TTM Success - Jaret Wright

The above 1998 Fleer Ultra Rocket To Stardom insert of Jaret Wright kept popping up when I'd look through boxes. I finally pulled the card and out it aside to try to get it signed at some point, then I kept seeing it in stacks on my desk.  Of course, when I finally decided to send to Jaret Wright, I couldn't find the card.  That's how it usually works.  Obviously, I did end up finding the card, and I sent off to Wright TTM via PastPros.  The card looks great.  It actually is a die cut card, but that's hard to tell from the scan. 

I also sent off two cards showing Wright as an Oriole.  I couldn't decide between the 2007 Topps or 2007 Topps Heritage, so I sent both.  They both look great.

Wright (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1997 to 2007 for the Indians, Padres, Braves, Yankees and Orioles.  He had a record of 68-60 with 694 strike outs and a 5.09 ERA.  He finished 5th in the 1997 NL Rookie of the Year voting. 

I mailed to Wright via PastPros on January 8 and got the cards back on February 5, for a 28-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $20/card, along with PastPros fee of $8.00.

TTM Success - Richard Hidalgo

When I saw that Richard Hidalgo was signing, I was really excited. This was because I had a ton of his cards in one of the boxes I got when the card shop closed. I sent off four of the cards to him for signature and they certainly back looking great.  Obviously I had to send the above 2001 Fleer Ex.  I really love this set, and have gotten a few of them signed by now. They always look awesome in my album, and I definitely wouldn't mind adding more.

I also added a 1997 Visions Signatures multi sport card and a 1997 Bowman hometown foil parallel. 

This 1998 Fleer Ultra Rocket to Stardom looks great, as well. This is a die cut card, but that is hard to tell from the scan.

Hidalgo (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1997 to 2005 for the Astros, Mets and Rangers. He had  929 hits, 171 home runs and a .269 batting average. He finished 18th in the 2003 NL MVP race. In 2000, he finished 20th in the NL MVP race, after hitting 44 home runs and batting .314.

I mailed to Hidalgo on October 8 and got the cards back on October 28, for a 20-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Ben Grieve

These cards took forever to get here, but after they did, I was glad to add them to my album.  The above 1994 Upper Deck looks really nice.  I like the yellow.

I really like the 2000 Topps HD.  Those are some really cool cards, and look awesome when signed.  Grieve also signed a 1998 Fleer Ultra and a 1999 Topps Gold Label.  Those Gold Label cards also look awesome.

Grieve (b. 1976) played in the majors from 1997 to 2005 for the A's, Devil Rays, Brewers and Cubs.  He had 864 hits, 118 home runs and a .269 batting average.  He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1998; he was also an All Star that season.

I mailed to Grieve on February 27, 2017, and got the cards back on June 25, 2020, for a 1,214-day TAT.

TTM Success - Steve Woodard

Here are some nice late 90s cards that I was able to get signed by Steve Woodard.  The above 1999 Topps turned out really well.  I liked the horizontal card and the shot of the dirt of the pitcher's mound.

Here are the other cards that I got signed.  I liked the 1998 Bowmans that I found at my LCS.  The rest came out of random card boxes that I have laying around.

Woodard (b. 1975) played in the majors from 1997 to 2003 for the Brewers, Indians, Rangers and Red Sox.  He had a career record of 32-36 with 464 strike outs and a 4.94 ERA.

I mailed to Woodard on February 11 and got the cards back on February 23, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Glendon Rusch

This was a TTM success that added a few late 90s cards to the album that I mostly came across in some old boxes at my LCS.  I like these 1998 Fleer Ultras.  They lend themselves to great autos since they have no borders and are fairly glossy.  This shot of Rusch was a good one, and it looks great signed.

I picked up a box of 1996 Bowman while handing with Andrew, so I wanted to add a few of these to my album.  I like the coloring on the border, almost a beige to pink color like 1968 Topps (without the burlap).  The 1997 Stadium Club TSC 2000 is really cool, a type of card that I hadn't seen before.

