2019 National Pickup - Chipper Jones Signed Baseball

Every year that I go to the National, I try to add baseballs to my Hall of Fame collection.  The collection started in 2010, when I added Stan Musial and Bob Feller to the small collection I had from when I was growing up (Cal Ripken, Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer).  From those first five baseballs, I had added some huge names and now I can proudly say that I have added two more to the collection.  Additionally, I picked up a ball of a surefire Hall of Famer, so there is the potential that this National could add three baseballs to the tally.

I added Chipper Jones to the list on Saturday at the show, after I had looked aroud and priced several baseballs.  This one was a little more expensive than the others, but it was on a brand new OMLB ball and came with the Hall of Fame inscription.  Because I bundled this baseball with another big name, I got this at a nicely reduced rate.

Jones (b. 1972) played in the majors in 1993 and from 1995 to 2012 for the Braves.  He had 2,726 hits, 468 home runs and a .303 batting average.  He was the 1999 NL MVP and finished second (to Hideo Nomo) in the 1995 NL Rookie of the Year voting.  Jones was an 8-time All Star and won the World Series in 1995.

Jones was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018 (his first ballot) when he was named on 97.2% of the vote.

Jones becomes my 144th Hall of Famer on a baseball.

2019 National Pickup - 1957 Topps Frank Robinson Rookie

I don't know if I am going to do a full recap post of "this is everything I got at this year's National" or if I'm going to break the stuff up into multiple posts, but at this moment, I am going to post a few things individually, and them maybe do one post talking about my experiences at the National itself.  We'll see.

This card was definitely not the first thing I bought (that was a stack of signed 1987 Topps), but this was one of the first major purchases.  I had wanted a Frank rookie for some time, and saw this one in a case.  It was actually the first of several Frank rookies that I saw, and it ended up being the most affordable.  I didn't even talk the dealer down in price, because I thought the price was amazing.

The card is off-centered, but otherwise sharp.  I am still sad that Frank is no longer with us, but I am happy that I was able to talk to his widow a bit.  I am happy that I have finally added his rookie card to my collection, and this one is such a great one to add!

Some Additional Autos From Trades and 50/50s

In my catching up with scans and blog posts, I have finally gotten to a point where I can show these cards that I got within the last few months that other folks have sent me.

The above Casey Golden Pro Debut auto came from a fellow Instagrammer who ended up taking a bunch of California League cards for me for 50/50s.  This Casey Golden started it, which I sent to him in a PWE and he got them back to me fairly quickly.

This David Murphy came from a trade I made with someone who I met while I was in line for the Eddie Murray signing back in April.  The guy wanted Eric Gagne on a 2002 Topps, and he heard me say that I was going to Nashville to graph.  I was able to get his Gagne done and mailed out to him.

He also sent me this Topps Town signed by Kevin Youkilis.  Youk is an auto I didn't think I would get, so I was happy that it was included.

Finally, my friend, Rich, sent me this Ralph Garza that he was able to get signed earlier this season.  I sent Rich some AAA cards for the Astros, and hopefully he will be able to get some of them signed.

I'm about to head to the airport to fly back from Chicago and the 2019 National.  There should be a ton of posts forthcoming, so brace yourselves.

TTM Success - Juan Marichal

It is really nice when you can find a Hall of Famer who signs TTM.  I saw that Juan Marichal was signing, and even though I already had him on a ball in my Hall of Fame collection, I wanted to send off a card.

I got this 1962 Topps that had been in my collection for a long time signed.  It will look great in my album.

I mailed to Marichal on March 28 and got the card back on July 25, for a 119-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $10.00.

This post officially catches me up (for now) on all of the TTMs that I was behind on.  I'm hoping I have some waiting on me when I get home from the National.  Of course, I have a whole slew of posts coming from my trip, so maybe I don't want too many TTMs waiting on me...

TTM Success - Bob Howry

Here is a nice TTM success that I got from former pitcher, Bob Howry.  The above 2001 Topps Chrome turned out a lot better than the scan shows. 

I also got this 2008 O Pee Chee signed, and it looks really good.  I used to have a bunch of these, but they're gone.

Howry (b. 1973) played in the majors from 1998 to 2010 for the White Sox, Red Sox, Indians, Cubs, Giants and Diamondbacks.  He had a career record of 45-52 with 653 strike outs and a 3.84 ERA.

I mailed to Howry on January 5 and got the cards back on July 22, for a 198-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ed Hearn

Another 1987 Topps came off of the checklist when I got this TTM success back from Ed Hearn.  The card turned out really well, and I was glad to cross it off of the list.

I also sent him this 1989 Topps to sign, and it looks really good, too.

Hearn (b. 1960) played in the majors from 1986 to 1988 for the Mets and Royals.  He had 45 hits, 4 home runs and a .263 batting average.  He was a member of the 1986 Mets, but did not play in the playoffs or World Series with them.

I mailed to Hearn on January 4 and got the cards back on July 20, for a 197-day TAT.

TTM Success - Lee Richard

I added another 1972 Topps to the album with this TTM success from Lee Richard.  He even included his nickname, Bee Bee.  This was a really cool return.

Richard (b. 1948) played in the majors from 1971 to 1972 and 1974 to 1976 for the White Sox and Cardinals.  He had 103 hits, 2 home runs and a .209 batting average.

I mailed to Richard on June 29 and got the card back on July 13, for a 14-day TAT.