Friday, April 26, 2024

More Signed Cards From Max

My friend, Max, sent me another batch of signed cards recently that added a ton more guys to the autograph album.  He has helped me get so many cards out of my boxes and got them signed.   The above Garrett Cooper 2021 Topps rainbow foil turned out great.  I'm pretty sure I'm out of Garrett Cooper cards by now, but you never know. There's probably a box in my stack of boxes that has a couple more I need to dig out.
Something that I have learned to love is the search function of the blog.  If I mention all of the players shown, I'll be able to search and know who I have in my albums.  That's a big help, especially when someone like Max hooks me up with so many different players.  So, here are signed cards of Ryan O'Hearn, Korey Lee, Kyle Cody, Ty Blach, Garrett Cooper and Brenton Doyle.
I was really glad to get some Cole Tucker cards signed, especially the 2019 Bowman Heritage (top left). The 2021 Topps Pro Debut of Alfonso Rivas looks nice.  Im reappy glad to get those out of the boxes because the font used on 2021 Topps, Chrome and Pro Debut is so hard to read, especially when leafing through cards in a hurry.

Kyle Freeland, Peter Lambert and Jake Bird round out this stack of cards.
Here are two team cards Max used, Tyler Holton at the top and Joe Davis at the bottom.
Here are a bunch of coach cards that Max got signed: Rigo Beltran, Lane Zawadski, Darren Holmes, Dave Bush, Tom Goodwin and Juan Nieves.  That Dave Bush 2007 Topps Heritage turned out great.  I wish I had kept the bulk cards I used to have from that set.

Finally, here are a few Bobby Meacham and Jose Hernandez cards.

Thanks for hooking me up, as always, Max.  I have another box ready to ship, which will hopefully go out tomorrow!

Another TTM Success From Willie Horton

TTMs have slowed to a crawl lately, but one came in yesterday that I was excited about.  I had signed up for another private signing with Willie Horton to get some nice vintage cards signed.  I started off with this 1972 Topps Boyhood Photos of the Stars, which looks really nice. 
I followed up with his 1973 and 1980 Topps, which also turned out well.  I'm not sure if I have any Horton cards left after this signing, but I do know that these three sat in my to-be-TTMed box for quite some time.

I mailed to the signing on April 8 and got the cards back on April 25, for a 17-day TAT. I paid a fee of $15/card.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

A Consignment For CJ Kayfus

Last season, my brother Philip and I saw Miami at Wake Forest and we were able to get CJ Kayfus on some Perfect Game cards.  Since then, he was drafted by the Guardians and appeared in 2023 Bowman Draft.  I came across someone on Facebook who was willing to get Kayfus to sign a couple Bowman Draft, since he started the season at Lake County instead of Lynchburg.  I tried to get the guy to get Kayfus to sign the cards "Go U", but he wouldn't, apparently.  Oh well, I tried.

Kayfus (b. 2001) was drafted in the 3rd round by the Guardians during the 2023 July Amateur Draft out of Miami (FL).  Since 2023, he has played at Low and High A ball for the Guardians. He has 29 hits, 6 home runs and a .296 batting average.

I appreciate the guy getting the cards signed for me, but I'm not the biggest fan of having to pay.  I'd have much rather worked out a 50/50 deal or something else like a league swap. Oh well.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

TTM Success - Rod Gaspar

Another of Conrad's 1971 Topps cards came back signed TTM when I got this one back from Rod Gaspar.  There isn't much going on with the card, but it's signed and in the album. 

Gaspar (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1969 to 1971 and 1974 for the Mets and Padres. He had 54 hits, 1 home run and a .208 batting average. 

I mailed to Gaspar on April 6 and got the card back on April 20, for a 14-day TAT. 

Monday, April 22, 2024

Another TTM Success From Tom McCraw

These cards took a whole to come in, and traveled a long way, but they got signed by Tom McCraw.  His address changed, but I was able to find a working one and added these to the autograph album. The above 1975 Topps Mini turned out nicely.
I also got a 1964 Topps, 1967 Topps and a 1974 Topps signed.  The 1967 is rough, but it is signed and locked into the album.  I also got an index card promoting McCraw's Instagram account: @TommyMcCrawBaseballFans.  I gave it a follow when I got the note.

I mailed to McCraw on October 11 and got the cards back on April 20, for a 192-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jeff Bajenaru

Here is a 2006 Topps Rookie 52 that I was able to get signed TTM recently by Jeff Bajenaru.  The card turned out well; I thought it had a great retro look to it, even though the Diamondbacks are one of the newest baseball teams.

Bajenaru (b. 1978) played in the majors from 2004 to 2006 for the White Sox and Diamondbacks.  He had a record of 0-2 with 11 strike outs and an 11.02 ERA.

I mailed to Bajenaru on March 11 abd got the card back on April 20, for a 40-day TAT. 

Sunday, April 21, 2024

April 16-20, 2024, Graphing of the Shorebirds at Wood Ducks

This week's graphing of the Delmarva Shorebirds at the Wood Ducks was pretty much over right after the game on Tuesday.  I missed Wednesday since it was an 11AM game and Thursday was Chris's senior night for tennis.  With today's rain out, I only graohed three games of the series.  I also missed my friend, Ryan's cards because I put them in the wrong pile. 

The above 2022 Bowman Chrome ray wave parallel of Danyer Cueva was picked up at the National last year but ended up in a random box that I finally went through last week. It is finally signed and in the album. 
Delmarva had several guys with cards, however all but two of them were on the IL and didnt make the trip.  Jacob Cravey was really nice and signed everything I had.  A fellow graoher gave me the 2023 Bowman Chrome mojo Anderson De Los Santos so i could get him done, which was nice.
The Rangers had sent several rovers out to the park this week with Kenny Holmberg, Roy Silver and Matt Magill coming into town.  I was able to get a couple Silver cards in before the series ended.  I realized who Matt Magill was (by asking around; I'm not THAT good), and found two cards in my collection to get done.
My friend, Gerard hooked me up with this nice Marcus Smith Bowman Heritage gold parallel.  It's a pretty sweet card and looks great.
Alejandro Rosario made his professional debut for the Wood Ducks and went 4 innings with no runs allowed and 7 strike outs.  His fa.ily was there and we're really nice.  I was able to chat with his mom pre-game.
The highlight of Friday's game was when, around the 7th inning or so (I was talking and lost track), Jon (the Wood Ducks GM) came by where we were sitting and asked me to get up.  I had no idea why, but I got up and he said "we are honoring you for Season Ticket Holder Appreciation".

I was given a certificate, team signed baseball and a "golden" Bill Ellis bobble head.  Jon also gave me his hat, which was the Wood Ducks first Copa hat, the Patos Joyuyous.  I never got one for myself and had asked Jon if there were any more that he could find; I'd buy one.  He gave me his, instead, when he realized we wore the same hat size.

They also took a photo of me with Jon and DEWD.  I haven't seen the photo yet, but am excited to see how it turned out.  I was blown away by the gesture and it really meant a lot to me.  I've been very upset that the Woodies are leaving Kinston after this season.  I am so thankful that they took the time to recognize me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 4, Marcus Smith x 1, Jacob Cravey x 9, Julian Brock x 1, Gleider Figuereo x 1, Alberto Mota x 1, Alejandro Rosario x 2, Roy Silver x 2, Matt Magill x 2 and Anderson De Los Santos x 1 (24 total autographs).