TTM Success - Charles Johnson

I got another TTM success on Friday, March 4 when these three cards came in from former Oriole Charles Johnson.  Part of the fun of doing all of these TTMs is finding cards of the guys I plan to send to, then deciding which ones make the cut.  I found around 10 of Johnson's cards and saw he was only doing around 3 autos per TTM, so I narrowed it down to the three that you see.  I feel like the horizontal Rookie Update from 1995 Fleer really turned out great.  I was really excited to finally find someone from the 1996 Fleer that I had who signs.  As you can see, that card turned out real sharp.  They made Fleer that year with a matte finish so that it would hold an auto better, and I feel like they did a good job.

I have an unopened box of 1996 Fleer still, and I may bust it to find even more stuff to send TTM.  We'll see if I go through with it.

Johnson (b.1971) played in the majors from 1994 to 2005 for the Marlins, Dodgers, Orioles, White Sox, Rockies and Devil Rays.  He had 940 hits, 167 home runs and a lifetime average of .245 in his career.  He was a 2-time All Star and finished as high as 11th in the NL MVP voting (1997).  Johnson won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997.

Johnson's Oriole tenure began on December 1, 1998 when he was shipped from the Dodgers to the Mets with Roger Cedeno for Arnie Gooch and Todd Hundley, only to be then moved to Baltimore for the volatile Armando Benitez.  Johnson would be traded from Baltimore with Harold Baines to the White Sox during their 2000 playoff run for Miguel Felix, Juan Figueroa, Jason Lakman and Brook Fordyce.  Fordyce was the only player that Baltimore got in that deal who contributed to the major league team.

I mailed the cards to Johnson on February 22 and got them back on March 4, for an 11 day TAT.

TTM Success - Darren Daulton

I got two TTM successes on Friday (March 4).  The first of which was this pair of signed 1987 Topps from former catcher, Darren Daulton.  I sent four cards (3 1987 and one 1989) and he signed the above two, and returned the others unsigned.  I mailed them out on February 18, in my first batch of TTMs that I have sent recently, so that made him a 15-day TAT.

Daulton (b. 1962) was a 25th round draft pick by the Phillies in the 1980 Amateur Draft.  He would go one to play in the majors from 1983, 1985 to 1997 for the Phillies and Marlins.  He was a three-time All Star (1992, 93 and 95) and finished as high as 6th in the NL MVP voting (1992).  He had 891 hits, 137 home runs and a lifetime average of .245.  He went to the World Series with the Phillies in 1993, ultimately losing in 6 games to the Blue Jays.  He won a ring with the 1997 Marlins and was a key contributor by hitting .389 over the seven games.  Daulton appeared on the 2003 Hall of fame ballot and received only 0.2% of the vote (he received one vote).

TTM Success - Eric Young, Jr.

I got my first Spring Training TTM success on March 3 when I got these cards back from Brewers Spring Training.  Eric Young, Jr. is very active on Instagram and is probably one of the most prolific TTM signers out there.  He personalized this 2011 Topps card to me and it looks really cool with all of the purple.  The card came in a care package that i got in a deal last year from a kid named Michael M.  He sent me the Young and suggested that I drop it in the mail but I never got around to it.  It was always sitting on my desk, so when I sent out my mass of TTM requests, I made sure to add Young to the pile.

I found these two Youngs from 2010 in one of the huge boxes that Pete gave me a few months ago.  I figured I would see if Young would sign those too, and he did.  One of them got the inscription/presonalization and the other just got the signature, but that is fine with me.  I think they all look great.

I was really disappointed, though, because I had a gold parallel from 2015 Update, but I wasn't able to find it.  I figure it's around here somewhere in a random pile, and I will try again.

I plan on copying from my friend, Weston, and putting a TTM counter up on my blog for what I've sent off this year.  I plan on counting everything up and putting it on one of my pages tonight.

Instagram Pickup - Jeff Burroughs Signed Baseball

I "met" a guy on Instagram recently who is also from NC.  He messaged me while I was at the last card show in Raleigh, and we were supposed to meet up there, but he wasn't able to come.  That didn't matter, though, we kept on chatting on Instagram, then that spilled onto Facebook.  Drew (that's his name, another Drew) turns out to be quite the gifted baseball player and he also has a pretty awesome collection.

Drew messaged me the other day and offered me this Jeff Burroughs signed baseball for a really awesome price.  It is hard to tell, but the 1969 inscription is faded a bit.  I was ok with it, and made the purchase.  Drew shipped it out really quickly and it came yesterday.

Burroughs (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1970 to 1985 for the Senators, Rangers, Braves, Mariners, A's and Blue Jays.  He had 1,443 hits, 240 home runs and a .261 batting average in his career.  He was the 1974 AL MVP and a 2-time All Star.  Not bad for the former #1 overall pick from the 1969 amateur draft.

