TTM Success - Brian Roberts

A private signing with Brian Roberts popped up recently which allowed me to dip into the PC of him for some cool cards to add to the autograph album.  The above 2005 Bowman Heritage mahogany parallel turned out nicely.  I've been wanting to add one of these to the album, so this was a great opportubity.

I also got a 2009 UD SP Legendary Cuts (left) and a 2005 UD Ultimate Collection signed.  Both of these are really great, and we're good choices to add to the album. 

Roberts (b. 1977) was my PC player after Cal Ripken retired.  I had taken a buddy to an Orioles game in 2005, and Roberts hit a walkoff homer in the 11th inning off of the Yankees.  I had called it, also.  So, it was o ly natural to build a PC of him after that moment.

Roberts played in the majors from 2001 to 2014 for the Orioles and Yankees.  He had 1,527 hits, 97 home runs and a .276 batting average.  He led the league in doubles twice (2004 and 2009) and led the league in stolen bases in 2007.  He was an All Star in 2005 and 2007.  He finished 18th in the AL MVP race in 2005.  He appeared on the 2020 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes.

I mailed to the signing on May 25 and got the cards back on August 23, for a 90-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $30/card.

2024 National Paid Signer - Sammy Sosa

The next paid signer I got at the National was Sammy Sosa.  It was his first National, and I got this nice 2005 Bowman Heritage signed.  I liked the brick background, and that it showed Sosa in an Orioles jersey.

Sammy was really nice and allowed me to pose for a photo with him.

Sosa (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1989 to 2007 for the Rangers, White Sox, Cubs and Orioles.  He had 2,408 hits, 609 home runs and a .273 batting average.  He was a 7-time All Star (1995, 1998 to 2002 and 2004) and the 1998 NL MVP.  He hit 40 or more home runs 7 times; 50 or more 4 times and 60 or more home runs 3 times.  His 609 home runs are 9th all-time.

Because Sosa has been linked to steroids through his questionable congressional testimony (he suddenly forgot how to speak without an interpreter), among other accusations, he was unable to secure election to the Hall of Fame during his 10 years on the ballot. The highest voting percentage he received was 18.5% in 2022.  He will now be at the mercy of the Veterans Committee.

TTM Success - Ryan Feierabend

It took a while, but I was really excited to get this TTM success back from Ryan Feierabend.  2005 Bowman Heritage is a really great set, and I love the brick background for Feierabend's card.  His signature is really nice, as well, and looks great on the card.

I also got this 2005 Bowman's Best signed.  It, too, looks real sharp with his signature on it.

Feierabend (b. 1985) played in the majors from 2006 to 2008, 2014 and 2019 for the Mariners, Rangers and Blue Jays.  He had a career record of 2-12 with 72 strike outs and a 7.34 ERA.

I mailed to Feierabend on March 18, 2019, and got the cards back on August 25, 2020, for a 526-day TAT.

TTM Success - David Eckstein

I was really excited to get this TTM success from David Eckstein.  I had found this 2005 Bowman Heritage at a card show, and thought it would look great when signed.  I was right!

I also added a couple nice Topps cards, a 2006 and a 2010.  Both turned out well.

Eckstein (b. 1975) played in the majors from 2001 to 2010 for the Angels, Cardinals, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks and Padres.  He had 1,414 hits, 35 home runs and a .280 batting average.  He was an All Star twice (2005 and 2006) and finished a career-best 11th in the AL MVP voting in 2002.  He won the World Series with the Angels in 2002 and Cardinals in 2006 (he was the World Series MVP that season).

Eckstein appeared on the 2016 Hall of Fame ballot and received 0.5% of the vote.

I mailed to Eckstein on March 22 via the Pirates and got the cards back on April 12, for a 21-day TAT.

Stranger Things Night at DBAP

One of the things I like the most about the minor leagues is that teams do a great job on promotions.  I was looking forward to Stranger Things Night at DBAP ever since I heard that it was a thing.  I fell in love with the Netflix show, and was really glad I made it to the game.

I was really happy that they were going to have specialty jerseys for the game based off of the character, Dustin.  The jerseys are really cool, and I made sure to come home with one.

The jersey I got was of former Orioles first round pick, Brandon Snyder.  Of all the Bulls players I could have gotten, Snyder was the one I really wanted to get.  I plan on hanging it up with the rest of my game used jerseys.

