TTM Success - Tippy Martinez

I was able to send off a 5x7 photo for a TTM, along with some cards to former Orioles reliever, Tippy Martinez.  I got the photo signed and four of the five cards that I sent, signed.  One of the cards, a 1978 Topps appeared to be stuck to one of the others, so that is probably why he didn't sign it.

This photo is from the October 2009 "Evening With Brooks" event that I attended with my brother, Andy.  We met Martinez, Chris Hoiles and Brooks at the event.  I now have my photos with Martinez and Brooks signed.  I need to get my photo with Hoiles signed as well.  The photo turned out pretty well, I think.

I was able to get two Topps and two Fleer cards signed.  They are: 1977 Topps, 1983 Topps, 1985 Fleer and 1986 Fleer.

Martinez (b. 1950) played in the majors from 1974 to 1986 and 1988 for the Yankees, Orioles and Twins.  He had a career record of 55-42 with an ERA of 3.45 and 632 strike outs.  He was an All Star in 1983 and finished 27th in the AL MVP voting.  He won the World Series with the Orioles in 1983.

I mailed to Martinez on September 27 and got the cards back on October 7, for an 11-day TAT.

POST NUMBER 500!!!!! (Or, Great Moments in Foul Bunt History)

Hooray! Foul Bunt has made it to another milestone!! 500 Posts! Wooooo.
.
Let's take a look back and remember some great moments in Foul Bunt history...

• On November 16, 2008, Foul Bunt opened it's doors. You can read the post here. I chose the name Foul Bunt because I figured the blog would be pretty lame and a foul bunt was one of the lamest things you could do in baseball. Apparently, 80 followers later, my blog isn't as lame as I thought it would be.
• On December 14, 2008, I discussed my best pull ever (up to that time, of course). A 1960 Topps Stan Musial out of a shoebox bought off of Ebay. Read it here.
• On December 31, 2008, I got my 1955 Topps Jackie Robinson card. Read the post here. I also posted the Robinson while counting my 1955 set. That post (here) became my most viewed post yesterday (February 8, 2011), according to my handy dandy stats page.
• On February 1, 2009, I got the Roberto Clemente 1955 Topps rookie card in the mail. Check it out here.
• On May 31, 2009, I demonstrated the perils of alcohol and ebay after I had a couple beverages and bid on (and won) a 1955 Topps Phil Rizzuto.
• On July 3, 2009, Max and I demonstrate that it is not a good idea to try the gum found in 1988 Topps wax packs. Make sure you watch the video. Check it here.
• On July 24, 2009, I completed my first trade with Drew. Who knew that we'd become such good friends since then. Read the post here.
• I said earlier that my 1955 Jackie Robinson post had become my most viewed post. The previous champ that had held the record since google started keeping track in June was my September 22, 2009 post on meeting Bryce Harper.
• On October 27, 2009, I posted one of my most memorable posts, when I met Brooks Robinson in person. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. I'm glad I was able to share it with all of you here.
• On December 19, 2009, I completed the 1955 Topps set. One of my greatest card accomplishments ever.
• On May 2, 2010, I got my first TTM signed ball - Bobby Doerr. I've done pretty well with TTMs since then, but Doerr was the first.
• On June 11, 2010, I met Nolan Reimold in person. I was working at a site close to Norfolk and my boss allowed me to stay there overnight. I went to two games at Harbor Park and met Nolan outside the clubhouse. He was a really nice guy and I hope that he can finally put injuries behind him and become the great player that I know he is.
• On July 29, 2010, I met MASNsports.com's Roch Kubatko. I read Roch's blog every day (multiple times a day). It was awesome to meet him in person and talk about baseball for a while.
• On October 1, 2010, I started my daily listing of 1955 Topps cards. It has become a nice feature of my blog. I wonder what I'm going to do when I finish posting the set. Read the post here.
• On November 8, 2010, I posted probably my greatest TTM success. That of Virgil Trucks. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am now a huge fan of Trucks, but this post is what started it all.
• On December 15, 2010, I posted on the huge loss of Bob Feller. I was really upset when he passed, I sure would have loved to meet him in person. You can read the post here.
• Finally, one of the coolest things to ever happen to me was being able to conduct an interview with the great Virgil Trucks. You can remind yourself here. I'm still amazed that I was afforded the opportunity.

So, there you have it. A much bigger recap post than I thought I'd do. I hope everyone has enjoyed everything. I've really enjoyed it and I hope that I can keep it up! Thanks everyone. Click the links and enjoy some nostalgia!

An Evening With Brooks

Well, here it is, my super duper special blog I have been hinting at for quite some time...

My brother Andy and I drove from Greenville to Baltimore yesterday, October 26, 2009 to attend 'An Evening With Brooks' at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. We parked at a parking deck in downtown Baltimore that I am familiar with and decided to walk until a cab came by that we could hail (one never did). I had no clue where the site was exactly, but we had plenty of time and were enjoying the walk. We took a turn here and a turn there and found that we were right outside the symphony hall (completely by accident).

We hung around in the lobby for something like 5 minutes and looked outside to see an older gentleman get out of a car; It was Brooks!!!

Andy and I went outside and greeted Brooks, who was very cordial, he greeted us with a 'Hi, how are you doing?', shook my hand and offered to have a picture with me (which was the SOLE mission I was on).

The event was to honor Brooks Robinson and to raise money for The Babe Ruth Museum and Prostate Cancer Research. We purchased tickets for the event, and paid the additional fee to attend the pre event cocktail hour where we were told we would be able to interact with many of the evenings guests and Brooks himself.

We were disappointed when we learned that there were 2 'VIP' sections, on for the people who paid to get into the cocktail hour, and another for ACTUAL VIPS (Brooks, Cal Ripken, Jim Palmer, Boog Powell, etc). We were told that the real VIPS would come down and interact with us, but it didn't really happen. I believe this was mainly because they solg out the event and had not planned on that many people attending.

We did, however, meet, and see a few dignitaries. I was shoulder bumped by Earl Weaver as he walked to the elevator to go the the VIP level. I was so in shock when I realized who it was, I wasn't able to get my camera out.

Cal didn't arrive to the event until it started, and left once his speech was complete... This was probably a good thing as well because he would have been mobbed...

We did have chances to talk to and hove pictures made with Chris Hoiles, the Orioles catcher from the 90's and Tippy Martinez, a reliever from the O's 1983 World Series Championship team.

After the ceremony, we were able to meet with Brooks himself, have our programs signed, and pose for pictures. I was able to get Andy a picture with Brooks this time, since I was unable to do it before hand (I was in complete and utter awe...).

Below are some more pictures from the evening. The ones from our seats didn't take all that well, but I don't care. Brooks and Cal together during Cal's speech. Three of the dignitaries got standing ovations from the 2,000+ crowd, Brooks, Cal, and Earl Weaver.

I'm standing with former O's reliever and World Series Champion Tippy Martinez.

My brother Andy with Chris Hoiles. I attended the game in Baltimore when he was inducted into the O's Hall Of Fame.

We were very happy to be able to attend the event and take part in a ceremony honoring the greatest 3rd baseman of all time; the gold standard by which all other 3rd basemen are measured. He was as nice as everyone has always said he was, and I am still in disbelief that I actually got the chance to meet him and have my photo taken with him.

Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did writing it up.