Another TTM Success From Jim Lonborg

Jim Lonborg is a player who I have already gotten TTM twice (in 2018 and 2023), but it found these two cards in my boxes, so i sent to him a third time.

I like the above 1990 Swell Baseball Greats.  I have a few more cards from this set that i could possibly send off. We'll see. 

I got this 1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest signed as well.  I'm not sure there are many more from this set that I can fet signed, but it do have a bunch.  Maybe it was a partial set that ended up at the old LCS; I think that's how they got into my boxes.

I mailed to Lonborg on October 9 and got the cards back on October 21 for a 12-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Dick Bosman

Back in 2018, I got Dick Bosman TTM on three cards.  I had a few more left over, so I sent to him again.

The above 1974 Topps was damaged at the bottom, but otherwise looks good.

I also got this 1975 Topps Mini signed.  When Bosman signed for me in 2018, he signed in black.  These were signed in blue, which i prefer.

I mailed to Bosman on October 7 and got the cards back on October 21 for a 14-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Derin McMains

My older Bowman box is fun to look through.  I like seeing the prospects from years past, with the hope of adding a few to the autograph album. 

The autograph on my 2007 Bowman Chrome Derin McMains it tough to see on the scan, but in person, it looks pretty nice.  I ended up with a ton of 2007 Bowman from my own boxes that I busted and others that I got from the former LCS.  The older the Bowmans get, the harder it is to get them signed in person; unless the player is a coach or something. 

McMains (b. 1979) was an 11th round pick by the Giants in the 2001 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Arkansas Little Rock.  He played in the minors from 2001 to 2007, all in the Giants system.  He was able to.reach AAA.  He had 461 hits, 21 home runs and a .257 batting average. 

I mailed to McMains on October 2 and got the card back on October 21, for a 19-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Seth Maness

A couple nice 2013 Bowmans came back signed TTM from Seth Maness.  I think 2013 Bowman is a sharp set.  The cards look nice signed, but it gets harder and harder to get them done in person.

Maness (b. 1988) played in the majors from 2013 to 2017 for the Cardinals and Royals.  He had a record of 18-10 with 156 strike outs and a 3.21 ERA.

Formerly from Pinehurst, Maness played at ECU.  He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the 2011 June Amateur Draft.  He had formerly been drafted by the Marlins in the 41st round of the 2010 June Amateur Draft, but didn't sign.

I mailed to Maness on October 1 and got the cards back signed on October 19, for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Jim French

A 1971 Topps was added to the autograph album when I got this one back signed from Jim French.  I can't remember if I got this from Ryan or if it came out of Conrad's boxes.  Still, I like the old Washington Senators uniform. 

French (b. 1941) played in the majors from 1965 to 1971 for the Senators.  He had 119 hits, 5 home runs and a .196 batting average.

I mailed to French on October 2 and got the card back on October 16 for a 14-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Bob Lacey

Another request to a TTM signer who i had gotten before got me these two cards back from Bob Lacey.  I had gotten him back in 2021 on a few cards; these two were left over, so I sent to him again.  The above 1981 Topps is a nice card.  His signature is a bit faint, but still looks fine.

I also sent off this 1978 Topps, which also turned out nicely.  I like the old A's jersey.

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

Another TTM Success From Jerry Koosman

These Jerry Koosman cards resided in my to-be-TTMed box for quite some time until I finally got a little cash together to pay his fee.

The above 1974 Topps actually has some frequent flyer miles on it, as I had previously mailed it to Jon Matlack; the card came back unsigned with a post-it note saying it was Koosman shown on thr card.  I guess I could have figured that out jad I actually bothered to cross reference the uniform number. Oof.

The above 1977 and 1980 Topps i sent out also turned out well.  It appears that Koosman's signature is getting shaky, but thr cards still look good.

I mailed to Koosman on September 30 and got the cards back on October 12, for a 12-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $10.00/card.

