TTM Success - Brooks Robinson

I still have to let this sink in.  Getting Ernie Banks TTM a few years ago was huge.  I even got Brooks Robinson TTM, but it was basically through a signing he was doing through the Dugout Zone in Maryland.  This time, the TTM was a real TTM.  I sent out cards, a note, an SASE and some cash and landed my all-time favorite player (sorry, Cal).  Not only did I get Brooks, but I got him on some pretty sweet cards.  The above 2007 Masterpieces turned out so awesome.  Brooks also inscribed it 1970 WS MVP without me even asking.  Also, this is the first Masterpieces card that I have been able to get signed, and it is a beauty.  The card is just amazing.

I saw that someone on Instagram got Brooks back without having to pay the exorbitant amount that Dugout Zone charges (he got Brooks for $1/card!), so I checked with the guy and confirmed the address that he used.  It was the one listed on Sportscollectors.net, so I wasn't begging anyone for a private address.  I wrote a two-page letter to Brooks explaining my fandom (and man-crush) and included $10 cash.  I wrestled between sending the above 1962 Topps or a 1969 Topps Deckle Edge, ultimately sending the '62.  The '62 was an extra card that someone somewhere gave me, long after I had already picked up a '62 for my Brooks Topps run.

Additonally, someone somewhere gave me an extra 1959 Topps, which has now shifted into my Brooks Topps run, because the above '59 was removed for TTM.  I chose that one because I distinctly remember where I got it.  I was at my dad's engine builder's 60th birthday party in Spartanburg, SC.  We were waiting for the party to start, and a few of us walked across the street to check out the mall.  There just so happened to be a card show going on, and one of the vendors had this '59 Brooks for sale for $20.  I went ahead and bought it, and added it to the PC.  Now, it is forever part of my autograph album, and likely part of whatever Topps or Orioles Autograph Project I pursue next.

Being the amazingly awesome person that Brooks is, he included this Hall of Fame post card signed, as well.  This will go in my signed post card album, and will not leave the collection!

Robinson (b. 1937) played in the majors from 1955 to 1977 for the Orioles.  The greatest defensive third baseman of all-time (no, not Adrian Beltre, Cal!), Brooks had 2,848 hits, 268 home runs (the exact same amount as Jim Palmer had in wins) and a .267 batting average.  He won an unprecedented 16 Gold Glove Awards in a row between 1960 and 1975.  He was named to 15 All Star Games in a row between 1960 and 1974.  He was the 1964 AL MVP.  He was in the top 5 of the AL MVP voting 5 times in his career.  He won the World Series with the Orioles in 1966 and 1970, and was named the 1970 World Series MVP.  Brooks was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983 on his first year on the ballot and received 92.0% of the vote.  Brooks's #5 was retired by the Orioles at the conclusion of the 1977 season.  With Frank Robinson (no relation), Brooks was part of the inaugural Orioles Hall of Fame class.

I mailed to Brooks on January 5 and got the cards back on January 20, for a 15-day TAT.