2021 National Pickup - Cal Ripken Sr Signed Card

When I went to the National this past year, I stopped by a vendor who had boxes of signed cards that they had gotten TTM or IP.  They had several deceased players at some really good prices, so I picked up a decent amount of cards.  I intended to post them after the National, but I was so far behind with TTM and IP graphing posts, I put them in a drawer and forgot about them.  Going through the cards now, it is kind of an embarrassment of riches, because of all of the cool cards I forgot I had.  These definitely need to get into the autograph album, so I will start with one of the cooler cards I picked up, this signed 1982 Donruss Cal Ripken, Sr.

I have seen Sr's autograph plenty of times, so I know this one is legit.  I immediately put it aside once I saw it in the vendor's box, because I knew, if nothing else, this one was going home with me.

Ripken (b. 1935 - d. 1999) was a minor league player, coach and manager in the Orioles system for 36 years (from 1957 to 1992).  Signed as a minor league catcher in 1957, he played in the Orioles minor league system until 1964.  In 1961, he began coaching and managing in the Orioles system, starting with the Leesburg Orioles in the Class D Florida State League.  He would reach the majors as a coach beginning in 1976, before finally becoming the Orioles manager in 1987.

As Orioles manager, he had a record of 68-101 (.402 win %).  This was capped off by an 0-6 start in 1988 before being fired; that Orioles team would go on to lose 15 more games in a row,  to start the season 0-22, a Major League record.

First 2022 TTM Success - Mike Mussina

Right before the holidays, I sent off a batch of TTMs to wrap up the year.  One of the requests was a repeat to Hall of Famer, Mike Mussina.  I had several cards of his sitting aside waiting to be sent out, and I had a little bit of money available to pay his fees.  So, I took the four cards that I most wanted to get back and sent them out.  The above 2020 Topps Turkey Red turned out so well.  This card is super sharp; I am glad I chose it to send out.  It was my 4th choice to send, but might look the best of all of these.

Here are the other three cards that I sent.  The one on the left is a 1999 Fleer Ex clear acetate card that looks amazing.  In the middle is a 1997 Flair Showcase and the one on the right is a 2000 Pacific Invincible.  All of the cards I chose turned out great.  I have several more that I probably will send sometime later on.  I have to recover from the holiday spending and some of the private signings that I have taken part in.

I mailed to Mussina on December 22 and got the cards back today (January 3), for a 12-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $10/card.

A Few Signed Cards From Leyton

Continuing to whittle down my stack of stuff I received recently brought me to these four cards that a friend on Instagram, Leyton, sent me in return for some help getting some cards signed for him.  He sent back some good stuff, like this 2018 Bowman Austin Beck.

He also sent a 2018 Bowman JoJo Romero, 2018 Bowman Chrome Will Craig and a 2018 Bowman Chrome Blayne Enlow.  All of the cards are really nice and have finally been moved to my autograph album after sitting on my desk for about 6 months.

Thanks for the cards, Leyton, I hope we can help each other out again, soon.

A Couple Signed Cards From Past Trades

As I continue to clean out my box of cards I meant to scan and blog, I have realized how far behind I was.  Thankfully, I have had an opportunity to catch up and get some stuff moved into my album.  Not too terribly long ago, I was messaged by someone who needed a signed 1986 Topps card; I believe it was an extra Darrell Evans that I got from the National.  In return he offered me this 1985 Donruss signed by Bruce Benedict.  I don't have many signed 85 Donruss at all, so this was a nice card to take off of his hands.

Ok, so this one, embarrassingly, came from a trade I made in 2019.  I met a guy in line at the April Orioles game we went to, who heard Chris and I talking about taking a trip to Nashville.  He desperately needed a 2002 Topps Eric Gagne signed, and I ended up being able to help him out.  In return, he sent me this 2011 Topps Update signed by Chris Perez.  I had sent to Perez TTM a while ago, but never got anything back, so that's why I took this card.

I'm glad I am getting through this stack.  I've found a few cards that I have forgotten about, and am glad to finally get them off of my desk and into my album.

Christmas Gift From Gerard - Some Awesome Cody Freeman Cards

Cody Freeman, much like Nolan Reimold, is going to be one of those players who, if I see a card, whether I have it or not, I'm going to pick it up.  My good friend, Gerard, added 6 cards to my small Cody Freeman PC with this awesome Christmas gift.

Cody doesn't have many cards out just yet, but the stuff that is out there looks really awesome.  He was in 2019 Leaf products, and there are quite a few autographs in there.  These cards look awesome, and I am really happy that Gerard hooked me up with them.

This printing plate came in separately.  Cody has a great signature, and one of the cards that I picked up for myself actually has a very early version before he perfected it to what it is on this card.  He even pointed it out to me when I showed him what I had picked up.

Cody is a great guy, and messages me here and there.  He was excited to see that one of my friends was looking out for me with his cards, which was really cool.

Thanks for the Christmas gift, Gerard!

Some Signed Cards From Cal

These signed cards from my friend, Cal, have been sitting in a box to be blogged for quite a while, so I was glad to get them scanned and blogged today.  The above 2005 Topps Heritage David Segui is a nice card.  I didn't open much of this product back in the day, so it is nice to add one of them to the album.

Here are the other two cards from Cal, a 1978 Topps Al Bumbry and a 2003 Donruss Team Heroes Travis Driskill.  Both of these are nice, as well.  I didn't already have the Bumbry, which was strange for me, so that was nice to add to the album.

Thanks for the cards, Cal, I appreciate them!  I wish I had posted them sooner, but better late than never.

Last TTM Success of 2021 - Another One From Roy Face

My last TTM success from 2021 came in yesterday from former pitcher, Roy Face.  This 1982 TCMA Baseball's Greatest card has been in my box for some time now, so I figured I'd drop it in the mail and get it signed.  The card turned out pretty well, even though Face's marker is starting to fade.

I mailed to Face on December 22 and got the card back yesterday (12/31) for a 9-day TAT.  Now onto cleaning out 2021 stuff and moving to 2022 stuff.  Happy New Year!