TTM Success - Alejandro Freire

Here is a Spring Training TTM success from this year. I had held onto these Alejandro Freire cards in my to-be-TTMed box for a while once I realized he was a good TTM signer through the Rays. He was among the first batch I sent out to Spring Training this year, and one of the few that came back.

I got a 2006 Upper Deck and a 2006 Topps Rookie 52 signed. He is a firmer Oriole I can add to the autograph album and cross off of the list of former Os.

Freire (b. 1974) played in the majors in 2005 for the Orioles. He had 16 hits, 1 home run and a .246 batting average. 

I mailed to Freire via Rays camp on February 9 and got the cards back on February 27, for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Jason Bulger

A couple mid-2000s cards of Jason Bulger were added to the autograph album when the above 2006 Upper Deck and below 2006 Topps Rookie 52 came back signed TTM.  Bulger signed both cards in black Sharpie. 

Bulger (b. 1978) played in the majors from 2005 to 2011 for the Diamondbacks and Angels. He had a record of 7-2 with 138 strike outs and a 4.33 ERA.

I mailed to Bulger on November 3 and got the cards back on January 17, for a 75-day TAT.

TTM Success - Sam Perlozzo

I had these cards of former Orioles manager, Sam Perlozzo, in my Orioles box for years.  I finally got them out of the box and out in the mail last month.  Perlozzo signed everything I sent, and the cards turned out pretty well.

I got Perlozzo to sign a 2006 Upper Deck, 1979 Topps, 2006 Topps and 2007 Topps.  I had the 1979 Topps since I picked up my partial set back in '06, and saved the extra Perlozzo that I found in the box.  It has floated around my Orioles boxes for a long time, and now it will reside in my autograph album.

Perlozzo (b. 1951) played in the majors in 1977 and 1979 for the Twins and Padres.  He had 7 hits, no home runs and a .269 batting average (he only got into 12 games).

He managed the Orioles from 2005 to 2007.  His overall managerial record was 122-164 (.427 win %).  Those were some pretty bad Orioles teams.  Perlozzo even lobbied for his longtime best friend, Leo Mazzone, to come on board as the Orioles pitching coach.  The Orioles pitchers were pretty brutal during that time, and Mazzone was ineffective as pitching coach.  I just remember all of the hype, and then poof, Mazzone was gone.  I knew it wasn't going to end well when Mazzone showed up at Spring Training with a new Orioles logo tattoo on his arm.

I mailed to Perlozzo on March 9 and got the cards back on March 20, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Lance Niekro

I have been working non-stop lately to repopulate my TTM box, and I feel like I have found a ton of guys that I can send cards to.  One of them was former Giant, Lance Niekro.  I got three cards signed, and they all were sets that I don't have many cards of.

The above 2006 Upper Deck looks really cool.  I don't have much at all from this set, and I am glad that I sent this one in.

I found the above 2001 Bowman Heritage at my LCS.  The period of 1997 to 2003 holds a ton of stuff that I never opened.  I was out of the collecting game, and missed out on some gems.  The card looks awesome, and I was super excited to find it at the shop.

Of course, I had to get a Topps base card in there, and 2006 Topps is one set that I have very little of, as far as bulk cards are concerned.  I had a box of them that turned over and fell out of my truck in my move, and the cards ended up in the gutter just after a rainstorm.  Needless to say, most of the cards were ruined.

Niekro (b. 1979) is the son of the late Joe Niekro and the nephew of Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro.  He played in the majors from 2003 and 2005 to 2007 for the Giants.  He had 123 hits, 17 home runs and a .246 batting average.

I mailed to Niekro on September 30 and got the cards back on October 8, for an 8-day TAT.

Rodrigo Lopez Auto From Max

My good friend Max sent me yet another care package recently, this time with a bunch of base cards to take with me to The National, for the VIP signers.  I'm going to try to get a few things signed for him, but it is going to be tough, since the handlers pretty much don't let you get more than one item signed at a time.  I intend to use some of my Wild Cards to help Max's collection out.

Max did include some cards for my collection in his package, as well.  He sent me a Mychal Givens auto that he pulled out of 2016 Topps and the above IP auto he got from former Oriole, Rodrigo Lopez.

Lopez (b. 1975) played in the majors from 2000, 2002 to 2007 and 2009 to 2012 for the Padres, Orioles, Rockies, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Cubs.  He had a career record of 81-89 with a 4.82 ERA and 865 strike outs.  He was signed by the Orioles as a free agent out of the Mexican League in November 2001.  He would finish second on the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year voting to Eric Hinske after he went 15-9 with a 3.57 ERA that year.  In his five seasons with the Orioles, he was 60-58 with a 4.72 ERA.  He won 14 or more games for the O's three of those five seasons.  His 2006 season when he went 9-18 with a 5.90 ERA really skews his stats; he was a decent pitcher for a terrible O's team during those seasons.  One must wonder how Lopez would have fared had he had a better team behind him, such as the current Orioles.

I always liked Lopez when he was with the O's.  I was sad to see him get traded to the Rockies for Jason Burch and Jim Miller in January 2007, but his time had pretty much come.  I love that Max thought of me to get this card signed.  Thanks a lot, buddy!