TTM Success - Trevor Bauer

He's controversial. However, when I saw a private signing pop up with Trevor Bauer, I jumped on the chance to add him to my autograph album. I picked out a 2011 Bowman Chrome to send out... and he missed the card during the signing. I got my card back unsigned, but the promoter sent me two replacement autographs. One was the above 2013 Bowman and the other was the below 2021 Topps.

I would have been fine with just one card, but the promoter went above and beyond to keep me happy.

Bauer (b. 1991) played in the majors from 2012 to 2021 for the Diamondbacks, Indians, Reds and Dodgers. He had a record of 83-69 with 1,416 strike outs and a 3.79 ERA. He won the NL Cy Young Award in 2020. A polarizing figure even before the allegations levied against him, he probably will never pitch in the majors again.

I mailed to the signing on February 11 and got the cards back on March 9, for a 26-day TAT. The promoter also offered me a refund, which I declined. The extra auto was more than enough. 

TTM Success - Mitch Nay

Some of my different years of Bowman are slowly whittling down as I pull cards fir graphing and TTMs. One such set is 2013 Bowman. I don't have many left, so it is always nice to pull one of a guy that signs and send it out. This card of Mitch Nay turned out ok; his pen looks like it is dying.

Nay (b. 1993) was a first round (58th overall) draft pick by the Blue Jays out of Hamilton High School in Arizona. He played in the minors from 2013 to 2019, 2021 and 2022 in the Blue Jays, Reds and Angels systems. He reached AAA. He had 700 hits, 79 home runs and a .257 batting average. 

I mailed to Nay on March 27 and got the card back on December 13, for a 261-day TAT.

TTM Success - Seth Maness

A couple nice 2013 Bowmans came back signed TTM from Seth Maness.  I think 2013 Bowman is a sharp set.  The cards look nice signed, but it gets harder and harder to get them done in person.

Maness (b. 1988) played in the majors from 2013 to 2017 for the Cardinals and Royals.  He had a record of 18-10 with 156 strike outs and a 3.21 ERA.

Formerly from Pinehurst, Maness played at ECU.  He was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the 2011 June Amateur Draft.  He had formerly been drafted by the Marlins in the 41st round of the 2010 June Amateur Draft, but didn't sign.

I mailed to Maness on October 1 and got the cards back signed on October 19, for an 18-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Adam Landecker

Here is a random 2013 Bowman that I sent out TTM, which came back signed.  I check to see if I could find an address for Adam Landecker, and found one.  The card looks cool, and I'm glad I sent it out.

Landecker (b. 1991) was a 21st round pick by the Pirates in the 2013 June Amateur Draft out of USC.  He played in the minors in 2013 and 2014 in the Pirates system.  He had 67 hits, no home runs and a .230 batting average.  He reached low A before retiring.

I mailed to Landecker on January 16 and got the card back on August 19 for a 216-day TAT.

April 16-20, 2024, Graphing of the Shorebirds at Wood Ducks

This week's graphing of the Delmarva Shorebirds at the Wood Ducks was pretty much over right after the game on Tuesday.  I missed Wednesday since it was an 11AM game and Thursday was Chris's senior night for tennis.  With today's rain out, I only graohed three games of the series.  I also missed my friend, Ryan's cards because I put them in the wrong pile. 

The above 2022 Bowman Chrome ray wave parallel of Danyer Cueva was picked up at the National last year but ended up in a random box that I finally went through last week. It is finally signed and in the album. 

Delmarva had several guys with cards, however all but two of them were on the IL and didnt make the trip.  Jacob Cravey was really nice and signed everything I had.  A fellow graoher gave me the 2023 Bowman Chrome mojo Anderson De Los Santos so i could get him done, which was nice.

The Rangers had sent several rovers out to the park this week with Kenny Holmberg, Roy Silver and Matt Magill coming into town.  I was able to get a couple Silver cards in before the series ended.  I realized who Matt Magill was (by asking around; I'm not THAT good), and found two cards in my collection to get done.

My friend, Gerard hooked me up with this nice Marcus Smith Bowman Heritage gold parallel.  It's a pretty sweet card and looks great.

Alejandro Rosario made his professional debut for the Wood Ducks and went 4 innings with no runs allowed and 7 strike outs.  His fa.ily was there and we're really nice.  I was able to chat with his mom pre-game.

The highlight of Friday's game was when, around the 7th inning or so (I was talking and lost track), Jon (the Wood Ducks GM) came by where we were sitting and asked me to get up.  I had no idea why, but I got up and he said "we are honoring you for Season Ticket Holder Appreciation".

I was given a certificate, team signed baseball and a "golden" Bill Ellis bobble head.  Jon also gave me his hat, which was the Wood Ducks first Copa hat, the Patos Joyuyous.  I never got one for myself and had asked Jon if there were any more that he could find; I'd buy one.  He gave me his, instead, when he realized we wore the same hat size.

