foul bunt

Trade With Eutaw Street Cardboard

2012-01-28T17:11:00.002-05:00

I completed a trade with Kirk over at Eutaw Street Cardboard when I tried to help him knock an Oriole off of his needs list of autographs. I traded him a card that, originally, I really liked, but over time, I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. I'm talking about my Sweet Spot Classic Luis Aparicio Autograph. Upper Deck really crapped the bed with those, issuing cards that would ultimate fade and become unbearable to look at. I have a Wade Boggs/Cal Ripken dual auto from that set that is fading just the same and it really makes me mad because that was an amazing card, when I got it...

I sent Kirk a scan of the card and told him I didn't want to fleece him over it, but he agreed to send me this card in exchange for it:

A 2009 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor Nolan Reimold Autograph. I really appreciated this card! I have two of Nolan's base autos from 2009 Topps Chrome, but I didn't have this one. I will definitely have to get more of his parallels from this set. My Nolan Reimold PC is really taking shape. I'm going to concentrate on him more seriously this year since Roberts is likely to be out this season.

Thanks for the trade Kirk. I really appreciate you doing the deal and I hope to trade with you again in the future.

Speaking of trades, I have added a bunch of stuff to my for trade page. I really want to flip a lot of stuff for new Orioles cards and inserts. If you see anything on there, please feel free to email me!

Orioles Fan Fest - Final Thoughts and Free Stuff

2012-01-27T17:25:00.000-05:00

I am just about ready to wrap up my Orioles Fan Fest posts and thought I would now take the time to talk about another signed ball I picked up, that of former Negro Leaguer - Jim Bland.

I have been unable to dig up much information on Mr. Bland. The Indianapolis Clowns continued to barnstorm long after the final Negro League season of 1951. They later became known as more of a novelty or comedy act, kind of like Baseball's version of the Harlem Globetrotters. The Clowns were the team that Hank Aaron played for before he was picked up by the Braves.

One of the really cool features of Fan Fest was the Giveaways room. You can go through a line there and pick up some leftover promotional items from past seasons. When we got through the line, they were giving away Brian Matusz bobbleheads. Chris, Ryan and I each picked up one. My bobblehead collection has really grown over the last 2 weeks. Good thing I have a nice place to put them!

Well, that just about wraps her up. I had a really great time at Fan Fest and it was something nice that my son and I could do together. I hope to make it an annual tradition with him... that is until he discovers girls and then his dad will become less cool... Until then, I think we are going to try to get back there each year!

Thanks for reading all of my posts. I will start catching up on mail and trades tomorrow!

Orioles Fan Fest - Final Autograph Station

2012-01-26T17:50:00.001-05:00

We immediately went from our previous autograph station to our next one, the 4:40 meeting with Robert Andino, Nick Markakis and Brady Anderson after hitting the restroom and meeting up with Ryan, of course. Ryan was in this line with us, so it made the wait so much more enjoyable having someone to chat with.

The first player in line was Robert Andino. I have gained so much respect for Andino following this season, firstly because he was always so awesome whenever I met him (this was the third time I have met him in person) and he is always really nice to my son. He signed the above baseball for me and the below post card for Chris.

Chris slapped five with Andino, knocking his hand onto the table. Ryan and I both told Chris "Don't HURT him!" Andino laughed and signed our stuff.

After Andino was a current Oriole whose autograph I have been coveting for a long time, Nick Markakis. I got Markakis to sign an OMLB ball (Selig) on the sweet spot. I have several of the Orioles' First Round Draft Picks: Roberts (supplemental round), Markakis, Brandon Snyder, Billy Rowell (should have been Tim Lincecum), Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Matt Hobgood and Manny Machado.

Nick was really quiet, but he did say hello to Chris. He had abdominal surgery a couple weeks ago, so I'm sure he is still recovering from that.

As much as I would love to say that Markakis was the highlight of this session, the reason I paid $40 for the voucher (they were all sold out, so I had to buy one off of Ebay) was so I could meet one of my childhood favorites, Brady Anderson. I had Brady sign another OMLB (Selig) ball that I picked up before the show.

Brady also signed this post card for Chris. Brady is remembered for his improbable run in the 1996 season where he hit 50 home runs. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on how Brady achieved that number, especially since he didn't get close to 50 before or after that season. Your opinion is fine, but in my mind, I point to Roger Maris (39 homers in 1960, 61 homers in 1961 and 33 homers in 1962) and Davey Johnson (43 homers in 1973 and didn't hit more than 18 in any other season) among others... Sometimes players have a great season. Let me enjoy it.

This autograph session was definitely worth the $40.00. I'm really glad I got all of these guys' autographs, for sure.

Stay tuned for my final Fan Fest Post on the miscellaneous stuff we got including a Negro Leaguer's signature and a Brian Matusz Bobblehead...

Orioles Fan Fest - Autograph Station 2

2012-01-25T19:21:00.000-05:00

After our meeting with Mrs. Reimold, Ryan, Chris and I wandered around Fan Fest for a while until the next autograph session that we had passes for - the 3:20 session. Ryan and I were set to go to different stations, so Chris and I had to wait in line without someone to chat with.

This session consisted of Orioles pitching prospect Oliver Drake, current Orioles pitchers Dana Eveland and Tommy Hunter and Hall of Famer and the Orioles' greatest pitcher of all time, Jim Palmer.

Meeting Palmer was one of my primary goals on this trip, so I was really excited about this station.

I got a baseball signed by Oliver Drake, but I traded it to him for the above ball signed by Joe Mahoney. I met Mahoney in 2010 at a Bowie game. He had stitches in his lip and when I asked him where they came from, he toldme he got them from sliding hard into a second baseman while trying to break up a double play. True definition of a 'gamer.' Mahoney is one of the Orioles' few position prospects in the upper levels of the minors. I think he has a good chance of being called up to the majors this season.

We got this signed post card from one of the newest Orioles, Dana Eveland. He seemed like a really nice guy. He took the time to compliment me on my replica 1938 Orioles jersey. He said it looked awesome but probably wouldn't be much fun to play in. Seeing as it is a wool jersey, he is right.

I was also glad to meet Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter at this station. He seems like a pretty colorful character, especially since he made sure everyone knew that he had just created a Twitter account (@TommyGoesBoom). When I got to him, I told him the he should follow me (@FoulbuntWilliam). I'm still waiting on him to follow me.

Finally, I got the chance to meet Hall of Famer Jim Palmer. I had him sign my Bobby Brown OAL baseball that I picked up for $10 at a recent card show. Definitely a good player to get on this ball. I wanted to say a few words to Palmer, but he and Tommy Hunter were bantering back and forth. That was a lot more entertaining than anything I could have squeaked out. Seeing as I was pretty star struck and all...

Jim Palmer is now the third Hall of Famer that I have met in person (the others being Brooks Robinson and Bert Blyleven). I already had him on a baseball; a gift that my former boss gave me for Christmas way back in 1999. I will put this one with my other Hall of Famers and the other Palmer ball will be put away for safekeeping.

Stay tuned for my next Orioles Fan Fest post, the final autograph station.

Orioles Fan Fest - More Nolan Reimold Memorabilia

2012-01-24T18:06:00.001-05:00

After we finished up at Autograph Station 1, Ryan, Chris and I headed upstairs in the convention center to check out the memorabilia room. Before we could get too far, I realized that I had a message on my phone. I checked and it was a message from Nolan Reimold's wife, Jenny. I had let her know that we would be at Fan Fest and wanted to be able to say hello if she and Nolan were able. She was kind enough to let me know where she was at, so we made a beeline to that area.

Unfortunately, when we got there, Nolan was busy, but it was really awesome to meet Mrs. Reimold in person. We also met Ryan Adams' girlfriend. They both remarked about my replica 1938 Orioles jersey and Jenny handed me a nice surprise...

More batting gloves!! It was really cool, since we were meeting her next to the forum stage. On the big screen there, they were showing the ground rule double that Nolan hit to tie the final game of the season against the Red Sox. Ryan said "Hey, look, your batting gloves are on TV!" That was really cool, then to be able to get more of them was even better. According to Mrs. Reimold, these gloves were also worn in that game. I guess Nolan uses more than one pair of gloves in a game, which makes sense. These are signed with a thinner sharpie than the other pair. I have these put away in my safe while the other pair is on display in my man cave (attached to my awesomely made glove stands). We parted ways with Mrs. Reimold and worked our way back upstairs to the memorabilia room. Mrs. Reimold reads this blog, so I would like to thank her again for her generosity. It can't believe how lucky I am due to this blog. It definitely is luck and I hope she and Nolan know how much I appreciate this!

In the memorabilia room, you can buy game used merchandise at some ridiculously cheap prices. I wish I had more cash on me because there was a bunch of stuff that I would have liked to have taken home like a game used jersey, a lineup card or a cracked bat.

