Another TTM Success From Nolan Watson

Earlier this season, I saw that Nolan Watson was on High Point's roster.  I went on Ebay and picked up a couple of his cards, and also dug through my stacks at the house for one of Gerard's team set cards that never got signed when Watson was with Wilmington.  All of this was nice and all, until I asked Watson with High Point for his autograph.  He said "Dude, I'm a catcher."  Yeah, wasn't the same guy.  Oops.

I found an address for this Nolan Watson and mailed to him.  The cards I sent all came back signed and looked great.  I noticed when they came back that I had gotten Watson before, back in April of 2021.

Since then, Watson (b. 1997) has moved.on from the Royals organization to the Padres system.  He was in AAA this year, but was on the 60-day IL when I mailed to him. 

Currently, Watson has a career record in the minors of 32-53 with 488 strike outs and a 6.14 ERA.

I mailed to Watson on August 14 and got the cards back on August 26, for a 12-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Will Craig

When I saw Wake Forest early this season, I had hoped to get some cards signed by student assistant coach, Will Craig.  I had picked up some cards for the game, but missed Craig completely.  I dropped a few of the cards in the mail and waited patiently for them to come in.  Thankfully, they did. 

I had picked up several nice parallels, so I was really excited to get them in and add them to the album.

Craig (b. 1994) played for the Pirates in 2020 and 2021.  He had 13 hits, 1 home run and a .203 batting average.

I mailed to Craig on March 28 via Wake Forest Baseball and got the cards back on May 24, for a 57-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Bryce Denton

My friend, Gerard, hosted a private signing with Bryce Denton, so I got another opportunity to get a couple of cards signed.  Gerard swapped one of my 2015 Bowmans for the above 2014 Leaf Perfect Game.  I had already gotten a 15 Bowman signed, so this was nice to swap for it.

I also got a 2016 Bowman Chrome signed.  This set is one of the best looking Bowman Chrome sets that has come out in recent years, and I always enjoy getting those cards signed.

I mailed to the signing on May 10 and got the cards back on July 1, for a 52-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $5.00/card.

TTM Success - Jeff Conine

This 1993 Topps card of Jeff Conine is a card that I had been wanting to get signed TTM for some time now.  I had sent one to him when he was signing briefly, but never got it back.  So, when I saw that he was signing via a private signing recently, I went ahead and sent the card along.  It came back looking great, and I am glad I went ahead and got it done.

I also sent this 2016 Bowman Chrome RC Flashback, since I thought it looked pretty cool.  It also turned out great, and was worth sending in.

Conine (b. 1966) played in the majors in 1990 and from 1992 to 2007 for the Royals, Marlins, Orioles, Phillies, Reds and Mets.  He had 1,982 hits, 214 home runs and a .285 batting average.  He finished 3rd in the 1993 NL Rookie of the Year voting, and was an All Star twice (1994 and 1995).  He won the World Series twice with the Marlins, 1997 and 2003.

He appeared on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes.

I mailed to the signing on February 23 and got the cards back on April 29, for a 65-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $30.00.

TTM Success - Forrest Wall

Here are a couple more Bowman cards that I was able to get out of my prospects box and into my album.  The above 2016 Bowman Chrome of Forrest Wall came out really well when I got it signed by him TTM. I like the 2016 design, and they look really good when signed.

I also got this 2014 Bowman Chrome signed.  This has been my favorite Bowman set for a while, but I do enjoy the 2016s like I said above.

Wall (b. 1995) was a first round (35th overall) draft pick by the Rockies out of high school in the 2014 June Amateur Draft.  He has played in the minors from 2014 to 2019 in the Rockies and Blue Jays systems, reaching AAA.  He has 559 hits, 40 home runs and a .274 battng average.

I mailed to Wall on January 4 and got the cards back on January 25, for a 21-day TAT.

TTM Success - Luis Ortiz

I took a chance sending out these cards to former Oriole, Luis Ortiz, and was happy with what I was able to get back.  The above 2016 Bowman Chrome orange shimmer was the reason I sent in the first place, and it looks amazing.  I really love the shimmer and color chromes from 2016 Bowman.  They just look great.

I also sent a 2015 Panini USA and a 2019 Panini Donruss foil, and both of these look really nice, too.

Ortiz (b. 1995) played in the majors in 2018 and 2019 for the Orioles.  He went 0-2 with 3 strike outs and a 12.71 ERA.  He was a former first round draft pick (30th overall) by the Rangers in the 2014 June Amateur Draft out of high school.

I mailed to Ortiz on May 22 and got the cards back on December 11, for a 203-day TAT.

California 50/50s

I received a message on Instagram from my friend Dylan in California saying that he was going to an event organized by Daniel Robertson.  There were a good many players attending, and Dylan was nice enough to take some cards off of my hands for a 50/50.

I was really glad that Dylan was willing to take Brice Turang, since I still had a bunch of his cards on hand.  I didn't send him too many, because Dylan wasn't sure how many Turang would sign, but I believe he ended up taking 6 of my cards.  He actually sent 4 signed cards back, so Chris got one of the extras.

I sent Dylan every Josh Staumont that I had, since I had a bunch of his all together because I thought I would see him with Wilmington.  I never did see him, but it helped that they were all in one place.

I missed Cody Ponce signing this 2016 Pro Debut, so getting that out of the Box of Shame was nice.  I only had one Daniel Robertson, and Dylan was nice enough to not require another card as part of the 50/50.

I was disappointed that I missed sending him some of my 2013 Perfect Game Jacob Nix cards.  I forgot he was in that set.  It would have been nice to get rid of some of them.

I had the 2015 Bowman Rio Ruiz set aside for Orioles Fan Fest, but since they canceled it, I was able to get one back from Dylan.

