TTM Success - Jimmy Nelson

Some mid-2010s cards were added to the autograph album when I got this TTM success from Jimmy Nelson.  The above 2015 Topps turned out great.  This was a great-looking set and I'm glad that I've gotten quite a few of them signed over the years. 

Another great looking set was 2016 Topps.  There are a lot of collectors who I know that love this set.  There were some pretty strong sets in the back half of the decade.

Nelson (b. 1989) played in the majors from 2013 to 2017, 2019 and 2021 for the Brewes and Dodgers.  He had a record of 34-48 with 622 strike outs and a 4.12 ERA.  He finished 9th in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2017.

I mailed to Nelson on March 7 and got the cards back on March 18 for an 11-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Juan Marichal

My blaster boxes of 2021 Panini Prizm came in back in February and ai pulled this sweet Juan Marichal orange shimmer parallel.  I hadn't sent to him in a while, so I sent the card out to get it signed. It turned out great!

Marichal is a great signer for a cheap price, and I have gotten him several times.  I mailed to him on March 3 and got the card back on March 14 for an 11-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $20.00.

TTM Success - Mark Hutton

This TTM success from Mark Hutton was a cool one that came in from Australia.  I saw that Hutton was signing, so i sent this 1994 Topps.  Two 1994 Topps were added to the autograph album in one week.  A set that hadn't seen much action recently has popped up a good bit lately.

Hutton (b. 1970) played in the majors in 1993, 1994 and 1996 to 1998 for the Yankees, Marlins, Rockies and Reds.  He had a record of 9-7 with 111 strike outs and a 4.75 ERA.  Poor guy was traded away from the 1996 Yankees and 1997 Marlins mid-season both seasons; both teams went on to win the World Series. 

I mailed to Hutton on November 23 and got the card back on March 10 for a 107-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ritchie Moody

A couple cards from 1993 got added to the autograph album when I got this TTM success back from Ritchie Moody.  I always liked these 1993 Topps Draft Pick cards.  The most famous one is the Jeter rookie, of course. 

I also had this 1993 Bowman of Moody, so i sent it out as well.

Moody (b. 1971) was a 2nd round pick by the Rangers in the 1992 June Amateur Draft out of Oklahoma State. He played in the Rangers systems from 1992 to 1997, reaching AAA.  Je had a record of 6-16 with 219 strike outs and a 3.91 ERA.

I mailed to Moody on December 27 and got the cards back on March 8 for a 71-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Wade Boggs

When I opened the silver packs from my 2025 Topps jumbo box, I pulled this awesome chrome 1990 Topps Wade Boggs.  I never considered how a 1990 Topps would look when chromed-out and I have to say, they look awesome.  I pulled the card and knew I had to get it signed by Boggs.  I sent it TTM along with the 1994 Topps below, and am really happy with the results. 

The 1994 Topps was in a box of stuff that I'd like to see get into the autograph album, so I included it in the request.  Most of my bulk 1994 Topps were ruined by the over-gloss, so there aren't as many in the album as other years.  There is some great photography in that set, so i want to add more to the album. 

I mailed to Boggs on February 15 and got the cards back on March 6 for a 19-day TAT. I paid his fee of $10/card.

Another TTM Success From Ed Hearn

The above 1989 Triple A All Star Game card of Ed Hearn drove me to send to him TTM again so this card could live in my autograph album. The request was another success and the card can now be stored away among the rest of my autographs.

I decided to thin out some of the 80s boxes and sent the above 1987 Donruss, 1988 Score and 1989 Donruss to Hearn as well.  All four cards I sent turned out great.  I also have just a little bit more room in that 80s box.

I mailed to Hearn on December 18 and got the cards back on March 3 for a 75-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tyler Phillips

My next Spring Training TTM success to come in was this signed 2025 Topps from former Wood Duck, Tyler Phillips.

Phillips (b. 1997) has played in the majors since last season for the Phillies and Marlins.  He currently has a career record of 5-1 with 48 strike outs and a 5.63 ERA.

He was a Wood Duck in 2018 and 2019.  I really thought he was there at the end of the 2017 season, but it must have been 2018.

I mailed to Phillips via Phillies Spring Training on February 14 and got the card back on March 3 for a 17-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From JJ Hardy

A very exciting TTM success came in from Spring Training when this 2013 Topps wrapper redemption JJ Hardy came back signed. Hardy was a guest instructor at Orioles camp in February, and I took a shot at trying to get him TTM. I'm so glad I got this back signed.

