TTM Success - Bill Landrum

The 90s sure were full of color. From the crazy outfits on Fresh Prince, Saved by the Bell or Parker Lewis Can't Lose, to the baseball card sets of the early 90s, color was everywhere. Triple Play (above) was a Donruss lower-tier product that debuted in 1992, with a very bold design.  I actually liked the set.  When I saw the above Bill Landrum, I had hoped I would be able to add another Triple Play to the autograph album. He signed (obviously), so yeah, I got my wish.

Everything else I sent out to Landrum was colorful; a 1990 Donruss, 1991 Donruss, 1992 Donruss and a 1990 Topps.  All of them will brighten up the album page they will reside in. 

Landrum (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1986 to 1993 for the Reds, Cubs, Pirates and Expos.  He had a record of 18-15 with 218 strike outs and a 3.39 ERA.  

I mailed to Landrum on November 6 and got the cards back on November 15 for a 9-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Mike Bielecki

The above 1990 Topps Mini League Leaders card of Mike Bielecki drove me to send another TTM request to him.  I don't believe I had any of these in the autograph album, so i wanted to add one.  It is a good looking card, and I'm glad I had found it in a random box.

I went ahead and cleared out four other cards from the boxes; a 1988 Donruss, 1990 Donruss, 1991 Bowman and 1991 Donruss.  I remember my older brother though Don Russ was a person.  Kind of like Jon Blonde Jovi or Arrow Smith.  Anyway, it was nice to add these to the album.  Oh, what about Curvy Puckett?  I think there are a few more.  I'll have to try to remember them.

I mailed to Bielecki on January 29 and got the cards back on February 28 for a 30-day TAT. 

A Third TTM Success From Scott Bailes

While going through my boxes, I found even more cards of Scott Bales so I could send a third TTM request to him.  The cards I got back were all junk wax era cards, but there's nothing wrong with that.  Above is a 1990 Donruss that turned out nicely.

Above are cards from 1990 Fleer, 1992 Fleer, 1991 Score and 1988 Donruss.  Somewhere i have a partial 1990 Fleer set.  Who knows where that is.  Otherwise, I'd have a lot more of them in the autograph album. 

I mailed to Bailes on November 19 and got the cards back on December 6 for a 17-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Kevin Mmahat

A unique name led to me sending off a TTM request to Kevin Mmahat.  The above 1990 Score turned out great.  I like the design, and it will look great in my album. 

I also got a 1990 Donruss signed, which turned out great.

Mmahat (b. 1964) played in the majors in 1989 for the Yankees.  He went 0-2 with 3 strike outs and a 12.91 ERA.

I mailed to Mmahat on February 1 and got the cards back on April 15, for a 74-day TAT.

TTM Success - Greg Litton

A bunch of Junk Wax era goodies came back when I received this TTM success from Greg Litton.  Cards like the above 1990 Donruss were signed and added to the autograph album. 

Litton has a really nice signature and it showed up well on everything that came back.  I got a couple Topps cards signed (1991 and 1992), a 1991 Donruss and a 1991 Fleer.

Litton (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1989 to 1994 for the Giants, Mariners and Red Sox.  He had 195 hits, 13 home runs and a .241 batting average. 

I mailed to Litton on October 17 and got the cards back on December 29, for a 73-day TAT. This was the last TTM that I got in during 2023.

TTM Success - Clint Zavaras

The 1990 Donruss set remains one that collectors either love or hate.  I love it.  It was one of the first sets I completed, yet it remains underrepresented in my autograph album.  I found this one of Clint Zavaras and sent it out TTM, along with his 1990 Topps.  Both of the cards came back looking nice, even though Zavaras's marker appears to be drying up.

Zavaras (b. 1967) played in the majors in 1989 for the Mariners.  He went 1-6 with 31 strike outs and a 5.19 ERA.

I mailed to Zavaras on October 31 and got the cards back on November 14, for a 13-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Steve Rosenberg

A few Junk Wax Era cards were added to my autograph album when I got this TTM success in from Steve Rosenberg.  I cleared out a little bit of room in my boxes from this era by pulling several guys who I had seen sign TTM and sent a few on their way.  The above 1990 Donruss turned out well.  I don't care what anyone else says, I like this set.  It was one of the first sets I had collated (because I had so many of them).

I wasn't about to deny some Topps entries into the album, so I added the above 1989 Topps and 1990 Topps,  Both look great.

