TTM Success - Koji on a Card

As I continue along in my Topps Autograph project, I have been able to knock out most of the years of Topps fairly easily.  The toughest cards that I have been able to get signed are surprisingly the most recent.  I don't get many opportunities to do any "graphing" so current players tend to be pretty tough.  When I looked at my tally sheet of the years I still needed for my project, I realized that I would be able to knock off 2009 fairly easily.

I had this extra 2009 Topps Koji Uehara card in my Orioles box and had recently seen my buddy Max get a quick return from Koji after sending to him at Spring Training.  Unfortunately, Koji only is signing one card per request now, but that didn't bother me.  I have already gotten Koji TTM on a baseball.  I just was able to use this as a chance to add a cool card from a year I was having issues obtaining anyway.

Koji (b. 1975) has played in the majors since 2009 for the Orioles, Rangers and Red Sox.  He was signed out of Japan by the O's before the 2009 season and was then traded to the Rangers in 2011 for Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis.  As much as I loved Koji, I am so very glad that the O's now have Crush.  It is a little funny to go back and read my reaction to the trade.  Here is a link to that post.  Pretty funny to see me thinking about Chris Davis being the Orioles top first base prospect...

Up to today, Koji has a career record of 19-20 with an ERA of 2.48 with 86 saved and 476 strike outs.  He was the World Series MVP in 2013 for the Red Sox.  He won't make the Hall of Fame, but could very well come back to Baltimore in the future as part of the Orioles Alumni or something.  I feel like he is still really popular in Baltimore.

I mailed to Koji via Fenway Park on April 20 and got the card back on May 2, for a 12-day TAT.

A Nice Care Package From Patrick

I lent a hand to my good friend, Patrick recently when I saw a 2016 Twins printing plate at a good price on Ebay.  I let him know about it and learned that he didn't have any printing plates in his collection.  I picked it up for him, but being the great guy that Patrick is, he wouldn't let me buy it for him outright.  He insisted on paying me back, it just would take him some time.  So, a couple weeks ago, I got a nice package in the mail from him that had the money for the plate, and also a few Orioles cards that he was able to find.

He apologized for only including a few Orioles cards, but the note he wrote was the real prize in the deal.  The letters that people write are my favorite part of any trade, care package, etc.  Patrick took the time to thank me for being there for him and being someone he could talk to.  That, to me, is worth far more than some baseball cards.  I really enjoy helping people out, and I hope to be able to do it as long as time will allow.

Patrick, I sincerely am happy that we met, and I definitely appreciate the package.  I'll be sure to find some more awesome Twins cards to help boost your collection.

Amazing Mail From Ryan

I got a really cool package in the mail the other day from Ryan over at O No Another Orioles Blog who recently took a trip to Japan.  Among some of the Orioles cards that I definitely needed was the above 2003 Topps 205 Polar Bear mini.  This is a really awesome card that scanned so well.

Ryan included some Japanese cards as well, above you can see the back of the Koji Uehara card that I got.  I thought this was so cool!  He also included Tsuyoshi Wada, Dennis Sarfate, Sherman Obando, Davey Johnson and a couple other former Orioles.

One of the coolest-looking Japanese cards that Ryan sent was the below 2012 Genesis Dennis Sarfate.  This one looks so cool.  I'm really amazed by the stuff Ryan sent.  He's a really good guy and if you haven't traded with him before, you definitely should!

Thanks again, Ryan!  I really appreciated all of the stuff you sent!

Chris Davis' Awesome Night

Last night, I was going to watch a little bit of the Orioles game and go to bed early, since I have been getting up at 5AM most of this week for work.  I ended up watching the whole game, in part because Chris Davis accomplished something that no Oriole had done since 2006 - he belted 3 home runs in the same game.

Davis' first shot went out onto Eutaw Street, the 66th baseball to do so, his second shot went to almost the last row, almost going out onto Eutaw Street itself, and the last one, he took the other way, a couple rows back.

Davis has really done a great job this year, after finally getting regular playing time in the bigs.  I'm still surprised that the Orioles were able to take him from the Rangers along with Tommy Hunter in exchange for Koji Uehara last year.  It just shows you how deep the Rangers are in talent that they could pretty much give Davis away.  It also speaks to how good, albeit underrated, Andy MacPhail was as Orioles GM.  Love him or hate him, MacPhail did a terrific job making trades given what he had to work with and deserves a great deal of credit for this year's surprising run by the O's.

I picked up the two above cards from the National Card Show, both from dime boxes.  The first was a 2008 Topps Gold RC and the second is a 2006 Bowman RC.  I was really happy to add these to my collection for a dime a piece.

Davis has already exceeded his career high in home runs and is sitting at 23 with well over a month of the season left.  He also has 103 hits and a .256 batting average, so far.  Also, he has one fewer win as a pitcher this season than Cliff Lee, just saying.  I would be elated if Davis eclipsed the 30 homer mark for the season.  Last night, Orioles broadcaster Rick Dempsey remarked how Davis reminded him of a young Mike Schmidt.  Man, if Davis turned out to be the type of home run hitter Schmidt was, that would be great for the O's.

Davis has already become one of my favorite current Orioles and I hope he can continue to add to his numbers as the Orioles make a push for the playoffs.  I hope to meet him at next year's Fan Fest and get his signature on a ball, maybe with an inscription of his pitching record.

Thoughts on 2012 Heritage

I have picked up maybe 9 packs of Heritage so far and I have to say, I like it.  As always, Heritage delivers.  Of course, the 1963 design is a nice one.  Lots of vivid colors, a cool look.  I have always thought of 1963 as a really solid looking set.  It isn't my favorite, but I would probably consider it in my top 6 or 7.  I really can't wait til next year's offering, which will feature the 1964 design.

