Christmas Gift From Drake

My friend, Drake, sent me a nice stack of autographs for Christmas this year.  One of the cards was the above 2020 Bowman Chrome blue refractor of Randy Florentino.  This card is numbered 144/150.  He was a former Wood Duck who is now in the Orioles system, which is cool.

Drake sent this really cool Topps Now card signed by Randy Arozarena, which will be awesome in my album.  I love Topps Now cards, and rarely have an opportunity to get them signed.

Here is an assortment that Drake sent; a lot of these are from when Drake has graphed in the past.  He mostly sees Illinois-area teams and Florida State League teams when he is on vacation.

Drake helped me add some 2022 Stars & Stripes cards and also some different Topps base cards to my album.  I don't have many 2021 Topps cards at all in the album, and the above Adam Plutko helps that cause.  The truth is, 2021 Topps is hard for me to go through quickly with the tiny font on the front of the card; they are very hard to read at a glance.

Finally, here is a 2017 Topps Roman Quinn.  This is the only landscape oriented card, so it got scanned by itself.  I had been trying to get Quinn a few times, but now I at least have this card in the album.

Thank you so much for the cards, Drake!

TTM Success - Jay Aldrich

Here's another guy who I didn't now was an Oriole, Jay Aldrich.  I found his card in the 1991 Crown Orioles set, and found a couple other cards from 1988 (a Topps and Donruss).  I sent them off TTM, and they came back signed in black Sharpie.

Aldrich (b. 1961) played in the majors in 1987 and from 1989 to 1990 for the Brewers, Braves and Orioles.  He had a record of 6-5 with 46 strike outs and a 4.72 ERA.

I mailed to Aldrich on November 15 and got the cards back on November 26, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chuck Rainey

Here are a couple cards that came back signed recently from Chuck Rainey.  The above 1982 Topps came out well, as did the below 1983 Donruss.

Rainey (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1979 to 198 for the Red Sox, Cubs and A's.  He had a record of 43-35 with 300 strike outs and a 4.50 ERA.

I mailed to Rainey on November 15 and got the cards back on November 26, for an 11-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pedro Powell

A trip through my box of early-to-mid 2000s Bowmans recently yielded me a couple prospective guys to send to TTM.  One of them, Pedro Powell, came back in November on two 2007 Bowmans.  That might be the most prolific year of Bowman that I hae in that box, as I got a ton from the former LCS when it closed.  I am glad when I can move some of those, since a lot of those plaeyrs have either moved on, or just don't sign.

Powell (b. 1984) was an 18th round pick by the Pirates in the 2003 June Amateur Draft out of Middle Georgia State University.  He played in the minors from 2003 to 2009 in the Pirates and Rays systems, reaching AA.  He had 547 hits, 1 home run and a .255 batting average.

I mailed to Powell on September 29 and got the cards back along with a note from Powell on November 26, for a 58-day TAT.

TTM Success - Rob Mallicoat

Here are a couple 90s junk wax cards that I got signed TTM by former pitcher, Rob Mallicoat.  He signed my 1992 Donruss and 1992 Topps with a dying Sharpie, but the cards are still in the autograph album.

Mallicoat (b. 1964) played in the majors in 1987, 1991 and 1992 for the Astros.  He had a record of 0-2 with 42 strike outs and a 5.70 ERA.

I mailed to Mallicoat on October 31 and got the cards back on November 22, for a 22-day TAT.

TTM Success - Danny Sheaffer

Some mid-90s cards came back signed TTM from Danny Sheaffer in November.  The above 1994 Stadium Club turned out nicely.  I always enjoyed the 'label maker" font on these cards.  It was a little goofy, but definitely was something different.

I also got a 1994 Donruss and a 1994 Score signed, while Sheaffer included his own custom religious card that he signed.

Sheaffer (b. 1961) played in the majors in 1987, 1989 and from 1993 to 1997 for the Red Sox, Indians, Rockies and Cardinals.  He had 219 hits, 13 home runs and a .232 batting average.

I mailed to Sheaffer on November 8 and got the cards back on November 21, for a 13-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Jim Clancy

There were a bunch of Jim Clancy cards that I had found recently while searching boxes, so I thought it would be a good time to send some more cards out to him for signatures.  The above 1989 Bowman turned out nicely.  This set looks good, but the larger size of the card makes it hard to store with other standard sized cards.  So, I have a bunch of 1989 Bowman that are pretty beat up.  This one is fine, though, and will fit into the 8-card album page that I have for vintage TTM successes.

I also got these four Clancy cards signed: 1989 Topps, 985 Fleer, 1988 Donruss Baseballs Best and 1987 Donruss Highlights.  I like adding some of these oddball sets to the autograph album.

I mailed to Clancy on November 3 and got the cards back on November 21, for an 18-day TAT.