It was really cool seeing Snyder in person again.  I picked this 2005 Bowman at the Chantilly show in April since I figured I would see Snyder sometime.  The card turned out great, I think.  I pre-prepped it with baby powder before I went to the game.

This 2005 Bowman Heritage also turned out so nice.  Snyder has a great signature, and it shows here.

Here are the rest of the Snyder cards that I got done.  Chris was down on the field saying "play ball" again, so I was happy to be able to get the extras done.

I was also happy that I got these two Nick Ciuffo cards out of my box and get them signed.  He was really nice.

Eloy Jimenez only signed for kids, and did this one for Chris.  We were glad to get this one done from our Carolina League Top Prospects set.

Outside the stadium, I was able to get these two cards from 2017 Pro Debut signed by Casey Gillaspie and Jordan Stephens.

I really enjoyed the theme night, and was glad I could spend it with Mal, Chris, and my friend, Jackson.

Texas Trip Day 2 - Meeting Raffy

The second day of our trip was exciting for me, because I planned for that day to be a trip to Cleburne, Texas.  In Cleburne, there is an independent league team, and one of their players just happened to be Rafael Palmeiro.  The stadium is new, so new that it didn't pop up in the rental car GPS.  Luckily, I had decent enough service that I used Google Maps to get there.

For an independent league team, they have a really nice stadium.  It reminded me of Jim Perry Stadium at Campbell University, where the Buies Creek Astros play.  Everything was turf, which is kind of cool.  I don't think I would want to see an all-turf field all of the time, but when it is at a game here and there, it's ok.

Everyone we talked to while we were there was very friendly.  We told anyone that would listen that we were visiting from NC.  Chris and I had gotten there several hours before the gates opened, because I thought we would have some other things to do in the area.  Unfortunately, when we got there, the temperature was 115 degrees, so after a few laps around the stadium looking for home run balls (we found three), we drove to a nearby Sonic and got some massive slushies.

We got tickets right beside the dugout, front row, for $12 a piece.  Raffy came out and signed autographs pre-game, and posed for a photo with me.  He signed 4 of the 8 cards I put out and signed as many for Chris.  While Raffy was signing for us, a girl from the promotions department had come down to talk to us about how we traveled all the way from NC.  She invited Chris to come onto the field to say play ball, which he reluctantly agreed to do.  I also told Raffy that I had been a big fan since I was really young, and we traveled all the way from NC to see him.  He thanked me, and shook my hand.

While Chris was on the field getting ready to say "play ball", Patrick Palmeiro (who is also on the Cleburne team) told Chris he would give him a bat.

The bad turned out to be a broken Rafael Palmeiro bat!!  We ended up shipping it back home the day after the game.  I was stunned by being able to take it home.

My cell phone doesn't do terribly when it comes to action shots, I've found.  Here is a pitch being delivered to Raffy, which he hit out of the park.

That's right, Rafael Palmeiro hit a home run in his first at bat while we were there.  When he returned to the dugout, he chatted with Chris, since we were beside the steps.  Chris congratulated him on the homer, and asked Raffy if he would sign the bat we had gotten.  Raffy agreed to.

The Railroaders provided a really fun experience, and a really nice ballpark.  There were train engines and cars all around the stadium, and there were a good many people there.  I bought a hat, a shirt, and a mini bat for Chris.

Here is a pic of Chris in front of the stadium as we were leaving.  I definitely would go back to Cleburne for a game, even if Raffy isn't there.  The Railroaders lost the game to the Sioux Falls Canaries 6-3.  Raffy went 1-4 with the homer, his third of the season.

Like I said above, Raffy signed 8/16 cards for us.  I wasn't sure how many to show when he was graphing, so I just laid my book out, opened, with 4 cards on each page.  He chose a page and signed/  Luckily, the pages he chose out of my and Chris's books were all of the main cards I wanted signed.  The above 2005 Bowman Heritage mahogany parallel was the #1 card I wanted to come back with signed.  I definitely wanted one in my album, and this one was really awesome paired with my Staedtler pen.

I also wanted to put this goofy Bazooka Comics insert card into my album.  I definitely didn't have one of these signed, and it actually turned out pretty nice.

Chris wanted to keep two of the cards he got done, and I sent one to my friend, Max.  We also got two extra ones signed because I loaned my pen to a lady beside us, and she had her grandson get two of my cards signed post game.  He didn't want to keep them, so that worked out for me.

