Max Hits it Big

To say that 2020 has been a terrible year for graphing would be an understatement.  I have had almost zero opportunities to graph and get cards signed via 50/50s.  When my friend, Max, messaged me asking me for every Frank Thomas card that I could find, that awoke the 50/50 fire in me that had been dormant for the year.

I went through all of my boxes of cards and pulled every Thomas that I could get my hands on.  I came away with 75 cards, and Max was really happy with the results.  The cards were expedited to him, and he took them to a signing that he was attending.  Max ended up hooking me up with some of the cards I searched for, so I could add them to my album.

The best part is that a few of them actually came from my mom's collection that she had given me in an old tin cigar box.  The cigar box had a bunch of 90s cards, and Thomas was in there quite a bit.  The above 1995 Collectors Choice What's The Call card was my favorite one out of the whole bunch.  If I only had one card to choose from to take back, it would have been this one.  I was really glad to get it signed.

Max was very gracious in the cards he let me pick from.  There were a bunch of great ones, but I was allowed to get some of the best ones in the bunch.  The 1997 Topps (above, top) was the lone Topps base card that I chose.  I definitely loved the 1997 Upper Deck Define The Game (above, middle) and the 1997 Upper Deck Home Run Heroes (above, bottom).

I don't remember where the 97 Ultra Big Shots (left) came from, but it was a really awesome card.  The 1995 Stadium Club Statistical Extreme card came out of Mom's box, and just looks really great signed.  Finally, the 2017 Topps 87 insert had to come back to me, because it is the 87 design.

I'm really happy with how all of the cards came out, but I'm even happier that Max thought of me when he needed to get some Thomas cards fast.  He went above and beyond in hooking me up, and I always appreciate how we have our deals set up.  Thank you so much for thinking of me, Max!

Another TTM Success From Jay Bell

I had found quite a few Jay Bell cards while looking through boxes during several trips to the LCS and while at the National.  The above 1995 Stadium Club acetate card was just too cool to not send TTM.  I found that one in a dime box at the National.

Since Bell signs a bunch of cards when you send to him, I grabbed these from the LCS and sent them with the acetate card.  All of them turned out great.

The 2000 Topps Gallery (bottom left) is yet another set that I missed out on when I was in college and not collecting cards.  I found a stack of them at the LCS, so I grabbed a couple of some guys that I knew signed TTM.  While I was at the shop picking up the 2002 Chrome, the clerk sold me sets of 2002, 2003 and 2004 Topps that had been in storage for a while.  I was lucky enough that they weren't all stuck together, and got them for a great price.  Some of those cards will pop up in some later TTM posts.

I mailed to Bell on October 15 and got the cards back on October 22, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Carlos Baerga

I added a really nice success to my list with this one from Carlos Baerga.  He was one of the better offensive second basemen that I remember from my formative years following the game.  The above 1996 Topps Gallery turned out really nice, and it was out of the box I busted while I was at Andrew's house.

I really liked the action shot on this 1998 Topps.  The white Mets hat also looks pretty cool, I think.

Finally, these two round out the success.  The 1996 Bowman looks pretty good, and the 1995 Stadium Club Super Teams card looks really freaky, but in a good way.

Baerga (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1990 to 1999 and 2002 to 2005 for the Indians, Mets, Padres, Red Sox, Diamondbacks and Nationals.  He had 1,583 hits, 134 home runs and a .291 batting average.  He was an All Star three times (1992, 1993 and 1995) and was a Silver Slugger Award winner in 1993 and 1994.  His best finish for MVP (AL) was in 1993 when he finished 10th.  He appeared on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot, but didn't receive any votes.

I mailed to Baerga on May 30 and got the cards back on July 20, for a 51-day TAT.

TTM Success - Paul O'Neill

I took a shot on a TTM request that I thought I had a decent chance of getting back, but I had seen that folks have had spotty results with Paul O'Neill.  This 1995 Stadium Club Ring Leaders card had been in one of my boxes for a long time, so I figured that I would go ahead and see what would happen.  I'm really glad I sent it off!  After I had mailed this card to O'Neill, I got a Ring Leaders card signed by Howard Johnson, but this one is still pretty awesome.

O'Neill (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1985 to 2001 for the Reds and Yankees.  He had 2,105 hits, 281 home runs and a .288 batting average.  He was a 5-time All Star (1991, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998) and his best finish in the MVP voting was 5th (1994 - AL).  He was the 1994 AL batting champion with a .359 average.  He won the World Series in 1990 with the Reds, and 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 with the Yankees.  O'Neill appeared on the 2007 Hall of Fame ballot, but received only 2.2% of the vote.  He is married to my sister-in-law's cousin, and his nephew plays for the Down East Wood Ducks.

I mailed to O'Neill on March 20 and got the card back on April 14, for a 25-day TAT.

April 20, 2017, Graphing the Wood Ducks

While Chris was out of town for Easter break, my wife and I were able to catch a game at Historic Grainger Stadium on Thursday, April 20.  Before the game, my wife and I did a little graphing.  I got Howard Johnson on two cards (one of which was a 50/50 for my buddy, Carson).  My wife actually got this 1995 Stadium Club Ring Leaders card signed for me (the auto is by his hip).

I also did some 50/50 graphing for my good friend, Max.  He sent me a few Bobby Rose cards, and I got them all signed, and split them with him.

