Another TTM Success From Johnny Groth

I have sent to Johnny Groth a few times now, and I have always been happy with the results.  This time, I sent a 1951 Topps Blue Back to him, and got it back signed.  I only have three signed Blue Backs, because there aren't many players left living who were in that set.

I mailed to Groth on March 4 and got the card back o n March 18, for a 14-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5.00.

Second TTM Success From Johnny Groth

I have tried to keep the second or multiple TTM requests from players to a minimum.  I don't want to feel like I am taking advantage of any system, but sometimes I think I need to send a few players multiple requests.  Some of which were guys that I got in the past on baseballs who I would like to see in my album.  Others are guys who I mailed to, then saw a card I liked and felt compelled to send again.

This Johnny Groth is one that I got from a friend and really wanted to get it signed.  I didn't have any signed 1954 Bowman and I wanted an Oriole from that set.

I got the card from my friend, Jeff, and he pointed out to me that all of the Orioles jerseys from 1954 Bowman were airbrushed by different artists.  This is why you see the faux pas of the misplaced apostrophe on the jersey.

Groth charges per auto, so I didn't feel bad sending a second request.  Actually, if a guy charges, I am totally cool with sending a few requests.  Not because I don;'t like that they charge, but because I understand an older player like Groth who is in his 90s, is on a fixed income.

I sent to Groth on January 4 and got the card back on January 17.  It cost me a five dollar fee and I got the card back in 13 days.

Christmas Gift and Care Package From Jeff

I received a care package of a few Orioles cards several weeks ago from my friend, Jeff, who goes by green68camaro on Instagram.  Right after I got the small envelope of Orioles cards, Jeff sent me another package, this time an assortment of over-sized Donruss cards from the mid-80s and also this awesome 1954 Bowman of Johnny Groth.

I already got Groth TTM a while back (April 28, 2016), but I am really tempted to send to him again, regardless of his $5.00 fee.  The card is really cool, and it would give me a 54 Bowman Oriole, a card which I do not have represented.  Funny thing is, Groth never played for the Orioles.  He went to the White Sox prior to the 1954 season.  Really interesting to see him in an O's jersey on this card.  Also look at the misplacement of the apostrophe on the jersey.

Here is one of the many over-sized Donruss cards that Jeff sent along.  These are really cool.  I believe he found a huge stack of them somewhere and wanted to share them.  He sent me a bunch of Orioles and several Hall of Famers.  I have helped Jeff quite a bit lately in getting some TTM addresses of players from South Carolina.  I'm hoping I can help him out a lot more in the coming year.

Thank you so much for the care packages, Jeff!

TTM Success - Johnny Groth

Another batch of cards came back on April 28 that had some more cards that were picked up during my trip to Columbia.  A few of the guys I picked up charge for TTM, so I had to space out a few of them so I could afford to get all of the guys I picked up.  One of the first guys who charged that was in the first batch I sent out on April 18 was former Brown, Johnny Groth.  I wanted to make sure I had a few former Browns players in this Topps Autograph Project in case I decide later to do an Orioles card from every year of Topps.  This 1953 Topps of Groth turned out really nice, even though he is in a Tigers hat.  The Browns logo will suffice for now.

When I was buying the cards at the antique shop, I had a list of guys that signed TTM as close to 100% of the time as possible.  I pulled a few cards of each player on my list, and tried to make sure different years were represented.  I didn't pay attention, at the time, to who charged, and who was free.  So, I ended up with quite a few Groth cards, but couldn't decide which ones I wanted to send and which I wanted to hold back.

In the end, I decided to go ahead and spend the $5 per each card and send them all to him.  I'm glad I did, because each card turned out great.  It was well worth my "investment" in picking up all of these cards,

Groth (b. 1926) played in the majors from 1946 to 1960 for the Tigers, Browns, White Sox, Senators and A's.  He had 1,064 hits, 60 home runs and a .279 batting average.  Groth has a connection with a dear friend of the blog, as well.  Not only was he a teammate of one Virgil Trucks, he was also traded with Mr. Trucks from the Tigers (along with Hal White) in 1952 to the Browns for Owen Friend, Bob Nieman and Jay Porter.

I mailed to Groth on April 18 and got the cards back on April 28, for a 10-day TAT.  Groth charges $5 per autograph, and I believe it is well worth it!