TTM Success - Trevor Bauer

He's controversial. However, when I saw a private signing pop up with Trevor Bauer, I jumped on the chance to add him to my autograph album. I picked out a 2011 Bowman Chrome to send out... and he missed the card during the signing. I got my card back unsigned, but the promoter sent me two replacement autographs. One was the above 2013 Bowman and the other was the below 2021 Topps.

I would have been fine with just one card, but the promoter went above and beyond to keep me happy.

Bauer (b. 1991) played in the majors from 2012 to 2021 for the Diamondbacks, Indians, Reds and Dodgers. He had a record of 83-69 with 1,416 strike outs and a 3.79 ERA. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2020. A polarizing figure even before the allegations levied against him, he probably will never pitch in the majors again.

I mailed to the signing on February 11 and got the cards back on March 9, for a 26-day TAT. The promoter also offered me a refund, which I declined. The extra auto was more than enough. 

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.

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. 

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.

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).

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. 

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).