Thank you so much for taking the cards, Dylan!

TTM Success - Rob Kaminsky

I have talked on here a lot about getting cards out of my boxes and into my autograph album.  Something I really hate is pulling cards of players to either graph or send TTM, only to have to put them back after missing out on said player.  I have started a new box with these types of cards.  Since most of them are already sorted by player, it makes it a bit easier to find someone, in case I missed someone who came through Kinston, but is now on a AA or AAA team that I, or one of my friends will see.  So, all cards of guys that I have missed out on, or ones that went out for 50/50s, but came back unsigned will be put into the "Box of Shame."

One such player who was in the Box of Shame was Rob Kaminsky.  I had pulled his cards because I was going to see him, but for whatever reason, I missed him.  I found out that he signed TTM, so I was able to send off the cards I had pulled, and thankfully, they came back signed.  So, out of the Box of Shame and into the autograph album they go!

Kaminsky (b. 1994) was a first round pick (28th overall) by the Cardinals in the 2013 June Amateur Draft.  Over 7 seasons in the Cardinals and Indians systems, Kaminsky has a 29-21 record with 367 strike outs and a 2.82 ERA.

I mailed to Kaminsky on December 30 and got the cards back on January 21, for a 22-day TAT.

A Couple Autos From Keegan

I sent some Richmond cards to my friend, Keegan, in hopes of getting some 50/50s done, but it was pretty close to the end of the season, so all he was able to get done for me was this Jalen Miller 2016 Bowman Chrome black and gold refractor.  I had sent him a Jonah Arenado card just like this one, but he got released by the Giants right before Keegan was set to do the graphing.

I took a couple guys for Keegan, and in return he sent me this 2013 Topps Update Chris Davis in return.  I didn't have this one signed by Davis yet, so that was nice.

Hopefully, Keegan will be able to take some more 50/50s next season, as some good players should be moving up to Richmond.

TTM Success - Nick Solak

I hd this 2018 Bowman Chrome purple refractor of Nick Solak and was really glad to see that he signed TTM.  So, I powdered the card and sent a few others to him to get him to sign.  The card looks really nice.

He inscribed each card to me, which was a nice touch.  I was also glad to get my 2018 Topps Heritage Minors signed that shows him in a Biscuits uniform.

Solak (b. 1995) was a second round pick by the Yankees in the 2016 draft out of the University of Louisville.  He was traded to the Rays in a three-team trade also involving the Diamondbacks for Brandon Drury.

So far Solak has 350 hits, 34 home runs and a .296 batting average in 3 minor league seasons.  He has played as high as AA ball.

I mailed to Solak on October 22 and got the cards back on November 19, for a 28-day TAT.

TTM Success - Cal Quantrill

I sent a TTM request to Padres prospect, Cal Quantrill, via Padres Spring Training, and received a success.  He signs only one per, so I sent off this 2016 Bowman Draft insert.  Unfortunately, the Sharpie he used was on its way out, and the auto didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped, but it is still a success.  I have a couple other prospects on inserts like this one, so I hope I get some better results soon.

Quantrill (b. 1995) was a first round draft pick (8th overall) by the Padres in 2016.  He has played as high as AA for the Padres.  In his minor league career, Quantrill has a record of 7-15 with a 4.12 ERA and 156 strike outs.  This is across 34 games started.  He still has a lot of room for improvement.  So far during this year's Spring Training, he is 1-0 with a 12.00 ERA.  My best bet would be that he starts the season at High A again, and moves up to AA shortly thereafter, but he could very well begin the season at AA.  Cal is the son of former Major Leaguer, Paul Quantrill.

I mailed to Quantrill on February 10 and got the card back on February 17, for a 7-day TAT.

Rain Shortened Graphing

Last night, the Wood Ducks were supposed to play an exhibition game against Mount Olive University, but ominous clouds lingered well before the gates opened.  A storm was set to come through, but my son and I headed to Grainger Stadium anyway.  I had placed an order for some Wood Ducks cards last week on COMC, and they were set to come in yesterday.  Of course, when I got home after 5:00 from work, the mail lady was late, so I had to wait around until she came.  Luckily, she got here around 5:20.  Chris and I thrashed to get some baby powder on the chrome parallels, and head to the park.

We were able to get Jairo Beras on a few cards before it started raining.  The above 2013 Bowman Chrome blue shimmer mini turned out awesome.  It is numbered 196/250.  I love how it scanned.  I may seriously have to get some more of these shimmer parallels, because they really look great.

These two 2016 Bowman parallels look equally as nice.  Neither of these cards are numbered, but they look really nice.

We waited out the rain after getting Beras by picking up some food and eating dinner underneath an overhang and chatting with one of the park employees (who happened to be an Orioles fan - woo hoo a new friend!!) and checking the MLB At Bat app to see how the O's were doing (walk off home run by Mark Trumbo really made my night!).  Finally, the rain let up and we made our way back to the field.

We watched Brett Martin throw for a bit, while the PA announcer let us know that the exhibition was canceled.  Martin came up to us and signed everything that Chris and I had.

The best part about meeting Martin was that he remembered Chris's name from when we met him the night before.  He spoke with us for a while about how he liked Kinston and where he was from.  It turned out that he was a big racing fan and is into cars, so I plan on getting him a signed photo of my dad's drag car.  I think it would be really cool to hand it to him since he was so nice to us.  One phone call to my mom got this taken care of.

I'm excited, too, that Martin will be the Wood Ducks starter for their home opener.  I plan on cheering for him (and the other Wood Ducks, obviously) next week.  I am torn about whether or not I will be graphing the rest of the Wood Ducks cards that I have or do some Winston-Salem Dash cards that I picked up in the same COMC order.

Check back here often; I plan on posting a lot more items from the Wood Ducks and other minor league games.