TTM Success - Stephen Drew

The last signing that my friend Jack hosted recently was with Stephen Drew.  It was an easy decision to send the above 2010 Topps National Chicle.  The card turned out great.

Drew (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2006 to 2017 for the Diamondbacks, A's, Red Sox, Yankees and Nationals.  He had 1,109 hits, 123 home runs and a .252 batting average.  He finished 26th in the 2008 NL MVP race. 

I mailed to the signing on December 30 and got the card back on January 29 for a 30-day TAT. 

TTM Success - JD Drew

The next signing that my friend Jack did was with JD Drew.  I had this 2000 Topps Gold Label that I sent along.  The card turned out great.  This was a really cool set that came in one of the boxes I got from the old LCS.

Drew (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1998 to 2011 for the Cardinals, Braves, Dodgers and Red Sox.  He had 1,437 hits, 242 home runs and a .278 batting average.  He was 6th in the 2004 NL MVP race and was an All Star in 2008.  He won the World Series in 2007 with the Red Sox. He appeared on the 2017 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes. 

I mailed to the signing on December 30 and got the card back on January 29 for a 30-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Colby Thomas

The next private signing that my friend Jack set up was with Colby Thomas.  I was able to find and send off a 2024 Pro Debut (above) and a 2023 Bowman (below).

Unfortunately, after I mailed, I found another card that I wanted to send.  It was too late, so hopefully I get another chance later on.

Thomas (b. 2001) was a 3rd round pick by the A's in the 2022 July Amateur Draft out of Mercer University.  He has played in the A's system since 2023, reaching AAA.  He has 314 hits, 52 home runs and a .282 batting average.

I mailed to the signing on November 14 and got the cards back on January 29 for a 76-day TAT.  I didn't write down what I paid.

TTM Success - Kaleb Cowart

A friend of mine on Instagram hosted a series of private signings a while back. I wanted to try to support, so I joined in on a couple of them.  This one of Kaleb Cowart helped me move a few cards out of the box of shame. 

I can't remember why I had originally pulled Cowart's cards.  They are finally signed.

Cowart (b. 1992) played in the majors from 2015 to 2019 for the Angels.  He had 65 hits, 6 home runs and a .176 batting average. 

I mailed to the signing on November 14 and got the cards back on January 29 for a 76-day TAT.  I forgot what I paid.

TTM Success - Joey Hammond

Here is a nice 2002 Bowman that I got from Ryan that I got signed TTM by former Orioles farmhand, Joey Hammond.  Ryan sent me a bunch of 2002-2005 Bowman cards to try TTM since I commented that I didn't have many cards from that era.  I had never heard of Hammond, so i was excited to get the card back and look into how hos career played out.

Hammond (b. 1977) was a 25th round pick by the Orioles in the 1998 June Amateur Draft out of UNC. He played in the minors from 1998 to 2008 in the Orioles and Phillies systems.  He would reach AAA prior to hanging it up.

He had 1,144 hits, 36 home runs and a .274 batting average across 11 seasons in the minors.

I mailed to Hammond on January 22 and got the card back on January 29 for a 7-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Chas McCormick

Because I found this 2022 Topps Chrome Ben Baller parallel of Chas McCormick, I really wanted to send to him (McCormick) again.  I did, and sent two other cards, as well.

Everything I sent turned out nicely.  He signed the 22 chrome, a 2023 and 2024 Topps.

I also included a donation of $10/card to his local food bank.  He included these business cards requesting the donations, which I kept.

McCormick (b. 1995) has played in the majors since 2021, for the Astros.  As of today, he has 325 hits, 55 home runs and a .249 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Astros in 2022.

I mailed to McCormick on January 13 and got the cards back on January 29 for a 16-day TAT.

TTM Success - John Hart

A colorful set that I tend to overlook a little of the time is 1990 Topps.  I've got a ton of them, but don't usually go through them often, so they get left out of TTM requests.  I did send one off recently; this John Hart card came back signed in black Sharpie.  It turned out nicely.

Hart (b. 1948) managed the Indians on an interim basis in 1989 for a total of 19 games.  He went 8-11.  He is more well known as a former GM, for the Indians and Rangers.  He replaced Hank Peters as GM of the Indians in 1991, leading the team to an 870-681 record across 10 years.  His teams appeared in the 1995 and 1997 World Series.  

He took over as the GM of the Rangers in November 2001, staying in that role until 2005, when he took over as senior advisor to GM Jon Daniels.  He stayed with the Rangers through 2013.  He would then join the Braves as Senior Advisor, serving that team in various executive roles until his resignation in 2017.

