TTM Success - Cecil Fielder

Cecil Fielder has been signing TTM lately, so I jumped in with this 1997 Fleer Metal that turned out great.  Fielder had been at the National a few years ago, so my 1987 Topps was already taken care of.

Fielder (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1985 to 1988 and 1990 to 1998 for the Blue Jays, Tigers, Yankees, Angels and Indians.  He had 1,313 hits, 319 home runs and a .255 batting average.  

He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1996.  He was a three-time All Star (1990, 1991 and 1993).  He led the AL in home runs twice (1990 - 51; 1991 - 44) and RBIs three times (1990 - 132; 1991 - 133; and 1992 - 124).  He finished second in the AL MVP race in 1990 (to Rickey Henderson) and 1991 (to Cal Ripken).  He appeared on the 2004 Hall of Fame ballot but received only 0.2% of the vote. 

I mailed to Fielder on March 24 and got the card back on April 1 for an 8-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $20/card.

TTM Success - Lyle Mouton

Three attempts were made, but I finally got a TTM success back from Lyle Mouton.  The cards I sent turned out great, so I was really glad when they finally came in.  The above 1996 Finest looks a lot better in person.

I also had Mouton sign a 1996 Topps Gallery, 1998 Topps, 1997 Score and a 1997 Fleer Metal.

Mouton (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1995 to 2001 for the White Sox, Orioles, Brewers and Marlins.  He had 225 hits, 22 home runs and a .280 batting average.

I mailed to Mouton on January 21 and got the cards back on January 31, for a 10-day TAT.

Some Signed Jack McDowells From Dugan

I met up with my buddy, Dugan, while on my way to Winston last week and picked up some cards that he had gotten signed for me by Burlington Sock Puppets manager, Jack McDowell. Yes, the former Burlington Royals are now the Sock Puppets.

Burlington is part of the new collegiate wood bat league set up by MLB when they changed the minors around.  Dugan has been to a couple Buington games now and seems to have enjoyed himself.  I do want a Sock Puppets hat...

Dugan got me a bunch of McDowell cards signed.  I had gotten him TTM and also as a free signer at the National.  I think I'm pretty much out of McDowell cards now. 

Thanks so much for getting these signed for me, Dugan!

TTM Success - Kevin Ritz

Here is a small break from the onslaught of 1987 Topps TTMs that I have gotten.  This success from Kevin Ritz featured some nice 90s cards, especially the above 1997 Fleer Metal.  The card turned out great.  I didn't prep it at all, and the Sharpie didn't smear or bubble any.  It really turned out great.

The card on the top left was one of the 1990 CMC AAA cards that came out of Mom's attic box, and the card on the bottom right is a rare appearance of a 1997 Topps in my album.  I'm glad I was able to add that one.  I am debating as to whether or not I want to pick up a box of 1996 or 1997 Topps to add to my hoard of Topps products, but with my 1987 project, I am not pressing too hard with that.  It is something I might do, if I come into some money sometime soon.

Ritz (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1989 to 1992 and 1994 to 1998 for the Tigers and Rockies.  He had a career record of 45-56 with 462 strike outs and a 5.35 ERA.

I mailed to Ritz on August 7 and got the cards back on February 2, for a 179-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jeff Fassero

This was the last TTM success in my "to be blogged" pile before I left on my trip.  I had sat on Jeff Fassero cards for a while because he is an in-season signer with the Louisville Bats.  So, I finally got the cards mailed out, and here is what I got back.

I love 1997 Fleer Metal.  I have seen some really cool designs with this set, and I have gotten a few of them signed.  The card looks a lot better in person, however.

Here are the other cards that I got signed.  I added one Topps, a 1995, to my Topps Autograph Project.  I, thern, used the opportunity to add a few other sets to the album.

Fassero (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1991 to 2006 for the Expos, Mariners, Rangers, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Rockies, Diamondbacks and Giants.  He had a career record of 121-124 with an ERA of 4.11 and 1,643 strike outs.  He finished 9th in the 1996 NL Cy Young Award voting, his only appearance on the ballot.