Another TTM Success From Scott Heard

Here is a 2001 Bowman Chrome that came back signed from Scott Heard.  I had gotten him before a while back, but I wanted to clear another card out of my box.

I don't have many 2001 Bowmans.  I have a ton of 1997-2000, but not many 2001-2006.  Hopefully sometime soon, I can come across a  bulk box of the years I need.

I mailed to Heard on September 24 and got the card back on October 12, for an 18-day TAT. 

November 12, 2024, Wilson Hot Stove Event

Last night was the 49th annual Wilson Hot Stove Event in the City of Wilson.  I went last year for the first time, so I was really looking forward to going again this year.  The attendees list came out very close to the event, so it was hard to get stuff here in time.  I also had some cards left over from last year, like the above 1968 Topps John Donaldson.  He missed last year, so i was glad to finally meet him in person.

I was glad to meet a guy who I had gotten TTM twice.  I got Donaldson to sign at the get-together at the North Carolina Baseball Museum prior to the start of the event.  He seemed genuinely happy I was there, and took my graphing book from me to see who else I had cards of.  I thought that was pretty cool.

This year's big guest scheduled to be there to receive the Gaylord Perry Pitching Award was former ECU pitcher and Blue Jays 2024 first round pick, Trey Yesavage.  I didnt have any of his cards, so i got him to sign this 1994 Score Blue Jays card.

Yesavage was really nice, and posed for a picture with me.  ECU coach Cliff Godwin was nice enough to get Yesavage's attention so we could get his autograph.

Jesse and Chris came with me to the event, and we met our friends Billy and John at the Museum.  Jesse gave me this 5 x 7 photo of Mike Caldwell to get signed.  It came out nicely. 

I did find a few cards in my boxes and one of my three packages from Sportlots came in before the event, so I did have a few cards.

Phil Mankowski thanked us several times for coming out and supporting the event.  I was glad he posed for a picture with me.  I jad also gotten him TTM once before, back in 2021.

Finally, event regular John Roper signed a few more cards for me.  I had ordered some nice cards of his, but they didn't get here in time.

In all, I got the following autographs: Mike Caldwell x 4, John Donaldson x 1, Alan Fowlkes x 4, Phil Mankowski x 3, John Roper x 3, Dick Such x 1 and Trey Yesavage x 2 (18)

TTM Success - Kevin Thompson

A couple mid-2000s Bowman cards came back signed TTM from Kevin Thompson.  The above 2006 Bowman Heritage foil parallel is pretty nice.  I don't have many of these signed, so it was good to add one to the album. 

I also got this 2006 Bowman gold parallel signed with the return from Thompson.  Again, I didn't have many of these in the autograph album, so here's another different card added to the bunch.

Thompson (b. 1979) played in the majors in 2006 and 2007 for the Yankees and A's.  He had 14 hits, 1 home run and a .215 batting average.

I mailed to Thompson on September 20 and got the cards back on October 12 for a 22-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Joe Jacques

A couple nice 2024 Topps came back signed TTM via Spring Training from Joe Jacques.  The above foil parallel looks pretty cool. 

Jacques (b. 1995) has played in the majors since 2023 for the Red Sox and Diamondbacks.  He has a record of 2-1 with 22 strike outs and a  5.46 ERA.

Originally drafted by the Pirates, I had gotten Jacques in person back when he was with Greensboro. 

I mailed to Jacques via Red Sox camp on February 20 and got the cards back on October 11 for a 234-day TAT.

A Few 50/50 Autos From Aidan

One would think that I'd be caught up on my 50/50s from this past season, but no, I still am way behind.  This 50/50 return consisted of a few cards I had sent to my buddy, Aidan.

I had left the above 2022 Bowman Chrome Yeison Morrobel with Aidan after Yeison refused to sign for me early in the season.  Aidan finally got the card signed for me, so now I can add it to the album. 

Aidan also got a 2024 Bowman Chrome Colton Ledbetter, 2023 Pro Debut Trevor Martin and a really nice orange 2023 Panini Select Miguel Bleis.