I did pick up this game used baseball. This ball was a foul ball from the June 30, 2011 game between the Orioles and Cardinals. The ball was hit foul by Nolan Reimold off of Cardinals' pitcher Jaime Garcia. Reimold hit a home run in that game, by the way... I got the ball for $20; had I waited til the end of the show, I would have gotten one for $10 but there was no guarantee that this one from Nolan would still be available. I do know that if I go next year, I will be bringing enough money to buy a lineup card. I know one will look good on the wall in the man cave...

Next up for my Fan Fest recap will be our second autograph station and meeting a Hall of Famer in person... Stay tuned!

Orioles Fan Fest - First Autograph Station

2012-01-23T18:01:00.000-05:00

Our first autograph voucher was for the 11:20 signing that featured Brian Matusz, Alfredo Simon, Ryan Adams and Jason Berken. Brian Roberts was supposed to be in this group, but he bowed out due to the lingering effects of the concussion he suffered in 2010 and re-aggravated last season. It definitely is a shame he couldn't make it, but as someone whose family member suffered a sports related concussion, they are difficult to overcome and very easy to re-aggravate. My brother suffered one in college in 2003 from Shawne Merriman (yes, THAT Shawne Merriman), and he still hasn't slept right since. Anyway, on to our autographs:

I got another ball signed by Brian Matusz. He was really nice, speaking to both Chris and I. He let Chris come behind the table and take a picture with him. I really appreciated it. I really hope Matusz's time with Brady Anderson this offseason has helped him come into spring training in much better shape than last year and he makes it very hard for Buck and Co. to send him to AAA Norfolk to start the year...

Is it just me, or does this Topps Heritage Rookie Card look great signed? Alfredo Simon didn't say a whole lot to us as he signed our card, but it was still great to meet him and say hello. I think he is vastly underrated and has done everything asked of him by the Orioles. He has started, closed, pitched in relief, etc. I hope last offseason's difficulties have been put behind him for good.

Jason Berken was very nice to Chris and I also, and he also let Chris take a picture with him. He was solid out of the bullpen in the 2010 season but took a couple steps back in 2011. He ended up with a strained arm that limited his time late in the season. He is a candidate to pitch out of the bullpen in the 2012 season.

Ryan Adams worked his way up to the majors last season after having a solid campaign in the minors. He is a candidate to start at second base if Roberts isn't ready to go when the season starts. If Roberts is healthy, look for Adams to be a reserve player on the bench.

We had a good time getting autographs from these guys and had two stations to go for the rest of the day, but the next session was about 3 hours from when we got out of line, so my next post will discuss my meeting with a friend of the blog during the break... Stay tuned!!!

Orioles Fan Fest Thoughts and Photos

2012-01-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

Over the course of the next few blog posts, I will be showing off all of the stuff my son and I picked up at the Orioles Fan Fest on January 21, 2012.

Before I do that, I would definitely like to thank Ryan from "O No Another Orioles Blog" for letting my son Chris and I tag along with him to Fan Fest. I wouldn't have gone had he not offered to accompany us and it really made the experience that much more enjoyable. If you haven't checked out and followed Ryan's blog yet, you really should!

My son Christopher and I at the end of Fan Fest. Take note that Chris is wearing my younger brother Adam's little league Orioles Jersey from around 20 years ago...

Here are Chris and Orioles pitcher Jason Berken. Berken signed a 'before they were stars' card for Chris and also gave him a signed post card.

Chris with Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz. Matusz asked Chris who is favorite Orioles were and Chris' answer was: "Brian Roberts and Tim Lincecum." When I told Chris that Lincecum wasn't an Oriole, Matusz told him "That's ok, he is still pretty good."

Chris is getting a baseball signed by former Negro Leaguer Jimmy Bland. He was really nice. He asked Chris if he could keep the ball and of course Chris told him no.

Chris is now telling Chris Davis that they have the same name. My son is 6 and still doesn't mind 'mining for gold' in public, so he turns around with his finger in his nose and I quietly whisper to him "Chris, quit picking your nose..." to which Davis responds "Oh, I didn't think anyone saw that... oh you meant your son, sorry." Was pretty funny, for sure.

We got to meet Jim Palmer in person, which was one of the big highlights of the event. I would love to say that I had a conversation with him, but I was too nervous to get a coherent sentence out and Tommy Hunter (seated beside Palmer) was busy telling Palmer about the virtues of his new Twitter account (follow him @TommyGoesBoom).

Chris had met Robert Andino back when we visited Durham Bulls Athletic Park for a game between the Durham Bulls and the Norfolk Tides. He is seen here telling Andino "What's up!" which is a message Andino gave me to tell Chris when I talked to him in Norfolk a few months after our initial meeting. Andino might be the most misunderstood Orioles player right now, but he has quickly become one of my favorites. I think, given increased playing time, he will have a pretty solid career.

Another player that I was really excited to meet was Nick Markakis. He was probably the most prominent current Orioles who I hadn't had a signed baseball of. I got that taken care of at Fan Fest!

Speaking of Orioles autographs that I have been looking for, I finally got the chance to meet one of my childhood heroes, Brady Anderson. I have been wanting an Anderson signed baseball for a long time and finally got it.

Here is most of the stuff Chris brought home from Fan Fest. I'll have to work with him on taking care of all of it. Some of the stuff he had signed, he gave to me (without me asking him for it by the way). One of the signed post cards we got went to Ryan for letting us stay with him and to help him with his Orioles autograph project.

Here is what I consider my haul from Fan Fest. A few of the post cards and one of the balls were given to me by Chris. He will probably get some of them back over time once he can show that he knows how to take care of all of them. If you study the picture closely, you'll see two items that look familiar, but are different from what you might be thinking...

That being said, piece by piece (sort of), I will be posting all of the balls, etc, that I brought home. I have enough stuff to keep me busy on this humble blog for some time to come, haha. Also, having said that, I have a trade post with Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard that I will squeeze in somewhere along the way as well as any TTMs that come in...

So, you guys (hopefully) have a lot to look forward to on here. I hope you all enjoy.

Completing the Trade With Dodgerbobble

2012-01-21T16:30:00.000-05:00

I did get some cards from Dodgerbobble in the trade for my Sutter ball. One was this 1997 Upper Deck Amazing Greats. This card is, well, amazing. I like that it looks like it is made out of wood. The diamond photo of Cal is a clear acetate which was picked up beautifully on my scan.

Here is the back of the card which is super glossy. It looks really nice, as well.

I also got this 2010 Topps Chrome X Fractor of Brian Roberts. I can never tell the difference between Superfractor and X Fractor. I'm pretty certain this is the X Fractor. If I'm wrong, someone please help me out. I didn't have this though, so it was a nice addition to my Roberts PC.

I commend Dodgerbobble on having 2 cards for my player collections that I didn't already have. This is becoming a rare thing since I have so many Roberts and Ripken cards now. Very refreshing to see some new ones being added, for sure!

Trade With Dodgerbobble - Cal Ripken Bobblehead

2012-01-20T18:00:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post a link to Dodgerbobble yesterday when I did my Adam Jones post, so head on over and check his page out. Especially if you like the Dodgers!

I remember when these Cal Ripken bobbleheads came out because I really wanted one, but never picked one up. This bobblehead commemorates Cal's series clinching catch in the 1983 World Series.

The bobblehead looks great. It is highly detailed and looks awesome in my other china cabinet.

I might have to look for a few of the other Orioles bobbleheads now that I added this and the Jones to my collection. Might have to keep my eyes out for another Reimold one too!

Trade With Dodgerbobble - Adam Jones Bobblehead

2012-01-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

I completed a trade with Josh from Dodgerbobble when I sent him my extra Bruce Sutter signed baseball in exchange for a couple cards and two bobbleheads.

The first bobblehead is this Adam Jones. He is blowing a bubble with his gum while catching a ball. That is kind of Jones' trademark. He won a Gold Glove in 2009 (which, I think, is the year this bobblehead was issued).

I really hope that the Orioles lock Jones up long-term, because, if not, he definitely will be gone once he hits free agency.

Thoughts on 1986 Donruss Highlights

2012-01-18T18:49:00.000-05:00

I didn't get any mail today, so I thought I would put down some thoughts on an old box of cards I found in my collection.

I have had this box of 1986 Donruss Highlights for around 20 years. I remember when I got it, it was worth quite a bit due to the Jose Canseco and Roger Clemens cards included. Heh. Little did we know...

Yes, when I bought it, I paid $14.00. Probably worth around $5.00 now. Oh well.

The first thing you see when you open the box is this Hank Aaron puzzle. It is really cool, I think.

Something really cool in this set is that they showed the players who were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. I think this is something that should be featured each year. Above is one of the best TTM signers around, Bobby Doerr.

