TTM Success - Mark Loretta

I added some more recent cards to my autograph album with this TTM success from Mark Loretta.  I had found quite a few cards of his and sent them all off.  I wasn't expecting him to sign them all, but I was really happy to see that he did.

This Goudey turned out pretty nice.  I have a few of these, and wanted to get one of them out of my boxes and into my album.  The card is really colorful and scanned really well.

You can never go wrong with getting an Allen & Ginter signed.  They always look great, and this one is no exception.  I have so many Ginters from 2006 to 2010 taking up space in boxes.  I really need to get some out into the world for signature and see what comes back.

Here are the other Loretta cards that I sent out.  The bottom right Topps Gallery came out of a box I busted while up at Andrew's for his graduation.  I also added three Topps cards to the album, 1998, 1999 and 2005.

Loretta (b. 1971) played in the majors from 1995 to 2009 for the Brewers, Astros, Padres, Red Sox and Dodgers.  He had 1,713 hits, 76 home runs and a .295 batting average.  He was an All Star in 2004 and 2006.  He finished 9th in the NL MVP voting in 2006 and won the Silver Slugger Award that season.

I mailed to Loretta on October 20 and got the cards back on November 30, for a 41-day TAT.

Hall of Fame Signed Baseball - Jack Morris

Much to my surprise, I was able to add a new baseball to my Hall of Fame signed baseball collection without spending a dime.  I thought the Veterans Committee vote was later in the week this week, but the results were actually announced tonight.  Alan Trammell and Jack Morris were announced as the newest electees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  I thought maybe one of them would get in, but both of them made the cut, anf Ted Simmons was really close.  I'm happy to see both of these guys make it, as they had been discussed for quite a long time, and it really didn't make sense that neither was in.

Morris (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1977 to 1994 for the Tigers, Twins, Blue Jays and Indians.  He had a career record of 254-186 with 2,478 strike outs and a 3.90 ERA.  Morris won 20 or more games three times in his career.  His best finish for the Cy Young Award was 3rd, which he achieved twice (1981 and 1983).  His best finish in the MVP voting was 13th (1991 and 1992).  He won the World Series in 1984 with the Tigers, 1991 with the Twins and 1992 with the Blue Jays.  He was also on the 1993 Blue Jays which won the World Series, but he did not pitch in those playoffs.  He was the 1991 World Series MVP.

Morris appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for 15 years from 2000 to 2014 and reached as high as 67.7% of the vote.

I haven't added very many Hall of Fame baseballs to the collection this year.  With the selection og Morris to the Hall, he becomes my 134th Hall of Famer in my collection.

I picked up this ball on Black Friday in 2013 as a purchase of Historic Autographs Ball of Fame II.  I loved that product and now the value has shot up a little bit for me!  You can read about the hit here.

TTM Success - Mike Kingery

I got a TTM success in the other day from Mike Kingery after it had been out for quite a long time.  I knew when I mailed to him that it would take a while, so I just sat back and waited.  Thankfully, the cards came in, and they look great.  I used this as an opportunity to add a 1987 Topps to the album, and here it is.

I also took one of the ProCards AAA out of my attic box from Mom and got it signed as well.  I like being able to use these cards, and it is also cool seeing some of the bygone minor league teams.

The 1995 Topps Cyber Stats (left) turned out a lot better than I thought it would, and it is pretty cool next to the actual base 1995 Topps.

I also was able to add a couple other Topps issues, 1989 and 1991.

Kingery (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1986 to 1992 and 1994 to 1996 for the Royals, Mariners, Giants, A's, Rockies and Pirates.  He had 546 hits, 30 home runs and a .268 batting average.

I mailed to Kingery on September 2 and got the cards back on November 27, for an 86-day TAT.

TTM Success - Don Larsen

I added another really nice TTM success to my album with this success from Don Larsen.  I had two of the cards that I sent off and bought the other two off of Ebay.  The above Allen & Ginter mini was actually a National Card Show exclusive from 2008 that I got for a dollar off of EBay.  I was glad I found this, because I was really hoping I could find a card that showed the historic embrace of Larsen and Berra during the 1956 World Series perfect game.

I also found this 1961 Topps on Ebay and sent it off.  It looks really nice, and I was happy to have found it as well.

I was going to stop at the above 1962 Topps, but then I found the 2008 Donruss Threads, so I went ahead and sent that as well.

Larsen (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1953 to 1965 and 1967 for the Browns, Orioles, Yankees, A's (Kansas City), White Sox, Giants, Colt .45s, Astros and Cubs.  He had a career record of 81-91 with 849 strike outs and a 3.78 ERA.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1956 and 1958.  His perfect game in the 1956 World Series also earned him the MVP Award of that series.

Larsen appeared on a surprising 15 Hall of Fame ballots between 1974 and 1988.  He received a high of 12.3% of the vote (1979). 

I mailed to Larsen on November 14 and got the cards back on November 27, for a 13-day TAT.  I sent $5/card to cover his fee.

TTM Success - Ray Herbert

Yet another vintage guy came in recently, this time I got two cards signed by Ray Herbert.  The above 1965 Topps was a little rough, but it still looks nice when signed.  I think I got these cards from my LCS, instead of the Greenville card show, but I really don't remember.

This 1966 Topps also turned out really nice.  1966 Topps is a pretty underrated design, not as good as 1965, but still a decent design nonetheless.

Herbert (b. 1929) played in the majors from 1950 to 1951, 1953 to 1955 and 1958 to 1966 for the Tigers, A's (Kansas City), White Sox and Phillies.  He had a career record of 104-107 with 864 strike outs and an ERA of 4.01.  He won 20 games for the White Sox in 1962, the only season in which he was an All Star.  He finished 29th in the AL MVP voting that season, as well.

I mailed to Herbert on October 16 and got the cards back on November 24, for a 39-day TAT.

TTM Success - Eddie Bressoud

Here is one of the vintage guys I picked up while at the Greenville card show, Eddie Bressoud.  I really liked the above 1958 Topps, so I was really happy that he signed it.  I sent him 5 cards, and he signed 4.  The card he chose not to sign was a 1963 Topps.

Check out the airbrushed SF logo on Bressoud's hat.  The Giants had just moved to SF, and it looks like the Topps artist had some issues getting the logo right.

I had this 1960 Topps in my vintae box at the house, so I sent it along, too.  I like that he signed this one, as well.

Also, here are Topps cards from 1961 and 1964, both of which turned out really nicely.

Bressoud (b. 1932) played in the majors from 1956 to 1967 for the Giants (New York and San Francisco), Red Sox, Mets and Cardinals.  He had 925 hits, 94 home runs and a .252 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1964 and won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1967.

I mailed to Bressoud on October 28 and got the cards back on November 24, for a 27-day TAT.

Autos From Max Part 2 - George Foster

Max picked up another auto for me while he was at his show in Chicago, George Foster.  I paid for this one, which was $25.00, I think.  I also raided my 1972 Topps set for this card, but I was glad to get it signed.

Foster (b. 1948) played in the majors from 1969 to 1986 for the Giants, Reds, Mets and White Sox.  He had 1,925 hits, 348 home runs and a .274 batting average.  He won the NL MVP Award in 1977, the season in which he hit 52 home runs.  He was also a 5-time All Star (1976 to 1979 and 1981) and won the World Series with the Reds in 1975 and 1976.

Foster appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot four times, but was only able to receive as much as 6.9% of the vote.