They also took a photo of me with Jon and DEWD.  I haven't seen the photo yet, but am excited to see how it turned out.  I was blown away by the gesture and it really meant a lot to me.  I've been very upset that the Woodies are leaving Kinston after this season.  I am so thankful that they took the time to recognize me.

In all, I got the following autographs: Danyer Cueva x 4, Marcus Smith x 1, Jacob Cravey x 9, Julian Brock x 1, Gleider Figuereo x 1, Alberto Mota x 1, Alejandro Rosario x 2, Roy Silver x 2, Matt Magill x 2 and Anderson De Los Santos x 1 (24 total autographs).

TTM Success - Nick Maronde

Here are some nice cards that I got signed TTM by Nick Maronde.  I've got a bunch of 2012 Topps Heritage Minors cards, and was able to get one of them out of the box and into the album with this success.

I also got a 2012 Bowman, 2013 Bowman and a 2013 Topps Crome signed.

Maronde (b. 1989) played in the majors from 2012 to 2014 for the Angels.  He had a record of 0-0 with 19 strike outs and a 7.13 ERA.

I mailed to Maronde on March 2 and got the cards back on March 27, for a 25-day TAT. 

Some Missed Cards From Drake

My stack of stuff to be scanned got mixed up a while back, and some stuff that people had sent me didn't get posted correctly.  Some of the cards that got mixed up were part of the blind trade I did with my friend, Drake.  I was able to finally figure out who sent what (pretty much) and am now only days away from being all caught up with scanning.

Drake hooked me up with a bunch of cards in this blind trade.  Basically, a blind trade is each of you sends each other a number of cards, the other person matches that number.  It worked out pretty well for the both of us.  Drake did pretty well in not doubling up on guys I had already gotten.  He also sent me a bunch of random team set guys who will look cool in my album.

I was really happy that Drake included this Drew Robinson card.  I had tried Robinson TTM last season (or maybe it was this season), but didn't get a card back.  Robinson's story is an interesting one.  He is an advocate now for mental health, as he suffered tremendously with his.  To the point where he tried to take his own life.  He survived, and was able to get a Spring Training invitation from the Giants, without the use of one of his eyes (it was permanently damaged as a result of his attempt).  He is now a mental health coach for the Giants, and his story can be found online.  It is a recommended read.  Click Here for a link to the article.

I liked these random cards from Drake, as well.  He definitely added an assortment to the album.

Finally, here are some recent Bowmans that Drake sent along.  I was glad to add these to the album.

Thank you so much for the cards, Drake.  I really appreciate the cards!  I hope you liked yours.

TTM Success - Brett Gerritse

Here are a couple 2013 Bowmans that I got signed TTM from Brett Gerritse. The above card is the 2013 Bowman hometown parallel. These are pretty cool cards that Topps hasn't done in a while. I figure they'll do them again at some point.

Gerritse (b. 1991) was a 12th round pick by the Yankees in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of a California high school. He played in the minors from 2009 to 2014, all in the Yankees system. He reached AAA before he retired. He had a record of 24-23 with 316 strike outs and a 3.58 ERA.

I mailed to Gerritse on April 2 and got the cards back on April 22, for a 22-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Patrick Kivlehan

These Patrick Kivlehan cards remained in my boxes for a long time because I had known someone who claimed to be friends with him and may be able to get them signed for me.  That never panned out, so I took matters in my own hands and sent them TTM.  The cards came back, and the cards are now in my album.

I was able to get a 2015 Topps Pro Debut and a 2013 Bowman signed by Kivlehan.  Both look great.

Kivlehan (b. 1989) played in the majors from 2016 to 2018 for the Padres, Reds and Diamondbacks.  He had 44 hits, 10 home runs and a .208 batting average.

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

Some Great Signed Cards From Jackson

My friend Jackson, in Arizona, took a 50/50 for me and also sold me a signed card.  The card he sold was the 2004 Cracker Jack Dotrelle Willis shown above.  I really like the Cracker Jack set, and have contemplated picking up a box.  The cards look great when signed.  Jackson did a private signing with Willis, which I missed.  Thankfully, he had some extras, and I picked this beauty up.

Jackson also sees Will Morris and Harvey Monte locally over there, so he got some cards out of my boxes and had them signed for me.  We split the Morris cards, and since I had only one Monte, he gave me that one.

I was afraid that I wouldn't have any Monte, but I had the single card in my "rookies" box, so it was good to get that one out.

Thanks so much for taking the cards and selling me the Willis, Jackson!

