2024 Cubs Convention Autos From Max

Another Cubs Convention has come and gone, and my amazing friend, Max, took a bunch of cards and got them signed for me.  He always delivers, and this year he got me some good stuff taken care of.  He also helped me clear some room in my boxes.  The above 2020 Donruss orange foil of Adbert Alzolay turned out great.  I had a ton of Alzolay's cards, and Max got a good one done.

I'm pretty sure Max has gotten every single Dave Otto out of my boxes, and the above 1992 Topps is a nice Otto card.  Surely there's one or two left hidden in a box somewhere.  That just means a have way too many boxes.  I was also glad to see this 2011 Topps Ryan Dempster get done.  Thats another guy who I'm finallynrunning low on. 

I remember finding the two Ray Birris cards in the boxes I had on loan from Conrad.  He's got a great signature and the 1974 and 1975 Topps were great additions to the autograph album.

I just recently cleared out a bunch of Manny Trillo cards and sent them to Max so he would have more for the next time he sees Trillo.

I am also finally low on Geovany Soto.  Getting those two 2007 Bowmans signed was nice, since I've had a ton of 07s since that set came out. That was the first "modern" (as in post 2000) Bowman set that I had in bulk.  They've just been languishing in a box since then, so it was nice to get some moved. 

Some more recent stuff was thinned out as well.  It was unfortunate that the Cubs waited until the last minute to announce who was going to be at the Con.  I had to scramble to get a package together for Max, but I had a lot of 2022 and 2023 stuff at the ready.  We probably could have racked up a lot more autos had the Cubs put the list out a week earlier.  Still, adding the Javier Assad, Caleb Kilian and Mark Leiter, Jr. cards to the album was nice.

I was even able to get a couple Alexander Canario cards out of the Box Of Shame for the Con.  I had missed him when I saw the Twnnessee Smokies a couple years ago, so it was nice to finally get him. Max rounded out the package with a 2023 Topps Update Jose Cuas, a Panini Prizm Luke Little and a 2020 Bowman Luke Little.

Thanks for getting these done for me, Max.  I look forward to your next message with a list of guys you need this season.  Baseball is back and I'm excited to see who all each of us it able to see this year. 

TTM Success - Caleb Kilian

The other day I got a nice surprise in my mailbox, an envelope with a stamp indicating I had gotten a return from 2023 Spring Training.  I try to stick with one kind of stamp each year when sending to Spring Training for this very reason.  That way I have an idea how long the request had been out.  The return was from Caleb Kilian on a 2023 Topps.  

Kilian (b. 1997) has been playing in the majors since 2022 for the Cubs.  He has a record of 0-3 with 14 strike outs and a 12.42 ERA.

I mailed to Kilian on February 23, 2023, and got the card back on February 5, 2024, for a 347-day TAT.