I had gotten Hardy via a private signing before, but this was a straight-up TTM request.  I didnt get the other Orioles guest instructors, but I did try.  I missed sending to Brian Roberts, but did send to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis.  I saw some other folks had gotten Jones, but I wasn't one of them.  I'll take the Hardy, though!

I mailed to Orioles Spring Training on February 18 and got the card back on March 3 for a 13-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Richard Bleier

My friend Cam did another private signing a few months ago, this time with former Oriole, Richard Bleier.  I had gotten him a few times, but I still wanted to support the signing.  I sent along the above 2023 Topps Update, which turned out great.

I also upgraded my 2018 Topps Heritage.  The one I had was signed in black, so this will replace that.

I mailed to the signing on December 30 and got the cards back on March 1 for a 61-day TAT.  I forgot what I paid for this signing.

Another TTM Success From Mike Bielecki

The above 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders card of Mike Bielecki drove me to send another TTM request to him.  I don't believe I had any of these in the autograph album, so i wanted to add one.  It is a good looking card, and I'm glad I had found it in a random box.

I went ahead and cleared out four other cards from the boxes; a 1988 Donruss, 1990 Donruss, 1991 Bowman and 1991 Donruss.  I remember my older brother though Don Russ was a person.  Kind of like Jon Blonde Jovi or Arrow Smith.  Anyway, it was nice to add these to the album.  Oh, what about Curvy Puckett?  I think there are a few more.  I'll have to try to remember them.

I mailed to Bielecki on January 29 and got the cards back on February 28 for a 30-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Bradley Blalock

My first Spring Training TTM success of the year came in from Bradley Blalock back in February. This was also the first 2025 Topps that I got in, which was also nice.  Since this one came in, and bunch more signed 2025 Topps have been put into the autograph album. 

Blalock (b. 2000) is not related to P. A. as far as I know.  He has played in the majors for the Brewers and Rockies since last season.  He has a career record of 1-5 with 28 strike outs and an 8.29 ERA.

I mailed to Blalock via Rockies camp on February 14 and got the card back on February 27 for a 13-day TAT. 

June 3-8, 2025, Graphing of the Capitales at Bird Dawgs

Another Canadian team came into Kinston and left sweeping the Bird Dawgs. A 6-game series sweep was rough, but we enjoyed the games.  The weather was rough as well.  Still, I got some graphing done on some cool team set cards I picked up from gosportscards.com. The above Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis was the exception; a card picked up off of Ebay and shipped from Australia.  It's a really cool card, and Brodie was really nice.

Of course, the Cole Roland Wake Forest card was another ebay pickup (sorry, I forgot).  He was also really nice.  The team set cards are all a lot of fun to get signed.  A lot of the players are happy to see them, which makes it even better.

Finally, cards of Bird Dawgs coach, TJ White came in.  Thr above Cedar Rapids Kernels card looks really sharp with his signature. 

I also got several of his Chattanooga Lookouts and one of White's Fort Myers Miracle cards.

The big highlight of the series was the no hitter thrown by Quebec in the first game of Friday's double header.  Yeah, it was a 7-inning game, but still on record as a no hitter.  I got the pitcher, Braeden Allemann and catchers, Arturo De Freitas to sign my ticket.  I had two extra tickets to the game, which i gave to each of them.  Both were really happy to get them.

I all, I got the following autographs: TJ White x 14, Pier-Olivier Boucher x 3, Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis x 2, Christian Inoa x 10, Cleiverth Perez x 6, Cole Roland x 2, Gilberto Chu x 4 and Arturo De Freitas x 7 and Braeden Allemann x 1 (49 total autographs). 

TTM Success - Tim Spooneybarger

My friend Ryan sent me a bunch of cards to try TTM. One of the successes I got back was from Tim Spooneybarger on some early 2000s cards.  The above 2003 Topps turned out nicely.

The above 2004 Topps also turned out nicely.  I recall a time when I didn't have very many signed 2004s in the album. Now they have caught up with some of the other years in the album.

Spooneybarger (b. 1979) played in the majors from 2001 to 2003 for the Braves and Marlins.  He had a record of 2-3 with 68 strike outs and a 3.24 ERA.

