2023 National Free Signer - Scott Spiezio

Scott Spiezio was the next free signer at the National.  I had a good many of his cards, so it was nice to get a few out of my boxes and into my album.  The above 1997 Flair Showcase is a really cool card, and it turned out nicely.

I also got a 1997 Bowman Chrome hometown, 1997 Finest Blue Chips and a 2005 Topps signed.

Spiezio (b. 1972) played in the majors from 1996 to 2007 for the A's, Angels, Mariners and Cardinals.  He had 996 hits, 119 home runs and a .255 batting average.  

He won the World Series with the Angels in 2002 and the Cardinals in 2006.

Spiezio was really nice.  He commented on my Frederick question mark jersey (which it the reason why I wore it).

TTM Success - Ken Hill

There are a lot of times where I talk about cards that have been sitting in my "to be TTMed" box for a long time.  For whatever reason, they sit.  One of which is when a player charges for their signature.  I rarely have cash on me, so that is a reason why I wait to send to players who charge fees.  One such player who's cards sat for a long time was former pitcher, Ken Hill.  I would pass his cards many times, and continue to wait to send them.  Finally, one day, I decided to go ahead and get the cards out of the box and into the mail.  It helped that I had found $10 lying on the ground as I was walking laps around the office building one morning.

The above 1990 Toys R Us card was one that I definitely wanted to add to the autograph album.  When I made the decision to send to Hill, this one was the first card I put into the envelope.

Of all of the other Hill cards that I had, I chose these four to round out the shipment.  Clockwise from top left are a 1995 Upper Deck Collectors Choice SE, 1996 Topps, 1995 Score Summit and a 1997 Topps Finest Hurlers.  I believe Hill's may be the first 1995 Score Summit in the album.  That is a very sharp-looking card, and turned out very nicely once signed.

Hill (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1988 to 2001 for the Cardinals, Expos, Indians, Rangers, Angels, White Sox and Devil Rays.  He had a record of 117-109 with 1,181 strike outs and a 4.06 ERA.  He was an All Star in 1994 when he led the NL in wins (16) prior to the strike ending the season.  He finished second that year in the NL Cy Young race to Greg Maddux.  He finished 12th in the NL MVP voting that season.

I mailed to Hill on November 23 and got the cards back on December 17, for a 24-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $3/card.

Some Signed Jack McDowells From Dugan

I met up with my buddy, Dugan, while on my way to Winston last week and picked up some cards that he had gotten signed for me by Burlington Sock Puppets manager, Jack McDowell. Yes, the former Burlington Royals are now the Sock Puppets.

Burlington is part of the new collegiate wood bat league set up by MLB when they changed the minors around.  Dugan has been to a couple Buington games now and seems to have enjoyed himself.  I do want a Sock Puppets hat...

Dugan got me a bunch of McDowell cards signed.  I had gotten him TTM and also as a free signer at the National.  I think I'm pretty much out of McDowell cards now. 

Thanks so much for getting these signed for me, Dugan!

TTM Success - Charles Nagy

He was one of the tip pitchers of the mid-90s, leading the Indians to a couple playoff berths, and has recently been a major league pitching coach.  When I saw that Charles Nagy was signing TTM, I was very excited and picked up some nice cards of his to send off.

The 1999 Stadium Club (above) turned out really well, and was a card that I had found at my LCS a while back.

I don't have many signed 1997 Topps and even fewer 1997 Topps Chrome in my album, so adding these was nice.

Finally, I had him sign a 1997 Finest Hurlers, 1997 Studio and a 2000 Topps.

Nagy (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1990 to 2003 for the Indians and Padres.  He had a record of 129-105 with 1,242 strike outs and a 4.51 ERA.  His best finish in the AL Cy Young race was 4th (1996).  He was also a three-time All Star (1992, 1996 and 1999).

I mailed to Nagy on October 15 and got the cards back on April 17, for a 185-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mark Johnson

I posted a TTM success from Mark Johnson a few weeks ago and here is another; from a different Mark Johnson.  To make things even tougher when I was working on sending the cards, I saw that BOTH Mark Johnsons have cards in the 2001 Topps set.

This Mark Johnson (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1995 to 1998 and 2000 to 2002 for the Pirates, Angels and Mets.  He had 229 hits, 38 home runs and a .232 batting average.

I mailed to Johnson once, but got a RTS.  I re-sent to him on August 29 and got the cards back on September 9, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Hal Morris

This success from Hal Morris turned out really nice.  Especially the above 1997 Flair Showcase.  The card scanned really well, with all of the glitter in the card really showing up.

These 1996 Pinnacle Museum parallels also look really nice when they are signed.  The cards don't really stand up all that well to time, as some of them, the foil will begin to peel.

Finally, here are the two other cards, a 1997 Finest Competitors and a 1994 Studio.  Both of these turned out really great.  I enjoyed each of the cards that I had sent Morris.  Each of them was a really nice example to put into my album.

Morris (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1988 to 2000 for the Yankees, Reds, Royals and Tigers.  He had 1,216 hits, 76 home runs and a .304 batting average.  He finished third in the 1990 NL Rookie of the Year voting, and 15th in the 1994 NL MVP voting.  He won the World Series in 1990 with the Reds.  Morris appeared on the 2006 Hall of Fame ballot and received 1.0% of the vote.

I mailed to Morris on February 9 and got the cards back on May 2, for an 89-day TAT.

TTM Success - Eddie Taubensee

Here is a TTM success with a wide range of 1990s cards.  I was lucky enough to have a bunch of different cards to choose from when I mailed my TTM request to Eddie Taubensee on November 8.  The above 1997 Finest Warriors was another card that I "prepped" beforehand using one of Chris's school erasers.  This card came out looking great, and I really feel like the eraser is doing the trick.  I have recently sent out a batch using baby powder instead of the eraser, and I am interested to see if that holds up as well.  I will obviously let you guys know if I get that success.

I was able to turn one of my surplus 1995 Topps cards into a TTM success.  I had a bunch left over after purchasing boxes of Series 1 and 2 in order to make a dent in my set.  At the time, I didn't have any 1995s represented in my Topps Autograph Project, but now, quite a few have come back, with several more pending.

I was happy to send this card off as well, since it came out of a binder that my mom had put together back in 1994.  She was working on the 1994 Collectors Choice Silver Signature set, and had an extra of this card in the binder.  When I saw that Taubensee signed, it was a no-brainer that this one was getting sent in.  The fact that it is a horizontal card helps as well.

Here are the other cards that I sent off.  Each of them turned out great, and I am glad I chose to send what I sent.

Taubensee (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1991 to 2001 for the Indians, Astros and Reds.  He had 784 hits, 94 home runs and a .273 batting average.

I mailed to Taubensee on November 8 and got the cards back on November 19, for an 11-day TAT.