TTM Success - Carlos Gonzalez

I took a chance on Carlos Gonzalez during the COVID lockdowns when I saw that he had signed for a few folks.  I had gotten this 2017 Topps Inception as a throw in from my friend, Anthony, at a National a couple years ago.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the card come back.

Gonzalez (b. 1985) played in the majors from 2008 to 2019 for the A's, Rockies, Indians and Cubs.  He was signed by the Mariners in February, but was released in June.  He has 1,432 hits, 234 home runs and a .285 batting average.

He was the 2010 NL Batting Champ (.336), and finished 3rd in the MVP voting that season.  He was a 3-time All Star (2012, 2013 and 2016, and a 3-time Gold Glove Award winner (2010, 2012, 2013).  He also won the Silver Slugger award twice (2010, 2015).

I mailed to Gonzalez on April 21 and got the card back on June 29, for a 69-day TAT.

2019 National Paid Signer - Rickey Henderson

There was only one of the paid signers that I wanted to spend the money on and meet at this year's National.  Rickey Henderson has three cards in the 1987 set, but I paid for only two vouchers.  The third card, a Yankees Leaders card, is out TTM to Don Mattingly.  If that card had come back, I would have paid for a third voucher for Rickey.  Hopefully the Yankees Leaders card eventually comes back, and I can add him at a later date.

Since I had two vouchers, I figured I would let my good friend, Anthony, go through the line with me.  Anthony wouldn't have paid to meet Rickey himself, since he is a broke college student.  I figured he would enjoy the meeting, and as you can see from the photo above, he did.

Rickey was really great!  I told him that even though he didn't know me, I felt like we were on a first-name basis.  He laughed and said "Well, that's good!" then smiled and shook my hand.  He came off as genuinely happy that fans came out to see him, and for someone who was as big a star as he was/is, I was impressed.

The cards turned out great!  Both of them look awesome, and I'm really glad to cross them off of the list.

I just hope the other card comes back, and I can get Rickey again at a future show.

Christmas Gift From Anthony

As I got more TTM successes in after the holidays, I fell behind again in getting some Christmas gifts posted.  I want to try to get them all posted on here, but a few have already been put up or away, so I don't know if posts will happen.  I have thanked everyone that has sent something, which was the most important part.

I got a nice gift in from my good friend, Anthony, who had told me ahead of time that his package would be delayed, since he was off at college.  We haven't been able to talk as much as we used to, since he is busy with school and having joined a fraternity.  Still, Anthony is a a close friend, and an amazing guy.

The graded Yusniel Diaz was really sweet, and so was this Chance Sisco crazy patch card that he found!

Thanks so much, Anthony!  Sorry it took me so long to get these posted, but here they are!

May 25-27, 2018 Graphing of Keys at Wood Ducks

I had a visit from my good friend, Michael this past weekend, and used that time with him to see three games between the Frederick Keys and Down East Wood Ducks.  I knocked out a bunch of cards while we were there, from both the Keys and Wood Ducks.

I finished all of the custom cards that Rangersautos made of the Wood Ducks, and I completed his 50/50s.  It was nice to get one out of the way.

I also knocked out a bunch of 50/50s for Gerard, including a couple of the above 3-way cards that include Eric Jeknins, and I also had last year's bat boy and now clubbie, Matt sign the Wood Ducks team card.  Matt stops and talks with Chris and I at every game, so I felt it was right to get him on a card.

I also finished off all of my Walker Weickels, and also Gerard's Wood Ducks team set.

I added a few new Anthony Gose, coming from a 50/50 from Gerard.  I was also glad to get the Hickory team set card of Spike Owen done.

I had ordered this 2016 Anthony Gose from COMC, but it didn't come in time.  Luckily, Gerard let me keep this one as part of the 50/50.

Gerard also let me keep this 2013 Topps Mini Gose.

I finally remembered to add the DEWD disc card to my autograph book and get it signed.  It may be goofy, but I thought it was cool to get him to sign it, especially since he couldn't see the card and signed my book instead.