I mailed to Spooneybarger on February 5 and got the cards back on February 26 for a 21-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Nate Dohm

A straggler from my 2024 Bowman Draft TTM submissions came in recently from Nate Dohm.  The card turned out nicely.

Dohm (b. 2003) was a 3rd round pick in the 2024 July Amateur Draft out of Mississippi State.  He played in the Mets system this season, in Low and High A.  He has a record of 3-3 with 51 strike outs and a 2.95 ERA.

I mailed to Dohm on December 19 and got the card back on February 22 for a 65-day TAT.

TTM Success - Joe DeMers

Here are a couple older Bowman cards that I pulled and sent out TTM for signatures.  These Joe DeMers cards turned out nicely.

I enjoy getting some of these cards out of the Bowman box.  It also helps me learn about players that I didn't get to see while graphing.

DeMers (b. 1996) was an 11th round pick by the A's during the 2018 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Washington.

He played in the minors in 2019, 2021 and 2022, all in the A's system. He reached high A.  He had a record of 9-10 with 129 strike outs and a 5.77 ERA.

I mailed to DeMers on February 4 and got the cards back on February 21 for a 17-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Dave Campbell

Completing a card is always nice.  I recently got the above 1969 Topps Tigers Rookie Stars back signed TTM from Les Cain.  I saw that Dave Campbell signed also, so I took the card and sent it along to Campbell right after it came back from Cain.  The card turned out nicely.

I also sent off this 1973 Topps.  He also signed it in ballpoint pen.

Campbell (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1967 to 1974 for the Tigers, Padres, Cardinals and Astros.  He had 267 hits, 12 home runs and a .213 batting average. 

I mailed to Campbell on February 3 and got the cards back on February 21 for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Mike Ford

The box of shame is a box of cards that had been pulled and prepped for graphing, but for whatever reason, the cards weren't signed.  Maybe i didnt get the guy, maybe he did only a couple cards, or maybe he wasnt even there in the first place.  Those cards go in the box and I hope I get another chance to see said player.  Maybe I try them TTM.  The end goal is to get everything I had prepped signed.  Fair enough, right?  Well, Mike Ford is a guy I had gotten in person back when I saw Gwinnett in Durham a couple years ago. Two cards were missed and went in the box.  I saw them recently and remembered that Ford signs TTM, so I figured I'd finish the cards off.  I sent them out and they came back signed in red pen.

Both cards turned out nicely, even though i usually prefer blue.

Ford (b. 1992) played in the majors from 2019 to 2024 for the Yankees, Giants, Mariners, Braves, Angels and Reds.  He had 141 hits, 37 home runs and a .205 batting average. 

I mailed to Ford on September 18 and got the cards back on February 21 for a 156-day TAT.

TTM Success - Russell Branyan

When Insaw that Russell Branyan was signing TTM, I got excited and found some cards to send out.  I found the above 2007 Topps Update, and 2008 Topps Update (below left) and a 2010 Topps (below right).

I was glad to get these cards out of the box and into the autograph album. Branyan's signature is pretty swirly.

Branyan (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1998 to 2011 for the Indians, Reds, Brewers, Devil Rays, Padres, Phillies, Cardinals, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Angels.  He had 682 hits, 194 home runs and a .232 batting average. 

I mailed to Branyan on February 3 and got the cards back on February 18 for a 15-day TAT. 

TTM Success - William Susdorf

Here is another card that my friend Ryan hooked me up with to try to send out TTM.  This 2004 Bowman Draft Chrome of William Susdorf is a nice card.  Too bad he signed it in pen.

Susdorf (b. 1983) was a 6th round pick in the 2004 June Amateur Draft out of UCLA.  He played in the minors from 2004 to 2006 in the Rangers and Padres systems, reaching High A.  He had 149 hits, 10 home runs and a .254 batting average. 

I mailed to Susdorf on January 28 and got the card back on February 18 for a 21-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Carol Burnett

This was an interesting TTM success.  I had the above 1992 Triple Play "Autographs" card put aside for a while.  I finally decided to send it out for someone to sign TTM.  Carol Burnett was my target, and the card turned out nicely.

I had to send out a 1987 Topps checklist, since this was a celebrity autograph request.  I like going back and looking at those album pages of celebrities I've gotten on these checklists.  I needed to do something with them, otherwise they'd just be sitting in a box.

Burnett also signed an index card for me, and it looks great.

