December 6, 2025, Markakis-Johnson Signing

On Saturday, Jesse, Ryan and I made the trip to Prince Frederick, Maryland to attend a toy drive and signing with former Orioles Jim Johnson and Nick Markakis.  Markakis hasn't done any private signings and from what I can remember, hasn't done an in person signing in probably over 10 years or so.  I jumped at the chance to make the trip when I found out about the signing.  I dug through my Markakis PC box and pulled some good stuff.  This 2007 Topps Turkey Red Chrome refractor is numbered 29/99.  It wasn't on my radar, but when I found it, it jumped to the top of the list.

The above 2008 Topps Chrome Target T205 (above left) was the original card that I wanted to get done.  It turned out great.  I was also able to get a 2009 Topps done, as well.  I appreciate Jesse for getting the T205 chrome done.  He got a Topps Propaganda Markakis done for himself.

I had gotten Johnson on a card recently through a private signing, so I had to really dig to find more of his cards.  I went through my Orioles boxes and found some Johnsons.  The above (left) 2006 Ropps Rookie 52 was a cool card to dig out of the box. The card on the right is a 2012 Topps Heritage. 

The guys were really friendly.  They look super serious in the photo above, but they really were cool.

The toy drive looks like it brought in a bunch of stuff for the kids.  I had a great time with my friends, and hope we can get to some more signings soon.

TTM Success - Micah Owings

Here are a couple really cool cards that I got back signed TTM by Micah Owings.  First, the above 2007 Topps Turkey Red.  This card looks great.  I like this design, and was glad to add it to the autograph album. 

I also got this 2010 Topps Heritage signed.  Owings inscribed both cards, and that was fine with me. 

Owings (b. 1982) played in the majors from 2007 to 2012 for the Diamondbacks, Reds and Padres.  He had a record of 32-33 with 347 strike outs and a 4.86 ERA.

Before Shohei Ohtani, Owings was known as a prolific battery, as far as a pitcher was concerned.  He had 58 hits, 9 home runs and a .283 batting average. He won the Silver Slugger Award as a pitcher in 2007.

I mailed to Owings on January 24 and got the cards back on September 12 for a 231-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tadahito Iguchi

Another TTM success came in from Japan, this time, from Tadahito Iguchi.  I got another 2007 Topps Turkey Red signed, and it turned out great.  I like this set, and the cards always turn out well.

I also got a 2006 UD Special FX, 2006 Topps Chrome, 2008 UD First Edition and a 2008 Upper Deck signed.

Iguchi (b. 1974) played in the majors from 2005 to 2008 for the White Sox, Phillies and Padres.  He had 494 hits, 44 home runs and a .268 batting average.  He finished 4th in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2005 and also won the World Series that season with the White Sox.

I mailed to Iguchi on March 5 and got the cards back on April 20, for a 46-day TAT.  I had included $5 for return postage, but Iguchi sent my money back.

A Few More Franks From Max

Max was home from school doing some online education, so I went ahead and bought a few more Franks off of him.  These are some pretty nice cards, especially the above 1992 Topps signed in silver Sharpie.

Max chose this 2012 Topps Gold Standard for me, since I couldn't decide on the fourth card out of my lot.  It was a very solid choice, I think.

Finally, here are a 2007 Topps Turkey Red, which always look great when signed, and a 2019 Topps silver pack mojo 1984 Chrome.  The chrome bubbled some.  I just sent a card like that to another Hall of Famer, and I really hope it doesn't come back bubbled, especially given the price I paid.  Fingers crossed on that.

Still, the cards are awesome, as always.  Max is a great guy, and I'm glad I'm able to buy a few of these off of him from time to time.  Thanks Max!

August 2019 Graphing Recap of Pulaski Yankees at Burlington Royals

Chris and I were finally able to get out to Burlington for a game a couple weeks ago, after trying to get there for the past few years.

I was glad to be able to get Andy LaRoche on this 2007 Turkey Red card, finally, because I had originally sent TTM so him, but he didn't sign.  I got rid of a lot of his cards when I let a box of random stuff go at a yard sale.  I put his stuff in there because I figured I wouldn't be able to get them signed.  Thankfully, I didn't get rid of every one of them, and I got two of his cards done.

I did have a whole bunch of Kevon Jackson's cards, and I get all but one of them taken care of.  He was really nice, but wasn't in the lineup.  He came out in a warmup hoodie and we had to have help from his teammates in identifying him.

I started the day with just a few cards and a few players to get autographs from, but the team store was doing a sale of everything 50% off, and all teams sets were really cheap.  I got a couple of sets from previous years at $2.00 a piece, and this year's set for $4.50.