Since the Keys don't come to town often, I made sure to knock out as much as I could.  I had been waiting for Jomar Reyes for a long time, since he was injured when the Keys came last year.

I finished off almost everything I had of Reyes.  I think I only had 2 cards left when the series ended.

I also used up every card I had of Ryan Minor.  I may try to get the triple rookie done, if one of my Texas buddies can get Adrian Beltre for me.

I also was lucky enough to get cards signed by Ryan McKenna.  He only would sign 2-per, and as the weekend went on, he kept refusing to sign for me, but would sign for Chris and Michael.  It was weird, but I guess it was because I was older.  It's ok, though, I have only 3 cards of him left.  The 2015 Bowman paper was a Christmas gift from my good friend, Anthony, and is numbered to 5.

I was able to get a couple of the regular Wood Duck fans that I see at every game to help me get my other McKennas signed.  The didn't mind, and I was able to add these to my album, as well.

Michael and I went to the card shop on Saturday, and I bought a pack of 2017 Elite Extra Edition.  The first card in the pack was the above Michael Baumann.  I prepped the card and got it into my book for that night's game.  I was also happy to add Alex Wells.  He was pretty nice, even though I only got to see him one time.

I also was able to get three cards done from my 2017 South Atlantic League All Star set done.  I picked this set up in Columbia a couple weeks ago, and three of the guys ended up being with the Keys.

It was also nice being able to knock out a bunch of the Ironbirds team set cards that I got at the end of the season last year.

One of the cool things about the Keys was that Preston Palmeiro (son of Rafael) was playing.  I got to speak to him, and had him sign a Carolina League ball, as well as the above team set card.

 I got a lot of this team set done.  Some of the autos didn't turn out too great, but I figured it out early, and prepped the rest.

In all, Chris, Michael and I had fun.  I hate that McKenna kept denying me, but that's what happens with graphing sometimes.

Christmas Gift From Anthony - Chris Davis Relic Auto and More

My good friend, Anthony, hooked me up with some nice Chris Davis cards, and other Orioles.  Anthony and I have been friends for several years now, but this past year, we have gotten even closer.  I was finally able to meet him in person when he, Kevin, Max and I all went to the Cubs vs. White Sox game at Wrigley Field.  I was honored to hook Anthony up with the extra ticket that we had.  I'm so happy that I was able to include him, as I could tell that the experience really meant a lot to him.  He also hit it off really well with Kevin, so that helped everyone mesh as a group and enjoy our time at the game.

I really love the Chris Davis dual relic/auto from 2016 Panini Diamond Kings that Anthony gave me.  These are really nice cards.  I hope Panini keeps up the Diamond Kings concept, as I really enjoy the painted canvas feel that the cards have.

I had a couple of these Chris Davis 2015 Topps First Home Run coin cards, bur I still wnjoy them and was glad to add another.

Anthony also included these four Orioles cards.  I have already added the green Chance Sisco and the Mancini to my box of Orioles that I will take with me to Orioles Fan Fest in a couple weeks.  They will give me some nice options for autographs, depending on who I end up getting vouchers for.

Thank you so much for the Christmas gift, Anthony!  I love the cards, and you know they will have a great home in my collection.

July 25, 2017 Cubs Game

I am back home from my 4th National Card Show, and before I start blogging about everything I picked up there, I wanted to talk about what I was able to do beforehand.  I was able to get up with my dad's best friend from elementary school.  Kevin was kind enough to get some Cubs tickets and let me invite two friends to go to the game with us.  I was able to get my friends, Max and Anthony to come along and catch the game with us.

The game was the Cubs vs the White Sox.  Max is an avid Cubs fan, and Anthony is an avid White Sox fan, what could go wrong?  I was there for the atmosphere of a good baseball game, and Kevin was there because the seats were amazing.

We were able to see White Sox rookie phenom, Yoan Moncada play.  Moncada ended up going 0-2 with a walk.

