TTM Success - Frank Riccelli

TTMs have finally started to come back in.  Part of that is because as the season has winded down, I have had more time to drop some requests in the mail.  I've made a dent in the to-be-TTMed box, and need to add back to it.  Here's one of the random cards I had in there that I finally got around to sending out.  This is a 1980 Topps signed by Frank Riccelli.

Riccelli (b. 1953) played in the majors in 1976, 1978 and 1979 for the Giants and Astros.  He had a record of 3-3 with 32 strike outs and a 4.39 ERA.  I mailed to Riccelli on August 1 and got the card back on August 16, for a 15-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kyle Drabek

This TTM success from Kyle Drabek took a while to come in, but I was happy when it did.  This 2011 Bowman turned out nicely.  I wish it had been a parallel or something but 2011 Bowman base cards look nice, as well.

I also got a 2010 Topps Pro Debut and a 2014 Topps signed.  Getting 2010 Pro Debuts out of my box is always great, considering I have a ton of them.  I remember being really excited when Pro Debut first came out, so I bought a box, busted it and put the cards up.  I'm glad I did, since I went through that box later and found a Mike Trout.  Not bad.

Drabek (b. 1987) played in the majors from 2010 to 2016 for the Blue Jays, White Sox and Diamondbacks.  He had a record of 8-15 with 123 strike outs and a 5.26 ERA.

I mailed to Drabek on October 7 and got the cards back on August 15, for a 313-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Danny Darwin

Here is a cool 1991 Topps Desert Shield card that I found at the National in a dime box.  I knew I'd have a good shot to get it signed by Danny Darwin, so I picked it up and dropped it in the mail.  The card looks awesome.

I mailed to Darwin on July 31 and got the card back on August 13, for a 13-day TAT. 

September 3-8, 2024, Graphing of the Green Jackets at Wood Ducks

My emotions are still raw regarding the Wood Ducks finally being done in Kinston for good.  So, instead, I'll discuss the graphing results of the final home series and then weigh in later on about the Wood Ducks exit.

Since we saw that Brock Porter was back with the Woodies to close out the season, I ordered some Bowman parallels to get signed.  My favorite was the above lunar crater parallel.  These parallels look so good, in my opinion. 

I also picked up a lunar glow (left), lava refractor (middle) and a Bowman Chrome (right).  I'm glad they got here in time before the series ended.

My Pro Debut boxes came in Saturday, as I was leaving for the game, so I had to bust the boxes Saturday night when I got home and got a Luis Guanipa signed on Sunday for my first signed 2024 Pro Debut. 

Titus Dumitru is on the Braves 1994 Score that I had brought for one of the Braves top draft picks (who turned out to not have traveled with the team).  Titus was really cool, so it was easy to pick him to sign the card.

I finished off every Luis Guanipa that I had, as well as every 50/50.  Guanipa was the only prospect with mainstream cards who traveled with the team.

Augusta's coaches all had cards.  I had gotten Wynston Sawyer before, so I was out of his stuff.  Connor Justus and Elvin Nina had a couple cards, and I finished all of them off.

Einar Diaz had a ton of cards, and I took a 50/50 on him.   I got everything done, which was great.

Finally, Roy Silver showed up so (in his words) he could see Grainger Stadium one more time.  He is a really nice guy, and I was glad to see him one more time.  The Allen and Ginter Silver card was a nice touch to get signed by Roy.  I had found the card in a box and Jesse came up with the idea to try to get it signed by Roy Silver.  Silver liked the idea and had no problem signing it for me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Brock Porter x 9, Roy Silver x 4, Einar Diaz x 18, Luis Guanipa x 33, Connor Justus x 11, Kadon Morton x 1, Titus Dumitru x 1, Elvin Nina x 2, Anthony Susac x 1 and Pablo Guerrero x 1 (81 total autographs). 

August 30-31, 2024, Graphing of the Bisons at Bulls

A couple weeks ago, Jesse and I went to Durham to finish off some Buffalo guys that Chris and I may have missed when we went to Buffalo in July.