My good fried, Gerard, was kind enough to figure out which players on the Railroaders and Canaries had cards, and also sent me some for 50/50s.  He had a bunch of Angelo Gumbs, who was really nice.

I actually had this card of starting pitcher, Josh Hodges.  It felt really good to get this 2009 Bowman out of my box and into my album.  That was really gratifying, especially since I went through so many cards to find one that I had of one of the Railroaders.

Stay tuned for the next day of our trip: where Chris and I were reunited with some old friends from the Wood Ducks.

Brian Roberts To Go On Rehab Assignment Tomorrow!

Finally, after being out for over a year with post concussion symptoms, Brian Roberts will be making a rehab assignment with Double A Bowie starting tomorrow.

It will be awesome if Roberts can get back to the majors.  The Orioles are pretty beat up right now with several players on the DL.  Hopefully Brian can get back quickly and resume his stellar career.  A doubles machine, Roberts will give the O's stability at the top of the batting order and speed on the basepaths.  Welcome back Brian!  You definitely have been missed!

Updating Zistle

So, I spent today adding more cards to my Zistle account. I knocked off most of my Cals the other day, so i figured I'd move on to Brian Roberts. I found that it was more difficult than I first imagined. A good many of his cards weren't even listed yet, and there were some already on there that didn't have any pictures. So, I scanned 93 different Brian Roberts cards and updated Zistle's library as best I could. here are some highlights of what I scanned and listed. I think this 2005 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Absolutely Ink is a damn good looking card. Don't you agree? I know I bought it off ebay cheap a while back... It hase been maybe 3 years or so, so I don't remember much.

Now, this above card could definitely pass as the O's Mitchell Report card. With Roberts, Larry Bigbie and Jay Gibbons. My opinion of Roberts didn't change at all when he admitted to using steroids once in 2003. I never cared for Gibbons because he was always hurt. Now, Bigbie, well, I hate that he was blackballed and forced to play in Japan to keep his career going. He had a lot of talent. I went to 2 games in 2005 and he hit homers in each game, but he, too, was injured a bunch, and when he was traded, I was a little sad.

This Upper Deck Ultimate Signatures Roberts is just one GOOD LOOKING card. I really like this and forgot I had it. Isn't that sad?

Ahhh, a 2000 Frederick keys Brian Roberts minor league card. Got this really cheap off ebay too. I like it since I get to watch the Keys a lot when they come and play Kinston, or if Im back in Winston and see them there.

A very nice 2005 Bowman Heritage Mahogany. I like the feel of these cards. I'm not one who enjoys the super glossy cards (another blog for another day). I really like the rough cardboard of yesteryear and this card really captures it.

All in all, I spent almost my entire day listing cards on Zistle. Check my collection out, especially you O's fans. Let me know what you think!

Boredom leads to:

going through boxes. I did, however, find some decent stuff. While sitting around wondering where everyone else is, I dug out all the card boxes my loving wife stacked in the closet, then proceeded to bury underneath sleeping bags, comforters, etc etc...

I was really happy to find these Bowman Heritage cards of Nolan Reimold and Brandon Snyder. Two future stars of the Orioles. Hooray for me.

I also went through my 'Random Orioles Box.' It kind of made me sad because this 5,000 count box is full of mostly 'could have beens', 'never was's' and 'Who's?'. For example, I found cards of supposed Oriole prospects: Curtis Goodwin, Jeff Manto, Mike Paradis, Ben McDonald, Keith Reid, Adam Loewen, Sherman Obando and Jorge Julio.

I found cards of players the Os signed waaaay past their prime: Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, Bobby Bonilla, Javy Lopez and Marty Cordova.

I also saw some groan enducing players as well: Glenn Davis, Curt Schilling, Albert Belle, Miguel Tejada, Will Clark, Sammy Sosa and Sidney Ponson.

Finally, I did see a few who made me smile: Bill Ripken, BJ Surhoff, Brady Anderson and Chris Hoiles.

The Orioles have had some good players in their past, and they have had some that make you think 'Why God, why???' Why oh why did they trade for Sammy Sosa? Why did they trade away Curt Schilling and Steve Finley for Glenn Davis? Gaaaah.

I just hope some of the newer Os (Roberts, Markakis, Wieters, Reimold, Matusz, Tillman, etc) have great and successful careers, so in a few years my Os box will be more like a treasure chest instead of a house of horrors.