Here is another '86 inductee, Ernie Lombardi. I wrote a post last year on Lombardi. You can check it out here.

The last Hall of Famer featured is Willie McCovey. I need to get more McCovey stuff.

Bo Knows

So, I really like the design of the cards. There are a bunch of good players in the set. The set is 55 cards featuring highlights of the 1986 season. From record setting performances to individual milestones to players of the month for AL and NL for each month of the 1986 season. Not too bad.

TTM Success - Les Mueller

2012-01-17T17:55:00.000-05:00

Today, I received a TTM success from another member of the 1945 World Champion Tigers, Les Mueller.

I mailed to Mr. Mueller on January 7, 2012 and received the ball back today, January 17, 2012, making him a 10-day TAT. Mueller signed my ball for free. I had included questions (much like I did with Milt Welch), but didn't get any answers back. One look at the signature can tell you that Mr. Mueller is well up there in age (he is 92).

Les Mueller (b. 1919) played for two seasons in the majors (1941 and 1945) for the Tigers. He had a career record of 6-8 with a 3.78 ERA and 50 strikeouts. He pitched two scoreless innings in the 1945 World Series. Mueller also, according to his Wikipedia page, pitched in 19 2/3 innings in a single game and left having given up only one run. Let's see one of today's pitchers top that...

Mueller is my 44th TTM success and is the 4th living member out of 5 from the 1945 Tigers that I have gotten TTM. The last one I need is Ed Mierkowicz.

Cal Ripken TTM Success

2012-01-16T17:51:00.001-05:00

Wait. before you get excited, this TTM success is over 20 years old. I don't think it is nearly as easy to get him TTM these days.

I mailed to Cal back when I was 10 or 11, so probably around 1991 or so.. I got this signed postcard in return and I remember thinking it was really cool that I could get an autograph through the mail. Who would have thought that 20+ years later that I would be this involved in TTMs and autographs.

I really like the post card itself. I mean, look how young Cal was! He had HAIR!

The reason you guys haven't seen this autograph yet is because I had it buried in my foot locker and dug it out yesterday.

Growing up, Cal was my favorite player. He still is, of course, but I have added a few other players to the list.

Mickey Mantle's Obituary

2012-01-15T10:24:00.000-05:00

I woke up early this morning and decided to do a little bit of cleaning in the Man Cave. In one of the closets, I have my old foot locker that my grandfather gave me for Christmas back when I was 8 or 9 or so. It is actually one of the Christmas presents from my childhood that I distinctly remember and probably have gotten the most use of. I use my foot locker (which, after 20+ years, is a bit of disrepair) to store old magazines, newspapers, comic books, starting lineup figures, a Cal Ripken Wheaties box, etc. You get the idea.

Well, while going through the foot locker this morning, I found a Mickey Mantle Legends magazine. When flipping through the magazine, a folded-up newspaper article fell out. I unfolded the article to find the obituary for Mantle that was printed in the Winston-Salem Journal upon his death in August 1995.

I know it is kind of morbid, but it is baseball history and I wanted to share with you something I put away in 1995 and stored for all these years.

Also, I apologize for the scans, as newspaper articles are kind of hard to fit onto my scanner and are even harder to read, once they've been scanned. I hope you are able to read the whole article. You should be able to click on the pictures to read them better, I think.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Trading With Scott

2012-01-14T17:54:00.000-05:00

I completed a trade this past week with a guy I met at the last card show named Scott. We have been talking ever since the show about working out a deal. He is a big Red Sox fan, so I went through my stuff and found some cards I thought he would like. Here are some highlights of the package he sent my way:

I already had this 2009 Topps Nolan Reimold RC, but when I saw that he had it and would give it up for some Red Sox base card, I went ahead and claimed it. You can't go wrong with Reimold for me, since he is one of my favorite current players.

Scott read my blog and saw that he had a 2010 Allen and Ginter that I needed. Turns out, it was card #277, Regis Philbin.

He included this sweet Adam Jones relic from Upper Deck Sweet Spot. I think of all of the Upper Deck products, I miss Sweet Spot the most.

Scott figured out pretty quickly that the best way to impress me, is to do something nice for my son. He included a couple Tim Lincecum cards for Chris' collection. I have to check, but I'm pretty sure that Chris didn't have either card. He was really happy to get a couple cards in the mail.

Finally, here is this die cut Nick Markakis from Upper Deck X. I think Upper Deck missed the mark on this set; it kind of looked like, at the time, that it was rushed. Of course, a lot of what Upper Deck did in those final years was questionable, but this is actually a very sharp looking card.

I'm really glad Scott and I were able to come together on a trade. I actually have 2 more trades in the works. I mailed off packages yesterday to Dodgerbobble and Eutaw Street Cardboard, so I'm hoping I have some stuff to post (along with some hopeful TTM requests) this coming week leading up to Fan Fest.

Thanks for the Trade Scott! I hope we can come together on another trade really soon!

TTM Success - Milt Welch

2012-01-13T17:51:00.001-05:00

I decided the other day that I would start a small project with my TTM attempts. I want to try to get signed baseballs from the remaining members of the 1945 World Series Champion Detroit Tigers. Currently, there are 5 living members of the team. I already had 2 of them in Virgil Trucks and Billy Pierce.

So, on January 7, I sent out 3 TTM requests to the other remaining members of the team; today, I got one of them back.

Milt Welch (b. 1924) was a catcher on the 1945 Tigers. He only played in one game that season and during that game, he came to bat only two times. He didn't get a hit in any of those at bats. He wore uniform number 23 during his lone game that season.

When I sent my TTM request to Mr. Welch, I included a note with a couple questions, hoping he would respond. Mr. Welch did respond briefly by writing beside my questions.

Did you save anything from the game you played in? No.

Did you receive a World Series Ring? Yes.

Are you still a baseball fan today, and if so, who do you follow? I watch all games, no favorite anymore. Just a fan of the game - Milt Welch.

I am really happy that Mr. Welch took the time to answer my questions. They were pretty simplistic questions, but I wasn't wanting an essay. I'm happy he took the time to do all of this. I did the same for the other two members of the team that I mailed to, so I hope they also answered theirs.

Welch is my 43rd TTM success. It took six days for me to get my ball back and he signed for free. Also, unlike yesterday's TTM failure, I got my pen back!

TTM Failure - Marvin Miller

2012-01-12T17:48:00.001-05:00

Normally, I write about all of the TTM successes I have, but sometimes, there is a failure or two mixed in. Today, was a failure. I received my mailer back from Marvin Miller, whom I had really wanted to get an autograph of, but inside my mailer was my ball (which was blank) and this note.

Part of me wants to write a note to Mr. Miller, include this note and see about getting the pre-approval for the autograph. Another part of me wants to say heck with it and go after someone else.

I understand what he is getting at with the note and the Ebay comment. I have seen too many times where people abuse the privilege of TTM by sending 4, 5, 6 cards to someone instead of requesting only one autograph for themselves. All the time on sportscard forum there are people who talk about sending 6 cards at a time and complain when only one comes back signed.

Of course, I just did an Ebay search of Miller's autograph... I think he might be more concerned about diminishing the value of HIS autograph; signed and authenticated Marvin Miller baseballs are going anywhere between $150 - $300 on Ebay.

So, that being said, I may send a letter thanking him for his time, that way, I can climb off the bitter bus, because, really, it is his choice who to sign for.

I would have liked my pen back, though.....

TTM Success - Tom Umphlett

2012-01-11T17:29:00.000-05:00

Who? I know you are wondering who Tom Umphlett is. I didn't know who he was until I stumbled upon him on sportscard forum and saw that he lives in Ahoskie, NC.

Ahoskie is a small town in northeast NC where we do a big chunk of our work with my job. One of our clients is based in Ahoskie. I had never heard of the place until I started my job in 2007. Since then, I have been there countless times.

I thought it would be cool if I tried Mr. Umphlett TTM. He was born in 1930 and played for the Red Sox in 1953 and the Senators in 1954 and 1955.

He finished second in the 1953 Rookie of the Year voting to Harvey Kuenn after batting .283 (140 hits in 495 at bats) with 27 doubles, 3 home runs and 59 RBIs.

For whatever reason, Umphlett didn't last in the majors beyond 1955, ultimately retiring after only 3 seasons with 285 hits, 6 home runs and a lifetime average of .246. He managed for several years in the minors after his retirement.

I mailed to Mr. Umphlett on December 29, 2011 and got the ball back today (January 11, 2012), making this a 13-day TAT. Umphlett is my 42nd TTM success.

I'm Going to Fan Fest!

2012-01-10T17:31:00.000-05:00

With a special thanks to Ryan from O No Another Oriole Blog, I will be attending Orioles Fan Fest in Baltimore in two weeks!