Josh Kasevich wasnt with Buffalo when we originally saw them, but I was able to find his cards pretty quickly.  I got most of what i brought of Kasevich signed. 

Jonatan Clase stopped for me be the dugout pregame, signing my 2022 Heritage Minors.  Jesse couldnt get his book out fast enough and Clase ran off.  We tried to get him again outside post-game but he wouldn't stop for us. 

I got all but two of my Eric Pardinho cards signed, finally.  He was really nice.  I also helped Max out by grtting his 2014 Topps Donnie Murphy signed.

Hagen Danner was cool.  Usually when someone's card has the wrong picture, they won't sign it.  Danner signs his 2024 Topps Heritage with a "This ain't me" inscription.

Danner signed everything we had, which got quite a few cards out of the boxes.

Cole Wilcox was finally with Durham and I got a couple Panini Stars and Stripes cards signed.  These have been in my box for a long time, and are finally signed.

Speaking of finally getting cards signed, I finally got my 2020 Bowman Ian Seymour, and these two Heriberto Hernandez cards signed.  

We also finally got cards signed by Morgan Ensberg.  You have to walk with him when he signs, as he will not stop.  Look up the reason why. It's crazy.

I picked up a Bulls team set, and knocked out a bunch of them.  There aren't many left that haven't been signed.

Over the two games, Jesse and I did pretty well. Buffalo was a pretty good team to get, and we didn't have to worry about trying to do arrival.

In all, we got the following autographs: Kenny Hook x 2, CJ Hinojosa x 1, Cole Wilcox x 4, Wool E Bull x 1, Jonatan Clase x 1, Mason Fluharty x 1, Josh Kasevich x 6, Eric Pardinho x 4, Rob Brantly x 1, Brett Ebers x 1, Morgan Ensberg x 10, Heriberto Hernandez x 2, Tyler Ladendorf x 1, Jake Mangum x 1, Enmanuel Mejia x 1, Mason Montgomery x 1, Tristan Peters x 1, Joe Record x 1, Joe Rock x 1, Reynaldo Ruiz x 1, Ian Seymour x 2, Riley Welch x 1, Nathan Wiles x 1, Hagen Danner x 11, Braydon Fisher x 2 and Donnie Murphy x 2 (61 total autographs). 

1987 Topps Set Pickup - Chet Lemon

This is my most recent pickup for my signed 1987 Topps set, a Beckett certified Chet Lemon.  I jad recently read an article about how Lemon has suffered a series of strokes, so I grabbed this one off of Ebay.  The article was really good and explained why folks hadn't heard much out of Lemon for some time now.  His wife wanted to let fans know, since there are plans to have Lemon at an upcoming Tigers game commemorating the 1984 World Series Champion Tigers.

Lemon (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1975 to 1990 for the White Sox and Tigers.  He had 1,875 hits, 215 home runs and a .273 batting average.  He was a three-time All Star (1978, 1979 and 1984).  He won the World Series with the Tigers in 1984.  He appeared on the 1996 Hall of Fame ballot but received only 0.2% of the vote. 

I like having my set in an album, but I don't want to crack this case.  I'll probably put an unsigned Lemon in the album with a slip of paper saying "see graded card" or something like that.

TTM Success - Dave Meier

Here is a quick TTM success that I got from Dave Meier on a 1985 Topps card.

The card turned out nicely after sitting in the to-be-TTMed box for a few years.  I finally got around to sending it out.

Meier (b. 1959) played in the majors in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988 for the Twins, Rangers and Cubs.  He had 70 hits, 1 home run and a .253 batting average.

I mailed to Meier on July 15 and got the card back on August 13, for a 29-day TAT.

1987 Topps Set Pickup - Steve Bedrosian

Another signed 1987 Topps was added to set off of Facebook recently when I grabbed this Steve Bedrosian for cheap.

Bedrosian (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1981 to 1991 and from 1993 to 1995 for the Braves, Phillies, Giants and Twins.  He had a record of 76-79 with 921 strike outs and a 3.38 ERA.

I've got one more new 1987 Topps that I picked up, which I will show soon.

