2024 National Pickup - Derek Jeter Signed Baseball

While it has taken me some time to finally clean out my stuff from the 2024 National, I am ashamed to say that I completely forgot to post this signed baseball that I picked up at the show.  I got this ball on the last day of the show, and probably overpaid a bit.  Still, I am glad to cross Derek Jeter off of my list.  I'm not a fan of how high his prices are; I've always contended that had Jeter played for someone like, say, the Royals, he would be held in the same regard as Paul Molitor.  A great player, a Hall of Famer, sure, but not the legend that folks make Jeter out to be.  That may be a little bit of my dislike for the Yankees shining through, but I feel like I am not alone in this sentiment.

Anyway, Jeter (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1995 to 2014 for the Yankees.  He was a part of the late 90s Yankee dynasty that won the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series.  He also won the World Series in 2009.  He had 3,465 hits (leading the league twice), 260 home runs and a .310 career batting average (with 12 seasons of batting .300 or better; ok that's actually pretty dang good).  He never won an MVP award (the horror!), finishing second in 2006 and third in 1998 and 2009.  For those that care, he had a career 71.3 WAR, according to baseball-reference's metrics.

Jeter was a 14-time All Star (1998 to 2002, 2004, 2006 to 2012 and 2014) and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2006 to 2009 and 2012).  He was the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year and 2000 World Series MVP.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020, his first ballot, with 99.7% of the vote.  No, I don't have a vote, but even I, with my disdain for Jeter, am not dumb enough to say he didn't deserve to get in.  The argument against not voting for someone it a different discussion for a different day, but even I know he is definitely a Hall of Famer.  Duh.

Somewhere along the line, I messed up my HOF count, so in my estimation, Jeter is my 173rd Hall of Famer on a baseball.  That would also make it necessary to say that Dave Parker getting in last month puts him (Parker) as #174.  Hopefully I remember that, and can audit my numbers accordingly.

A Huge Autograph Haul From The National

Catching up on scans has been tough, and this post had a ton of scans that I needed to get through.

While at this year's National, Michael and I spent a ton of time (and a good bit of money) at the IP autos boxes.  There's a dealer at the show with stacks and stacks of 5,000-count boxes of in person (and I assume TTM) autos.  There are a lot of obscure autos in there, and Michael and I had a blast going through it.

Above are cards of Eugenio Velez, Heath Bell, Ryan Church, Kevin Young, Jeff Reboulet, Lou Frazier, Marc Barcelo and Ty Blach.  I like all of the cards showing the infield dirt for some reason. 

Michael and I also completed a card-for-card trade for autographed cards while we were recovering from a long day at the show. Unfortunately, those autos got mixed up with the ones I had purchased.   Here are autographs of David Segui, Bill Mueller and Akinori Iwamura.  The 2006 Topps card is signed by some unknown Oriole.

I'm pretty sure that this Miguel Rojas came from Michael. Regardless, this 2017 Topps looks pretty cool. I like the Marlins logo here.

Going through the boxes, I pulled every Nolan Reimold and Brandon Waring that I could find. It is always cool finding a Wofford card in the wild at a show.

This Doug Drabek was an upgrade to the personalized one that was in my 1987 Topps set. I will put the personalized one in the autograph album and this one with the set.

I also love finding signed Wood Duck, Kinston Indian and Carolina Mudcat cards in the wild.  I needed the above 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Diosbel Arias, so finding that one was great.  I also found a couple Steve Mintz autos, which was great.  There are also autos of Rick Prieto, Brian Anthony and Macier Izturis.

I found a lot of former Oriole farmlands in thr boxes.  Here are Rick Bauer, Brian Burres, a couple Feeddie Bynum, Howie Clark, Tommy Davis, Cesar Devarez, Eric DuBose and Brian Finch.  I remember all of these dudes.  Several are ones I wish I could have gotten in the past.

This next batch is Jeff Fiorentino x 2, Pedro Florimon, Mike Fontenot, Riley Hornback, Caleb Joseph, Dave Johnson, Jim Johnson and Eugene Kingsale.  A couple of them (Fontenot, Mike Johnson and Joseph) are guys i had gotten before either in person or TTM.

Here are: another Kingsale, a couple Adam Loewen, Val Majewski, Kevin Millwood, Ntema Ndungidi, Ryan Ouellette, Hayden Penn and Keith Reed.  I remember the organization being really high on Penn, but he didn't work out.  Much like a lot of these guys, sadly.  Adding the 2010 Topps Heritage of NCs own Kevin Millwood was also a bonus.

These are: Keith Reed, Matt Riley x 3, Ed Rogers, Luke Scott, Nate Spears, John Stephens and Mamon Tucker.  Stephens was the Orioles minor league pitcher of the year twice, but still didn't do much at the Major League level.  He got into 12 games in 2002, to a 6+ ERA.  He is from Australia, so I don't think I'd ever get a chance to get him TTM.

