TTM Success - Jay Gibbons

I have had a bunch of exciting TTM successes come in recently.  One that I may have been the most excited about is this return from former Oriole, Jay Gibbons.

I had a multitude of Gibby's cards to choose from, and the above 2005 Studio was a card I wanted to get into my album for a long time.  I'm glad Gibbons was the first out of that set that I was able to add.  I love the background of the card, a shot of the Baltimore skyline as seen from the Inner Harbor.

I had to add a few Topps cards to the album, so I chose these two, a 2003 and a 2005 Topps.  The Oriole orange and blue border of the 2003 don't quite go together well, but still, 2003 is a pretty nice set.

Finally, I decided to add two other different sets to the album in 2005 Gallery (left) and 2006 Fleer (right).

Gibbons (b. 1977) played in the majors from 2001 to 2007 and 2011 to 2012 for the Orioles and Dodgers.  He had 759 hits, 127 home runs and a .260 batting average.  He was obtained by the Orioles when picked during the 2000 Rule V Draft.  He was a member of the O's during the "dark ages" of the organization, when they were right in the middle of a 14-year losing streak.  I remember him fondly.   He was also shown on a TV in the movie, "Wedding Crashers" hitting a home run (when Owen Wilson's character is depressed and avoiding Vince Vaughn).  Gibbons is now a coach in the Dodgers system.

I mailed to Gibbons on May 10 via the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and got the cards back on October 20, for a 163-day TAT.

It's About Time!

I was told all season that the Wood Ducks would not be making team card sets for the 2017 season.  I got a surprise on Twitter the other day, though, when I happened to see that the Wood Ducks had finally gotten some created.

I said all season long that they should, especially since this was their first season.  What better way to cap it all off than to issue a set commemorating the championship season?

I love the design, a take on the 1982 Topps design, but with a wood bordered background.  I enjoyed thumbing through the set and seeing the familiar faces from this season.  I'm sure that many of them won't be back, but I'll still find a way to get them signed.

I bought 4 sets initially, one for me to work on getting signed next season, one to put in an album to keep a running series of Wood Ducks sets, and two so that Chris could do the same.

I hope they come out with sets every year.  I like the idea of keeping up with an album of each season.  I may also expand it to include Wood Ducks featured in Minor League Heritage and Pro Debut.  I only have two cards to add, then, with Yanio Perez showing up in Heritage, and the Wood Ducks mascot, Dewd, showing up on the disc inserts.

TTM Success - Jim Clancy

Here are some more signed cards from the 1980s that I was able to add to my album with this TTM success from Jim Clancy.  I especially liked this 1986 Fleer that I got signed.  There is a whole lot of blue on this card, now that I am paying some more attention to it.  Still, it looks nice.

I added some nice Topps cards, including another 1987 Topps for the album.  As of today, I am sitting on 99 signed cards from that set.  Not too bad.  The 1989 Topps Traded (bottom right) turned out really nice, as well.

Clancy (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1977 to 1991 for the Blue Jays, Astros and Braves.  He had a career record of 140-167 with 1,422 strike outs and an ERA of 4.23.  He was an All Star for the Blue Jays in 1982.  He was a member of the inaugural Blue Jays team of 1977.  He pitched 3 games for the Braves in the 1991 World Series, picking up a win, but the Braves ultimately lost to the Twins.

I mailed to Clancy on September 20 and got the cards back on October 17, for a 27-day TAT.

TM Success - Andre Thornton

This was a nice TTM return from Andre Thornton on some cool 1980s cards.  The above 1986 Topps Indians leaders card really turned out well.  I like these cards, and they look really nice when signed.  Thornton has a really interesting signature, and it really pops on this card.

I also added a 1981 Topps, 1987 Topps, 1984 Fleer and 1986 Fleer.  They all look good, but none of them matches the 1986 Indians leaders card.

Thornton (b. 1949) played in the majors from 1973 to 1979 and 1981 to 1987 for the Cubs, Expos and Indians.  He had 1,342 hits, 253 home runs and a .254 batting average.  He was an All Star twice (1982 and 1984) and won the Silver Slugger Award in 1984.  He received MVP votes three times in his career.  His best finish was 19th following the 1984 season for the Indians.

I mailed to Thornton on September 16 and got the cards back on October 16, for a 30-day TAT.

TTM Success - Chris Hammond

Here is another player who's cards I sat on for a long time before I finally mailed to him.  The reason why I waited so long to send these cards to Chris Hammond was because he charged for his autograph, and I didn't want to spend the money.  In an effort to clean up my box, I went ahead and mailed to some of those guys who charged.  I was really happy with the cards that I chose.  The 1996 Fleer Metal shown above turned out really nicely.  Hammond charges $1.00/card to a scholarship fund, so I had no problem sending him some money, once I got around to it.

I was able to get another card signed out of the attic box that Mom sent me.  These cards aren't anything glorious, but they do help when you need cards of someone who was in the minors at that time.

Finally, here are the other cards that I got back from Hammond.  The highlight, of course, is the 1996 Topps at top right.  I have very few cards from this set, let alone of any guys who sign, so I definitely needed to make sure that one was in my TTM request to Hammond.

Hammond (b. 1966) played in the majors from 1990 to 1998 and 2002 to 2006 for the Reds, Marlins, Red Sox, Braves, Yankees, A's and Padres.  He had a career record of 66-62 with an ERA of 4.14 and 712 strike outs.

I mailed to Hammond on October 4 and got the cards back on October 16, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Glendon Rusch

This was a TTM success that added a few late 90s cards to the album that I mostly came across in some old boxes at my LCS.  I like these 1998 Fleer Ultras.  They lend themselves to great autos since they have no borders and are fairly glossy.  This shot of Rusch was a good one, and it looks great signed.

I picked up a box of 1996 Bowman while handing with Andrew, so I wanted to add a few of these to my album.  I like the coloring on the border, almost a beige to pink color like 1968 Topps (without the burlap).  The 1997 Stadium Club TSC 2000 is really cool, a type of card that I hadn't seen before.

Rusch (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1997 to 2006 and 2008 to 2009 for the Royals, Mets, Brewers, Cubs, Padres and Rockies.  He had a career record of 67-99 with 1,088 strike outs and an ERA of 5.04.

I mailed to Rusch on September 2 and got the cards back on October 16, for a 44-day TAT.

Birthday Gift From Michael

I got a package in the mail a few days ago from my buddy, Michael.  He had just sent me a package that had a bunch of IP autos that he picked up for me, but this time around, he sent me my birthday package.

In it was a signed locker nameplate of David Lough, a signed 8x10 of Mychal Givens, a signed post card of Joe Orsulak, a coupld IP autos, and a Jeremy Hazelbaker auto from 2017 Stadium Club.  The IP signed cards were Buck Showalter on a 2011 Heritage and a 2017 Topps Mariners team card signed by Andrew Albers.

Thank you so much for the birthday package, Michael!  I really appreciate it!