Rosenberg (b. 1964) played in the majors from 1988 to 1991 for the White Sox ad Padres.  He had a record of 6-15 with 115 strike outs and a 4.94 ERA.

I mailed to Rosenberg on November 7 and got the cards back on November 17, for a 10-day TAT.

2022 National Free Signer - Milt Thompson

While I hadn't gotten him TTM before, I did have Milt Thompson posted on my blog before. My friend, Stefan, had gotten an 87 Topps signed for me back in 2020. So, when I saw Thompson on the schedule of free signers for this year's National, I didn't have to get the 87 signed. 

Instead, I got the one card of his I found in my collection (the 1990 Topps) and then I found the other three in a dime box at the show.

All of the cards turned out great.  I was really glad to add the 1990 Donruss to the album.  Those are some nice cards, even though a lot of folks don't like that set.

TTM Success - Mark Parent

I took some cards out of my junk wax boxes and got them signed with this TTM success from Mark Parent.  I don't think I have any other 1994 Topps Team Stadium Club cards signed, so getting this one done by Parent was nice.

He also signed these - a 1990 Donruss and a 1992 Stadium Club.  These cards have been buried in a box in my closet for a very long time.  I was glad to be able to get them out and into my newest autograph album.

Finally, I got a few Topps issues done - a 1988 Traded, 1989 and 1991 Topps.

Parent (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1986 to 1998 for the Padres, Rangers, Orioles, Cubs, Pirates, Tigers and Phillies.  He had 279 hits, 53 home runs and a .214 batting average.

I mailed to Parent on June 8 and got the cards back on June 15, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Don Carman

I got a bunch of cards back signed from former pitcher, Don Carman with this TTM success.  I sent off a run of Topps cards, the 1990 Donruss, and this 1987 Fleer.  I wasn't sure if he would sign them all, but ended up throwing this Fleer in at the last minute.

I got Carman's Topps cards from 1986 to 1990 signed, and they turned out well.

Carman (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1983 to 1992 for the Phillies, Reds and Rangers.  He had a career record of 53-54 with 598 strike outs and a 4.11 ERA.

I mailed to Carman on January 8, 2018, and got the cards back on April 12, 2019, for a 459-day TAT.

TTM Success - Mike Morgan

I held onto my Mike Morgan cards for the longest time because I wasn't sure if I would get any back.  I had seen at one point that he was signing, then when I went to send, he wasn't anymore.  Recently, I saw that some folks were getting successes from him, so I went ahead and sent my cards out to him.

He was signing everything that people were sending to him, so I sent 6 cards.  They all came back signed, and he even switched pens.  I have a 5,000-count box of 1993 Fleer (top right), so it was nice to get one of those out of the box and out for signature.

Finally, of course, I got my 1987 Topps signed.  It turned out the best of all the cards he signed for me.

Morgan (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1978 to 1979, 1982 to 1983 and 1985 to 2002 for the A's, Yankees, Blue Jays, Mariners, Orioles, Dodgers, Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Rangers and Diamondbacks.  He had a career record of 141-186 with 1,403 strike outs and a 4.23 ERA.  He was a four-decade player, having played in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s.  He was an All Star in 1991 and won the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001.  He was traded to the Orioles by the Mariners in December 1987 for Tom Dixon and traded from the Orioles to the Dodgers for Mike Devereaux.

I mailed to Morgan on November 17 and got the cards back on December 3, for a 16-day TAT.

TTM Success - Phil Bradley

I added another former Oriole to my autograph collection with this TTM success from Phil Bradley.  He had a bunch of cards to choose from, so I wanted to make sure that I had several Orioles cards represented.  This 1990 Donruss turned out really nice, even though Bradley used a ballpoint pen.  The signature really shows up in the scan.  I was worried that it wouldn't show up.

He had quite a few Topps cards to choose from, so I selected a 1987, of course, and also 1989 and 1990.  The 1990 Bowman (bottom left) also was a nice choice.

One card manufacturer that seems to always be passed over for me is Upper Deck.  Their early 90s stuff especially just doesn't pop for me.  That being said, I wanted to send off this 1990 Upper Deck mainly because it came out of a team set of Orioles cards that I picked up way back in 1990.  The clamshell hanger case that the set originally came in has long since deteriorated, so the cards just reside in my Orioles box.  I wanted to make sure that one of them found it's way into my autograph album, and now one has!

Bradley (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1983 to 1990 for the Mariners, Phillies, Orioles and White Sox.  He had 1,058 hits, 78 home runs and a .286 batting average.  He appeared in the AL MVP voting in 1985, when he finished 16th and made his only All Star appearance.  He batted .300 or better in 3 seasons.

