Mystery TTM From Gerard - Luke Lacourse

Back in 2020, when we were in the dark times, Gerard and I added autographs to each other's collections by sending mystery TTMs out to be returned to each other. We let that pass once games resumed, but recently, Gerard sent off one to a 2025 Bowman Draft guy so I wouldn't have to dig his cards up. Not too long after, I got several cards back signed by Luke Lacourse.

Lacourse (b. 2006) was a 6th round pick by the Angels in the 2025 July Amateur Draft out of Bay City Western High School in Michigan. He has yet to make his professional debut. 

Thanks for sending out some cards for me, Gerard!

More 2025 50-50s and 2026 Cubs Convention Autos From Max

My buddy Max took another box of cards from me and converted a lot of them into signed cards I could add to my autograph album. One highlight was the above Topps Archives signed by Fergie Jenkins. This is a great card. There aren't enough modern sets using the 1957 Topps design. I wish they had done a Heritage Minors set with this design.

Here are cards sigbed by Cody Acshe, Quentin Berry, Trevor Cahill, Travis Chapman, Garrett Cooper, Noah Davis, Ryan Dempster and Jim Deshaies. I thought I had these Topps cards signed by Cahill and Dempster, but I didn't, so that was nice.

These are signed by Kyle Freeland, Jason Hammel, Mike Harkey, Starling Heredia and Jaden Hill. I had sent my Hill cards to someone for a 50/50 a while back, and everything came back signed, except for a Chrome, so that puts it in the album. I was alsi happy to see a 2015 Topps Jason Hammel (middle) and it looks great.

Here are Alex Jacob, Reed Johnson, John Lannan, Ted Lilly, German Marquez, Jack Neely. Those Neelys add some 2025 Topps to the album. I thought I had gotten John Lannan before, but I suppose I was wrong because I was unable to find any.

Now we see Riley Martin, Colin Rea, Mike Remlinger, Ethan Roberts, Jackson Rutledge and Matt Szczur. I sent every Szczur card I ever owned to Max at various points in time. It was nice to get one back signed for the album. Szczur is one of Max's all-time favorite guys, so I know it was tough to part with. He knows it went to a good home.

Here are Anthony Senzatella, Ryan Sweeney, Ezequiel Tovar and James Triantos. A 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Sweeney at the bottom left really pops. Also that blue 2007 Bowman right beside it looks awesome.

Here are Victor Vodnik, Randy Wells and Jaxon Wiggins. I saw that I had a few more Wiggins in my box, so I'll have to send a few more his way to refill his stock.

Reed Johnson, Shawon Dunston, Hoby Milner, Drew Romo and Jim Palmer are in this bunch. That 1992 Topps Gold Dunston is pretty great. It would have been cool to have been able to get Don Sutton on the card with Palmer, but it was not meant to be.

Finally here are Cubs team cards signed by Justin Grimm and Gavin Hollowell.  

Thank you so much, as always, Max. I'm sorry it took me so long to get these scanned. I have another smaller stack he sent afterward that need to be scanned. I hope to knock those out soon.

May 2, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

Last night, Jesse and I headed back to Durham to catch the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. I prepped for the trip over the last couple of weeks. I even took a small box of the cards with me on a work trip to Minnesota and prepped cards in the hotel room.

The Jumbo Shrimp roster was loaded with guys with cards. We got almost everyone we could get, missing a couple guys, and not having cards for a couple others. 

It was really nice seeing Maximo Acosta again. He remembered me from the Wood Ducks and thanked me again for giving him some cards back then. Getting his 2026 Topps card signed was a good choice.

Kemp Alderman was pretty cool. He signed a bunch of our stuff. He joked that he had a $5 fee, but we laughed about it. I had heard that Jacob Berry was a tough get, but he came right over when we asked him. The 2024 Panini Crusade he signed turned out great.

Let's pause a minute to marvel in the awesome signature that Heriberto Hernandez gave us on our 2026 Topps Heritage cards. I could have saved him the trouble and did those myself. We'll, we got ink on the cards and they're in the album. So, his little scribble os what it is.

Deyvison De Los Santos hit a bunch of cards after we were told he hadn't signed much all week.

Jared Eickhoff was pretty cool. He signed for us outside. Joe Mack and Andrew Pintar were one per, but Pete and a kid took two of my Pintars and got them done for me.