I haven't really pulled anything major, yet.  I plan on buying a few packs here and there.  I doubt I will buy a box.  Of course, I could change my mind if I see some on sale at the card show, or Blowout or something like that.  The above Koji looks really cool.  I also like the below Hank Aaron that I pulled.

I got a J. J. Hardy Chrome that I didn't scan/  The other two Orioles I got so far are Buck Showalter and the below Adam Jones.

The Jones is a nice looking card, as well.  As you can tell, I got my scanner to cooperate with the white borders by putting a wrapper behind the card.  You can see a tiny bit of the yellow showing that I was unable to crop off.  Anyway, overall, I like Heritage.  I won't be building the set (as far as I know) due to the ridiculous short print and variation cards.  I do plan on getting more packs in hopes of pulling some more Orioles or maybe a Sandy Koufax auto.  You never know.

Some Christmas Packs of 2011 Topps Update

One of the Christmas presents my wife got me was a blaster box of 2011 Topps Update Series.  It was the Target exclusive version, so inside were two red variation packs (nothing really of note in them) as well as the Commemorative Logo Patch.

The logo patch I got was the above Carlton Fisk Red Sox patch.  It looks pretty cool, even thought I'm not a Red Sox fan.

I got a Roberto Alomar cognac diamond parallel, but I already had it, but the above Koji Uehara diamond parallel was pretty nice.  Rumor has it that Texas is willing to trade Koji back to the Orioles since he really wants to be back in Baltimore.  I'd love to have him back.

Finally, this mini Kimball Champions insert of Vlad Guerrero was also pretty cool.  I didn't think Vlad was a bad pickup for the O's this past season.  Even though, $8 million for a singles hitter is pretty high.  It would have been nice if Guerrero had hit for a bit more power.

Koji Traded to the Rangers

I just saw that Koji has been traded to the Texas Rangers for Chris Davis and Tommy Hunter. While I'm not surprised, I'm still sad. Koji was having a hell of a year and has been one of the few bright spots during a season of disappointment. Hunter is a pretty good pitcher and Davis looks like he could be the Orioles' first baseman of the future. He definitely is now their top 1B prospect, that's for sure. Looks like Brandon Snyder may either be on his way out, too, or may need to shift positions. That may be a little early, but the way it looks now is that Davis will be ahead of him in the pecking order.

I really hate to see Koji go. Good luck in Texas, Koji!

TTM Success - KOJI!

Normally, I doubt someone would be too excited about getting an auto of a pitcher with a career record of 4-7 with a 3.06 ERA and 162 strikeouts...

However, I got this ball in the mail from the Orioles reliever, Koji Uehara yesterday (July 27). I mailed to him on July 20 and got the ball back 7 days later. That's an amazing TAT. Koji is my 23rd TTM success on a ball. As you can see above, the ball looks amazing! Looks like he signed it "Koji".

Initially, I didn't care all that much for Koji. I called him the Snowman because he would melt in the summer heat of Baltimore. He was injury prone and it seemed like all he wanted to do was get on a plane back to Japan. Then, last year he gave up a game winning home run to A-Roid that I was actually able to see a video of. The display of emotion that Koji exhibited when he let his team down showed me that he really cared about his team and that he had a genuine desire to win. After that moment, Koji seemed "lights out: to me.

This year, he has been amazing. Right now, he is one of the few bright spots for the O's in a pretty dismal season. He is sporting an ERA of 1.80 in 41 games (45.0 IP) to go with a record of 1-1. He has 59 strikeouts in those 45.0 innings pitched with only 8 walks! It always seems like the Orioles go for relievers who come into a game and forget how to throw strikes. It's so frustrating. With Koji, however, he comes in and shouts the other teams down.

It appears that Koji is the best trade chip that the O's have right now, although his past injury history and age (36) has a few teams shying away. Koji has a vesting option for $4 million that will kick in if he has 14 more appearances. For $4 million, he would be worth keeping around even if only for peace of mind that the O's would have at least one reliever who wouldn't be sending Earl Weaver scrambling for another pack of cigarettes.

So, I hope the Orioles hold on to Koji. If not for anything else, just to give me someone to pull for this season since Roberts is out. Also, I am glad to admit that my first impression of Koji was a mistake and I am so very happy to have been able to add this ball to my collection. Thanks Koji!

Amazing what you find when you have to box your stuff up...

I have been arranging and rearranging my cards while I am STILL in the process of selling my house (someone buy it PLEASE), taking stuff to Greenville, then looking through what i have IN Greenville to keep me from dying from boredom. I went through one of my many boxes in the storage facility and found the one in which I had placed my 13 rubbermaid 'shoe boxes.' Going through those boxes, looking for Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez cards for Max, I discovered 2 cards. One of which I had no clue I had, and the other, well, I thought I lost it somewhere...Card 1: 2006 Upper Deck WBC Inaugural Images Koji Uehara. Now, if the O's hadn't signed him this winter, i wouldn't give a crap about this card. BUT, since the O's DID sign him, well, when i found this among an assortment of other cards, well, you can imagine what i said... I think it rhymed with 'Oh Truck.' Ha ha. He also looked pretty good against the Yankees in his MLB debut, however, he did throw a LOT of pitches. I think he will be ever better next time around.

Card 2: Hank Aaron 1974 Topps #1. I already had this card in my 1974 set, but got it again real cheap at the card shop a while back. Then I forgot where I put it. Not good. Its amazing that i found the card in one of my boxes almost 35 years to the day that he broke the HR record. Supposedly, he will be throwing out the first pitch in the new W-S dash ballpark... Doubt I will be able to make it, but man, that would be cool.