I mailed to Hart on November 25 and got the card back on January 28 for a 64-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Strickland

Here is a nice 1973 Topps that came back signed TTM from Jim Strickland.  I believe this was a leftover from the Conrad boxes.  I got an assortment of 1964, 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1975 Topps from those boxes and milked the hell out of them for TTMs for the last two years.  Now that the stack is almost gone, I need to dig up some more stuff to send.

Strickland (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1971 to 1973 and 1975 for the Twins and Indians.  He had a record of 4-2 with 60 strike outs and a 2.68 ERA.

I mailed to Strickland on January 4 and got the card back on January 27 for a 23-day TAT. 

April 18, 2025, Graphing of the Shorebirds at Mudcats

From the looks of things, graphing is going to be the only good thing baseball-wise for me this summer.  The Orioles are shit, so I'll save money and just concentrate on MiLB and soon Frontier League games instead of wasting my money on a bad MLB team.  Yeah, I said it.  They're poised to be BAD.  Anyway, I saw their Low A team take on the Mudcats in my first trip to Five County Stadium since 2021.  I was able to get Jesus Made (above) on the Brewers team card.

I got most of the Delmarva cards I brought.  I had help from Jesse and his brother Landon.  Braylin Tavera did only one per for us.  I should have handed Landon a card to get one more Tavera out of the box, but it's whatever.  We also missed Jacob Cravey, but had gotten him in the past so it wasn't a big deal.

I missed several Mudcats last year, like Eric Bitonti.  His 2024 Topps Pro Debut got done, as well as his 2023 Bowman Draft.

Braylon Payne was really nice. I got everything signed that I brought for the Mudcats.

Bryce Meccage was really cool as well.  I happened to look him up and saw him as he was coming off the field after Friday fireworks.  I got lucky and we got everything signed.

The big hits were the Mini Muddy and Muddy the Mudcat cards I finally got out of my boxes.  With the Mudcats leaving after this season, I wanted to get all of these signed. 

I know it's goofy to get mascot autographs but hey, it gets the cards into the album. 

In all, we got the following autographs:  Chase Allsup x 2, Maikol Hernandez x 15, Braylin Tavera x 2, Eric Bitonti x 5, Jesus Made x 2, Bryce Meccage x 4, Braylon Payne x 5, Muddy x 4 and Mini Muddy x 2 (41 total autographs). 

Another TTM Success From Russ Snyder

My stack of vintage cards from Conrad's boxes has gotten a lot smaller. I am pretty much done sending those cards out, save for maybe a few.  One that hung around longer than I would have liked was this 1964 Topps of Russ Snyder.  Snyder used to be a prolific TTM signer, but had tapered off as of late.  It appears that age (he is 90) may be taking its toll.  His normal signing address appears dormant, so I took a chance and sent the card to his son's address.  The card came back signed, which is great.  I hope Snyder is doing well and is enjoying time with his family. I'm glad the card got done, and don't plan to bother him anymore. 

I mailed to Snyder on January 4 and got the card back on January 27 for a 23-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Ross Jones

A random 1988 Topps was added to the autograph album when this card came back signed TTM from Ross Jones.  There is a lot of blue on this card, but it definitely isn't a problem. 

Jones (b. 1960) played in the majors in 1984, 1986 and 1987 for the Mets, Mariners and Royals.  He had 32 hits, no home runs and a .221 batting average. 

I mailed to Jones on October 31 and got the card back on January 27 for an 88-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mark Holzemer

Some junk wax era cards are still sharp-looking cards.  1994 Donruss is one such set that really looks nice. My only problem with that era of cards is the over-gloss that tends to cause cards to stick together and become a worthless cardboard brick.  That's why I don't store my cards in the attic.  Anyway, I got a nice 1994 Donruss back signed TTM from Mark Holzemer.

Holzemer (b. 1969) played in the majors in 1993, from 1995 to 1998 and 2000 for the Angels, Mariners, A's and Phillies.  He had a record of 2-5 with 64 strike outs and a 7.69 ERA.

I mailed to Holzemer on October 24 and got the card back on January 27 for a 95-day TAT.

TTM Success - Julio Zuleta

Take a look at that auto.  Julio Zuleta has a great signature.  I saw that he was signing TTM, so I sent three cards. Only two came back, but that's ok.  Above is a 2000 Topps Gallery.

I also got a 2002 Topps signed.  He inscribed both cards to me, but that doesn't take anything away.

Zuleta (b. 1975) played in the majors from 2000 to 2001 for the Cubs.  He had 43 hits, 9 home runs and a .247 batting average.

I mailed to Zuleta on January 13 and got the cards back on January 25 for a 12-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Juan Beniquez

Another 1991 Crown Orioles card was added to the album when this one came back signed by Juan Beniquez via a private signing on SCN.  I had gotten him during a previous signing, which took care of my 1987 Topps.  I saw another signing come along and decided to go ahead and get my Crown Orioles card done.  It turned out nicely.

