Thursday, June 25, 2026

TTM Success - Mike Dyer

This 1995 Topps of Mike Dyer came back signed TTM in March after waiting for a while. However, the card turned out nicely. I still rather like the 1995 Topps set; that was definitely in my heyday of collecting as a teenager.

Dyer (b. 1966) played in the majors in 1989 and from 1994 to 1996 for the Twins, Pirates and Expos. He had a record of 14-18 with 154 strike outs and a 4.60 ERA.

I mailed to Dyer on October 4 and got the card back on March 9, for a 156-day TAT.

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

TTM Success - Bryce Meccage

2025 Topps Pro Debut is a really nice set. The 2025 design itself is great, but there's just something I like about Pro Debut from that year. I got a couple more 2025 Pro Debut signed when these two (a base and a chrome) came back TTM from Bryce Meccage.
He had posted online that he would accept fan mail at his place at Spring Training, so I jumped on the chance to add more of his cards to the collection. I had gotten him in person at a Mudcats game.

Meccage (b. 2006) was a 2nd round pick by the Brewers in the 2024 July Amateur Draft out of the Pennington School in New Jersey. He has played in the Brewers system since 2025, reaching High A. He has a record of 2-5 with 84 strike outs and a 4.76 ERA.

I mailed to Meccage on February 14 and got the cards back on March 6, for a 20-day TAT. 

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

TTM Success - John Parrish

Another former Oriole signed some cards for me TTM. John Parrish signed three cards for me: a 2001 Upper Deck, 2001 Topps and a 2007 Upper Deck. The above 2001 Upper Deck is a really sharp card. I really like this set, and when the cards get signed, they usually turn out great.
Parrish (b. 1977) played in the majors in 2000, 2001, 2003 to 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 for the Orioles, Mariners, Blue Jays and Royals. He had a record of 14-14 with 225 strike outs and a 4.51 ERA.

I mailed to Parrish on November 26 and got the cards back on March 5, for a 99-day TAT.

Monday, June 22, 2026

June 20, 2026, Graphing of the Jumbo Shrimp at Bulls

On Saturday, Jesse and I made the trip to Durham to try and get a few more Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp out of my boxes. We also wanted to get more Durham Bulls done as well, but it was a tough night, since there weren't many people there graphing who knew the faces of players on either side.
Still, we did really well. We were able to get a couple guys on rehab, Griffin Conine and Graham Pauley. We also got Karson Milbrandt, who wasn't with Jacksonville the last time they came.
We missed most of the Durham guys we needed, but it was ok, we had a good time and will head back up there soon.
Something sweet happened to me, too. I was wearing my Alien Face hugger shirt that says "Free Hugs" that Mal got me a while back. A woman walked by us as we were graphing outside and saw it and said "I'm going to put your shirt to the test." Of course, I had forgotten what shirt I was even wearing, and as I realized "oh yeah, that shirt", she had pulled her little boy aside and told him to read it. He read it out loud "Free Hugs... oh!" and threw himself at me, much like my niece Ada does. It made my night. Little guy was probably her age, 4 or so. It was a pretty cool moment. All I could say was "Aww, thank you buddy".

In all, we got the following autographs: Griffin Conine x 2, Braxton Garrett x 5, Karson Milbrandt x 7, Gage Miller x 9, Graham Pauley x 3, Jared Serna x 11, Josh White x 1, Henry Bonilla x 2, Mason Englert x 1 and Cooper Kinney x 4 (45 total autographs).

Sunday, June 21, 2026

TTM Success - John Harris

Here are a couple early 80s cards that came back signed TTM by John Harris. He signed my 1982 Topps (above) and 1981 Topps (below).
Harris (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1979 to 1981 for the Angels. He had 31 hits, 5 home runs and a .258 batting average.

I mailed to Harris on February 23 and got the cards back on March 5, for a 10-day TAT. 

Saturday, June 20, 2026

June 9, 2026, Graphing of the Miners at Bird Dawgs

Last week, the Sussex County Miners were in town. While I went all week, it took me only one game to get all of the autographs I needed. I had bought some nice Mahki Backstrom cards for the series. He was on the IL when the series started, but made the trip anyway.
When we got Backstrom on Tuesday, he told us he was happy to be there because they were activating him for that game.
I also should now be out of Chris Widger cards. I found these three in the offseason and got them done on Tuesday.

I went Wednesday through Sunday and got nothing else signed. It was nice to relax and just enjoy the games. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Mahki Backstrom x 14 and Chris Widger x 3 (17 autographs).

Friday, June 19, 2026

TTM Success - Ryan Mullins

The above 2007 Bowman orange parallel of Ryan Mullins isn't the one I lulled years ago from a pack and hoped to get signed one day. That one kept popping up in my passes through my boxes, until i was ready to send it out. Now, who knows where it is. So, I got tired of hoping it would pop back up, and I bought one to send. The other still hasn't shown up though.
Mullins (b. 1983) was a 5th round pick by the Twins in the 2005 June Amateur Draft out of Vanderbilt. He played in the minors from 2005 to 2011, all in the Twins system, reaching AAA. He had a record of 41-50 with 655 strike outs and a 4.18 ERA.

I mailed to Mullins on February 20 and got the cards back on March 2, for a 10-day TAT.