Thanks for getting these signed for me, Aidan!

TTM Success - Cody Stashak

This nice 2020 Topps Update of Cody Stashak came back signed TTM recently. The card turned out nicely.

Stashak (b. 1994) played in the majors from 2019 to 2022 for the Twins.  He had a record of 4-1 with 83 strike outs and a 4.13 ERA.

I mailed to Stashak on September 11 and got the card back on October 11, for a 30-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Chris O'Grady

Here are a couple nice 2018 Topps cards that I got signed TTM by Chris O'Grady.  The above foil parallel looks pretty cool now that it is signed. I had his cards put aside for a long time and finally mailed them off; it seems like that's the story with a lot of my TTMs.  That's because I constantly pull stuff to send to folks, then pull more stuff for more folks and stuff gets buried. I've tried to call a lot of the older pulls and make room in my to-be-TTMed box before I start adding new stuff.  I've made a pretty decent dent.

O'Grady (b. 1990) played in the majors in 2017 and 2018 for the Marlins.  He had a record of 2-2 with 38 home runs and a 4.73 ERA.

I mailed to O'Grady on September 28 and got the cards back on October 10, for a 12-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Kyle Davies

Several Topps cards came back signed TTM from former pitcher, Kyle Davies.  I don't have a lot of 2009 Topps in the autograph album, so i was glad to get this one in there.

He also signed a 2004, 2008 and 2010 Topps.  All of the cards look great.  They had sat in the to-be-TTMed box for some time, and I finally got some mailed out.

Davies (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2005 to 2011 and 2015 for the Braves, Royals and Yankees.  He had a record of 43-65 with 547 strike outs and a 5.57 ERA.

I mailed to Davies on September 28 and got the cards back on October 10, for a 12-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Bill Mooneyham

Better late than never.  Except, while I was waiting for this TTM success to come back from Bill Mooneyham, I took part in a private signing that crossed the card off of my needs list. 

This one came back after I mailed to him directly, several years ago. So, the card from the private signing that I got is signed in blue, and this one will go in the regular autograph album. 

I mailed to Mooneyham on May 2, 2020, and got the card back on October 7, 2024, for a 1,619-day TAT.

TTM Success - Brenton Doyle

Once the season ended, a couple Spring Training TTM submissions came back; one of them was this return from Brenton Doyle.  He signed a 2023 Topps Heritage and the below 2023 Topps Update.

The Topps Update didn't come out all that well.  He probably put it in the envelope before the ink dried.

Doyle (b. 1998) made his debut last season for the Rockies. He has 222 hits, 33 home runs and a .236 batting average. He won a Gold Glove Award last season.

I mailed to Doyle on March 2 and got the cards back on October 7, for a 219-day TAT.

TTM Success - Trey Mancini

A private signing with former Oriole, Trey Mancini popped up that I jumped on.  I wanted to finish the above 2017 Topps Heritage rookie card that I had already gotten signed by Donnie Hart at Orioles Fan Fest years ago.  I had hoped to get the card signed sooner, but at least it's done.

I found the 2017 Topps Chrome refractor in my Orioles box and decided to add it to the submission.  I sent the two cards off, then found the green ice foil parallel from 2021 Topps.  I reached out to the signing promoter and he allowed ke to add the foil card to the submission.  So, this was kind of a dual TTM.  Not that it matters.

Mancini (b. 1992) is attempting a comeback for the 2025 season after opting out of his minor league deal with the Marlins this past Spring Training.  He has played in the majors from 2016 to 2019 and 2021 to 2023 for the Orioles, Astros and Cubs.  He missed the 2020 season while battling stage 3 colon cancer.  He had 801 hits, 129 home runs and a .263 batting average.  

I mailed the first two to the signing on August 12; the foil card on August 30.  I got all three cards back on October 7 for 38 and 56-day TATs.  I paid a fee of $20/card.