I will be taking my son as well. I bought autograph vouchers to meet: Brian Roberts, Jason Berken and Ryan Adams at the 11:20 signing, Oliver Drake, Dana Eveland, Tommy Hunter and JIM PALMER at the 3:20 signing and Brady Anderson, Robert Andino and NICK MARKAKIS at the 4:40 signing.

I'm so excited to meet Anderson, Palmer and Markakis. I really can't wait. I appreciate Ryan wanting to hang out with me again, I guess I didn't annoy him too bad by talking too much at the card show!

Adding to the Virgil Trucks Collection

2012-01-09T20:38:00.000-05:00

The one of one card I alluded to the other day was this Virgil Trucks cut auto from Tristar SignaCuts Bronx Edition.

I'm not the biggest fan of how these cut signatures are done, a lof of which are parts and pieces of other cards. Originally, I had thought it was a crumpled piece of paper that had been signed, but upon further review, he signed his leg...

The card does look good and it is a 1/1, so this is my first 1/1 of Mr. Trucks. I had to add it to the collection and I was able to do so for under $20.

Hall of Fame Baseball - Hoyt Wilhelm

2012-01-08T20:22:00.001-05:00

The third of three baseballs I picked up was this Hoyt Wilhelm signed baseball. It was REALLY cheap on ebay, but was PSA/DNA authenticated. The photo the seller had wasn't the best because it had looked like the signature was faded. I got it yesterday and it looks really good. I was very happy with it.

Hoyt Wilhelm is really cool in my mind in that he was from the area of North Carolina that I spent a lot of time. He was born in Huntersville and went to High School in Cornelius. We lived in that area for about ten years before moving out here to Greenville, NC.

Wilhelm was born in 1922 and died in 2002. He played in the majors from 1952 to 1972 for the Giants, Cardinals, Indians, Orioles, White Sox, Angels, Braves, Cubs and Dodgers. Whew, that's nine teams! He was one of the original high profile relief pitchers, and the first of which to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

Wilhelm is my 62nd Hall of Famer.

Hall of Fame Baseball - Hal Newhouser

2012-01-07T13:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I told you that I bought three Hall of Fame signed baseballs on New Years Eve and two of them arrived in the mail yesterday. The second ball to arrive is this Hal Newhouser signed baseball.

I have been watching Newhouser signatures ever since I read Virgil Trucks' book. Newhouser played on the Tigers with Trucks. They were part of a pretty formidable rotation including also Dizzy Trout, Fred Hutchinson and Stubby Overmire.

Newhouser, born in 1921, played in the majors from 1949 to 1955 for the Tigers and Indians. His numbers from 1939 to 1943 and 1951 to 1955 are mostly pedestrian, but his stretch from 1944 to 1950 was sheer dominance. During that stretch, he won two AL MVP awards (back to back) in 1944 and 1945. He finished second in the MVP voting in 1946. Imagine if he had won, a pitcher winning 3 MVPs back to back to back? That's crazy! Anyway, he did win two back to back and is the only pitcher to do so. Also, during his 1944-1950 stretch, Newhouser won 20 or more games 4 times, leading the AL each year. Newhouser also added a World Series ring to his accolades in 1945.

Hal Newhouser was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1992 with lifetime numbers of 207-150, 1,796 strikeouts and a 3.06 ERA. Newhouser passed away in 1998 at the age of 77. He is my 61st Hall of Famer.

I think I am going to attempt a little side project, in addition to my Hall of Fame signed baseballs. I think I am going to try to get as many signed baseballs from players on the 1945 Tigers as I can. I already have Virgil Trucks, Hal Newhouser and Billy Pierce. I sent out 3 TTM requests this morning to the other 3 living members of that team (there are 5, Trucks and Pierce completing the 5).

Hall of Fame Baseball - Buck Leonard

2012-01-06T17:11:00.001-05:00

I went a little crazy on Ebay the other day. You already saw the Virgil Trucks 1948 Leaf that I picked up. That knocked out about half of the money I had saved. I used the rest of it to knock off 3 Hall of Fame baseballs and a 1/1 card. Today, I will showcase the first of the three baseballs.

I had been watching a couple Buck Leonard baseballs for a while and when I finally had the money saved, I chose this one as the one which I would add to my collection. It looks a lot like my Johnny Mize ball, as far as the ink used on the signature. Something really cool about the ball itself is that is it a Bart Giamatti ONL ball. You may or may not know that Giamatti's son Paul is an actor, known for roles in Sideways and as 'Pig Vomit' in Howard Stern's 'Private Parts.' Bart Giamatti was also the former commissioner who banned Pete Rose for life in 1989, only to die of a heart attack several days later.

Anyway, back to Leonard. Buck Leonard was born in 1907 in Rocky Mount, NC (just an hour or so drive up I-95 from here). He played his entire baseball career in the Negro Leagues, most notably for the Homestead Grays. Leonard and teammate Josh Gibson were known as the 'Thunder Twins.'

Leonard was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 along with teammate Gibson as part of a special Negro League election. Following his retirement, Leonard remained one of the forefront ambassadors for the Negro Leagues until his death at the age of 90 in 1997.

According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Leonard had approximately 471 hits in 1,472 recorded at bats with a .320 lifetime average and 60 home runs. Who knows how many hits and home runs he really would have if proper record keeping was used at the time he played.

Leonard is now my 60th Hall of Famer.

Goodbye, Brandon Snyder

2012-01-05T18:15:00.000-05:00

I was sad the other day to hear that the Orioles sent former first round draft pick Brandon Snyder to the Rangers for cash considerations.

Snyder had played at every stop in the Orioles developmental system and played pretty well until he got to AAA Norfolk. He got called up to the majors for cups of coffee in 2010 and 2011.

This photo was taken during my visit to Harbor Park in Norfolk in June 2010.

I first met Brandon Snyder in April 2008 when the Frederick Keys visited the former Ernie Shore Field in Winston-Salem, NC. I took my son, mom, brother, sister and 2 of my nieces to the game. As my brother Andy and I were getting baseballs signed by Snyder, he mentioned that Matt Wieters was sitting on the other end of the dugout. I replied "MATT WIETERS????" and he replied, "Yes, THE Matt Wieters. Would you like for him to sign your ball, too?" Of course we did, so Brandon called Wieters over and got our baseballs signed. As they were signing, my son Christopher (who was 2 at the time) was crying, so Brandon reached into his bat bag and pulled out a game used baseball. He said "Here, maybe this will make the little guy feel better, no wait, hold on..." He signed the ball and then handed it to Wieters to sign, then said, "Here you go." Chris still has that ball on his shelf in his room.

Here is Brandon Snyder signing a softball and baseball for my nieces Grace and Alexis. This was their first baseball game.

This is a signed ball I got from Snyder in Norfolk, also during my June 2010 trip.

I met Brandon Snyder again in June 2010 when I visited Norfolk for a Tides game. Brandon was signing autographs when I asked him if he would sign my bat. He said "Of course" and signed it in black sharpie. As he was signing it, I thanked him for being so nice to us when we met him in Winston-Salem and it meant a lot that he took the time to try to console my crying baby, when a lot of people would be annoyed. He looked up from signing the bat, shook my hand and thanked me.

As a baseball fan, when you get the opportunity to meet some of the players and especially if they are friendly, you really hope they succeed. I really hate to see Brandon move on to another organization, but since he is going to the reigning 2-time AL Champions, I think this is a good thing for him. I really hope that the change in scenery does him good and he tears it up at Spring Training.

Brandon, if you ever see this blog, good luck to you and I wish only the best for you; a very friendly and classy ballplayer. Thank you again for taking the time out to sign autographs for fans of all ages.

More Mail - 1970 Topps Johnny Bench

2012-01-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Among my mail from yesterday that included the short printed and hard to find 1948 Leaf Virgil Trucks and the letter from Mr. Trucks himself was another envelope. Inside that envelope was a card I had purchased off of Ebay so I can make it look like I hadn't forgotten about the set building aspect of my collection.

I finally knocked off card number 660 (Johnny Bench) from my needs list for 1970 Topps. Having knocked out the Bench, the biggest name I need for the set if Al Kaline. I could have sworn that I had the Kaline already, but no, I don't. That set is slowly but surely winding down. The high numbers are really a pain. I'm really satisfied, though. I think I have been working on the set for 4 years now. Maybe even 5.

Oh, also, you can now follow me on the Twitter. @foulbuntWilliam is my screen name. We'll see how I do with it, but I do plan on using it to plug this blog.

Mail Day - Virgil Trucks Rookie Card and More!

2012-01-03T20:10:00.000-05:00

I came home from work today to find a nice bit of mail waiting for me. The most important pieces being the 1948-49 Leaf Virgil Trucks short printed rookie card that I have had my eye on for a long time as well as a letter from Mr. Trucks himself!