Graphing at Burlington was pretty easy, and we were able to get a good many of the players.  I missed a few, but was overall pretty happy with what I got done.

I even got the mascot on his card.

I got a few of the Pulaski Yankees guys, hitting coach Scott Seabol, and Ryder Green.

I was disappointed that both Anthony Volpe and Jake Agnos were listed on the roster, but were not in attendance.

Chris and I had a good time, but we had to leave the game early so he would be back home in time to get to bed at a decent hour.  The next day was his first day of 8th grade.

TTM Success - Mark Teahen

I was really glad to get a bunch of these late 2000s cards signed TTM from Mark Teahen.  I have a ton of this kind of stuff, and would love to get more of it signed, but players from that time-frame don't sign a lot of TTM.  This 2007 Turkey Red is definitely one of the types of cards that I really wanted in my autograph album.  It turned out really well with Teahen's signature.

I also added a 2005 Upper Deck, 2008 Piece of History and a 2007 Finest.  They al turned out well, I think.  Piece of History was an interesting set that I opened quite a bit of when I was at the old card shop.

Teahen (b. 1981) played in the majors from 2005 to 2011 for the Royals, White Sox and Blue Jays.  He had 759 hits, 67 home runs and a .264 batting average.

I mailed to him on February 11 and got the cards back on February 26, for a 15-day TAT.

Spring Training 50/50s From Gerard

As I sit here and prep my auto book for the 2018 season, I wanted to get the cards that my good friend, Gerard, had signed for me at Spring Training into my album.  He helped knock a 1987 Topps off of my checklist with Rich Gedman's signature on this Red Sox Leaders card.

Gerard got two Jerry Remy for me, and a ton of Bob Kipper.

I was really surprised he got Logan Morrison for me.  I had two different 2007 Topps signed by Dave Bush.

The 2017 Topps Pro Debuts were nice.  I have a ton of those, so it was nice to be able to send some out for signatures.

I was really happy that Gerard got a couple Turkey Red cards signed.  I have been wanting to add them to my album, and now I have a couple.  The black Rocco Baldelli really turned out nicely.

These Bob Kippers are non-Topps base cards.  The 1986 Topps is a Topps Traded.

Gerard got me a Paul Abbott.  I had tried to get him when he was with Salem Red Sox, but he wasn't signing for anyone that day.

I think I sent Gerard some of these Red Sox prospects.  Some others came from his own collection.  He is really generous with his cards, so I definitely appreciate it.

I had this Josh Ockimey from the MY-Penn Leage All Stars.  It turned out really well.

I provided the 2013 Leaf Perfect Game cards, which came from the 2017 National.  I was really happy to see the Carolina League Prospects card of Ockimey come back signed, as well.  The Heritage Olt was a dime-box find from the National.

Here are some more prospect cards that Gerard hooked me up with.

Finally, Gerard got some signatures using some team cards out of various Topps sets.  These cards really come in handy when you have no other cards of someone.  He got me: Ryan LaMarre, Eddie Guardado, Chrs Heisey, Wynston Sawyer, Brian Novieto, Christian Colon, Josh Smith, Shane Carle, Jason Hursch, Adeiny Hechavarria, Dave O'Brien and Sherten Apostel.

Thank you so much for getting these cards signed for me, Gerard!  We will be doing a ton more 50/50s this season, and I really look forward to it.

Some Markakis Pickups From the National

I STILL have a ton of stuff from the National that I haven't yet shown off, so I figured, why not keep showing it.  So, I got a lot of Orioles cards because the show was in Baltimore and they are playing well this year.  I probably paid a bit of a premium on them, but that's ok.

I got this Markakis 2003 Upper Deck rookie card out of a dollar box (I think).  I was surprised that I didn't yet own this card, so I was glad to add it to my collection cheaply

Tis 2007 Turkey Red black chrome refractor was really nice.  The vendor was the same one who wanted a bit too much for his cards, and I think he quoted $15 on this.  Yeesh.  I really don't think it is worth that much, but like I said a couple posts ago, the stack of cards I got was worth $40.

I got this 2011 Topps Chrome Sepia parallel from Ryan the night before we left for the show.  I didn't know they existed, so I was glad to add it.  He hooked me up with it in exchange for a bunch of A&G's that he needed for his sets.

I hope to get around to showing off the Cal Ripken cards that I picked up next.  We'll see.  I hope you guys are enjoying my posts.  I have noticed a declining trend as far as page views go.  I think it might be because school is back in session.  I might have to buy some more stuff to show off to get my views back up.  If there is anything you guys want me to discuss specifically, let me know; or if there are some old blog features you'd like for me to bring back, I'm listening.