Rusch (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1997 to 2006 and 2008 to 2009 for the Royals, Mets, Brewers, Cubs, Padres and Rockies.  He had a career record of 67-99 with 1,088 strike outs and an ERA of 5.04.

I mailed to Rusch on September 2 and got the cards back on October 16, for a 44-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jim Leyritz

Here's a really cool TTM success that I got on some late 90s cards of Jim Leyritz.  The above 1996 Fleer Metal is a really cool card, not quite as cool as the 1997 versions, but it is still a nice card nonetheless.

I was really happy to get the 1998 Score (left) since it came out of one of the bulk boxes Mom found for me.  The (right) 1998 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion turned out really nice, as well.

Finally, here is a 1995 Fleer.  I spoke about this set a few posts ago, but it bears repeating.  This is one of the craziest set designs that is around.  However, they all look really cool when signed.  I'd seriously consider buying a box of 1995 Fleer and adding more of them to the autograph album.

Leyritz (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1990 to 2000 for the Yankees, Angels, Rangers, Red Sox, Padres and Dodgers.  He had 667 hits, 90 home runs and a .264 batting average.  He won the World Series in 1996 and 1999 with the Yankees.

I mailed to Leyritz on October 26 and got the cards back on February 18, for a 115-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jamie Moyer

This was a TTM success I was excited about for a few different reasons.  One, Jamie Moyer was a really good pitcher for a long time.  He was also a former Oriole for about 5 minutes.  Also, I got a card back signed from him that completed my Topps Autograph Project.  Until 2017 comes out, at least.

I sent so many cards because I heard that Moyer would sign anything that was sent to him, so I figured I would get a good representation of cards together and send them along.  The above 1998 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion is one I offered to Moyer to keep, since it featured him with his sons.  He sent it back signed with the rest of my stuff, though, so I'm fine with that.

I put together a collection of Topps cards that I wanted to see signed.  I made sure I had a couple Orioles cards of his.  I also was compelled to send a 1987 Topps and the 1989 Topps Traded looked like a nice card to include.

I liked this version of Stadium Club and opened a bunch of packs of it when it came out in 1994.  The label maker font might be a bit dated, but it still looks cool.  I always liked this design.  Only problem with it, like most mid-90s cards, is that it is overglossed.  The cards tend to stick together.  Still, I'm glad I got this one signed and it will be safely kept in my album.

Finally, this is the card that completed my Topps Autograph Project for now.  I didn't have a single 2008 Topps card signed, so this one was a must when I was finding Moyer cards to mail out.  I'm really happy that I got this done.  Now, I need to compile my cards from 1951 to 2016 and figure out how I want to display the project.  I may just scan them and post them as a standalone page, until I can figure out something to do in person.

Moyer (b. 1962) played in the majors from 1986 to 1991, 1993 to 2010 and 2012 for the Cubs, Rangers, Cardinals, Orioles, Red Sox, Mariners, Phillies and Rockies.  He is a rare 4-decade player, meaning he played in the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s.  He had a career record of 269-209 with 2,441 strike outs and a 4.41 ERA.  Not Hall of Fame numbers, but he was a good pitcher for a very long time.

Moyer was an All Star only one time in his career, in 2003 when he went 21-7 for the Mariners.  He won 20 games one other time in his career in 2001 when he went 20-6 for the M's.   He finished as high as 4th in Cy Young voting, during the aforementioned 2001 season.  Moyer had quite the lengthy career and finally reached the World Series in 2008 at the age of 45, taking home a ring with the Phillies over the Rays.

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

TTM Success - Chad Fox

I received a TTM success from another former Winston-Salem Spirit the other day when I got two cards in from Chad Fox.  I mailed to Fox on November 15 and got the cards back on November 25, for a 10-day TAT.

Both of the cards look great.  The top 1995 Upper Deck Minors is a really sharp card.  I also really like the above Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion cards.  I picked them up from my LCS and was very happy to be able to use them.