First off, I had (again) saved up a bunch of expense checks from work and used them on some Ebay purchases the other day. I thought about buying a high-end signed baseball, but instead decided to buy this 'reasonably' prices 1948 Leaf. It was the only base issue Trucks card that I did not have from his playing days, so I had been waning it for some time. Thing is, A: The 1948-49 Leaf set is really hard to find, B: this is considered his rookie card and C: this particular card was short printed. I have seen versions of this card graded PSA 3 going for $480 on Ebay. I got this one for much less than that.

As you can see, there is a bit of paper loss on the back. The missing words are: "52 defeats."

Also, I sent Mr. Trucks a Christmas card along with a donation to his church as a thank you for all he has done for me and for fans everywhere. His response was very nice. He also included 5 autographed Diamond Signatures cards for me to "give to kids or use as [I] wish..."

I have started a page on this blog showcasing my Virgil Trucks collection. Please give it a look and let me know what you think. Mr. Trucks is one of my all-time favorite players and I am happy to be able to show off his cards and memorabilia.

Adding to the Man Cave

2012-01-03T07:12:00.001-05:00

For a while now, I've been wanting to display some of my jerseys in my Man Cave. I had an idea in my head about how I wanted to do it, but I hadn't had much time to put my plan into action. Yesterday gave me a nice opportunity to try out my idea and see how it would play out.

I put little loop screws into the wood molding around the ceiling and ran fishing line from one screw to another. I made 3 lines, since I knew one line would sag too much in the middle. I look at the pictures now and really wish I had something to hold the jerseys up other than clothespins, but they will have to do for now. I do like how my Kinston jerseys look, especially the camo one. I'm still amazed at how I was able o get that one, especially with the dirt on it.

The other jerseys I hung were two football jerseys. The white practice jersey was used by my older brother Philip in High School and the black #88 is my brother Adam's game worn Wofford jersey. I got the Roberts jersey from my good friend Lisa for Christmas back in 2005; it is a replica Roberts 2005 All Star warmup jersey.

I don't think of these as finished products just yet, my mind will be working overtime to try to perfect the way they look, but it seems to work for now. I'm sure by the time I am satisfied with them, I'll have tried a few different things.

What I Did On My Day Off

2012-01-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

I was off of work today in observance of New Years Day. My son had to go to school and my wife had to work, so I had the place to myself. Thing is, though, my son had to be on the bus at 7am and my wife had to work at 5am. That means, even though I was off today, I had to get up early and get Chris on the bus.

That didn't matter much, because I was able to go back to bed for a bit afterward. After that, though, I really wanted to spend some time on the Man Cave. So, I went to Lowes and picked up some stuff so I could try to properly display my Nolan Reimold batting gloves and also find a way to display some of my jerseys.

What I'm going to show off on this post is what I attempted for the batting gloves that Nolan Reimold sent to me. Above, you can see on the tailgate of my truck: 2 bases, 2 tops for a bannister (I don't know the term) and 2 dowel rods (I ended up needing only one). A few friends had recommended that I try to find jewelry displays or mannequin hands, but a simple call to my mother-in-law set me off in a much simpler direction.

So, with a little bit of help from my son (when he got home from school), I cut the dowel rod into 10 pieces, based on the lengths of my fingers. Kind of. I don't own a table saw or anything like that, so I just used a straight hand saw to cut the pieces (as you can see, they ended up uneven and a little off, but in the end they worked out. The posts came with screws attached and the bases were pre-drilled, so they screwed right in and made a simple stand. I inserted the dowel pieces into the fingers of the gloves. They fit perfectly. I slid the first glove on the stand and found that they still needed to be filled out some, so I put a packing peanut underneath the thumb and tissue paper in the upper part of the hand. When it went back on the stand, it looked pretty darn good. The fingers stood on their own and could be manipulated a little bit, so I moved them to my liking and went ot work on the second glove.

Here is the finished product. I want to stain the bases at some point, but for now they work fine. I like that the signatures are very visible and the gloves aren't just laying on the china cabinet shelf. They definitely add something 'different' to my collection.

Here the gloves are in their spot in my china cabinet. My Hall of Fame signed baseballs make a nice backdrop for the batting gloves. I'm really happy with how the stands turned out and I really want to thank my mother-in-law for the great help.

What do you all think? I am really happy with how this turned out and I'm especially glad that I was able to put them together myself.

Some Card Shop Packs

2012-01-02T10:57:00.000-05:00

I hope you all like the new blog design, I thought it was a good time for a change since I have had the old design up for over 2 years (I think). There is a lot less going on in the background, which keeps the focus on the actual posts themselves. Also, the header picture was taken by me in Cooperstown, at Doubleday Field. I thought it would tie in well with my pursuit of Hall of Fame signed baseballs.

I picked up some packs as we passed by the card shop the other day while out shopping. I had gone to Staples to pick up some sheet protectors and a small binder. I am going to keep all of my COAs and LOAs in one place, instead of filed away in various manila envelopes, folders and my 1920s Phillie Blunts cigar box (a remaining relic from my great-grandfather, jeez, I should post that sometime...)

Anyway, we bought several packs of Topps Lineage, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Platinum, Draft Picks and Prospect and Topps Chrome. The above Jameson Taillon is one of the highlights of the Bowman Chrome.

I pulled this Jonathan Schoop (pronounced SCOPE, apparently) out of the Bowman Platinum. He is fast becoming one of the Orioles' best prospects, behind Dylan Bundy and Manny Machado. I hope he lives up to the billing, because the Orioles haven't produced a legit position player from their system since Nick Markakis (not a knock on my favorite, Nolan Reimold, at all. I'm hoping he busts out this year and stays in the majors. No one is pulling harder for Nolan than I am).

This Topps Chrome Heritage insert came out of the Topps Chrome pack that I bought. I really missed the boat on Heritage. I only busted one box of it. I would have done more, but money was tight at that time and now the boxes are pretty much gone. Oh well. I like this card of Thome, whose career is winding down. He should be a lock for the Hall of Fame. I think so, at least. Who knows these days. I do wish he would have signed my baseball for me in 2010 when I was mere feet away from him. I might try him TTM once Spring Training gets closer.

I really like this Topps Lineage '75 mini of George Sisler. I don't have near enough Browns cards or memorabilia. I might need to add some to my wishlist for the coming year. Sisler was a really good ballplayer. He doesn't get much recognition these days, since there were some bigger names playing when he was active, but until broken by Ichiro, Sisler's single season hits record stood for 80 years.

Finally, I pulled this relic out of Topps American Pie. Since my wife was with me, she and I both picked up a couple packs of American Pie. She is a big movie buff, so I thought she would get a kick out of the cards. They were ok. Kind of like Upper Deck's 'Piece of History' from a few years ago. I'm not sure if I'll get any more packs of them, though. As for the Valderrama relic? Well, I'm definitely not a fan of That 70s Show, I always found it to be dumb (just my opinion). Also, I'm really glad it wasn't Ashton Kutcher. Because, well, he is probably my least favorite actor. Ever. Valderrama, he's ok, I guess. I can probably sell it at a card show, which works out for me, at least I'll get a couple bucks out of it; or I can trade it, if any of you are interested. I'll add it to my for sale/trade page.

By the way, please do check out that page. I plan on adding some stuff to it to make it easier for people to see what I have that is available at the right price and/or offer.

A Few More Christmas Packs - 1982 Donruss

2012-01-01T11:19:00.000-05:00

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone out there. Also, for the ones of you who may have a bit of a headache, remember this for today: NO LOUD NOISES! Haha.

The last few cards from Christmas were, again, from my mom. She gave me a present that I unwrapped and inside was a 1990s Lucky Charms tin. Yeah, the cereal. I knew better than to automatically think that Mom had given me stale cereal, so I opened the tin and inside were several packs of baseball cards that she undoubtedly bought way back in the day and then stored either in the attic, or in the basement. She is always finding treasures buried here and there at the house, so when she found these, the figured that they would make a good present, haha.

I opened the packs, of course hoping that the Cal Ripken rookie would be inside. Sadly, it wasn't. Oh well. I did get a couple of cool cards, though.

First off, this Eddie Solomon is a prime example of the fun in opening some of these old packs. I mean, really. Look at that awesome Pirates hat and blazing yellow pants! There are some old jerseys that I saw in these packs that were simply amazing. Haha. Gotta love the late 70s & early 80s uniforms...

I got a Hall of Famer out of the bunch, Andre Dawson (rocking a pretty bad Expos uniform). Pretty sweet helmet.

Finally, I pulled this Steve Garvey diamond king where Garvey is gazing longingly into your eyes. Pleading for you to persuade the BBWAA to finally induct him into the Hall of Fame. Will it happen? I doubt it, but you can't fault him for trying.

