2026 National Free Signer - Ron Kittle

At this year's National, I got to see Ron Kittle as a free signer for the third time. He had been a signer at the 2021 and 2023 Nationals as well. I was surprised that I even had any cards of him left, but I did. The above 1988 Fleer turned out great. I have a partial set of 88 Fleer somewhere, but I haven't located it in all of my mess.

I did raid a partial set of 1989 Upper Deck. I didn't realize that Kittle had two cards in that set. I also had him sign a 1989 Score and a 1989 Donruss.

I had several vouchers for Kittle (obviously), so I got several cards out of my slider box. I think I have a couple left, in case he shows up at next year's National. 

TTM Success - Jack Savage

What a cool name. Jack Savage. It sounds like a wrestler's name. I saw that I could get Savage to sign TTM, so I pulled some junk wax era cards and sent them off. The above 1989 Donruss turned out nicely. 

I also sent out a 1990 Topps Traded (above, left) and a 1991 Topps (above, right).

Savage (b. 1964) played in the majors in 1987 and 1990 for the  Dodgers and Twins. He had a record of 0-2 with 12 strike outs and a 7.67 ERA.

I mailed to Savage on January 6 snd got the cards back on January 17, for an 11-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Ed Hearn

The above 1989 Triple A All Star Game card of Ed Hearn drove me to send to him TTM again so this card could live in my autograph album. The request was another success and the card can now be stored away among the rest of my autographs.

I decided to thin out some of the 80s boxes and sent the above 1987 Donruss, 1988 Score and 1989 Donruss to Hearn as well.  All four cards I sent turned out great.  I also have just a little bit more room in that 80s box.

I mailed to Hearn on December 18 and got the cards back on March 3 for a 75-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Steve Searcy

While clearing out some room in my boxes, I gathered some cards of guys I had sent to in the past with the plan to send again.  The point was to make room in the boxes and added new cards to the album.  I pulled a few cards of Steve Searcy, who I had sent to back in 2018.  Back then, I jad sent only his 1989 and 1990 Topps.  This time I got a 1989 Score, 1989 Donruss, 1991 Donruss, 1991 Topps and 1991 Stadium Club back signed.

All of the cards turned out nicely.  It was nice to get these Junk Wax Era.cards moved into the autograph album. 

I mailed to Searcy on December 27 and got the cards back on January 6 for a 10-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Bob Boone

Bob Boone has been signing more frequently lately, so I gathered up a few cards and sent off to him again.  I liked the above 1987 Donruss Highlights card, and it turned out nicely.

I also got a 1987 Fleer, 1989 Donruss and a 1990 Topps signed.

I had met Boone back during the 2021 season, and got him on a few cards.  He was really cool when we talked to him, so I'm glad to add some more of his signed cards to the autograph album. 

I mailed to Boone on August 23 and got the cards back on September 1, for a 9-day TAT.  

Spring Training Returns From Drake

My friend, Drake, may appreciate how I have my autograph albums set up almost as much as I do.  I enjoy the variety of each page and how so many different cards from different sets populate the albums.  Drake has helped me get cards signed for a few years now, and he really came through during this year's Spring Training.

He even mentioned to Maikol Escotto (above) how the card he was signing would end up as the cover photo of a future blog post (even though I don't blog by request).  I honored Drake's wishes and put this card first as part of a deal we made while he was assembling the return package.

Drake helped me clear a lot of room in my prospects boxes by taking the cards he took for Spring Training.  He also helped get a bunch of cards out of the box of shame, which clears room for some missed opportunities from this season.

I was really happy to add the 2022 Panini Capstone Pablo Lopez (top right) to the album.  Those cards look really nice, and look even better signed.

I was really happy with the 2022 Topps Cosmic Chrome Griffin Jax that Drake got done for me.  That was a cool box that I ordered off of Topps.com, and this is the first from that set that I have been able to get signed.

Drake got Joey Gallo to sign (top left), but Gallo switched markers on him.  I don't care, though, he gets added to the album anyway.  The 2014 Bowman Byron Buxton turned out nicely, as well.

Several Bowman Draft highlight this page, as well as a 2017 Topps Heritage Minors Chance Sisco.  I missed Sisco a few times, but was finally able to get this card out of my boxes.

Drake added a couple extras of his own, like the 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Brock Deatherage blue parallel and the 2014 Leaf Perfect Game Andrew Cabezas.  He also tossed in the 2022 Panini Prizm Curtis Terry, which was nice, since Terry is a former Wood Duck.

