TTM Success - Danny Darwin

I really enjoy it when a player who had a long career will sign TTM.  It is even better when they will sign multiple cards.  This is the case with Danny Darwin.  I had so many cards of his to choose from, I had to leave out a ton.  I was able to, however, make a nice mix of cards from his career and they all came back looking great.

I found the above 1994 Pinnacle Museum Collection at my LCS and since I knew I was going to send to Darwin, I picked it up.  It was the first card of his that I pulled when I started getting my request together.  The card came back looking great.  Even if it was the only card I got back, it would have been worth it.

Luckily, I got back everything that I sent (all 7 cards).  I found the 1983 Fleer (left) in a box of old Fleer cards that Mom picked up for me.  The 1991 Fleer (right) came out of a bunch of packs that Chris and I busted a couple weeks ago.  Those packs had been residing in my closet forever, so we finally decided to open them.  Now, at least one of the cards will be part of my TTM/IP auto album.

I had opened a ton of these 1994 Leaf way back when they had come out.  Unfortunately, most of what I had from back then melded together, as is the case for a lot of mid-90s junk wax.  The gloss on the cards melts if the cards are stored in a hot location (attic) and the cards get sealed together in some sort of a brick, suitable for kindling.  My mom found a box of cards that had a bunch of the 1994 Leaf, so I decided to send this one along so that the Leaf set was represented in the album.

Finally, I sent a few Topps cards along from my boxes so that I could add some tick marks to different Topps sets for my Topps Autograph Project (which is coming along nicely, I may add).  The above 1988 Topps looks great, and that set has really grown on me as one of the better ones to get signed.

Darwin's choice of a blue Sharpie really pops with these two specimens.  The 1982 (left) and 1985 (right) Topps really look nice.  Pair that with the cool, retro Rangers jerseys, and I ended up with an awesome TTM success!

Darwin (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1978 to 1998 for the Rangers, Brewers, Astros, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Pirates, White Sox and Giants.  He had a career record of 171-182 with 1,942 strike outs and an ERA of 3.84.  He played in the majors for 21 seasons and never appeared in a playoff game and also never appeared on any Cy Young or MVP ballots.  He did appear on the 2004 Hall of Fame ballot, but did not receive any votes.

I mailed to Darwin on November 7 and got the cards back on November 15, for an 8-day TAT.