Actually, it is a pretty nice card. I have always been a fan of the Diamond Kings. I liked them even better in 1992 when they looked like actual paintings. The Cal Ripken from that year was absolutely beautiful.

So, that does it. Just about wraps her up. Christmas was really productive for me. I also got some cash from one of my grandmothers, so I used it to get a Hall of Fame signed baseball. Who did I get? You'll have to wait and see!

Some Christmas Packs of 2011 Topps Update

2011-12-31T17:21:00.000-05:00

One of the Christmas presents my wife got me was a blaster box of 2011 Topps Update Series. It was the Target exclusive version, so inside were two red variation packs (nothing really of note in them) as well as the Commemorative Logo Patch.

The logo patch I got was the above Carlton Fisk Red Sox patch. It looks pretty cool, even thought I'm not a Red Sox fan.

I got a Roberto Alomar cognac diamond parallel, but I already had it, but the above Koji Uehara diamond parallel was pretty nice. Rumor has it that Texas is willing to trade Koji back to the Orioles since he really wants to be back in Baltimore. I'd love to have him back.

Finally, this mini Kimball Champions insert of Vlad Guerrero was also pretty cool. I didn't think Vlad was a bad pickup for the O's this past season. Even though, $8 million for a singles hitter is pretty high. It would have been nice if Guerrero had hit for a bit more power.

Happy Birthday Sandy Koufax

2011-12-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

Sandy Koufax turned 76 today. Amazing to think that he has been in the Hall of Fame since 1972, making him one of the longest tenured players in the hall at this time (Stan Musial, elected in 1969, is the longest tenured living player right now).

Koufax was an awesome pitcher in his day. I, for one, want to wish him a very happy birthday and many more to come.

TTM Success - Will Clark

2011-12-29T17:33:00.001-05:00

We got back from visiting the family Tuesday night to find one of my awesome mailers in my mail box. I received a TTM success from Former first baseman Will Clark.

Clark (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1986 to 2000 for the Giants, Rangers, Orioles and Cardinals. He amassed career totals of 2,176 hits, 284 home runs and a .303 batting average.

Clark signed for free and is my 41st TTM success. He was my older brother's favorite baseball player growing up, so I made sure to tell him to send to Clark also. I hope he gives it a shot.

I mailed to Will Clark on December 8, 2011 and got my ball back on December 27, 2011; a TAT of 19 days. Not bad. I like the inscription that he added, plus, he has a really nice signature.

An After-Christmas Present From Mom

2011-12-28T17:49:00.002-05:00

So, a while ago, I wrote a blog post about an autographed baseball that my mom had stored on a shelf for years. It turned out that the mystery ball was of Ryan Klesko. When we found that ball hidden amongst a bunch of old picture frames and knick knacks, there was another ball that she wasn't quite ready to part with, her Nolan Ryan signed baseball...

I had to go back to Mom's house yesterday because of a family issue and happened to ask her about the ball. I asked if I could have it, since I still hadn't gotten Ryan yet, and he answer was "[heck] no". After about a minute or two, she hands me the ball, smiling. Again, Mom likes to make me sweat. Above is what the ball holder looked like upon receipt. I'm keeping the ball holder; I'm just going to store it in the closet and keep the ball itself in my china cabinet in a ball cube.

Here is a look at the actual ball. It seems that the dust has created an effective barrier for UV rays, as the signature looks amazing.

If I had to guess, I would guess that the ball is from around 1992 or so. Around this time, Mom bought me my first signed baseball (Cal Ripken) waaaay back when Sam's Club sold baseball cards and assorted memorabilia. I remember going in there and checking out the signed baseballs thinking that I would never be lucky enough to own one until one day when Mom handed me Cal.

I'm sure she got the Ryan ball around the same time (knowing how she loves a deal, she probably pounced on it). As I sit here and type this entry, I'm thinking to myself, chuckling, Sam's Club sold autographed baseballs....

Anyway, Mom knows that I will cherish the ball along with all of my other signed baseballs. Ryan has become my 59th Hall of Famer. I've still got a long ways to go if I ever want to try to own as many Hall of Famers as possible, but this year has made a nice dent in the list.

Thanks again Mom!

**I'm not sure if any of you have noticed, but my mom actually reads this blog. Sometimes she comments. it is always nice when a parent shows interest in what their child is interested in. I hope that when Chris is my age that he is just as passionate about something as I am. I know that I will always thank my mom for supporting my baseball fixation from an early age.

Oh yeah... Sam's Club used to sell autographed baseballs....

Christmas Presents From Mom Part Two

2011-12-27T10:12:00.001-05:00

Moving right along with the Christmas haul, my mom also got me two more Minor League jerseys.

The first jersey is this LeHigh Valley IronPigs jersey. The IronPigs are the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies and play in Allentown, PA. They used to be known as the Ottawa Lynx until the team moved to Allentown in 2008.

She also got me this Toledo Mud Hens jersey. The Mud Hens are the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers and play in Toledo, OH.

So, I now have two Kinston Indian jerseys along with those of the IronPigs, Mud Hens, Lansing Lugnuts and Montgomery Biscuits. Mom said she enjoys getting them for me because she likes seeing what the team names are and that there are so many to choose from. She told me that she hopes I can try to make it to some of the ballparks where the teams are based. So, I guess I collect minor league jerseys now...

Thanks again Mom for the awesome stuff!!!

Christmas Presents From Mom Part One

2011-12-26T10:10:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a great and safe Christmas.

I'll start my Christmas posts off with some of the stuff I got from my mom. I plan on breaking up what I got into several posts, so check back often to see what all was received.

First off, I got two more Ball of Fame boxes. Mom was really hoping I would pull the Mickey Mantle, as she is a big Yankee fan. I wasn't that lucky, but got two really good baseballs, one of which I already had, but it was still an upgrade over the one I already had.

The first box I opened was Bruce Sutter. I picked Sutter up last year, but this one is graded, so I consider it an upgrade. I'll probably sell the other Sutter that I have. If anyone is interested, let me know.

My other pull was a Hall of Famer who i didn't already have, so I was really happy. It was also another 'full name' variation, so that made it even better. I got Dennis Eckersley! I have been wanting an Eck ball for a while, but have kept putting it off, so it is good to finally have him as my 58th Hall of Famer.

My mom always gets me awesome stuff, and there is a bit more to show! Thanks again Mom!!!

Christmas Presents From Drew

2011-12-24T18:00:00.000-05:00

Many of you who read this blog know that over the past three or so years, Drew over at Drewscards and I have become pretty close friends. He is a really great kid whose passion for baseball and the hobby isn't matched by anyone else that I know. He is also a very reliable friend when a lot of friends can let you down.

Drew surprised me the other day with a nice package that he sent as a Christmas present. I knew about one of the cards because he got it at a recent card show, but went ahead and included it with his gift. He also put some cards in to help with my needs list, which I have neglected over the past year as I have been pursuing more and more Hall of Fame autographs...

Drew got this Jim Palmer 2008 Upper Deck Premier Manufactured Patch/Auto of Jim Palmer as the main part of the Christmas present. This card looks so awesome. Upper Deck did a good job designing the patch, and the auto fits nicely onto the card and doesn't take away from the design at all.

Drew got this 2010 Topps Tribute Eddie Murray relic card from a recent card show. He had told me about it because I had picked him up something cool from one of my shows (I wish I could remember what it was). I like this card a lot as well. I think Topps does a good job on Tribute, I just wish it wasn't so darn expensive.

Drew also attacked my 1971 Topps want list. Some of the cards are a bit rough, but are going to be used as set fillers until they can be upgraded. There were several that will stay in my set, though. The above Joe Torre and the below Hoyt Wilhelm highlight the cards that will stay in the set for sure.

This time of year, and especially this year since we had a death in the family, I try to make sure I let the ones I care about know that I am thinking of them. It is always nice when you, also, find out that someone is thinking of you. For Drew to think of me when he is browsing at a card show, or sorting his collection, means the world to me.

If you haven't yet visited his blog, I encourage you to do so. he is definitely a great guy and an even better friend.

Thank you, Drew.

Merry Christmas!

Results of the Topps Tier One Group Break at Nachos Grande

2011-12-23T18:15:00.000-05:00

I took part in my first ever group break over at Nachos Grande not too long ago, and thought I'd show off what I ended up with:

I bought in with the Orioles for $35 for a six-box half case break of 2011 Topps Tier One. With my entry, I was also awarded the Colorado Rockies.

I only got two Tier One cards, one of which is pictured below.

The Palmer looks nice. I also got Carlos Gonzalez, which isn't too bad. I was disappointed that I didn't get any of the hits, but oh well, that is the fun of a group break. I won't discourage me from participating in another.

I did like that he threw in an Orioles 'team set' from Topps Lineage. I have said before that I really like this set, so getting all of his Orioles was definitely a bonus for me. This is a box of cards that I may purchase sometime soon, just to see what I can pull.