There is a 2001 Topps Rocco Baldelli that Drake got done for me, as well as a 2020 Topps Big League orange parallel of Chance Sisco that I really wanted to get signed.  Drake read my mind, and got that one taken care of for me.  He also provided me with several project cards with multiple players to try to get signed.  Thanks buddy!

I was surprised to see this 2021 Topps Heritage Minors Austin Martin stickers insert get signed.  I'm sure it was tough to add it to his page, but it is cool to add one of these to my album.  Martin was tough last season when I went to Wichita, so for Drake to get two cards done for me out of my box of shame, I was really happy.

Finally, Drake added this 1989 Donruss signed by David Cone that Drake traded for.  He had a friend get Cone at Royals opening day (I think), and it is something really awesome to add to the album.

Thank you for all of your hard work, Drake!

TTM Success - Mike Birkbeck

Here are some more late 80s cards for my album in this TTM success from Mike Birkbeck.  I enjoyed this 1989 Topps, which turned out well.

In addition to my card for my 1987 Topps set, I also sent a couple late 80s Donruss cards.  They look pretty good, and I like both of those sets' designs.

Birkbeck (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1986 to 1989, 1992 and 1995 for the Brewers and Mets.  He had a career record of 12-19 with 149 strike outs and a 4.86 ERA.

I mailed to Birkbeck on March 16 and got the cards back on April 9, for a 24-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dave Schmidt

I was able to add a former Oriole to my autograph album with this success from Dave Schmidt.  I hadb't gotten any 1989 Upper Deck signed yet, so it was nice to finally add one to the binder.

I also added a few nice Topps cards, including a 1987 Topps.  I also got a Donruss Diamond Kings signed, and those always look great.

Schmidt (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Rangers, White Sox, Orioles, Expos and Mariners.  He had a career record of 54-55 with an ERA of 3.88 and 479 strike outs.

I mailed to Schmidt on February 6 and got the cards back on May 18, for a 101-day TAT.

March 30, 2012 Bargain Bin Pack Pickups

No mail again, so I went to the Kinston card shop to pick up this week's Prime 9 card (Ernie Banks) and bought a bunch of loose cards and bargain bin packs.  Lots of junk wax in the bargain bin, but they are always fun to open.

I bought two packs of 1989 Donruss for 50 cents and the highlight of both packs was this Randy Johnson RC.  The good thing about 1989 Donruss is that it is a decent looking set and has a bunch of future HOF rookie cards in it.  Not bad at all.  The Big Unit looks a little annoyed that someone was taking his picture.  Oh well, 300+ wins and 4,000+ strikeouts later, he is bound for Cooperstown.

I got a pack of 1992 Topps Stadium Club for 75 cents and pulled this Matt Williams.  A very good player in his day, Williams was always a big pull for us when we were growing up.  He now coaches on the DIamondbacks.

 Finally, I got a pack of 2004 Topps Total for $1.  I didn't pull anything of note, really, except for this Jason Johnson.  My wife and I met Johnson back in 2001 and he was a really nice guy.  He was my first in person MLB auto.  Not too bad.  I still have mine, my wife's ball has faded.

So, I didn't do all that bad considering I spent less than 3 bucks on the packs.  I'm going to go through the other cards from the packs and sort them out to my regular trade partners.  I hope I get to the loose cards I bought in the next few days, but we'll see.  I hope they get preempted by some good mail tomorrow.  That would be nice.

TTM Success - Dave Parker

Finally, another TTM has come in.  I sent a ball to Dave Parker on March 10 and got it back today, March 16.  A 6-day turnaround, which is pretty darn fast!  I had to send a check for $25 to Mr. Parker for the signature, but I believe it was well worth it.

I wish I had thought to ask for an inscription, but I didn't think of it when I wrote my note to him.  It would have been nice to get 'Cobra' inscribed on the ball.  Oh well.  It still looks great!

Chris and I went to the Kinston card shop and picked up a bunch of stuff to be blogged later, but I thought it was cool when he opened his 50 cent pack of 1989 Donruss and got this Dave Parker card.  It worked out perfectly.

Parker played in the majors from 1973 to 1991 for the Pirates, Reds, A's, Brewers, Angels and Blue Jays amassing 2,712 hits, 339 home runs and a .290 batting average.  The 1978 NL MVP, he has numbers that ALMOST warrant a ticket to Cooperstown.  I doubt he will get in, but you never know.

I'm really glad I got a TTM in, I was starting to get worried.  He is now my 48th TTM success.  Here's to hoping I get a few more in the coming days.