Christmas Gift From Keegan

 My buddy, Keegan, sent me some autos for Christmas.  I had sent him some autos for Christmas because I appreciate him helping me out this past season with some 50/50s, and he reciprocated by sending some autos of his own.  This 2013 Bowman Brandon Beachy is a card that I really like.  I'm stuck with a bunch of 13 Bowman, as a lot of the guys that I have are now out of baseball, and it is hard to get those cards signed.

Keegan also sent these 4 cards: 2012 Elite Extra Edition Jesmuel Valentin, 2017 Bowman Jacob Heyward, 2018 Bowman Jojo Romero and 2018 Bowman Adam Haseley.

Thank you so much for the Christmas gift, Keegan!

Care Package From James

I got a nice care package a few days ago from my buddy, James.  He was one of the first people I completed a trade with on Instagram, and has been a good friend ever since.  He surprised me with a couple nice cards that I needed for my collection.

First is this blue parallel of Orioles prospect Josh Hart from 2013 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects.  It is numbered 5/99 and turned out really nice when scanned.

The other card that James sent was this gold parallel of Kevin Gausman from 2014 Bowman Platinum.  The gold really pops once it has been scanned.  I was really happy with how this one turned out.

I haven't been able to talk to James as much lately as I would have liked, but he is busy with school and baseball.  I know we will continue to send care packages back and forth.  I was very happy to get this in the mail, and I plan on sending something his way soon.  Thanks James!

COMC Pickup - 2013 Bowman Purple Ice Jonah Heim

I wanted to show another card that I got off of COMC recently, this 2013 Bowman Purple Ice parallel of Orioles prospect, Jonah Heim.  Heim was the Orioles 4th round pick out of the 2013 draft.  He is currently playing for the Low A Aberdeen Ironbirds.

Over 64 games in the minorsfor the last 2 years, Heim is batting .206 with 1 home run and 11 RBIs.  He's going to be just fine, I think.  He definitely adds to the huge amount of catching depth that the O's have drafted recently.

This card is really awesome.  It is numbered 6/10, and according to the back of the card, Heim tries to wear uniform number 6 whenever he can, in honor of his grandpa.  That is really awesome that I ended up with this one.

Care Package From Max S.

A few weeks ago, I received a PWE care package from one of my regular Instagram trade partners, Max S. who operates under the Instagram name, graphinchitown.  He is one of the many Cubs fans that I have met on there and we send each other stuff back and forth quite a bit.  Actually, we have a trade that we finalized, which I should be seeing in the next few days.

This package, however, contained a whole bunch of Orioles cards, one of which was the above Home Flags parallel of Manny Machado that I didn't have yet in my collection.

Also in the package was this 1991 Upper Deck Mike Mussina RC (I have blogged this card before, but that photo didn't scan worth a crap, so I gave it another go).  Two days, two different Mussina RCs.  Not bad!

Thanks for the care package, Max, I really appreciate it.  You should see my end of our trade in the next few days, as I mailed it off yesterday!

Ebay Pickup - 2013 Bowman Alex Murphy Printing Plate

I apologize for not posting yesterday, but I was at a MiLB game with my good friend, Ryan.  I got home today and had too much to do to be able to post my recap, so look for that tomorrow.  In the meantime, take a look at this 2013 Bowman Alex Murphy printing plate.

I got this plate off of Ebay for $9.99 BIN, which was a steal!  Murphy is doing pretty well at Low A Aberdeen, even though the team isn't playing well at all right now.  So far, this season, Murphy has played 16 games in Aberdeen and 4 at Delmarva.  In all, he is batting .274 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs.  Not terrible, but he needs to pick it up some more.  I think he'll be fine, since this is his first full MiLB season.

June 21, 2014 Raleigh Card Show Part 5 - Orioles PC Pickups

Ok, so this is the final post from my recap of what I got at today's card show.  I got a bunch of Orioles PC needs.  I got 8 cards that I didn't even bother showing (mainly because I was tired of scanning) and the three that I included in this post.

I really like this 2013 Bowman Blue Wave Refractor of Orioles prospect, Jonah Heim.  The blue wave cards are amazingly beautiful and it helps that one of Heim's family members follows me on Twitter.  I've picked up a few of Heim's cards and this one is my favorite so far.

I found two of Manny Machado's Pro Debut cards.  I used to see these go fairly high, but the 2011 I was able to get for $2.  Not too bad.

I got this 2012 Pro Debut for $2 as well, I think, but I'm beginning to  lose track.  It still is a nice card and I always enjoy a good Frederick Keys card.

Finally, the last piece I'll show is this mint condition 1966 Orioles program/scorebook that I picked up for $10.  I almost missed out on it, though.  The guy saw me in my Orioles hat and Brooks Robinson shirt and brought the program to my attention right away.  I only had a plastic shopping bag with me, so I didn't want to buy it right away and carry it around the whole time.  I had the guy hold it for me while I made the rounds at the show.  Finally, when I made the last bulk 1959 Topps transaction, I realized that I didn't leave myself with enough money to cover the program.  Oops.