Another TTM Success From Chris Volstad

Back in 2019, I got a TTM success from Chros Volstad on several cards.  I finally sent to him again once I picked up a 2006 Greensboro Grasshoppers team set.  Volstad was in the set, and the card looked really nice.  It looks even better now that it is signed.  I bought one of the sets for my friend, Michael as well, since Orioles manager, Brandon Hyde is also in there. Hopefully Michael can get that card signed.

I found these other cards of Volstad when I sent.  I had forgotten that I got him back in 2019, so the 2009 Allen and Ginter is a duplicate, except the previous one he signed was in black. The 2012 Topps turned out well, also.

I mailed to Volstad on May 24 and got the cards back on August 12, for an 80-day TAT.

Set Complete - 2024 Topps

My friend, Jordan, hooked me up with the last card I needed to complete my 2024 Topps set.  The final card was this Yoshinobu Yamamoto rookie card.  Jordan was generous enough to give me the card, even though I give him a hard time for seeing his cards for graphing in top loaders mere seconds before they're signed.

My friend, Gerard also helped with the set, since I was short by maybe 10 or so after I busted my boxes.  It used to be easy for me to complete Topps sets, but boxes are harder to come by since Fanatics only cares about breakers anymore. Hobby boxes are allocated in short supply, so I'm stuck busting retail boxes.  Also, the collation was horrible this year. I'd open five boxes and get a ton of duplicates of the same 5 guys and didn't pull a single Yamamoto. Just go ahead and tell me that one was short printed.

Anyway, I loved this year's design; it is one of the better ones over the last 10 years or so.  Now I can sit and wait for next year's design to be revealed.  Thanks for helping me finish this set, Jordan and Gerard.

1987 Topps Set Pickup - Greg Minton

Finally, some more signed 1987 Topps will be added to the set in short order.  I've seen a couple folks giving up on their set endeavors and punting, so I've swooped in and grabbed a few guys that I needed.  The first is this Greg Minton that I got from a guy on Facebook.

I had written an email to Minton about a year ago, and got a response.  He said for me to send him a card and he would sign it.  The card never came back, so I bought this one and crossed Minton off of the list.

Minton (b. 1951) played in the majors from 1975 to 1990 for the Giants and Angels.  He had a career record of 59-65 with 479 strike outs, 150 saves and a 3.10 ERA.

Minton puts me at 756/792 for the set.  36 cards to go!

TTM Success - Dave Lemonds

While I work to catch up on posts, here's a TTM success from Dave Lemonds.  He signed a 1973 Topps in ballpoint pen.  The card looks nice.  I've gotten quote a few TTMs back recently, and some IP posts to get scanned; that'll keep me busy for a while.

Lemonds (b. 1948) played in the majors in 1969 and 1972 for the Cubs and White Sox. He had a record of 4-8 with 69 strike outs and a 2.99 ERA.

I mailed to Lemonds on August 5 and got the card back on August 12, for a 7-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From William Van Landingham

This 1996 Fleer Metal card of William Van Landingham was picked up at the National and promptly dropped in the mail when I got home.  It came back signed pretty quickly, and looks awesome. 

I had sent to Van Landingham back in 2017, so I felt like it was time to send again and get this one done.

I mailed to Van Landingham on July 31 and got the card back on August 10, for a 10-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Reggie Crawford

This TTM success from Reggie Crawford took a while, but finally came in a while back.  He signed a 2022 Bowman Draft, and inscribed my name. 

Crawford (b. 2000) was a first round (30th overall) pick by the Giants out of the University of Connecticut. He has played in the Giants system in 2022 and 2023, reaching High A.  He hasn't played this season, due to injury.  So far, he has 7 hits, 1 home run and a .194 batting average in 24 minor league games.

I mailed to Crawford on January 3, 2023, and got the card back on August 6, 2024, for a 581-day TAT.  He kept my three other cards.

2024 National Pickup - Bill Paxton Autograph

There have been two celebrity deaths in my life that deeply affected me.  One was Chris Cornell.  The other was actor, Bill Paxton.

