PLEASE VOTE I KNOW I HAVE MORE THAN 13 READERS!!!

Check Out My Cards Purchase Part 2 & TTM Fail

Hey guys, Drew back here. I just got my report card, and I saw an instant replay of exactly what happened last quarter, I came .375 of 1 point short of Principal's List, which really should be rounded up and it's extremely ridiculous. Anyway, I got back from Upper Deck yesterday, and I'll have that posted soon, but for now, the last 5 cards in my Check Out My Cards purchase. Let's see what Drew bought shall we?

2007 Sweet Spot Classic Bo Jackson Jersey

This card is very nice. I got it for I think 2 or 3 dollars, and the baby blue jersey doesn't really fit Bo Jackson, which makes me laugh. I love the Sweet Spot relics, and I'm considering getting even more! I have an Al Oliver, Goose Gossage, Don Mattingly, Reggie Jackson, and I think Dave Parker too, so I admit I'm hooked to these!

2008 Sweet Spot Robinson Cano/Brian Roberts Dual Jersey

Now this is an awesome card! I like Brian Roberts and I also really like unique jerseys! This is a nice add to the Cano collection, and I gotta try to find the patch version.

2008-09 UD Radiance Devin Harris Sweet Shot Autograph

I'm not a basketball collector, but I do watch and love to play basketball. You may remember WAY back on this blog when I went to a Nets game, and from that day on, Devin Harris became my favorite basketball player, ahead of LeBron, Kobe, and Dwayne Wade. So, when I saw this auto at a cheap price on COMC, I rushed to buy it. It's really cool, similar to Sweet Spot.

2008 SP Authentic Dustin Keller Rookie Leatherheads Auto /150

One of the big 2 cards in this purchase was this one. I got it for $10, and I wanted it from the second I saw it. It's monster thick, about the thickness of the Sweet Spot autos, and I really liked the concept of the cards. Now, if they didn't have autographs I wouldn't have wanted it, and even though Keller will most likely be a candidate for the Worst Auto tournament, it adds more to the card and it looks really nice. Plus there are only 150 of them.

1989 Upper Deck #1 Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card

Even as a diehard Yankee fan, I love to expand my collection into some of my other favorites too. Some of my favorite non Yankees are Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Tim Lincecum, Prince Fielder, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols, and definitely Griffey. I didn't get this card because I like Griffey, well, that is partly the reason, but the other part is that it is a monumental card. It's the only card in the BCHOF that I could afford so far, and I needed to try to get it. Now, 20 dollars later (a steal in my opinion), I now am holding possibly the most famous baseball card of all time (ok, second to Honus).

I think I made out well for $60 on Check Out My Cards, and after my good report card, I earned myself a trip to the next White Plains card show in May. That's what a 94.675 overall average (and 100 in Spanish) gets me! Anyway, I had a disappoint yesterday courtesy of The Man, Stan Musial. I sent him my custom card, and was hoping I wouldn't get one of those postcard things. So, I got it back yesterday, and not only was the custom sticking out of the side of the S.A.S.E, bent in half, and unsigned, but he included a post card. Take a look at it:

Nope, that isn't a signature. It's a biography with a picture. Yay. Now I can read about what I missed out on. I think either A) He'll give you a signed postcard if you include $, or B) he ran out of signed ones and wouldn't sign more. He is 90. This isn't as bad as the Whitey Ford disappointment but I'm mad about what happened here.

Aight I'm out, See Ya!