Luckily, the world we live in now has smart phones where we can log onto the internet and pay someone via Paypal while you are standing there talking to them about cards.  So, in a matter of minutes, I paid the guy electronically for the program and added on the previously mentioned 1959 Topps Yogi Berra.

Well guys, there you have it.  One of the most successful card shows I have been to in a long time.  Yeah, I spent a good bit, but I made a huge dent in my 1959 set and scratched a bit of the surface on my 1969 set.  Plus, I got a few sweet relic cards.  Oh, I also bought cards for a few friends as well.

I hope you all enjoyed these 5 posts.

A Surprise Package From Kyle

I've been trading on Instagram for quite a while now and I always go back to the first successful transaction I completed on there as a template for how I believe things should be conducted.  I bought a card off of Kyle, who has become a very good friend of mine, in an amazingly quick and easy deal.  Since then, I talk to Kyle on a regular basis and he is very much one of my favorite people I have dealt with on Instagram.

I got a surprise bubble mailer from Kyle yesterday that contained the above Adam Jones 2013 Topps Tribute auto.  The card is beautiful.  I was so surprised that Kyle sent it to me and am appreciative beyond words.

Not only did Kyle send the Jones, but he also sent me a Hunter Harvey autograph that he got in person at a Delmarva Shorebirds game with his best friend, Jordan.  I had initially bought one of the IP autos Jordan got, but Kyle sent this one as well.

Kyle is a great guy. who also posts on Youtube as MrPhilliesphan04.  If you are active on Youtube, you definitely should subscribe to him.  He's a big Phillies and Roy Halladay fan.

Thanks so much for the package, Kyle, I really appreciate it!

Ebay Pickup - 2013 Bowman Orange Ice Alex Murphy

I got a really cool card off of Ebay last week when I won an auction for this Alex Murphy card.  It is a 2013 Bowman Orange Ice parallel, numbered 4/5.  I've seen cards numbered to 5 for certain players go for hundreds of dollars, but this Murphy cost me only $16, including shipping.  Not bad, right?

It came in a Beckett top loader, labeled Beckett Raw Card Review, 9.  I guess it would qualify for a grade of 9 if I chose to send it in.  I won't, but it is nice to know.

I'm really hoping that Murphy breaks out and becomes a star.  Not that I ever invest in cards, but for $16, I think if he becomes a star, I'll make a good return on it, haha.

Really, though, I like the Orange Ice parallel.  I had no idea they existed until I was looking up Hunter Harvey cards on Ebay and saw them.  They really are nice and they go so well with Orioles.

Some Recent Chris Davis Pickups

This post will serve two purposes for me.  One, it will catch me up on the Chris Davis cards I got recently via my LCS, COMC, Ebay and the December card show.  The other purpose is that this is a test of my new laptop and printer/scanner.  I finally was able to upgrade both of those devices this weekend and am really happy with the results so far.

The above card was found at my LCS in the dollar bin.  It is a 2008 Topps Heritage High Number rookie card.  It scanned really nicely, if I do say so myself.  I just can't believe this card sat in that dollar bin as long as it did.

Next up is the 2013 Topps Opening Day purple.  I had no idea these existed until a couple months ago when I saw one on Ebay for $20.00.  I'm glad I waited because I found this one for less than $5.  I just hope there aren't Target Red or Wal Mart Blue versions of these.

I found this 2006 Bowman gold Davis in a dime box at the December card show.  I got a bunch of Davis cards at the show, actually.  I know Scott is happy that I am combining all of them into one post, instead of breaking them out to multiple posts.

I liked that I found this 2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Davis in another bargain box at the show.

Same with this 2009 Bowman Chrome Refractor.

This 2010 Topps Gold came from a COMC purchase (from September, I think).

Finally, here is a 2013 Bowman Gold Davis that I found at the show in one of the same dime boxes as before.  I feel like I did a really good job getting Davis cards for my PC there.

So, there you have it, you're all caught up for the time being on my Chris Davis PC.

Trade With Max of Starting Nine

I completed a trade with Max over at "Starting Nine" recently when I sent him a Collin Cowgill auto in exchange for some O's stuff and a stack of 16 2013 Topps Emeral parallels for my set.

I really like the above Adam Jones green parallel from 2013 Bowman Chrome.  I'm not too sure green and orange go together, unless you are a Miami Hurricanes fan like my older brother.  Still, it is a really sharp looking card, which I enjoy.

Finally, one of the emeralds I needed was this Zach Britton.  I hope to complete the emerald set sometime soon and this trade stack definitely puts a sizable dent in it.

Thanks for the trade Max, let's do it again!