The last of the Orioles cards are a couple more Mamon Tucker, a 2017 Heritage Gabriel Ynoa and a 1994 Donruss Greg Zaun.  That Ynoa is a cool addition of a guy I forgot was an Oriole.

Now, I get into cards that junped out at me in the autograph boxes and/or the deal with Michael.  Here are: Ladies Alvarez, who I wish I had gotten when I was in Oklahoma City a couple years ago; Phillippe Aumont, Paul Bako, Grant Balfour, Skeeter Barnes, Jason Bay, Rob Bellior and Joe Biagini.

Next are: Cousin Hank Blalock (right, P. A.?), Brainer Bonaci, Julio Borbon, Dusty Brown, Brian Burgamy on a sweet Topps 206, Freddie Bynum, Eric Chavez (not the A's guy) and Ozzie Chavez.

More: Scott Coolbaugh, Callix Crabbe, Will Craig, Rajai Davis, Rick Dempsey (with a 1988 WS Champs inscription; this was from Michael), Chris Denorfia and Justin Duchscherererer.

Here are: Darnell Evans, Josh Fogg, Ray Fosse, Kyle Funkhouser, Esteban German, Fredi Gonzalez, Goose Gossage, KeBryan Hayes and Luis Hernandez.

These are: Ramon Hernandez, Teoscar Hernandez, Richard Hidalgo, Justin Huber, Tyrell Jenkins, two Blaze Jordan, Steve Johnson and Mitch Keller.

Above are: Jon Knott, Ramon Laureano, Wl Ledezma, Matt Lindstrom, Zach Lee, Jordan Lyles, Dillon Maples, Robert Machado and Pratt Maynard.

I got excited when I saw the 2002 Topps Mauer.  Except it was Jake Mauer, not Joe.  That would have been too good to be true, obviously.  The rest are: Kevin Mench, Danny Mendick, Colby Miller, Luke Montz, two Manny Mota, Tomas Nido and Randy Nieman on a 1986 Topps Tiffany.

Next are: John Olerud, Gene Pentz, Felix Pie, Brooks Pounders, Wilfredo Rodriguez, Jojo Romero, Josh Sharpless, Kyle Sleeth and Mallex Smith.

I'm pretty sure I got the above Blake Snell from Michael.  Probably the Dillon Tate, too.  There are also Erick Threets, Jason Tyner, Jordan Weems, Jimy Williams, Matt Williams, Peanut Williams and Vance Worley.  I know i sent TTM to Worley, but the card(s) haven't come back yet.

Whew, finally, here is a 2017 Topps Heritage Minors TJ Zeuch.  I got Zeuch last year, but didnt get the Heritage done, so I was glad to add this one to the album. 

That was a ton of cards.  I'm glad I finally got off of my butt and got them all scanned and filed into the autograph album. 

Thanks for looking through the boxes with me, Michael, and also thanks for the trade.

2024 National Paid Signer - Omar Vizquel

Back to the National for a moment, I paid to meet Omar Vizquel and finally get this photo signed of he and Chris at the last game of the Wood Ducks 2018 season.

I could have sent the photo to a private signing, but I wanted to see him sign it in person and hope for any kind of reaction.

I did get a reaction, which was cool.  He saw it and said "this looks familiar..." and laughed.  He then showed the picture to his handler, which was cool.  The signature looks cool in gold Sharpie.

I appreciated Vizquel coming to the National and signing.  His price wasn't too bad, which helped. I've now framed the picture and put it on my wall in my home office room.

2024 National Pickup - Bill Paxton Autograph

There have been two celebrity deaths in my life that deeply affected me.  One was Chris Cornell.  The other was actor, Bill Paxton.

Paxton (b. 1955 - d. 2017) was first introduced to me when I was a kid with his performance as Chet in Weird Science.  He played the role of douchy big brother perfectly.  My favorite role of his, and most other folks, was his role at Pvt. Hudson in Aliens.  Aliens is my favorite movie ever, and Hudson's arc is key in the movie.  He also has probably the second-best well known line of the movie in "Game Over Man".

He also appeared in Terminator, Predator 2, True Lies, Frailty and Tombstone (among many others).  So many great movies.  There's a myth that his characters had each been (spoiler alert) killed by a terminator, predator and alien.  However, his character in Terminator didn't actually die. He was probably knocked unconscious.

Anyway, I had been looking for a Paxton autograph for some time now. Last year at the National, I really got serious about finding one, but pop culture autographs were few and far between there.  It was like looking for needles in haystack.