Paxton (b. 1955 - d. 2017) was first introduced to me when I was a kid with his performance as Chet in Weird Science.  He played the role of douchy big brother perfectly.  My favorite role of his, and most other folks, was his role at Pvt. Hudson in Aliens.  Aliens is my favorite movie ever, and Hudson's arc is key in the movie.  He also has probably the second-best well known line of the movie in "Game Over Man".

He also appeared in Terminator, Predator 2, True Lies, Frailty and Tombstone (among many others).  So many great movies.  There's a myth that his characters had each been (spoiler alert) killed by a terminator, predator and alien.  However, his character in Terminator didn't actually die. He was probably knocked unconscious.

Anyway, I had been looking for a Paxton autograph for some time now. Last year at the National, I really got serious about finding one, but pop culture autographs were few and far between there.  It was like looking for needles in haystack.

This year, this card was my second purchase (after a Gunnar Henderson jersey) at the second card table I stopped to look at.  I bought it, and the guy beside me told me that if i hadn't bought it, he would have.

So, this pickup at the National ended up being my favorite purchase, and happened right after the show started.  I wish it was an Aliens autograph, but I'll take what I can get.  At least it's an on-card autograph and not a sticker auto.

TTM Success - John Morris

Finally, a bunch of TTM successes came in over the last couple of months.  I have a decent stack of stuff to post, which will carry me well into the off-season.  Then, I will be sending out more requests daily.

This TTM success from John Morris helped me add a 1991 Crown Orioles card to the album, along with a 1975 Topps and a 1975 Topps Mini. 

Morris (b. 1941) played in the majors in 1966 and from 1968 to 1974 for the Phillies, Orioles, Pirates, Brewers and Giants.  He had a record of 11-7 with 137 strike outs and a 3.95 ERA.

I mailed to Morris on July 15 and got the cards back on August 5, for a 21-day TAT. 

August 20-25, 2024 Shorebirds at Wood Ducks

A better series for the Wood Ducks came along when Delmarva was in town.  The weather was beautiful, and my good friend, Ryan, came down to enjoy the Saturday and Sunday games.

Ryan hooked me up with some nice 2024 Stars and Stripes cards.  They came in handy, as there were several guys with the Shorebirds who had them.  Also, during the series, the Orioles sent their first round draft pick, Vance Honeycutt, up to Delmarva.

I got Honeycutt on his debut ticket, a ball and a photo.  I had already put all of them up before I started the scans for this post.  Oops.  I also saw this weekend that Honeycutt has already been moved up to Aberdeen.

The Wood Ducks also have some 2024 Draft picks on their team, now.  Anthony Susac and Casey Cook both have Perfect Game cards.  We were also surprised that Brock Porter was back with the Wood Ducks. 

In all, I got the following autographs: Casey Cook x 8, Pablo Guerrero x 9, Maikol Hernandez x 33, Braylin Tavera x 3, Anthony Susac x 1, Vance Honeycutt x 4, Brock Porter x 1, Jon Clemmons x 1, Griff O'Ferrall x 6, Austin Overn x 1, Ryan Stafford x 2 and Ethan Anderson x 1 (70).

August 6-11, 2024, Pelicans at Wood Ducks

While I've been posting the National signings, I let some IP graphing pile up.  The Myrtle Beach series at the Wood Ducks wasn't much of a series at all.  Tropical Storm Debby came through and washed out all but maybe a game and a half.

I still got a decent amount of cards signed.  I was disappointed that I didn't get Christian Hernandez on more stuff.  I had a ton.

Nazier Mule was pretty cool.  He was from near the same area of New Jersey that my family lived in a long time ago. 

I was able to get the Wood Ducks team set down to two guys after I finally got Jesus Moreno.  I had a couple other old ream set cards I got done by Tyler Schlaffer and Buddy Bailey.

In all, I got the following autographs: Alberto Mota x 1, Ryan Straney x 2, Drew Bowser x 4, Alexis Hernandez x 5, Cristian Hernandez x 2, Nazier Mule x 15, Tyler Schlaffer x 1, Carter Trice x 3, Julian Brock x 2, DEWD x 2, Jesus Moreno x 3, Brian Pozos x 1, Justin Sanchez x 4, Thomas St Clair x 2, Michael Thiele x 2 and Buddy Bailey x 2 (51 total autographs). 