The Howard Johnson that I got signed for Carson was a 1987 Fleer, which looked really nice in blue Sharpie.  The Rose was another from Max.  I was also able to get the above 1994 Topps Howard Johnson signed.  I think I have gotten just about everything that I had of Johnson that I really wanted to get signed.  I think most of what I get after this will probably be gifts for friends and/or trade bait.

We were also able to get a few of the Hickory Crawdads team set cards signed.  A lot of the players in this set have moved up to the Wood Ducks this season.  Steve Mintz went to nearby Mount Olive College, and is now the Wood Ducks pitching coach.

The Wood Ducks lost the game, but we had to leave early, since my wife had to be up really early for work.  It was nice to go out and spend some time at a game with her, though.  I know the ballpark isn't her ideal spot, but we seem to enjoy going to games together.  Now that Chris is home, though, he and I will be doing some more graphing, I'm sure.

TTM Success - Scott Livingstone

Here is another player that I had a ton of cards of that I finally was able to send out.  The return is really great, starting with this 1993 Flair of Scott Livingstone.  This card looks awesome, especially in person.  I'm a big fan of sending these out, and am really glad this one came back looking the way it does.  Just a really sharp card.

I got two Topps cards from the success, a 1992 and 1993.  Both turned out great.  I liked the rookie cup logo on the 1993 Topps.

Finally, here are a couple other cards I sent, a 1992 Fleer and a 1995 Stadium Club.  I was surprised that I didn't have hardly any 1992 Fleer in my album, so this card will take care of that omission.

Livingstone (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1991 to 1998 for the Tigers, Padres, Cardinals and Expos.  He had 431 hits, 17 home runs and a .281 batting average.

I mailed to Livingstone on November 23 and got the cards back on December 9, for a 16-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ricky Bones

It might be hard to tell, but this 1994 Topps Finest is signed by former pitcher, Ricky Bones.  The scan takes a little bit away from the card, but the player also used a ball point pen to sign it.  Still, it is a really cool card.  I always liked this design of Finest and wanted to get a couple of them signed.  My LCS has a box of cards from the 90s that I have been picking from, so hopefully some more cards like this one will come in.

This 1992 Topps turned out better.  I used to have a ton of this year of Topps, but unloaded them a long time ago.  I kind of regret all of the cards I've unloaded, but I did have to make a lot of room, so it makes sense.  I do wonder, though, what really cool cards did I get rid of that I would have loved to send TTM?

Finally, here are a couple other cards that I got back.  These horizontal cards are pretty nice.  Again, we see a 1995 Stadium Club.  The top card is a 1995 Flair.  I still have a bunch of both of these kinds of cards, so I'm sure I will be getting some more of them signed and placed in my album.

Bones (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1991 to 2001 for the Padres, Brewers, Yankees, Reds, Royals, Orioles and Marlins.  He had a career record of 63-82 with a 4.85 ERA and 564 strike outs.  He was an All Star in 1994 for the Brewers.  I don't remember him being on the Orioles, but that was the 1999 season, and I was fully immersed in college. I followed the Orioles then, but wasn't collecting baseball cards, so that kind of explains why I don't remember him being there.

I mailed to Bones on November 22 and got the cards back on December 6, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Orlando Merced

While I'm disappointed in how this card scanned, I am really happy about this TTM success from Orlando Merced.  I sent off some really nice mid-90s cards, and all of them came back looking really great.  The above card looks so much better in person; you'll have to take my word for it.  This is a 1997 Donruss Press Proof.  While not serial numbered, the back does say that the card is 1 of 2000.  The auto shows up really nice on it, I think,

Stadium Club cards always look great when signed.  This borderless, horizontal 1995 Stadium Club is such a sharp card.  It just begged for an auto.  I am so glad I sent this one out.

Here is a card that could have made an appearance on the Topps Autograph Page.  Speaking of, I didn't realize that the page wasn't showing up in the tabs last night.  That has been corrected and hopefully you all can see it now.  Please remember to take a look!

Finally, here are a couple more nice mid-90s cards.  The left one is a 96 Studio, which I believe is the first from that set that I have been able to get signed.  The card on the right is a 1996 Flair.  Flair cards always look awesome when signed, and this one is no different.

Merced (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1990 to 1999 and 2001 to 2003 for the Pirates, Blue Jays, Twins, Red Sox, Cubs, Expos and Astros.  He had 1,108 hits, 103 home runs and a batting average of .277 across his MLB career.  He finished 2nd to Jeff Bagwell in the 1991 NL Rookie of the Year voting.

I mailed to Merced on October 24 and got the cards back on December 6 for a 43-day TAT.

TTM Success - Matt Mieske

I was able to add some 1990s cards via TTM when I got these back from Matt Mieske.  This 1995 Topps was the first that I was able to add from that set.  This is a really nice one, with it being horizontal, and the cloudy sky in the background.  It really turned out great.

Here are some other 90s staples that I was able to get signed.  Clockwise from top left are: 1991 Bowman RC, 1995 Collectors Choice SE (I always loved this set), 1994 Donruss and 1995 Stadium Club.

Mieske (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1993 to 2000 for the Brewers, Cubs, Mariners, Astros and Diamondbacks.  He had 406 hits, 56 home runs and a .262 batting average.

I mailed to Mieske on April 21 and got the cards back on May 2, for an 11-day TAT.