Burnett (b. 1933) has won seven Golden Globe Awards, seven Primerime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, two Peabody Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Her accolades are many, and a lot to list.  I'll say that she was in one of my favorite movies you probably have never heard of, "Noises Off."  It's such an underrated movie.

I mailed to Burnett on January 25 and got the cards back on February 18 for a 24-day TAT.

TTM Success - Rick Gottormson

Here is a 2000 Bowman Chrome that I rescued from one of the former LCS boxes.  This 2000 Bowman Chrome of Rick Guttormson came back signed TTM, and looks great.

Guttormson (b. 1977) was a 22nd round pick in the 1997 July Amateur Draft out of Edmonds College in Washington. He played in the minors from 1997 to 2001 and 2004 in the Padres and Mariners systems.  He had a record of 42-43 with 475 strike outs and a 3.84 ERA.

I mailed to Guttormson on January 24 and got the card back on February 18 for a 25-day TAT. 

May 26, 2025, Graphing of the Redbirds at Bulls

Durham has become one of my favorite places to graph.  I typically do well there, and this time I graphed for the first time with my good friend Gerard.  I also had messaged my buddy Aidan on Onstagram that I was doing arrival in Durham, looked up, and Aidan was there.  He and I had the same plans.  He was able to meet Gerard and Mike as well, and it seems they hit it off.  Aidan is a great guy.

A highlight of the trip was getting this 2024 Bowman Chrome gold refractor of Tre Morgan signed.

I freed some cards from the Box Of Shame with some guys on Memphis.  My Nick Anderson cards were left over from last year's trips to Norfolk.  I also got some Rob Kaminsky cards that I had been holding into for a while. The yellow 2015 Bowman was a great hit.  I also got a green parallel from 2024 Topps Heritage High Number of Alex Fernandez signed.

Drew Rom was really great.  He got us on the board on arrival, and signed for me a second time pregame on two cards that I missed.  Thomas Saggese was happy to see Chris and I.  He hadn't seen Chris in a few years.  Saggese usually personalizes, but didn't for us. Apparently, that was a surprise to some other graphers.

Joe Boyle made a new friend in Gerard's brother, Mike.  Boyle really isn't too friendly to graphers, and it showed when Mike revealed his page of Boyle cards "ugh, you have too many. I'm only going to sign one..." "OK, that's fine, can you sign the yellow one?" "No." Gerard told me later in the week that Boyle did sign for him again, and was friendlier.

The main reason Chris came along was so that he could see Mason Englert in person again.  We missed him when we were in Columbus seeing Toledo last season.  He is now in the Rays system, and it was awesome seeing him again. 

Ha-Seong Kim was in Durham on a rehab assignment.  I didnt have any cards pulled for him, but two boys that were there gave me one of their extra cards after I gave them a few guys they didn't have.  It worked out doubly for me in that I got Kim and got rid of some cards that would have gone back in the boxes.

I cleared a few Andrew Stevenson cards out of the boxes, which helped clear a little room.  I also got a couple Durham team set cards taken care of.  I also got a couple Cole Wilcox cards that have been in my Durham box since last season signed.

Carson Williams was the last guy that we got.  I had made the decision to head out after getting a few autos post game, and the rain had returned.  I got Chris, turned around to say goodbye to Gerard and Mike, and saw them getting ready to get Williams.  Chris and I grabbed our books and knocked out two cards. 

One of the nicest guys we saw on this trip was another rehab assignment guy, Kevin Kelly.  I love this 2023 Topps Heritage.

We had a great time graphing with Aidan, Gerard and Mike.

In all, I got the following autographs: Nick Anderson x 2, Luken Baker x 2, Ian Bedell x 2, Howie Clark x 2, Jimmy Crooks x 2, Jose Fermin x 1, Ryan Fernandez x 2, Rob Kaminsky x 4, Michael McGreevy x 3, Cesar Prieto x 13, Drew Rom x 4, Thomas Saggese x 2, Mike Siani x 4, Andy Yerzy x 1, Zack Weiss x 1, Joe Boyle x 2, Mason Englert x 5, Brock Jones x 4, Dominic Keegan x 2, Kevin Kelly x 3, Ha-Seong Kim x 1, Tyler Ladendorf x 1, Tre Morgan x 2, Tanner Murray x 2, Pat Phelan x 1, Andrew Stevenson x 6, Jacob Wagiespack x 1, Cole Wilcox x 2, Carson Williams x 2 and Aidan Warnock x 1 (81 total autographs).