2024 National Free Signer - Bob Lilly

Bob Lilly has been at the National before, but it looks like I didn't get him.  I really thought I had.  It doesn't matter now, since I got him on two cards this year.

I picked up a couple cards from the same vendor as the other free signers.  They're decent enough cards to get signed.  Lilly was the last free signer that I needed, which will move me on to posting some other stuff.

Lilly (b. 1939) played professionally from 1961 to 1974 for the Cowboys.  He was an 11-time pro bowler and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.  He won Super Bowl VI with the Cowboys.

Lilly was really nice.  His line moved super slowly, but he took his time to sign and talk with everyone.

2024 National Free Signer - JT Thomas

According to pro-football-reference.com, there were three football players with the name JT Thomas.  One of them was one of the free signers at the National. 

I had picked this 1978 Topps football card up from the same vendor with the signers cards, but was in line for one of the other free guys while Michael got Thomas for me.  So, I didn't actually meet Thomas.

Thomas (b. 1951) played professionally from 1973 to 1977 and 1979 to 1982 for the Steelers and Broncos.  He had 20 interceptions in his career.  He won the Super Bowl with the Steelers in 1974, 1975 and 1979.

2024 National Free Signer - Len Barker

Len Barker was a free signer at the 2018 National.  I got the cards I had at the time signed.  I had to search a bunch of my boxes to find some Barker cards for this year's National when I found out that he was signing.  The above 1985 Fleer turned out nicely.  There's also a lot of blue on this card, which is actually pretty cool.

Barker was nice, as he had been in 2018 also.  I only got the one card signed; I wasn't waiting around for them to call wild cards on him, but I believe they did.

2024 National Free Signer - Carlos Baerga

The free signers from the National are finally winding down, with just a few more to go.  This one was with Carlos Baerga, who I had gotten TTM back in 2017.

I had this really nice 1998 Fleer Metal that was the main card I wanted to get signed. I had it signed with gold paint pen, and it looks awesome.

I had an extra voucher for Baerga and got his 1995 Topps done (bottom right).  They also called wild cards on him, and I knocked out a few others (top from left: 1992 Topps and 1993 Topps, and bottom left: 1994 Donruss).

Baerga was really nice.  I was glad to get a few extra cards out of my slider box, since I spent a lot of time finding his stuff.

2024 National Pickup - Albert Belle Signed Baseball

As Michael and I were walking around the National, he spotted this Albert Belle signed baseball.  The vendor had a deal where if I paired this ball with another signed ball (to be shown later), I could get both for $100.  I took that deal, as I couldn't remember the last time I had seen a Belle ball.

Belle (b. 1966) celebrated his 58th birthday today (August 25).  He played in the majors from 1989 to 2000 for the Indians, White Sox and Orioles. He had 1,726 hits, 381 home runs and a .295 batting average.  He was a 5-time All Star and 5-time Silver Slugger Award winner. 

Thanks for seeing this ball and pointing it out to me, Michael.

2024 National Free Signer - Cardale Jones

Here is another card signed by one of the free signers at the National.  I picked up this 2016 Panini Draft picks football card from the guy selling free signers cards. It looked pretty cool.  I decided to get it signed with gold paint pen, and it turned out great.  It looks a lot better than the scan.

Jones (b. 1992) played one game professionally in 2016 for the Bills.  He os more known for his collegiate career at Ohio State, winning the college football national championship for the 2014 season.

2024 National Free Signer - Cory Snyder

Cory Snyder was a free signer at the 2019 National.  He is yet another guy who was brought back this year for another shot at signing.  I had a few more cards of his, including this 1988 Donruss Baseball's Best.  This was an easy choice to get signed.

I also had this 2003 Topps All Time Fan Favorites that came out of a box from the former LCS.

Snyder was cool again this year.  I had some cards remaining after the show, so I'll have to put them somewhere in case he shows up at another National.