TTM Success - Mike Caldwell

Here is a TTM success from Mike Caldwell.  I had thought I had sent to him in the past, but I didn't.  He actually lives in Raleigh, which is cool.  He also is on instagram, and posted some instructions to send to him TTM, which I thought was pretty nice.

I got Caldwell on 4 cards, Topps cards from 1976, 1980, 1982 and 1983.  I have added several 1976 Topps to the album, lately.  Merely a coincidence, but it still is a nice set to be adding.

Caldwell (b. 1949) is from Tarboro, NC, which is about 45 minutes northwest of where I live.  He played in the majors from 1971 to 1984 for the Padres, Giants, Reds and Brewers.  He had a career record of 137-130 with 939 strike outs and a 3.81 ERA.  He won 22 games for the Brewers in 1978, the only year he received votes for the Cy Young Award (he finished 2nd to Ron Guidry), and the AL MVP (he finished 12th).

I mailed to Caldwell on February 5 and got the cards back on February 14, for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Archi Cianfrocco

I added a few 90s cards to my autograph album with this success from Archi Cianfrocco.  The above 1993 Upper Deck SP turned out really nicely, with Cianfrocco's autograph.  I don't recall that I have any of these SPs in my album, and I really don't know where this one came from, but it looks good.

Here are the other cards that I had signed, all from 1993.  I have his 1993 Stadium Club, 1993 Topps and a 1993 Donruss.  It is always nice to see the old Montreal Expos jerseys and logos on cards, so I was glad to get these signed.

Cianfrocco (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1992 to 1998 for the Expos and Padres.  He had 308 hits, 34 home runs and a .241 batting average.

I mailed to him on January 8 and got the cards back on February 14, for a 37-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chuck Seelbach

I had picked up a handful of 1974 Topps during my last trip to Columbia last year, and had sat on a few for TTMs thinking I would add some other cards to send out.  I finally went ahead and mailed off a few of them to clear room in my box.  This card came back from Chuck Seelbach as a result of that.

Seelbach (b. 1948) played in the majors from 1971 to 1974 for the Tigers.  He had a 10-8 record with 79 strike outs and a 3.38 ERA.

I mailed to Seelbach on February 5 and got the card back on February 13, for an 8-day TAT.

A TTM Success and 50-50 of Lou Whitaker and a Trade

Lou Whitaker ended up being wrapped up in a few events associated with this blog recently.  First of all, I got this card TTM from him, at a fee of $25.  I needed the 87 Topps for the set, but I sent it off before I received a message from a fellow Instagrammer, Brandon, who apparently knows Whitaker personally, and offered to get a card signed for me.  The 87 was sent out on November 28 and got the card back on February 12, for a 76-day TAT.  I had received a TTM success from Whitaker a while back on a baseball, so I needed to get the card done.

Brandon offered to 50/50 Whitaker, so I chose this 1985 Topps to get back, since I knew the 87 would be back eventually.  I sent Brandon a handful of cards along with this one.  For the extra cards, he proposed a trade.

He sent me these Xavier Avery cards that he had gotten IP in exchange for the extra Whitakers.  I didn't have either card, so I was glad to add them to the album.

TTM Success - Glenn Adams

I have been full-on pursuing additions to my 1987 set.but that doesn't mean I'm not adding to other years of Topps, as well.  I have a bunch of different years of Topps cards, all organized by years in a ton of 5,000-count boxes.  Some years are more represented than others, but I try to include as many as I can when I send off to a TTM subject.  This TTM success from Glenn Adams provided me two cards for the album, a 1979 and a 1981.

I think aside from 1987, I really enjoy 1981 Topps.  They seem to look really cool in my album, and lots of them have good photos, and uniforms that I like to see come back signed.  It also helps that the cards are really colorful.

Adams (b. 1947) played in the majors from 1975 to 1982 for the Giants, Twins and Blue Jays.  He had 452 hits, 34 home runs and a .280 batting average. 

I mailed to Adams on February 1 and got the cards back on February 9, for an 8-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jeff Reboulet

I added another former Oriole with this TTM success from Jeff Reboulet.  He has a really nice signature, but I didn't have any of his Orioles cards.

I got a 1997 Pacific Collection (left), 1994 Donruss (middle) and a 2001 Topps in addition to the 1995 Topps at the top of the post.

Reboulet (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1992 to 2003 for the Twins, Orioles, Royals, Dodgers and Pirates.  He had 536 hits, 20 home runs and a .240 batting average.

I mailed to him on February 1 and got the cards back on February 9, for an 8-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kurt Bevacqua

This TTM success from Kurt Bevacqua was pretty cool, in that I was able to get this 1976 Topps card signed.  I have been sitting on this card in my box for a long time, and finally sent to him.  He charges a fee, so that's what took me so long.  I knew, though, that when I did send to him, this would be the first card to go out.  It's one of the more oddball issues in a regular Topps set, and now it is in my autograph album.

I got some nice early 80s goodness with this success, as well.  I love the old Pirates jerseys that are shown on these cards, especially the Pirates pillbox caps.  The 1981 Topps looks like it has a bad signature, but upon further inspection, that is due to the heavy wax that is on the card.  This card must have been the first one in the pack.  It has character, and displays a common theme of 80s cards gone by, wax staining.  Now, it would be considered a short print variation.

Bevacqua (b. 1947) played in the majors from 1971 to 1985 for the Indians, Royals, Pirates, Brewers, Rangers and Padres.  He had 499 hits, 27 home runs and a .236 batting average.  He appeared in 5 games in the 1984 World Series, a Padre loss to the Tigers, but he contributed to the Padre cause with a .412 batting average and 2 home runs in 17 at bats.

I mailed to Bevacqua on January 31 and got the cards back on February 9, for a 9-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $8/card.