I mailed to Bradley on September 26 and got the cards back on October 13, for a 17-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kelly Gruber

I waited a long time to send out this TTM request to Kelly Gruber.  Mainly, because I had seen that folks had been successful with him, but the successes had been over a year or more ago.  I figured I would mail to him as part of a bulk mailing, but always seemed to put his off.  I finally mailed to him, and surprisingly enough, it didn't take too terribly long for the cards to come back.

All of the cards I got back turned out pretty nicely, I think.  I was really happy with the above 1992 Topps and the 1990 Donruss Diamond Kings.

Gruber (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1984 to 1993 for the Blue Jays and Angels.  He had 818 hits, 117 home runs and a .259 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1989 and 1990.  He finished 4th in the AL MVP voting in 1990 and won the World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.  He was also a Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger Award winner in 1990.

I mailed to Gruber on May 3 and got the cards back on August 25, for a 114-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pete Smith

I personally think the 1990 Donruss design is historically underrated.  This was the first set I put together (it was so easy), and one of the first types of cards I remember buying in stores.  I had to make sure I had some of them in my autograph album, so when I got this success from Pete Smith, I was glad to see that he signed my 1990 Donruss that I had included.  By the way, 2017 Donruss is based on the 1990 design, and those cards look so great, as well.

I also got a 1995 Fleer, because you can never have enough from that crazy set.  They really do turn out nice when signed, though.

Finally, here are the two Topps offerings I sent along, a 1991 and a 1990.  Those two years are way behind on my tally for late 80s, early 90s Topps sets, so I try to include them over other years when I can.

Smith (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1987 to 1995 and 1997 to 1998 for the Braves, Mets, Reds, Padres and Orioles.  He had a career record of 47-71 with a 4.55 ERA and 640 strike outs.

I mailed to Smith on February 16 and got the cards back on March 24, for a 36-day TAT.

TTM Success - Cris Carpenter

Not to be confused with the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher of the mid to late 2000s, this Cris Carpenter was a Cardinal long before.  He also is the proud owner of the awesome mustache shown on the above 1989 Topps.  Yes, I had tons of Carpenter cards to choose from, but I had to put this 1989 Topps in the mix because, well, it kept popping up throughout my time collecting cards.  It never failed, it seemed, to pop up whenever I opened a pack of 1989 Topps.  I found it odd that the signature bubbled a bit on this card, as that usually doesn't happen on the older cards like this one.

I added quite a few other cards with the success.  I had to toss in a couple other Topps (the 1993 and 1990), an oddball Classic (1989) and the always awesome 1990 Donruss.  Thankfully, Panini has resurrected the 1990 Donruss design, albeit in a white border with black writing.

Carpenter (b. 1965, today is his birthday) played in the majors from 1988 to 1994 and 1996 for the Cardinals, Marlins, Rangers and Brewers.  He had a career record of 27-22 with 252 strike outs and an ERA of 3.91.

I mailed to him on March 2 and got the cards back on March 11, for a 9-day TAT.

TTM Success - Rick Reuschel

I got a really cool TTM success from former pitcher, Rick Reuschel.  I was able to get a bunch of cards signed by him, like this 1981 Topps.  I got this card from the Columbia antique shop and loved the old Cubs jersey.  My decision to send this one was an easy one.

This 1986 Topps mini came out of one of the boxes that my mom picked up for me a while back.  I like the way these look, so getting this signed was a no-brainer as well.

I was also able to add these cards from Reuschel as well.  Since I saw that he signed a bunch of stuff, I was able to put a few cards in the envelope that I probably wouldn't normally have put in.  I loved the 1990 Donruss set, so I was happy to find one of his cards from there and put it in.  The 1986 Topps and 1987 Fleer also came out of the Mom Boxes.  That 1987 Fleer turned out great with the blue Sharpie on the blue bordered card.

Reuschel (b. 1949) played in the majors from 1972 to 1981 and 1983 to 1991 for the Cubs, Yankees, Pirates and Giants.  He had a career record of 214-191 with an ERA of 3.37 and 2,015 strike outs.  He wa san All Star three times and finished as high as 3rd in the Cy Young voting.  He received 0.4% of the vote on the 1997 Hall of Fame ballot, his only appearance.

I mailed to Reuschel on April 30 and got the cards back on May 7, for a 7-day TAT.