Thank you so much for the deal, Drew!  I really appreciate it, and I look forward to many more!

TTM Success - Ed Vande Berg

The TTMs are starting to roll in.  I got 2 of three that I sent to former pitcher, Ed Vande Berg on March 1.  The cards were mailed out on February 22, so it took 8 days to get these back.  I originally sent two 1987 Topps and the below 1985 Donruss, but he kept one of the Topps.  No big deal, I'm glad to get one of them back.  I think they look really nice when they are signed.

Vande Berg (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1982 to 1988 for the Mariners, Dodgers, Indians and Rangers.  He had a career record of 25-28 with a 3.92 ERA and 314 strikeouts.  He finished 4th in the 1982 AL Rookie of the Year voting.  Significance?  Well, Cal Ripken won the award that year, and was followed in the voting by Kent Hrbek at 2nd and Wade Boggs at 3rd.  That's definitely something I wouldn't have known if I hadn't pursued these TTMs.

Max Sends An Amazing Mailday

My buddy Max sent me a box that I got today.  Inside was a lot of stuff that I really loved, but it was a simple gesture from him that really blew me away.  He sent me a game used ball that he picked up at some point, but this ball he signed himself, and inscribed it with the above inscription.  I have a ball signed by another friend, Michael (actually, he has sent me several) and I have also received a ball "signed" by my nephew.  Collecting autographs of famous baseball players is fun and all, but when something as small as a signed ball from a friend or family member comes in, I really enjoy getting them.  Max is such a great guy, and I am so lucky to be able to call him a friend.  I was able to meet him at The National last summer, and had a blast.  He and his family were such amazing hosts, and made us feel really welcome.

Not only did he include the signed baseball, but Max also sent me this signed mini football.  Max is a gifted baseball player, but he is also a very talented football player.  He was the kicker, center and defensive end on his youth team which won a National Championship this past season.  He and his dad skyped me from their hotel room during the tournament, which was really cool.  I wish I could have gotten down to Florida during his games and saw him play.

Max and I have a pretty good system worked out.  I send him cards that he needs for conventions and games, and in return, he sends a couple of them back to me after he has gotten them signed.  The assortment of cards above all came from some of the many huge boxes of cards that I have.  I have always had a ton of 1987 Topps, so using those for something other than kindling.  The more current cards, the two Bowman and the Team USA came from some cards I had lying around and the rest came out of some really cool mid-90s boxes that my mom hooked me up with.  I was especially pleased with how the 1994 Score Paul Wagner came out.

Because I couldn't fit the tenth card onto the scanner, this 1988 Topps Bill Madlock gets its own scan.  It actually turned out pretty great.  I am really growing to love the late 80s designs.  They look really awesome signed, so I intend to add some more to the binder as I get more and more TTMs in.

Max also included some cool cards for my collection, which were the second half of his Christmas present to me.  This Nick Markakis Baseball Heroes relic is really nice.  I think this is an underrated set.

This Inception auto of Hunter Harvey is also really cool.  I like the design of Inception, and was happy to add this to the collection.

Finally, Max included this 2015 Bowman Chrome gold parallel of Steve Pearce that is numbered 13/50.  I liked Pearce when he was an Oriole, but he is with the Rays, now.  He always has done well when playing at Tropicana Field, so we will see how that translates in playing half of his games there.

Thank you so much for the awesome package, Max!  I really appreciate it, and it made my day!

TTM Success - Bob Bailor

The second TTM success that I got yesterday was from former Oriole, Bob Bailor.  This one I was really excited about, not because he had been an Oriole, but because I was able to make use of a 1975 SSPC card that was part of the huge batch of old stuff that Max had sent me.  I felt like the SSPC card would look pretty cool signed, and I was right!

Bailor also signed this 1985 Topps card that I found in a box of cards that my mom had given me.  She hooked me up twice recently with several huge boxes of early to mid 1980s cards.  My new repurposing effort has really been fueled by the cards in those boxes she gave me, and has given me a new joy in searching those boxes.

Bailor was nice enough to include this signed post card, along with the two that I had sent.  It turned out really nice, as well!

The funny thing was that this is the side of the card I had seen when I originally opened my mail.  It wasn't until my wife took it from me to see if this signature on the back was real when I saw the auto on the front.  I guess I was so excited to get something extra, it didn't occur to me to turn it over.

Bailor (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1975 to 1985 for the Orioles, Blue Jays, Mets and Dodgers.  He had 775 career hits, 9 home runs and a .264 batting average.  I say he was a former Oriole, but his time there was less than a cup of coffee, amassing a total of 14 games split between the 1974 and 1975 seasons.  It is interesting to note that Bailor was drafted by the Blue Jays from the Orioles with the second pick in the 1976 Expansion Draft.  The first pick of the draft was Ruppert Jones by the Seattle Mariners.

I mailed Mr. Bailor on February 22 and got the autos back on February 29, making it a 7-day TAT.