I mailed to Fassero via the Louisville Bats on May 2 and got the cards back on May 15, for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jeff Cirillo

Well, I've only had one time now where baby powder on a card didn't hold an autograph.  This success from Jeff Cirillo shows that nothing is a sure thing.  Oh well.  This card is still cool, and still will have a place in my autograph binder.

This Fleer EX turned out much better than the Flair Showcase shown at the top of the post.  So, I'm 1/2 with baby powder on this success.  Not bad.

I also can't go wrong with a Fleer Metal.  These cards always turn out great.  I have seen some Fleer Metal cards that would look amazing when signed, but the guys on the card don't sign.  Still, the ones that do, I plan on adding them because they look so nice.

Cirillo (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1994 to 2007 for the Brewers, Rockies, Mariners, Padres, Twins and Diamondbacks.  He had 1,598 hits, 112 home runs and a .296 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1997 and 2000 with the Brewers and Rockies, respectively.

I mailed to Cirillo on February 8, and got the cards back on March 27, for a 47-day TAT.  He signed 3 of the 4 cards I sent.

TTM Success - Mickey Morandini

This was a TTM that I was really excited about getting back, and I had to wait a while to even send it out.  I saw a while back that Mickey Morandini signed TTM, but all of the successes were from folks sending to the Phillies, so I had to wait a while until I thought it would be a good time to send.  I didn't want to send to the Phillies' Stadium toward the end of last season and have to wait until after opening day to get the cards back, so I sent them out during Spring Training.

In the meantime, I collected a bunch of his cards that I found at the card shop and waited.  It was worth the wait.  Check out the 1997 Flair Showcase above.  This card was the one I wanted to get signed the most.  I pre-treated it with baby powder before I mailed it and it turned out so nice.

I really had put together some really nice cards of Morandini.  This 1997 Fleer Metal is so cool, too.  I have gotten a few of these cards signed, and I love them all.  I really enjoyed collecting the Marvel set of Fleer Metal when they came out, and having a few of the baseball card versions in my album really is awesome.

The Morandini package actually started with the 1993 Fleer Golden Moments (left).  I thought the card would look nice in my album, and it grew from there as I found more and more cards.  I had to include a Topps card in the package, and what better one than the above 1999 Topps showing Morandini in a Cubs uniform?  I figured my buddy, Max, would like seeing that one.

Finally, here is a 1994 Topps Finest that I also had to pre-treat with baby powder.  It looks pretty cool, as well.  These cards sign really well, and are a lot of fun to look at in the album.

Morandini (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1990 to 2000 for the Phillies, Cubs and Blue Jays.  He had 1,222 hits, 32 home runs and a .268 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1995 while with the Phillies.

I mailed to Morandini on February 8 at Phillies Spring Training and got the cards back on February 18, for a 10-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jermaine Allensworth

I have been making frequent stops at my LCS to ick up some really cool cards from the mid-90s to try for some TTMs.  The shop owner has a box of cards like Bowman's Best, Fleer Metal, Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion, etc that I have really wanted to see come back signed.  The above 1997 Fleer Metal Jermaine Allensworth is a prime example of the kinds of stuff I have been really excited to see come back.

Of the four Allensworth cards that I sent, this one was the only one that I had found in my own collection.  The others were ones I pulled from the box at my LCS.  I was content in just sending this one card to him, but when I found the others at the shop, that added to my excitement about going ahead and sending these out.

The scans of the top two cards don't really do them justice.  They look great in person.  The scans of these two cards, though, really turned out nice.  These are two different years of Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion.  The card on the left is a 1998 Gold Medallion and the card on the right is a 1997.  The 98 looks more like a Flair product (man I miss that set) and the 97 looks more like a tipical Fleer Ultra offering.

Allensworth (b. 1972) was a first round draft pick (1993, 34th pick) by the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He played in the majors from 1996 to 1999 for the Pirates, Royals and Mets.  He had 268 hits, 15 home runs and a .260 career average.

I mailed to Allensworth on November 1 and got the cards back on November 12, for an 11-day TAT.