November 12, 2024, Wilson Hot Stove Event

Last night was the 49th annual Wilson Hot Stove Event in the City of Wilson.  I went last year for the first time, so I was really looking forward to going again this year.  The attendees list came out very close to the event, so it was hard to get stuff here in time.  I also had some cards left over from last year, like the above 1968 Topps John Donaldson.  He missed last year, so i was glad to finally meet him in person.

I was glad to meet a guy who I had gotten TTM twice.  I got Donaldson to sign at the get-together at the North Carolina Baseball Museum prior to the start of the event.  He seemed genuinely happy I was there, and took my graphing book from me to see who else I had cards of.  I thought that was pretty cool.

This year's big guest scheduled to be there to receive the Gaylord Perry Pitching Award was former ECU pitcher and Blue Jays 2024 first round pick, Trey Yesavage.  I didnt have any of his cards, so i got him to sign this 1994 Score Blue Jays card.

Yesavage was really nice, and posed for a picture with me.  ECU coach Cliff Godwin was nice enough to get Yesavage's attention so we could get his autograph.

Jesse and Chris came with me to the event, and we met our friends Billy and John at the Museum.  Jesse gave me this 5 x 7 photo of Mike Caldwell to get signed.  It came out nicely. 

I did find a few cards in my boxes and one of my three packages from Sportlots came in before the event, so I did have a few cards.

Phil Mankowski thanked us several times for coming out and supporting the event.  I was glad he posed for a picture with me.  I jad also gotten him TTM once before, back in 2021.

Finally, event regular John Roper signed a few more cards for me.  I had ordered some nice cards of his, but they didn't get here in time.

In all, I got the following autographs: Mike Caldwell x 4, John Donaldson x 1, Alan Fowlkes x 4, Phil Mankowski x 3, John Roper x 3, Dick Such x 1 and Trey Yesavage x 2 (18)

TTM Success - Mike Caldwell

Here is a TTM success from Mike Caldwell.  I had thought I had sent to him in the past, but I didn't.  He actually lives in Raleigh, which is cool.  He also is on instagram, and posted some instructions to send to him TTM, which I thought was pretty nice.

I got Caldwell on 4 cards, Topps cards from 1976, 1980, 1982 and 1983.  I have added several 1976 Topps to the album, lately.  Merely a coincidence, but it still is a nice set to be adding.

Caldwell (b. 1949) is from Tarboro, NC, which is about 45 minutes northwest of where I live.  He played in the majors from 1971 to 1984 for the Padres, Giants, Reds and Brewers.  He had a career record of 137-130 with 939 strike outs and a 3.81 ERA.  He won 22 games for the Brewers in 1978, the only year he received votes for the Cy Young Award (he finished 2nd to Ron Guidry), and the AL MVP (he finished 12th).

I mailed to Caldwell on February 5 and got the cards back on February 14, for a 9-day TAT.