Fox (b. 1970) played in the majors from 1997 to 1999, 2001 to 2005, 2008 and 2009 for the Braves, Brewers, Red Sox, Marlins and Cubs.  He had a career record of 10-12 with 262 strike outs and an ERA of 3.79. He won the World Series with the Marlins in 2003.

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.

TTM Success - Jay Bell

Yesterday, a ton of TTMs came rolling in, after not receiving many this past week.  Now, with no mail today, I might be able to catch up a little bit.  Maybe not.  Anyway, I was really happy with this TTM success from Jay Bell.  I was able to get some great cards signed, a few of which I picked up at my LCS.

The above 1994 Pinnacle might be my favorite of the bunch, and I believe it either came from one of the boxes Mom got me, or it may even be from my original childhood collection.  I don't remember, but regardless, it is a great shot.  Horizontal cards always look best when signed, and this one does as well.  The action shot helps also!

I'm pretty sure that these two Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion cards came from my LCS, I believe.  They are from 1998 and 1999 and both look really cool.  I was out of the hobby when these came out, but I think I would have really enjoyed opening packs of this had I stuck around.

Finally, here is a 1997 Bowman.  I guess this is Bowman Chrome, but it is more foil than chrome, so I don't really know.  The card looks great, though.  I'm really happy I found this at the LCS and was able to get it signed.

Bell (b. 1965) played in the majors from 1986 to 2003 for the Indians, Pirates, Royals, Diamondbacks and Mets.  He had 1,963 hits, 195 home runs and a .265 batting average.  He was a two-time All Star, was a Silver Slugger Award winner and Gold Glove Award winner.  He finished as high as 12th in the NL MVP voting (1991) and won the World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001.  He appeared on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot and received 0.4% of the vote.

I mailed to Bell on October 24 and got the cards back yesterday for a 17-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jimmy Key

On Thursday (3/17) I got a TTM success from one of my favorite pitchers from when I was a teenager, former Oriole Jimmy Key.  Key signs one per, so I sent off the only Oriole card of him that I could find, this 1998 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion.  The card looks great, and I think I did a good job with my choice.

Key (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1984 to 1998 for the Blue Jays, Yankees and Orioles.  I didn't realize, but he only played two seasons with the Orioles.  It felt like longer.  I remember that 1997 O's team he was on was really good, except for some bullpen blunders in the ALCS that year.  I had some other personal stuff going on that October, so I don't remember a lot from those playoffs.  I do remember them being a really good team, and the pitching rotation of Mussina, Erickson and Key could stack up against pretty much anyone.

Key had a career record of 186-117 with a 3.51 ERA and 1,538 strike outs.  He finished as high as 2nd in the AL Cy Young voting twice (1987 and 1994) and was a 4-time All Star.  He also finished 6th in the AL MVP voting in 1994 when he went 17-4 for the Yankees. Key won the World Series in 1992 with the Blue Jays and in 1996 with the Yankees.

I mailed to him on 3/7 and got my card back signed on 3/17 for a 10-day TAT.  He is someone that I likely will send to again after a while.  I love the signature, and the card looks great.

Another Trade With Jake - Early David Ortiz and Sammy Sosa Cards

It can be hard, sometimes, keeping track of all of the people I've met and traded with.  This is very true recently with all of the instagram and kik messenger deals that I have made.  One of the people I've met that I really have taken a liking to is Jake.  I've posted about him before, when I got a Jeter Minor League card in exchange for a Bryce Harper RC.  This time around, I sent Jake a couple 2014 Bowman Kris Bryant cards and in return, he sent me this early David Ortiz card, a 1998 Fleer Ultra.  This isn't (obviously) his David Arias RC, but it is still a cool card.

The other card Jake sent was this 1990 Star Minor League card of Sammy Sosa when he played for the Charlotte Rangers.  Look at his hair.  Gotta love the early 90s.

Anyway, Jake is a really awesome guy and I am glad to have completed another trade with him.  I know we will be doing some more, especially because we are in negotiations for one right now!