I mailed to the signing on December 27 and got the card back on January 25 for a 29-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $12.00.

April 12-13, 2025, Graphing of Stripers at Tides

This past weekend a couple weeks of torturing myself with card searching and prep culminated into graphing two more AAA teams across two days.  It didn't help that work has been busy and I haven't had a lot of time to go through boxes.  I had Chris and Jesse here at the house searching boxes on Friday to get me ready to go to Norfolk for games Saturday and Sunday.

Chris had to work, so it was my buddy Jesse and I hitting the hotel Friday night.  Since Norfolk's game on Friday had been rained out, we weren't in a hurry to make the two-hour drive up there.  We found the guys we could find, hit the road and got into the hotel around 10pm.  I powdered the cards and loaded the books so we would be ready to do arrival Saturday morning.  The weather sucked; it was chilly and windy all day out there, but Jesse had a sweater and I remembered to bring a hoodie.

We graphed outside with a Norfolk grapher named Jeff.  We hit the Tides side on arrival with a couple tries at some Gwinnett guys, hit Gwinnett inside pregame and their side again outside on departure.

We were really hoping to get Alex Verdugo, who we got outside on arrival when we saw the second Gwinnett team bus come in.  Jesse Chavez signed for us outside on arrival, which was really cool.  I got denied by Sandy Leon (Hola Sandy) on arrival but he signed everything we had on departure.

James McCann was really nice as well.  He was one of the last players out on departure, but it was worth getting him on my Orioles card.  

Luke Williams was a bit tougher, but he did sign for us.  We missed several people like Luke Waddell, Jake Marisnick and Hurston Waldrep.

I had some nice Jesse Chavez cards, but missed one that was stuck behind other stuff in my slider box.  It was also good to finally get Chuck LeBlanc on my Frisco team set card.

There were a bunch of Tides guys that I needed on this trip.  We got really lucky to get Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo at the same time outside.  The 2025 Topps insert if Mayo turned out great.  The Basallo I got done was from 2024 Bowman Draft.  Jesse helped me get a 2024 Bowman Chrome.

My 2024 Pro Debut Chrome gold refractor of Jud Fabian turned out awesome.  It was also great to get all of the Vimael Machin cards I had pulled for the Independent League last year done.  He is continuing to hit like crazy.  I hope he gets called up to the big leagues again.

One of the toughest cards that eluded me for a while was Triton, the secondary mascot of the Tides.  I finally got that one done for the 2024 team set.

Finally, Terrin Vavra's exclusive deal expired.  So, I was able to get several of his cards signed. His Topps Now card had a lot of miles on it.  This card traveled with me to the Orioles Caravan a couple years ago as a "just in case", then on to Norfolk last year as I tried to get some ink on it.  The card is finally signed an can now reside in the binder.

Jesse and I had a great time, catching 3 games as opposed to the two we originally had thought we would when we planned the trip.  The Tides went 1-2 while we were there but we got to see homers by Fabian and Mayo.

In all, we got the following autographs: Jordyn Adams x 2, Samuel Basallo x 2, Dylan Beavers x 4, Jud Fabian x 2, Coby Mayo x 2, Vimael Machin x 4, Corbin Martin x 12, Terrin Vavra x 4, Thaddeus Ward x 2, Triton x 1, Eddy Alvarez x 1, Matthew Batten x 1, Jesse Chavez x 5, Garrett Cooper x 1, Jose Devers x 2, Chuck Leblanc x 1, Sandy Leon x 9, James McCann x 2, Enoli Paredes x 2, Alex Verdugo x 2, Jordan Weems x 5, Luke Williams x 4, Livan Soto x 6, Carlos Tavera x 1, Luis Vazquez x 1 and Chandler Seagle x 6 (84 total autographs).

TTM Success - Pete Weber

Here is a 2008 Topps Allen and Ginter that I got back signed from bowler Pete Weber.  The card turned out great.  I used to love A&G but I kind of feel like the set has run its course.  I'd be happy with a new set with a new retro design taking its place.  Still, it's a nice set and the cards look great when signed.

Weber (b. 1962) is a famous bowler who has won the PBA Tour 37 times and is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.  He is widely considered the greatest bowler of all time, according to Jesse who is standing beside me while I type this.

I mailed to Weber on October 14 and got the card back on January 25 for a 103-day TAT.

Spring Training 2025 Plus Other Autos From Max

As he always does, Max delivered a huge package of autographs a few weeks ago.  He went to Cubs Convention and Spring Training and took a bunch of my cards with him to get signed.  I was glad to get a bunch of room cleared in my boxes.  The above Topps Pro Debut relic card of Ryan Vilade was a big hit.

