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)