This year, this card was my second purchase (after a Gunnar Henderson jersey) at the second card table I stopped to look at.  I bought it, and the guy beside me told me that if i hadn't bought it, he would have.

So, this pickup at the National ended up being my favorite purchase, and happened right after the show started.  I wish it was an Aliens autograph, but I'll take what I can get.  At least it's an on-card autograph and not a sticker auto.

2024 National Free Signer - Bob Lilly

Bob Lilly has been at the National before, but it looks like I didn't get him.  I really thought I had.  It doesn't matter now, since I got him on two cards this year.

I picked up a couple cards from the same vendor as the other free signers.  They're decent enough cards to get signed.  Lilly was the last free signer that I needed, which will move me on to posting some other stuff.

Lilly (b. 1939) played professionally from 1961 to 1974 for the Cowboys.  He was an 11-time pro bowler and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.  He won Super Bowl VI with the Cowboys.

Lilly was really nice.  His line moved super slowly, but he took his time to sign and talk with everyone.

2024 National Free Signer - JT Thomas

According to pro-football-reference.com, there were three football players with the name JT Thomas.  One of them was one of the free signers at the National. 

I had picked this 1978 Topps football card up from the same vendor with the signers cards, but was in line for one of the other free guys while Michael got Thomas for me.  So, I didn't actually meet Thomas.

Thomas (b. 1951) played professionally from 1973 to 1977 and 1979 to 1982 for the Steelers and Broncos.  He had 20 interceptions in his career.  He won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 1974, 1975 and 1979.

2024 National Free Signer - Len Barker

Len Barker was a free signer at the 2018 National.  I got the cards I had at the time signed.  I had to search a bunch of my boxes to find some Barker cards for this year's National when I found out that he was signing.  The above 1985 Fleer turned out nicely.  There's also a lot of blue on this card, which is actually pretty cool.

Barker was nice, as he had been in 2018 also.  I only got the one card signed; I wasn't waiting around for them to call wild cards on him, but I believe they did.

2024 National Free Signer - Carlos Baerga

The free signers from the National are finally winding down, with just a few more to go.  This one was with Carlos Baerga, who I had gotten TTM back in 2017.

I had this really nice 1998 Fleer Metal that was the main card I wanted to get signed. I had it signed with gold paint pen, and it looks awesome.

I had an extra voucher for Baerga and got his 1995 Topps done (bottom right).  They also called wild cards on him, and I knocked out a few others (top from left: 1992 Topps and 1993 Topps, and bottom left: 1994 Donruss).

Baerga was really nice.  I was glad to get a few extra cards out of my slider box, since I spent a lot of time finding his stuff.

2024 National Pickup - Albert Belle Signed Baseball

As Michael and I were walking around the National, he spotted this Albert Belle signed baseball.  The vendor had a deal where if I paired this ball with another signed ball (to be shown later), I could get both for $100.  I took that deal, as I couldn't remember the last time I had seen a Belle ball.

Belle (b. 1966) celebrated his 58th birthday today (August 25).  He played in the majors from 1989 to 2000 for the Indians, White Sox and Orioles. He had 1,726 hits, 381 home runs and a .295 batting average.  He was a 5-time All Star and 5-time Silver Slugger Award winner. 

Thanks for seeing this ball and pointing it out to me, Michael.

2024 National Free Signer - Cardale Jones

Here is another card signed by one of the free signers at the National.  I picked up this 2016 Panini Draft picks football card from the guy selling free signers cards. It looked pretty cool.  I decided to get it signed with gold paint pen, and it turned out great.  It looks a lot better than the scan.

Jones (b. 1992) played one game professionally in 2016 for the Bills.  He os more known for his collegiate career at Ohio State, winning the college football national championship for the 2014 season.

2024 National Free Signer - Cory Snyder

Cory Snyder was a free signer at the 2019 National.  He is yet another guy who was brought back this year for another shot at signing.  I had a few more cards of his, including this 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best.  This was an easy choice to get signed.

I also had this 2003 Topps All Time Fan Favorites that came out of a box from the former LCS.

Snyder was cool again this year.  I had some cards remaining after the show, so I'll have to put them somewhere in case he shows up at another National.

2024 National Free Signer - Bob Golic

Here is another free signer from the National (I know, there were a bunch), former Brown, Bob Golic. This 1984 Topps football card turned out nicely.  It was another from that opportunistic guy who was selling signers cards for $5/card.  Hey, I don't blame him. I bet he made a ton off of those 10-cent cards.

Golic (b. 1957) played professionally from 1979 to 1992 for the Patriots, Browns and Raiders.  He had one interception, for one touchdown.  He was a three-time Pro Bowler.

Golic was really nice when we met him.  His line moved slowly, but I enjoyed meeting him.