Here are cards sigbed by Riley Adams, Paul Bako, Moises Ballestros, Matthew Boyd, Rob Brantly, Alex Call, Dave Clark.  I liked getting the Winston-Salem Spirits card signed by Bako. I'm pretty sure I got to see him play at Ernie Shore Field.  

These cards are signed by Kenedy Corona, Ryan Dempster, Bob Dernier, Chris Devenski, Sean Doolittle, Joe Espada, Jose Fermin, Daxton Fulton.  I'm certain that I am out of Dernier cards at this point.  It was funny Max got Corona for me; I just got him myself while seeing Sugar Land last week.

I finally got my old Greensboro team set card back signed by Joe Espada.  That was a cool team set to pick up for $5.  Well worth it to have something for Espada to sign.  I was also glad to add a Jose Ferrer card to the album ince I saw him past year but had none of his cards on me at the time.

This group is Ryan Flaherty, Ben Gamel, Stone Garrett, Luis Guillorme, Ricky Gutierrez, Jon Jay.  I did a search and I didn't see that I had any Flaherty signed cards until this moment.  I'm glad I finally found these.  I think Max asked me for Flaherty stuff early last year and it took me forever to find when I had mine sitting.  My Ben Gamel Bulls team set card finally got done, as well.  I was afraid that one wouldn't get done. 

I found several more Luis Guillorme to take with me to the Durham game while Sugar Land was there but Guillorme wouldn't stop and sign for us.  He was in a hurry to catch their flight.

These are Chris Johnson, Reed Johnson, Matt LeCroy, Bill Madlock, Brice Matthews, CHas McCormick, Victor Mesa, Jr., Noble Meyer.  That 2024 Panini Crusade of Meyer turned out nicely.  I had heard that Chris Johnson was a tough graph but Max got him on several cards, which helped get a good many out of my boxes. 

The next batch is of Brian McRae, Jake Meyers, Drew Millas, Rodery Munoz, Connor Norby, Glenn Otto.  That Diamond King Otto is pretty cool.  I didn't even know I owned that card before.  Max really helped to get some older team set cards signed.  That's great because they just end up sitting in a box unsigned otherwise. 

Daniel Palencia, Mitchell Parker, Nate Pearson, Konnor Pilkington, Cal Quantrill, Ethan Roberts, Drew Rom are in this next group.  I love the 2019 Topps Holiday Cal Quantrill.  Those are fun cards to add to the album.  I finally have Drew Rom, a former Oriole farm hand who is in the majors with St. Louis.

Here are Jackson Rutledge, Jon Singleton, Mike Soroka, Geovany Soto, Caleb Theilbar, James Triantos.  Thay 2010 Topps Pro Debut says Kyle Heckathorn on the card but it is actually Caleb Thielbar pictured.  That was a cool novelty card to get done.

These are Keegan Thompson, Luis Vazquez. Christian Walker, Donovan Walton, Ryan Weathers, Forrest Whitley.  Another 2019 Midwest League All Star Card got done.  Im down to just a handful of these.  I couldn't believe I didn't have the 2015 Topps Chrome Christian Walker in the album yet.  He's really gone on to have a good career.

The Jacob Young above is a really cool card.  I didn't know I sent that one also or maybe Max gifted it to me because he's such a great guy. I was also surprised I had and Jordan Wicks cards left in the boxes to send out.

These are 2024 Topps Heritage minis of Rilety Adams, Jose Ferrer and Dane Myers.  I loved last year's Heritage.  Hopefully this year's using the 1976 design looks good as well.

These horizontal cards of Ron Coomer, Stone Garrett, Reed Johnson, Konnor Pilkington, Cesar Salazar, Jesus Tinoco mixed upky alphabetization of the signatures, but that's ok.  They all look great.

Max also helped with several generic cards by getting Paul Bako, Anthony Bender, Declan Cronin, Joe Espada and Calvin Faucher to sign.

Here are more team cards: Colton Gordon, Ronny Henriquez, Ryan Ignoffo, Bryan Lavastida, Andrey Lara, Jon Lieber, Riley O'Brien, Javier Sanoja.

Finally Eric Wagaman and Carlos Zambrano signed a bunch of these. 

Again, thanks so much for taking the cards from me and getting some signed, Max.  I always appreciate it, even though it seems like it takes me forever to scan and upload them.  Here's to another season of graphing!

Another TTM Success From Dick Woodson

Here is a signed 1974 Topps that came back signed TTM from Dick Woodson.  I believe I got the card from my buddy Ryan.  The card turned out nicely.

I originally ogt Woodson TTM back in 2021.  I was glad to add this 74 to the album. 

I mailed to Woodson on January 6 and got the card back on January 22 for a 16-day TAT.