It was great finally meeting Anthony in person; he and I have traded in Instagram for years, and have become really close.  He's a great guy, and I was so happy that I could help him have this experience at Wrigley.  Max, well, he and I have been friends for a long time, and this was my second opportunity to hang with him in person.  In all, these two guys are great, and I am happy that I can call them my friends.

Back to the game, we got to see Kris Bryant get ejected for arguing balls and strikes.  John Lackey hit 4 White Sox batters, and when Chris Beck hit a Cubs batter, we thought for sure the benches would empty.  We didn't get any fireworks, but it was interesting.

Our seats were 10 rows behind home plate, and we did see one celebrity sitting in our section - Frank Thomas.  Anthony tried to get his autograph late in the game as Thomas was leaving, but was denied.  Max and I had gone to the top of the stadium to see if we could get Rick Sutcliffe, but we missed out on him as well.

As you can see, our seats were awesome, thanks to Kevin.  I'm glad he came along with us, as he seemed to have a great time.  He really took a liking to Anthony, since they sat beside each other and talked quite a bit.

The Cubs won the game 7-2, so I got to see the W fly.  The weather was beautiful, and we had an amazing time.

I had to get a photo with Kevin after the game.  I really appreciated that he went out of his way, not only for the tickets, but to make sure I was set for the National, and comfortable in Chicago.  He's a great guy, and I hope he had as good of a time as Max, Anthony and I did.

Poor Anthony had to leave early to catch the bus, so we weren't able to get a picture together after the game.  I was able to get one with Max, though.  I wish we could have gotten one with the four of us, but we didn't get the chance.

Max and I did a little graphing after the game.  He had a page of 4 Ben Zobrist cards (that I gave him), and I was able to get them done for him.  He let me pick the ones I wanted to keep, so I chose this 2016 Heritage purple chrome, and the below 2017 Topps.

Again. I had an amazing time and made some great memories with my friends.  Kevin came through in the clutch, and I am glad he also enjoyed himself.  The four of us really enjoyed ourselves, I think.

Thank you so much for your hospitality, Kevin!  Also thanks to Max and Anthony for being able to catch the game with us!

Christmas Gift From Anthony

I received a belated Christmas gift from my friend, Anthony, when a package containing this interesting Chris Davis patch came in last week.

This is a Hits Memorabilia card from 2016 that has a pretty sweet patch.  I saw some of their cards on Ebay recently (and I think this card was one of them), and wasn't sure what to make of them.  Anthony included a note with the card saying he probably would never buy this product on his own, but since he saw the Davis patch, he got it for me.  I've got to say, it is a pretty quality card.  The patch is great, and the card looks professionally made.  I visited their website, www.hitsmemorabilia.com and checked it out.  It looks pretty decent.  Maybe they are a new, up and coming card company?  I'm not sure, but they aren't licensed by MLB or the MLBPA.  Still, I really like the card, and appreciate Anthony picking it up for me.

Anthony also added to my Miguel Gonzalez IP auto collection that Max started at Sox Fest in Chicago.  Anthony was there, as well, and picked this up for me while Max was getting the other cards signed.

Thank you so much for the Christmas gift, Anthony!

Birthday Gift From Anthony

I figured my birthday was long gone, but I have still seen a couple gifts trickle in here and there.  That has made it so I could stretch my big day out for almost two months.  Definitely nothing wrong with that!  I was surprised last week when I got a gift in the mail from my friend, Anthony.  He has kept with a theme in his gifts in sending me an Orioles card numbered to 5.  I like this theme, actually, as he has found me some pretty sweet cards.

This time, Anthony hooked me up with this red parallel of Orioles prospect, Ryan McKenna from 2015 Bowman,  I like the red parallel, it really pops.  McKenna is 19 and was a 4th round pick by the Orioles in the 2015 amateur draft.  He spent this past season at Low A Aberdeen and had 53 hits, 1 home run and a .241 batting average across 62 games.  He probably will see more time in Aberdeen next season, with a chance to be moved up to Delmarva later in the year.

Thank you so much for the gift, Anthony!  I love the card and really appreciate the thought!