TTM Success - Dale Sveum

Here is another player that I had a ton of cards of that somehow eluded my sending out for some time.  I finally got a request out for Dale Sveum, and I am really happy with the results.  The above card is another Topps Big (1989).  Originally, I didn't care for these cards.  I thought they were too big and they didn't really fit well in my collection boxes.  I have now realized that these cards are great for signing.  This one turned out really nice, I think.

Here is a 1986 Topps Traded and a 1989 Topps.  Both of them look nice, I think.  The 1986 Traded may have the edge, but I like them both.

1987 Fleer is a nice set that I think is starting to grow on me for autographs.  I never opened much of this when I was younger, but I have a box of them that came from Mom.  The blue looks really nice when scanned.

Sveum (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1986-88, 1990-94 and 1996-99 for the Brewers, Phillies, White Sox, A's, Mariners, Pirates and Yankees.  He had 597 hits, 69 home runs and a .236 batting average.

Sveum managed the Brewers for 12 games at the end of the 2008 season, for a 7-5 record.  He, then, got the managerial job for the Cubs in 2012 and 2013.  He didn't fare all that well for the rebuilding Cubs, where he went 127-197 (.392 win %).

I mailed to Sveum on November 18 and got the cards back on November 28, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Glenn Beckert

My LCS has a couple boxes of cards form the 60s and 70s that I have been using to find some guys from that era that sign TTM.  I saw that there were some of these 1970 Topps Baseball Scratch Off cards in one of the boxes, so I wanted to try to get a couple signed.  The first one to come back was this one from Glenn Beckert.  I really like how this one turned out.  It is too bad that the LCS only has a couple of these, or I would try to get a few more signed.

I was also able to add these two; the left a 1971 Topps and the right a 74.  Both of these also came out of the shop's boxes.  I don't have any extra cards from 1971 or 1974 any more.  I kind of regret my selling off of all of the extra vintage cards that I had, but I guess it helped out at the time.

Beckert (b. 1940) played in the majors from 1965 to 1975 for the Cubs and Padres.  He had 1,473 hits, 22 home runs and an average of .283.  He was a 4-time All Star and finished as high as 9th in the NL MVP voting (1968).  He even batted .342 in 1971 but did not win the batting title (he finished third behind Joe Torre and Ralph Garr).

I mailed to Beckert on November 12 and got the cards back on November 28, for a 16-day TAT.  I also included a check for $10.00.

Mail From Max - The Cubs Win The World Series

I'm a little late with this one, but I have been so busy lately, I haven't had a chance to post about something really cool that my good friend, Max, did for me.  Immediately after the last out was recorded in this year's World Series, I snapchatted a congratulatory message to my little buddy.  After that, I had a thought, so I messaged him to see if he would be willing to grab a copy of a Chicago-area paper that showed the Cubs' victory.  Max messaged back "of course", then I left him alone to celebrate.

He messaged me the next day and told me that he got me three newspapers instead of just one.  That guy, he is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met.  Maybe second only to my mother.  Max is an awesome guy and I am really happy to be able to add these newspapers to my collection.  I have put them in a safe place, along with the 1979 Pittsburgh newspaper that my father-in-law gave me showing the Pirates victory.

Thank you so much for the papers, Max.  I appreciate you going out of your way to help me out, and also spending the shipping on getting them to me safely.

TTM Success - Tito Francona

I saw on sportscollectors.net that Tito Francona was signing TTM.  When I saw that I had one of his cards in my vintage box, I decided to go ahead and send to him.  I wasn't satisfied with just one card, so I went to sportlots and picked up this 1957 Topps Francona so I could have a card of him as an Oriole.  I'm glad I got it, because I love the 57 design and was happy to add another to the autograph project.

This 1965 Topps is the card that I had in my vintage box.  I also didn't have many of these in my autograph project.  1965 is one of my favorite Topps years, but I never have had all that many cards.  I would love to start the set sometime, but I know it will be an expensive endeavor.

Finally, here is another 1985 Topps Father/Son card.  Terry Francona doesn't sign very much, so this one will likely stay as is.

Francona (b. 1933) played in the majors from 1956 to 1970 for the Orioles, White Sox, Tigers, Indians, Cardinals, Phillies, Braves, A's and Brewers.  He had 1,395 hits, 125 home runs and a .272 batting average.  He finished tied for second in the 1956 AL Rookie of the Year voting (behind Luis Aparicio and tied with Rocky Colavito) and 5th in the 1959 AL MVP voting.  He was an All Star in 1961.  It is interesting to note that Francona was traded on two occasions for Hall of Famer, Larry Doby (once in 1957 from the Orioles to the White Sox and again in 1959 from the Tigers to the Indians).

I mailed to Francona on November 21 and got the cards back on November 28, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Butch Davis

Here is a nice TTM that I received from North Carolina's own, Butch Davis.  I actually met Davis several years ago when he was a roving minor league instructor in the Orioles system.  Someone near me pointed out the Davis was in the movie, Bull Durham, and I thought that was pretty interesting.  There is a scene near the beginning of the movie where he strikes out and someone says something like "That's too bad, Butch..." or something to that effect.

I saw that Davis was signing TTM, and the only card I could find was this 1985 Topps.  He was also in 1984 Donruss and 1994 Pinnacle, but I didn't have any of those.

Davis (b. 1958) was born right up the road in Williamston, NC (the same place as the Perry brothers, Gaylord and Jim).  He is an ECU grad and played in the majors in 1983, 84, 87-89. 91, 93 and 94 for the Royals, Pirates, Orioles, Dodgers and Rangers.  He had 110 hits, 7 home runs and a .243 batting average.  He is actually under consideration to return to the Orioles as a minor league coach after spending the last two seasons as a coach on Paul Molitor's staff with the Twins.

I mailed to Davis on November 19 and got the card back on November 25, for a 6-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chad Fox

I received a TTM success from another former Winston-Salem Spirit the other day when I got two cards in from Chad Fox.  I mailed to Fox on November 15 and got the cards back on November 25, for a 10-day TAT.

Both of the cards look great.  The top 1995 Upper Deck Minors is a really sharp card.  I also really like the above Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion cards.  I picked them up from my LCS and was very happy to be able to use them.

Fox (b. 1970) played in the majors from 1997 to 1999, 2001 to 2005, 2008 and 2009 for the Braves, Brewers, Red Sox, Marlins and Cubs.  He had a career record of 10-12 with 262 strike outs and an ERA of 3.79. He won the World Series with the Marlins in 2003.

TTM Success - Dick Schofield

I had gone through my vintage Topps box a while back and saw that I had two Dick Schofield cards that could be sent TTM.  The above 1960 was (and is) pretty beat up, so I knew I wouldn't be holding that for my set.  It turned out to be a pretty nice card.  I was glad that Schofield inscribed it with the 1960 WS Champs inscription.

This 1963 wasn't as beat up, but it still was a little rough.  I'm glad to be able to do something with the cards, even though they aren't "mint" by any means.  Some folks still don't understand that you can enjoy a card, even though it isn't pack fresh.

Finally, I was able to get this 1985 Topps Father/Son card signed.  The younger Schofield doesn't sign much, apparently, so I will probably refrain from sending it out.  It still looks nice.

Schofield (b. 1935) played in the majors from 1953 to 1971 for the Cardinals, Pirates, Giants, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Brewers. He had 699 hits, 21 home runs and a .227 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Pirates in 1960.  Not only did his son have a lengthy career in MLB, but his grandson also has been in the majors for a long time.  His grandson is Nationals outfielder, Jayson Werth.

I mailed to Schofield on November 11 and got the cards back on November 25, for a 14-day TAT.