TTM Success - David Mantle

I actually had a few people look at me like I was crazy when I said that I had sent a couple Mickey Mantle cards off to his son to see if I could get them signed.  A while back, I had sent to, and received success from the widow of Jackie Robinson, Rachel Robinson.  I figured that it would be cool to take a few of the extra Mantle cards that I had and have his son David sign them.  I also have sent out an attempt to Julia Ruth Stevens for one of her signatures.  I think it is pretty cool to reach out to a relative of a deceased player, as long as the request is tasteful.  It is all in how folks view it, I guess.

I did get a Topps year taken care of with this 2010 Topps.  It still counts, in my mind.  I like the "Son of the Mick" inscription.

He also signed these two Upper Deck inserts that came out of my 1994 box that I busted with Chris.  They turned out really nice, even though they didn't scan as well.

I mailed to Mantle on March 20, and got the cards back on April 22, for a 33-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bill Wegman

I got a bunch of cards signed by Bill Wegman in this TTM success.  I don't usually send Upper Deck cards from the 90s, but I did send this one from 1992 out.  I don't have much bulk of Upper Deck from 1989 to 1993, and when I have a choice, I tend to lean more toward Topps.  Still, this card looks nice signed.

Wegman sent one of his own cards, this yellow one, which is a testimonial card.  The red 1988 Score looks really nice.  I like this set, since it has a bunch of bold colors and they all scan well.

I got four different Topps cards signed by Wegman, 1987, 1988, 1993 and 1995.  They all look about the same, but I'm happy to have gotten them.

Wegman (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1985 to 1995 for the Brewers.  He had a career record of 81-90 with 696 strike outs and a 4.16 ERA.

I mailed to Wegman on April 8 and got the cards back on April 22, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Bobby Valentine

I admit that I didn't care for the guy when he signed on as the manager of the Red Sox.  I thought it was a bad move on their part, and for once, I was actually right about something.  That being said, I still feel that Bobby Valentine is a good baseball guy, and had a good career as a manager.  Working now as the athletic director for Sacred Heart University, I figured that I would take a chance and see if I could obtain his autograph via TTM.

I did pretty well, I think.  I was able to get him on two different 1987 Topps, running my total up on the set that I have the most cards of (signed and otherwise).  I really like how the Team Leaders cards look when signed.  Too bad Ricky Wright doesn't sign (at last check), because that card would be 43rd all-timereally cool with both of their signatures.

I was able to get the 1976 Topps card of Valentine as a player signed as well.  The 1992 Topps was nice, due to the awesome Rangers jacket that Valentine is sporting.

Valentine (b. 1950) played in the majors in 1969 and 1971 to 1979 for the Dodgers, Angels, Padres, Mets and Mariners.  He had 441 hits, 12 home runs and a .260 batting average.

Valentine was named as manager of the Rangers in 1985 and managed them until 1992.  He had a record of 581-605 record with them (.490 win %), then moved on to the Mets, where he managed from 1996 to 2002.  His record with the Mets was 536-467 (.534 %).  He took them to the World Series in 2000 where they lost to the Yankees.  He managed the Red Sox for one dismal season in 2012 to a record of 69-93 (.426%).  No amount of chicken and beer could make his time there look any better.  His career managerial record is 1,186-1,165 (.504).  His 1,186 wins currently rank 43rd all-time.

I mailed to Valentine on March 17 and got the cards back on April 21, for a 35-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dan Graham

Here is another player who lingered in my TTM box for a while, before I finally got around to mailing to him.  I raided my Orioles box for guys who signed a while back, and kept these Dan Graham cards around.  I honestly got tired of seeing them in the box, so I finally mailed them out, and I was glad that I did.  I didn't have too many of the 1982 Fleer cards in my autograph album, so this was a nice one to get back signed.  The photos on the early Fleer cards are usually out of focus and/or blurry, but this one was ok.  I know the Cal Ripken rc from this set isn't the best, because of the blurry shot from a distance, but for what it is, it isn't too bad of a set.

I got a couple nice Topps cards signed, as well.  Can't go wrong with the backward cap photo on the 1981 Topps.  The action shot on 1982 is pretty nice as well.

Graham (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1979 to 1981 for the Twins and Orioles.  He had 99 hits, 17 home runs and a .240 batting average.

I mailed to Graham on November 16 and got the cards back on April 20, for a 155-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ryan Christenson

Check out the signature on these cards.  As tiny as Ryan Christenson's signature is, it really looks great.  There's something to be said about a nice, tidy signature.  Not like some big blob of ink on a card.  I like it when a player takes the time and care to sign their full name.  Much like Michael Cuddyer learned from Harmon Killebrew.

I had a few nice cards of Christenson that I had found at my LCS.  My favorite is the 1998 Team Best minor league cards (top left).  The Upper Deck MVP (top right) turned out really nice as well.  Well, they all did.

Christenson (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1998 to 2003 for the A's, Diamondbacks, Brewers and Rangers.  He had 222 hits, 16 home runs and a .222 batting average.  Kind of odd that he had as many hits as points in his bating average.  I wonder how common that is.

I mailed to Christenson via the Nashville Sounds on April 3 and got the cards back on April 20, for a 17-day TAT.

TTM Success - Steve Cooke

I'd like to start off this post by saying that this 1994 Fleer Steve Cooke looks so awesome.  I was really excited to get this one back from him.  I think the Pirates colors work really well with this card.  His signature does well on it, too.

Actually, each of the cards I was able to get signed turned out great.  The Pirates color combination of yellow and black is such a good combo, and always looks great on cards.  I think my favorite of this group is the 1994 Topps with the rookie cup logo.

Cooke (b. 1970) played in the majors from 1992 to 1994 and 1996 to 1998 for the Pirates and Reds.  He had a career record of 26-36 with 335 strike outs and a 4.31 ERA.

I mailed to Cooke on February 21, and got the cards back on April 17, for a 55-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pat Listach

I had met Pat Listach back in 2011 when I saw the Pirates play the Cubs at PNC park with my cousin, Andreas.  I got him to sign a ball back then.  I'm not quite sure which cabinet the ball is in now, but I'm sure it is buried under a bunch of other signed baseballs.  Listach was actually one of the first players that I set aside for TTM purposes, then for whatever reason, I waited to send to him,  I kept collating cards of his, and kept seeing him pop up when I would search for someone to send to.  I finally got around to sending to him a few weeks ago; I sent to him via the Tacoma Rainiers (which is why I waited so long to send to him).  I sent four pretty awesome cards, and got this one 1993 Stadium Club back.  I guess of all of the cards for him to send back, this one was the coolest, with the over-exposure.  It turned out really nice.

Listac (b. 1967) played in the majors from 1992 to 1997 for the Brewers and Astros.  He had 444 hits, 5 home runs and a .251 batting average.  He was the 1992 Rookie of the Year for the AL, and finished 18th in the MVP voting that season.

I mailed to Listach on April 7 and got the card back on April 17, for a 10-day TAT.