Jared Serna was such a nice guy. He signed everything we had. He talked to us for a bit outside while he signed.

I was surprised that Robby Snelling signed everything we had. I was glad that a few of the Jumbo Shrimp guys finished everything I had. I plan to see them again when they come back through later in the season, but if I don't have much left, I may see where else I can go.

Thomas White also signed everything we had for him. I was glad to get his 2025 Pro Debut insert card signed (middle of the top row in the scan above).

We got a select few Durham guys outside. I finally saw Homer Bush, Jr. He has been on their roster for a bit but hasn't been in Durham.

 I saw today that Joe Mack was called up to the Marlins. That was really cool. The game was pretty good. Bradley Blalock struck out 12 in 6 innings, at one point he struck out 7 in a row.

In all, we got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 2, Kemp Alderman x 6, Jesus Bastidas x 2, Jacob Berry x 2, Bradley Blalock x 2, Zach Brzykcy x 2, Jose Ceballos x 2, Deyvison De Los Santos x 12, Jerad Eickhoff x 3, Dax Fulton x 1, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Joe Mack x 2, Zach McCambley x 4, Cody Morissette x 3, Andrew Pintar x 4, Ethan O'Donnell x 2, Jared Serna x 11, Robby Snelling x 8, Luke Terwilliger x 3, Thomas White x 8, Cooper Bowman x 1, Homer Bush Jr x 4, Jonathan Heasley x 4, Trevor Martin x 1 and Blake Sabol x 4 (95 total autographs). 

TTM Success - Woody Woodward

This 1969 Topps of Woody Woodward was found at a card show in Richmond late last year. I saw he signed TTM, so I picked it up. I have never had much bulk 1969 Topps on hand, so i haven't sent a whole lot out (not like 1971 to present). The card turned out great and Woodward has an awesome signature. 

Woodward (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1963 to 1971 for the Braves (Milwaukee and Atlanta) and Reds. He had 517 hits, 1 home run and a .236 batting average. 

I mailed to Woodward on December 8 and got the card back on January 30, for a 53-day TAT.

TTM Success - Griffin Burkholder

Griffin Burkholder signed this 2025 Topps Pro Debut card TTM for me back in January. While I was looking for his cards to send out, i went through the 2025 Pro Debuts that I had put aside in a box, right after I busted several hobby boxes. I noticed a Burkholder parallel that I didn't realize that I had pulled. I looked closer at the card and saw 1/1. So, I busted something like three boxes, immediately put everything aside and didn't realize I had pulled a 1 of 1? Talk about embarrassing. Even more, when I wrote Burkholder for this TTM, I mentioned that I had his 1/1 and he could check out my Instagram if he wanted to see it. Crickets. Maybe he doesn't collect his own cards? Oh well, it's my first 1/1 in a long time and... it's put aside... for safe keeping. 

Burkholder (b. 2005) was a 2nd round pick by the Phillies in the 2024 July Amateur Draft out of Freedom High School in Virginia. He has played in the Phillies system since 2024, reaching A ball. He has 33 hits, 4 home runs and a .192 batting average. 

I mailed to Burkholder on January 10 and got the card back on January 28, for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Tony Fiore

A nice 2003 Topps came back signed TTM by Tony Fiore. I always enjoy the blue border of 2003 Topps. A white border is nice and all, but it's ok to have another color here and there. I got a broken set of these for free a while back at the former card shop, and have been pulling from it periodically. It's a nice set to add to the album from time to time.

Fiore (b. 1971) played in the majors from 2000 to 2003 for the Devil Rays and Twins. He had a record of 12-6, 94 strike outs and a 4.39 ERA.

I mailed to Fiore on January 9 and got the card back on January 28, for a 19-day TAT.  

Another TTM Success From Andy Van Slyke

Back in 2018, I got Andy Van Slyke to sign my 1987 Topps card TTM. Enough time had passed, so I sent to him again once I got a few nice cards together. The 2018 success was through a private signing. This time around, I sent to him directly. 

He signed the above 1992 Topps, which looks awesome. 

He also signed a 1987 Fleer Update (above, left), a 1995 Upper Deck (above, middle) and a 2023 Panini Prizm pink parallel (above, right). The 1995 Upper Deck adds an Orioles card to the collection. That's always a good thing.

I mailed to Van Slyke on January 3 and got the cards back on January 28, for a 25-day TAT. I paid a fee of $5.00/card.