I also like that the Browns were included in the set (and the break as well). It would have been nice to get the Sisler relic from Tier One, but I think Cobb was the big name pulled this go-round.

As I said, I wouldn't be discouraged from other group breaks in the future, even though I didn't get any huge hits out of this. The price was fair and my disappointment of no huge hits was offset by the generosity of including other cards (a box of 2011 Allen and Ginter was also included in the break).

I, myself, would like to do a group break. I failed a couple years ago to generate enough interest in a 2006 Upper Deck Epic group break (which I think ticked off a few bloggers who wanted to sign up). I may attempt something of that sort sometime soon. I do know that I need to have some kind of contest or something to keep getting this blog noticed....

TTM Success - Wally Moon

2011-12-22T19:39:00.000-05:00

M-O-O-N that spells MOON (How many people get THAT reference??). Haha. I got a TTM success on Monday, but have been trying to catch up on card show posts, so this one is a little delayed.

I wrote to the 1954 NL Rookie of the Year Wally Moon on November 28 and got my ball back on December 19. That was a 21-day TAT.

Moon charges $6.00 for an autograph and an extra $2.00 for an inscription, which I think isn't bad at all.

Wally Moon (b. 1930) played in the majors from 1954 to 1965 for the Cardinals and Dodgers. He retired with 1,399 hits, 142 home runs and a .289 batting average.

Moon is my 40th TTM success. They are coming few and far between now, I'm running out of TTM ideas. Anyone got any?

A Couple Pickups From The Card Show

2011-12-21T17:50:00.000-05:00

I didn't buy a single card for myself at the card show. I purchased a few cards for a friend of mine that I thought he would enjoy, however. I figured I would post them because they aren't ones that would normally end up on this blog.

The first is a 1950 Royal Pudding cutout of Ray Scarborough. I learned of Ray Scarborough through my friend not too long ago. He was a pitcher for the Senators, Red Sox, Yankees and Tigers from 1942, 43 and 1946 to 1953. He had a career record of 80-85 with an ERA of 4.13 and 564 strikeouts.

After his playing career was over, he retired to Mount Olive, NC (which is about an hour or so from where I now live) and opened an oil and supply company. He also helped to establish the baseball program at Mount Olive College.

My friend knew Mr. Scarborough personally, so anytime I can find something of his, I try to pick it up.

Additionally, I just thought this card looked really cool, so, I think it will be a nice little something to send his way.

I'm also helping my friend work on the 1963 Fleer set and I was able to pick up the short printed Joe Adcock that he needed for his set.

The card is pretty sharp, even though I scanned it crooked.

I had never heard of Adcock, so a little checking on baseball-reference.com showed that he played in the majors from 1950 to 1966 for the Reds, Braves, Indians and Angels. He was a pretty good power hitter, hitting 336 homers in his career with 1,832 hits and a .277 batting average.

Sometimes it is far more fun to find stuff for others than it is for yourself, and this trip to the card show definitely showed that. I also got to see some cards that I probably wouldn't have looked twice at otherwise.

TTM Succes - Lou Whitaker

2011-12-20T21:28:00.002-05:00

Ok, I realized the other day as I was reading a book about baseball from the 1930s and 1940s, I am really starting to like and appreciate the Detroit Tigers. No, I am not switching my allegiance from the Orioles to the Tigers. I just like to read about the great players in Tigers' history. You know, Virgil Trucks, of course, Hal Newhouser, Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, etc.

That being said, I received a TTM success from a former Tiger great when I got home from the show on Saturday, Lou Whitaker.

I mailed to Lou Whitaker on December 8, 2011 and received the ball back on December 17, 2011. A TAT of 9 days. Not bad at all. One reason why it turned around so fast was because Lou Whitaker lives in Greensboro, NC. I thought that was pretty cool. He didn't charge a fee and inscribed the ball 2B and AL ROY 78. It looks really awesome in person.

Whitaker is my 39th TTM success and my first since way back in November when I got 'Mule' Miles.

Whitaker played in the majors from 1977 to 1995, all for Detroit. He won the World Series in 1984 and retired with 2,369 hits, 244 home runs and a .276 batting average.

More From The Card Show - Tony Perez Signed Baseball

2011-12-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

So, while I was purchasing my Luis Aparicio ball at the show, I saw that the vendor had a good many other Hall of Famers at really good prices, so I swung a trade for another Hall of Famer that I didn't already have, Tony Perez.

I traded a 2011 Topps Starlin Castro auto, a Sweet Spot Classic glove auto of Toby Harrah and a Shane Victorino Topps auto. I had no problem with this trade, since I needed Perez (and he doesn't really sign TTM).

I have a few members of The Big Red Machine, now, with Perez, Pete Rose and Johnny Bench.

Perez (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1964 to 1986 for the Reds, Expos, Red Sox and Phillies. He had 2,732 hits, 379 home runs and a .279 career batting average. He won the World Series in 1975 and 1976 while with the Reds.

He is my 57th Hall of Famer.

Hall of Famer Number 56 - Luis Aparicio

2011-12-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

This is the only baseball that I bought straight up from anyone at this show. I picked up 'Little Louie' from the same guy that I traded my Albert Pujols Stadium Club triple relic auto for my Bill Mazeroski and Don Drysdale balls.

I was able to get Aparicio for $40. He is someone I have been wanting to get for a while now, since he was a former Oriole.

Aparicio played in the majors from 1956 to 1973 for the White Sox, Orioles and Red Sox. He won the 1956 AL rookie of the year and the World Series with the Orioles in 1966.

He retired with 2,677 hits, 506 stolen bases and a .262 batting average.

Card Show Day 3 And Hall of Famer Number 55

2011-12-18T20:54:00.000-05:00

I scored big time today. I also would like to mention that I did my 'scoring' today with minimal cash investment, which makes it that much more fun.

First off, today was a trying day at the card show. Christopher forgot his 'listening' ears and was pushing my buttons all day long. For some reason, a six-year old thinks the bathroom is a fun place and wanted to take a pee break seemingly every 5 minutes... I think it was his way of saying "I'm bored, I want to walk around..."

Anyway, other than that, he did really well for a six-year old bored out of his freaking mind at the show. Sundays are slow days, but I still was able to sell a couple things, and I was able to have a good talk with blog readers Robert and his dad. Really nice folks who are from the area that I always enjoy talking with at the show(s).

Well, I didn't buy myself any cards at this show, but that was mainly due to not being able to spend more than a few minutes browsing around, however, including yesterday's Reggie Jackson, I am now 4 Hall of Fame baseballs richer....

I got the above Johnny Bench via a semi-trade with another dealer. I saw the ball yesterday while I was walking around. The guy wanted $50 for it (it is a really toned ball, but looks cool). I waited around today to see if my TTM Doug Harvey ball would sell, but after a few people looked at me like I was crazy for saying "Yes, this UMPIRE is in the Hall...", I decided to see if the guy would trade for it. I was told by the JSA guy in attendance (and I remembered from seeing a couple on Ebay) that a Harvey ball would sell for about $50. The dealer said that he would do the trade if I threw in $20 extra in cash. I figured that was fair enough, since Bench baseballs go from $65-80 online. Plus, I really only paid about $30 for my Harvey ball when you factor in cost of the ball itself, postage for the TTM and the $20 authentication fee...

So, my 55th Hall of Fame signed baseball is that of Johnny Bench! I could have gotten Bench TTM from his website, but swinging this trade was a lot more fun. So, if you do the math correctly, I traded an umpire and cash considerations for a 14x All Star, 2x MVP catcher.

Bench played in the majors from 1967 to 1983 for the Reds. He won the World Series in 1975 and 1976 and was MVP of the NL in 1970 and 1972. He was also the 1968 NL Rookie of the Year.

Stay tuned to see which were the final two baseballs that I was able to get.

Card Show Haul - Day 2

2011-12-17T20:48:00.000-05:00

It is really hard to sell at a card show by yourself. Having a partner helps tremendously, especially if you need to take a bathroom break. This is why you won't see a 'Card Show Haul - Day 1' post on here. It doesn't exist.

At the show on Friday, I was by myself at my tables so I wasn't able to take a look around at what the other guys had (which, I have learned, is a very effective way to save money).

Today, however, I had some help. Ryan from O No Not Another Orioles Blog came down from the Richmond area to check out the Raleigh show. I met Ryan at a show maybe 6 months ago and he is a really cool guy. Luckily, this time, when we met up, the power didn't go out.

Anyway, before Ryan even got there, my son Chris and I walked around. I was kind of scoping the place out before the show started to see if there was anything that caught my eye. Something did, that's for sure.

I saw a table with a few signed baseballs. On the table was the above Reggie Jackson signed baseball. Under it was an index card which read: Reggie Jackson $25. I thought to myself 'No WAY!!!!"

