A Quick 50-50 With Patrick

My friend, Patrick recently took a couple Grant Gambrell cards that I found in my boxes.  I was glad to get them signed and into the autograph album. Patrick took two of them at his share of the 50/50.

Patrick sees Worcester, and Gambrell is there this year.  He signed a 2020 Heritage Minors and a 2020 Pro Debut. 

Gambrell (b. 1997) was a third round pick by the Royals in the 2019 June Amateur Draft out of Oregon State.  He has played in the minors since 2019 in the Royals and Red Sox systems, reaching AAA.  He has a record.of 14-23 with 255 strike outs and a 4.65 ERA.

Various 50-50s From Patrick

Taking a couple days off from posting didn't put me any farther behind than I thought I would be, which is nice.  I still have several 50/50s I need to catch up on and what will probably end up being a card dump post of stuff that I just can't tell where it came from.  I did, however, figure out which signed cards I got back from my friend, Patrick, and got them all into this post.

Patrick took a bunch of cards for Wilmington and Harrisburg for me the last to seasons, and did pretty well getting me most of my cards signed.  I was glad he was able to get Tim Cate done for me; he helped me finish a couple of the duals with Owen White that I had already posted a while back.

He also helped me knock out some random cards, as well as a few Carolina League All Star cards.  I wish they would bring back the league all star games.  It is so stupid that the minor leagues haven't been having them.

Patrick helped me get a 2011 Bowman Chrome signed.  I haven't been through that box in a while, since there haven't been many guys I've seen lately in that set.  I probably will go through that box soon and get some TTMs from it.

Finally, Patrick got a few more Frank Viola cards done for me.  I still have several of his cards, in case I see him at High Point again.

I appreciate Patrick getting these cards signed for me.  I didn't send him as many cards this season, as we both were busy, but he does have a package he is going to send back soon.  I also owe him some of his cards, so I need to get them in the mail too.

TTM Success - Gregg Olson

I received a TTM success today from former Orioles closer, Gregg Olson on two cards that I sent out on February 18.  It took a while, but they came back looking great!  The above 1992 Topps turned out really well, and it was sent off before I considered doing my Topps Autograph Project.

This 1992 Donruss Triple Play came out of a care package that my good friend, Patrick, sent me a while back.  I'm glad to be able to "upgrade" this card and add it to my TTM album.

Olson (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1988 to 2001 for the Orioles, Braves, Indians, Royals, Tigers, Astros, Twins, Diamondbacks and Dodgers.  He had a career record of 40-39 with an ERA of 346 and 217 saves.  He was the 1989 Rookie of the Year in the AL (the last Oriole to receive that award) and also finished 6th in the AL Cy Young voting and 12th in the AL MVP voting that year.  He was an All Star in 1990.

I mailed to Olson on February 18 and got the cards back today for a 153-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.

A Care Package From Patrick

I'm not the best trader in the card community.  That is something that I have come to accept in my years doing this hobby.  Where I fail in that aspect, I feel like I make up for it in generosity and helping young folks build their collections.  Ever since I helped out at the card shop in Winston-Salem, I have always done everything I could to help kids and teens add cards to their collections that they normally wouldn't have access to.  The other part of that, that I enjoy, is how my helping people leads to new friendships.

I made a friend on Instagram recently named Patrick, who hails from Minnesota and is naturally a Twins fan.  He and I have chatted pretty much every day, and I have helped him find some nice vintage for his collection, and also made a couple care packages for him to add some Twins to his binders.

He's a really nice guy, and seemingly enjoys the hobby as much, if not more than I do!  In response to the packages I sent him, Patrick went through his boxes of cards and his albums to find me some Orioles cards that he could send my way.

Check out the Jose Canseco cameo on this card.  I've seen hundreds of these and never noticed Jose on the card until today!

Clearly, I don't send care packages out to people just to get stuff in return.  I felt bad when Patrick messaged me and said that he didn't have a whole lot of Orioles cards, because I didn't want to deprive him of any of his cards.  He sent me something anyway, which was really nice of him, and meant a lot to me.  There were no relics, autos, or high end cards in the package.  Patrick took from his collection because he felt it necessary to send a care package in return.  That in itself carries much more meaning for me than any auto or relic ever could.  He went out of his way to try to make me happy with a care package (and included a nice note), and that is all you can really ask for.  Although there weren't any "glorious" cards in the package, the sheer thoughtfulness of Patrick is what I will take away from this.  These cards that he sent mean a lot to me, and I hope he knows that.

I know he appreciates me helping him add some nice stuff to his collection.  I also know that when he is in the position I am in later on, he will go out of his way to help out someone who may be new to the community, or is trying to build their collection.  I can tell that is how Patrick is.  I'm glad I have been able to help him, and I sincerely appreciate him sending me this care package.  I'm also very happy that I have a new friend that I can send care packages to!

Thanks, Patrick!