Another TTM Success From Johnny Groth

I have sent to Johnny Groth a few times now, and I have always been happy with the results.  This time, I sent a 1951 Topps Blue Back to him, and got it back signed.  I only have three signed Blue Backs, because there aren't many players left living who were in that set.

I mailed to Groth on March 4 and got the card back o n March 18, for a 14-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5.00.

The Topps Autograph Project Page Is Now Live

A project that I started last year finally is complete now that I have gotten the final piece blogged.  I was able to get at least one card signed from each year of Topps cards.  This included both 1951 Red and Blue Back.  I had to buy up some cards to send TTM to be able to get some of the autos, but none of the autographs were purchased from a secondary market or collector.

I have created a page on this blog showcasing each year of Topps with the corresponding card that I chose for each year.  Some choices were easier than others.  Some cards were chosen because it showed a big name player, or a team that was no longer around.  The above 1953 Mike Sandlock was chosen because he was 100 years old and the oldest living former MLB player at the time he signed it.

Lots of the cards have stories, like the one I chose for 1970.  I took one look at this John Donaldson card and knew right away that it would represent 1970 in my project.  The card itself is sharp and in great shape.  The card also features the now-defunct Seattle Pilots.  It is only right that the Pilots would be the team I showed on whichever 1970 I picked.  Most of all, though, I chose this one because it was given to me by Donaldson himself when I lamented in my TTM request that I wished I had my own copy of the 1970 card to send to him.  He must have had one, and sent it back signed with the other cards I sent him.  This was an awesome gesture that makes me happy to be able to immortalize this card in my project.

Many of the older cards I have sent TTM have had some pretty outlandish jerseys.  I had to make sure I had the crazy Astros jersey show up somewhere in this timeline.  Luckily, I just got this Ken Forsch signed.

Some of the cards I have gotten signed are pretty awesome.  Some are even more than that.  This Wade Boggs might be my favorite and was the very first card I pulled for the project this morning when I was lining things up.  I was really excited when I got this Boggs signed and it definitely is one of the best looking cards in the bunch.

This 2008 Jamie Moyer is the final year that I needed in order to complete my project.  I use the term "complete" loosely, because I will always have a preference toward Topps issues before any other brand when I am sending cards TTM.  I don't know why 2008 was the more difficult series to get signed, but for some reason it was.

Finally, I had several 2016 Topps to choose from, but chose the more recent of the bunch in this Pat Neshek.  The other 2016s I got signed were 50/50s from my friend, Dilan.  Many of the cards I had to chose from for other years came from the help of my great friend, Max.  Ryan from the blog "O No Another Orioles Blog" was also a huge help.

I hope you all enjoy checking out the page for this project.  The tabs are at the top of the blog, just below the banner.  If you are on a mobile device, you can access the page by clicking on the little white down arrow to the right of the little ribbon that says "home".  I hope you all can access it and give me your feedback on this.  I'm really excited about it!

Also, what do you all think of the choices I made for each year?  Thanks for reading, everyone!

TTM Success - Ned Garver

I got one of the best TTM successes in a while when all of this stuff came in from former pitcher, Ned Garver on April 2.  I sent a check for $25 and two cards in hopes of adding some nice pieces to my Topps Autograph project.

I was really excited about this 1952 Topps, since it showed Garver as a St. Louis Brown.  I think this card looks great, and turned out really nice when he signed it.  It looks better in person.

The card that prompted the TTM, though, was this 1951 Topps Blue Back.  I wanted to make sure I had the Browns represented on the Blue Backs, and Garver fit the bill.  I hope that after I complete my Topps Autograph Project, I can go back and do it again, but with Orioles/Browns cards.  I think it is possible to complete that, as well.

When I got my package in, I was pleasantly surprised that Garver included this card of his own that he signed for me.  Also in a Browns uniform, this card turned out really nice.

The $25.00 check was to order a copy of Garver's book, Catch 20, Too! Which came in a few days afterward.  If anyone is interested in buying a copy of his book, the contact information is above.

The best part of the TTM success, though, was that I was able to tie this success in with an old, dear friend of the blog, Mr. Virgil Trucks.  Garver was a teammate of Mr. Trucks, and he discusses their friendship in the letter that he wrote back to me.  I was really happy to get a letter back from him.  Here is what it says:

William,
Thanks for the book order - hope you enjoy it.

Virgil was one of my best friends.  He was a great guy.  We stayed in touch - by phone - to the end.

I liked being a Brownie - very much!  Veeck was super to play for - I loved it.  Satchel Paige was a very good friend.  Eddie Gaedel was the greatest promotion ever.  Still talking about him 65 years later.  Talked to Satchel's oldest daughter last week.  She is a teacher - very bright!

Sorry I can't write - used to be good - but I'm 90.

Ned

Garver (b. 1925) played in the majors from 1948 to 1961 for the Browns, Tigers, A's (Kansas City) and Angels.  He had a career record of 129 - 157 with an ERA of 3.73 and 881 strike outs.  He won 20 games for the Browns in 1951 and finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting.  He was also named an All Star that season, and was the starting pitcher that year.

His 2nd place finish in the 1951 AL MVP voting was the highest he would finish.  He amassed 157 voting points, but that was not enough to overcome the 184.0 points of MVP winner, Yogi Berra.

I mailed to Garver on March 23 and got the cards and note back on April 2, for a 10-day TAT.  The signed book came in on April 5.

TTM Success - Irv Noren

I wanted to make sure I was able to complete my Topps Autograph Project before I started it, so I went online and checked to see how many players from the 1951 Topps Blue Back set were still living, and who signed TTM.  From the information I gathered, I saw that 7 of the 52 players represented in the set were still living, and 5 of them were pretty regular TTM signers.  I removed Bobby Doerr from the list, since I had just sent to him, and didn't want to go to the well too many times.  So, I picked a couple of the guys on there that I thought I had a decent chance of getting TTM, and went to Ebay to pick up some of their cards.  I ended up picking up a couple, just in case, and one of them finally came in on April 1.

Irv Noren (b. 1924) played in the majors from 1950 to 1960 for the Senators, Yankees, A's (Kansas City), Cardinals, Cubs and Dodgers.  In his 11-season career, he had 857 hits, 65 home runs and a career average of .275.  He was an All Star for the American League in 1954 and finished as high as 15th in the MVP voting, twice.  Noren played in three World Series with the Yankees, winning two of them (1952 and 1953).

Noren is also the first player among my card TTM successes who responded to the note I put inside my envelope.  His response was a general one regarding the game today and the memories he cherished from his playing days and are as follows:

Players and money different today.  Unions and agents are ruining the game today.  First Maj. Lg. game and 1st W. Series great memories.

I mailed to Noren on March 25 and got the autograph back on April 1 for a 7-day TAT.