TTM Success - David Green

I got two nice cards back from former Cardinals outfielder, David Green with this TTM success.  I sent off three cards, actually, and all three came back.  I will put the extra card in a pile and do another giveaway sometime soon.

I liked the signatures on the cards; Green even inscribed his uniform number on both of them.

Green (b. 1960) played in the majors from 1981 to 1985 and 1987 for the Cardinals and Giants.  He had 374 hits, 31 home runs and a .268 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1982.

I mailed to Green on May 4 and got the cards back on May 17 for a 13-day TAT.

TTM Success - Jon Matlack

I was really excited to get this TTM success back from Jon Matlack solely based on the above 1974 Topps.  This card is a beauty, and I really love how it turned out.

This 1973 Topps that I picked up from Conrad of the former Columbia antique shop really turned out nice, as well.  I met up with Conrad earlier this month when I was in Columbia for the Crawfish Festival and picked up an assortment of cards.  I got a bunch, and am happy with what I have gotten back so far.

I also added a few other Topps cards from 1976, 1980, 1981 and 1982.  I believe I have a couple cards signed by Matlack from the National a few years back, but I'll have to check my album.  At some point, I need to make a spreadsheet of all of the signatures I have on cards, but that is a plan that is a long way off.

Matlack (b. 1950) played in the majors from 1971 to 1983 for the Mets and Rangers.  He had a career record of 125-126 with 1,516 strike outs and an ERA of 3.18.  He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1972.  He was also a three-time All Star between 1974 and 1976.  He appeared in the 1973 World Series while with the Mets and pitched to a record of 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA in the Mets' loss to the A's.

I mailed to Matlack on May 10 and got the cards back on May 17, for a 7-day TAT.

TTM Success - Steve Kemp

I had 10 TTMs waiting on me when I got back from Andrew's, the first of which was this success from Steve Kemp.  He signed a bunch of late 70s-early 80s cards for me.  This 1980 Topps turned out really nice.

I had a lot of Kemp's cards, and used the opportunity to add some more Topps cards to my binder.

Kemp (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1977 to 1986 and 1988 for the Tigers, White Sox, Yankees, Pirates and Rangers.  He had 1,128 hits, 130 home runs and a .278 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1979 and finished 17th in the 1979 AL MVP voting.

I mailed to Kemp on May 8 and got the cards back on May 17, for a 9-day TAT.

IP Graphing Recap From My Trip

One of the things Andrew and I planned on doing while I was visiting him was to go to a Cardinals game, and also a minor league game in his area.  The Bowming Green Hot Rods are the closest minor league team to him, so we were able to find a home game to attend while I was in town.  We also were fortunate enough that the St. Louis Cardinals were also at home while I was there.

One of the highlights of being able to see Bowling Green (the Single A team for the Tampa Bay Rays) was that I could finally meet Jonah Heim.  Heim was a former Orioles farmhand who was dealt to Tampa last year for Steve Pearce.

I had a bunch of Heim's cards, so I split them with Andrew, and we got all of them signed.  I was especially happy about the 2013 Bowman Chrome green mini numbered 65/75.  I also got the blue shimmer, purple ice and refractor signed.

I bought some Garrett Whitley cards for the trip, and I also accepted a 50/50 from my good friend, Gerard, but Whitley only signed two cards for me.  One of them was the above yellow parallel from 2016 Bowman, and a 2015 Bowman paper for Gerard.

I got two cards signed by Lucius Fox.  I had bought three Bowman Platinum, but he wouldn't sign them.  He said that it wasn't him on the card, but how many Lucius Foxes are playing in the minors?

I also bought a bulk lot of Dylan Cease cards.  He was on the DL, but was gracious enough to sign for Andrew and I.  I got a 2017 Bowman Chrome taken care of for Gerard, and the rest of the ones I had signed were from what I picked up.

I really like how this blue parallel of Cease from 2016 Bowman Chrome turned out.  I got it pretty cheaply off of Ebay specifically for the trip.  Andrew is going to try to get the rest of the cards taken care of for me as the season progresses.

I did really well with the coaches, too, with the exception for mistaking the Hot Rods manager for Hector Torres.  Apparently there is about a 30-year age difference between the two, and the manager was happy to have a "serious discussion" (his words) with me.  I'm going to have to get one of his cards and send it to him and have him inscribe it "I am not Hector Torres".  That would be funny, and make my embarrassment worthwhile.

I dug through my mid-2000s Topps boxes at the last minute before I left for Andrew's, and found two Brian Lawrence cards.  I gave one to Andrew, and got this 2005 Topps signed.

I did have a little success at the Cardinals vs. Giants game the day before.  Andrew and I each got one of these 2017 Topps Giants team cards signed by Giants reliever, Josh Osich.  It really is a crapshoot in being able to figure out which MLB players will sign, so I was happy that I brought along the random team card.

I had a really great time at both ball parks.  I now have been to 4 MLB parks (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis), and countless MiLB parks (I will update my map soon).  I also had fun with Andrew, and hope I can get him down my way to graph the Wood Ducks sometime soon.

Some Recent Chris Davis Pickups

I have added some nice Chris Davis cards to the PC recently, but haven't had the chance to post them until today.  I have a saved search on my Ebay for Chris Davis 1/1, acetate and /5 parallels, since I like them so much.  Those followed searched yielded the above acetate parallel from 2017 Topps, and the cards below.

I absolutely love the acetate parallels.  I hope Topps keeps them coming in future sets, but I still have no idea what packs they are pulled from.  I have opened countless packs and boxes of Topps since they started doing the acetate parallels, and still have yet to pull one.

This is a Topps 65th Anniversary Party 1/1 buyback that I got really cheap off of Ebay.  These were exclusive to the party, and is a buyback of the sapphire parallels that came in the 2016 Topps complete sets.

Finally, here is a 2017 Donruss press proof Chris Davis that is numbered 5/5.  I love this design of Donruss, and the card looks really cool.

I hope to have some more mail when I get home.  I have one nice Chris Davis that I picked up before I left town, and it should be there when I get home.

An Extraordinary Instagram Trade

I received a random direct message on Instagram a while back from a guy who uses the handle "extraordinary_cards".  He had this Tier One Cal Ripken auto that he wanted to trade.  I humored him, but figured that I definitely didn't have anything that would match up in a trade.  I made a comment saying "I don't think I have a lot I can offer, but I do have a Nick Castellanos 1/1 letter patch".  It turns out, he PCs Castellanos, and I didn't need to look for anything else to offer.

He also didn't feel like the Ripken was enough to seal the deal, so he added this Tim Lincecum relic for Chris and two autograph cards.

I didn't have any David Hess certified autos, and I was able to get this Poncedeleon for Andrew.

I think the trade worked out really well.  It took a while to get here, because USPS delayed the package for about a week, but everything ended up getting in safely.

As you can see, I am finally caught up on TTMs, for the moment, at least.  I have some other pickups that I want to get in, so there will finally be a little variety in my posts.

Congratulations Andrew

I had the opportunity to travel to Illinois and witness my good friend, and fellow blogger, Andrew graduate high school.  I have known Andrew for over 5 years and have helped him along the way.  I used to tutor him over Skype, helping him with math and some other subjects.  I have spent time with Andrew in person over the last several summers, including trips to two national card shows.

I'm so very proud of Andrew.  He is a great guy and an even better friend.  I'm really happy to see how far he has come, and how far he will go.  It means a lot to me that he wanted me to come out here and share this moment with him and his family.

Congratulations, buddy, you earned it!