2024 National Free Signer - Joe Charboneau

Joe Charboneau was a free signer at the National back in 2018, so when I saw that he was signing again this year, I had to scramble to find some cards.  I found the above 1981 Topps at one dealer's table.  It turned out great.

I ended up with an extra Charboneau voucher, so I needed to get another card.  I didn't want to pay the one guy I got most of my other free signers cards from another 5 bucks.  So, I struck up a conversation with the Signatures for Soldiers guys and they gave me this 1982 Fleer after I helped them get a couple cards signed during another session with one of the other guys.

Charboneau was really nice, again, and I added two new cards to the autograph album. 

2024 National Free Signer - Tom Cousineau

Tom Cousineau was one of the more fun signers we met at the National this year.  I liked this 1983 Topps football card that I picked up and got signed, but that wasn't what made Cousineau so cool.  Being an Ohio State alum, when he looked up at Michael wearing his Michigan gear, Cousineau gave us a great photo op.

Michael says that I took too long in taking this photo.  Apparently Cousineau had his grip pretty tight around Michael's neck.  This was a really cool moment toward the end of the free signers, and Michael and I walked away laughing.

Cousineau (b. 1957) played professionally from 1982 to 1987 for the Browns and 49ers.  He had 10 interceptions for 91 yards.  He was a two-time All American in college and was also the first overall pick in the 1979 draft by the Bills.

2024 National Card Show Free Signer - Rico Petrocelli

Rico Petrocelli has been at several Nationals in the past.  So, when I saw he was signing at this one, I knew I'd need to pick up some of his cards.  I had used up all of the ones I had here at the house.  I found a vintage dealer early on at the show and picked up these two Topps cards.  The one above is a 1975 Topps, and below is a 1974.

Petrocelli was nice as usual.  He told stories to folks in line, as is usual for him.

His autograph is always a nice one.  He tales a while to sign, since he has such a nice signature and talks with everyone.   Still, that's worth it; way beyond the folks who barely speak a word to you or look up at you while signing.

I always appreciate meeting Petrocelli.  He's a great guy.

2024 National Free Signer - Randy Grossman

Randy Grossman was another of the free signers at the National this year.  I picked up this 1981 Topps football card at the show.  Since there was so much dark space on the card, I had it signed in gold paint pen.  It turned out great.

Grossman (b. 1952) played professionally from 1974 to 1981 for the Steelers.  He had 119 receptions for 1,514 yards and 5 touchdowns.  He was part of 4 Super Bowl Championship teams (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979).

2024 National Free Signer - Pat Tabler

Pat Tabler was the next free signer at this year's National. I ended up with two vouchers for him.  I got this 1989 Topps out of a box of cards that my grandma gave me.  The card turned out nicely.

I also got this 1985 Topps signed. This one is a bit dark, but still looks nice.

Tabler (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Cubs, Indians, Royals, Mets and Blue Jays.  He had 1,101 hits, 47 home runs and a .282 batting average. He was an All Star in 1987. He won the World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.

2024 National Free Signer - Terry Cummings

The only basketball signer that I got at this year's National was Terry Cummings.  This card was actually mine.  It was in a box of 90s basketball and football that I got from the former LCS. 

Cummings (b. 1961) played professionally from 1982 to 2000 for the (San Diego) Clippers, Bucks, Spurs, Supersonics, 76ers, Knicks and Warriors.  He had 19,460 points with a .484 FG %.  He was the 1982-1983 NBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time All Star (1984-85 and 1988-89).

2024 National Paid Signer - Randy Quaid

Randy Quaid was actually the second paid celebrity signer that I got at the National this year.  I waited to post him so I could get a few cards scanned.  I was realpy looking forward to getting Quaid on the 8 x 10 above, with the inscription.  The photo turned out great.

Quaid was really cool. We talked for a bit about my hat (Oklahoma City  Cielo Azul Copa hat) and my jersey (Wichita Turbo Tubs).  We also talked about the Movie Midnight Express. It's a great movie. He said "I love that movie."  It's a really good one, if you haven't seen it yet.

Quaid (b. 1950) is best known as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon Vacation movies and also as Russell Casse in Independence Day.  He also appeared in the aforementioned Midnight Express, Hard Rain (another underrated movie) and Kingpin.  He is the brother of Dennis Quaid and uncle of Jack Quaid.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for 1973's The Last Detail.

2024 National Paid Signer - Ozzie Smith

The next paid signer from the 2024 National that I'll show is Ozzie Smith.  I hadn't met Smith before, and I wanted to get the above 2016 Topps Perspectives insert signed. The card turned out great.

Smith was really nice, as was expected.  He showed the card off to the handler at the table with him.  I don't think Smith had seen the card before. 

Smith's price has increased quite a bit over the last few years, but meeting him and getting my card signed was still worth it.