I had seen Reggie's autograph numerous times and it definitely looked legit. The catch? The ball wasn't authenticated. I spoke with the seller and he pretty much said he didn't feel like getting it authenticated, so he was going to let it go at that ridiculously low price. He also told me that if it failed authentication, he would refund my money. So, I bought the ball and walked it over to the JSA booth, filled out my form, paid my $20 authentication fee and an hour later? I now have a JSA authenticated Reggie Jackson signed baseball.

Jackson is my 54th Hall of Fame signed baseball. I'm hoping I can land maybe one more ball as the show winds down tomorrow. We'll see. Today definitely showed me that sometimes, not often, but sometimes when something looks too good to be true... it works out in my favor.

Historic Autographs Ball of Fame Break #2

2011-12-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the second of my two Ball of Fame breaks.

I already had Irvin as well; I got him TTM last year with a donation to a local college that he supports. However, that ball may not be available, since I may be working out a trade with Dustin over at No Relics Pulled. We'll see.

Box Break - Historic Autographs Ball of Fame National Edition #1

2011-12-14T18:03:00.001-05:00

I saw that Blowout had lowered the price of the Historic Autographs Ball of Fame National Edition boxes from $119 to $85 last week, so I decided to pick up two of them. The difference between the 'National Edition' and the regular edition I opened (and got Wade Boggs) is that the National Edition baseballs are graded no lower than 9.5. I figured getting a high grade HOF auto on a ball for that price would be worth the gamble. I videoed both breaks, so here is break number 1:

I had already gotten Harvey TTM, but this version is already PSA authenticated, on an official MLB ball and graded at a 10. So, that being said, my Harvey ball I got TTM will be going with me to the card show or can be put up for trade. I'd prefer another ball for it, but I'm not going to be too picky.

Yes, that is Drew on Skype watching the box break. Hi Drew!!!

More 2011 Topps Lineage - Got Some Autos

2011-12-13T20:47:00.000-05:00

When I went to the card shop this past weekend and got my pack of Topps Marquee, I also picked up two more packs of 2011 Lineage.

I busted both packs and was happy to see that I pulled two autographs from the packs.

I knew about these 1952 Topps autos and I really really really wanted to pull the Virgil Trucks. THat would be awesome. I got this Joe Astroth, though, and was still happy with it. He played in the majors from 1945-1946 and 1949-1956 for the Philadelphia and Kansas City A's. He had career numbers of 401 hits, 13 home runs and a .254 batting average. This auto was an on card auto.

I also pulled this sticker auto of Johnny Gomes. I'm indifferent towards whether an auto is on card or sticker. It doesn't matter to me, as long as the card looks good, and both of these cards are pretty sharp.

So, one trip to the card shop and I get a Hank Aaron relic and two autographs. Not too bad.

Thoughts on 2011 Topps Marquee

2011-12-11T18:09:00.001-05:00

It is rare when I can afford one of the higher end packs of cards, so when I am able to, it is a good day for me. The bad thing about spending so much on one pack of cards is that if I get some scrub, it is really hard for me to want to take that kind of plunge again.

So, that being said, I went to the local card shop today to load up on supplies for this weekend's card show (come out and see me, I will be the guy wearing a bright orange Orioles shirt) and decided to get some packs. I got 2 packs of Lineage (will post those in a later post), a pack of 2011 Finest and a pack of 2011 Topps Marquee (for $50 a pack...).

I opened the box and got base cards of Adrian Gonzalez, Nelson Cruz and the Clayton Kershaw pictured at the bottom of this post. I had looked up hits from marquee on Ebay before I busted the box; some of it was impressive and some of it was underwhelming. When I saw what my pull was going to be, I was pleasantly surprised:

A Titanic Threads #6/99 Hank Aaron. I'm not sure if I want to part with this card; I think I want to keep it in my personal collection. That is unless someone were to blow me away in a trade or cash. I'm so glad I pulled Hank, as opposed to pulling a Pedroia or something...

Here is the base Kershaw. The base cards are really sharp. They kind of remind me of the Stadium Club cards that Topps put out in 2008 or so.

What Now?

2011-12-11T09:39:00.001-05:00

So, ESPN has broken the news that Ryan Braun tested positive for a PED during the playoffs. Braun is appealing the positive result through arbitration. For more, you can check out this article.

According to the article that I linked above, Braun's representatives say: "There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate that there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated."

Braun himself told USA Today "It's BS."

That may be true, Ryan, but as we all know in today's world of social media and reporters' wanting to all be first to report something, it seems that the days of "innocent until proven guilty" are long gone. The reason that the positive result hadn't been made public was because of the appeal process. I'm trying my best to not rush to judgement on him as well, but as far as I or anyone else knows, no one has ever successfully appealed a positive PED test result.

Also, saying that you didn't knowingly take steroids (Barry Bonds) or blaming former teammates for tainted B-12 injections (Rafael Palmeiro) or taking them because they taste like candy (Manny Ramirez) {ok, I made that last reason up} won't lessen the public outcry for your head.

Even if Braun wins his appeal, what will this do for the actual drug testing program for MLB? As much as I would like to see Braun exonerated, if this in fact does happen (and that is a slim if), then the validity of the whole drug testing program comes under suspicion. So, I sure hope there is a good and valid reason as to why he had a failed test. If not, then he is just like Bonds, Giambi, Sheffield, Canseco, McGwire, etc...

Matt Kemp must really know how Mike Greenwell feels now, huh? It would be unprecedented if the BBWAA stripped Braun of his NL MVP award and awarded it to Kemp. They haven't taken Bonds' 7 awards away.

My older brother texted me last night all fired up about "MLB knew about the failed test, but went ahead and gave him the award anyway... I hate baseball..." This is coming from a huge NFL, College Football and UFC fan. I love my brother and you have to realize that he gets really fired up, but with all those sports he is fond of... pot, meet kettle.

I can imagine how Braun felt, apparently being notified of the failed test in October, but yet fielding questions about and eventually accepting the MVP award. It reminds me of Rafael Palmeiro getting his 3,000th hit but knowing of his failed test weeks before. Uncomfortable!

Anyway, I'd like to wait to see the resolution of his appeal before I cast Braun into the fold of the known abusers, but it doesn't look like it is an easy road ahead for him. Again, to my knowledge, no one has won an appeal yet. It just doesn't make sense for someone like Braun, who has been tested throughout his whole career. He was tested in the minors and all through his MLB career. He is very in tune with his 'brand', which is why he signed the contract he signed with the Brewers back in April. Also, what are the 'unusual circumstances' that his representatives were speaking of?

Blehhh, what a mess you've stepped in, Ryan. Good luck to you, but it's going to be an uphill climb.

Hall of Fame Ebay Success - Carl Hubbell

2011-12-08T18:05:00.001-05:00

I have been saving money lately so that I can knock some more baseballs off of my want list. However, I have been so indecisive about what I wanted to buy that I have been racking up the savings. I thought to myself that I could take what I've saved and get a big name like Mantle or DiMaggio; keep saving and try for a Dizzy Dean or Jimmie Foxx or spread it out to several hall of famers that I normally wouldn't be able to buy.

That's when I went on Ebay and started looking at all that I could get with what I had saved. After days of looking at prices, I jumped on a Hall of Famer who was kind of on the tier as far as average price of a Mantle or DiMaggio. Ok, well, maybe on the lower end.

Anyway, I jumped all over this PSA authenticated Carl Hubbell. After doing some research, I found that a signed ball of Hubbell went on average for around $300-$350, so when I saw the price this one was at, I had to grab it. Let's just say, I got it for a decent bit less than the lower average price.

Hubbell is my 53rd Hall of Fame signed baseball and is definitely one of my more valuable ones (his and Ted Williams, I would rank as my top 2). Charlie Gehringer is still my 'oldest', having a career that spanned from 1924 to 1942. As far as actual player age, Gehringer beats Hubbell by a little over a month, having been born in May 1903 to Hubbell being born in June 1903. Putting that into perspective, my great-grandparents were both born in 1901, only 2 years before Hubbell (and Gehringer) were born, and my Grandmother was born in 1927, only a year before Hubbell began playing in the Majors...

Carl Hubbell (b. 1903 - d. 1988) played in the majors from 1928 to 1943, all for the New York Giants. He was a 2-time MVP (1933 and 1936) and won the World Series in 1933. He had a career record of 253-154, 1,677 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA. He won 20 games or more 5 years in a row (1933 to 1937).

In 1934, Hubbell set an All Star game record by striking out 5 batters in a row (the record was later broken in 1984 when Fernando Valenzuela and Doc Gooden combined to strike out 6 batters). Funny thing is, though, is that the 5 batters Hubbell struck out all ended up becoming Hall of Famers. He struck out, in succession, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.