TTM Success - Mike Pagliarulo

Another private signing came along that helped me out with my 1987 Topps set, so I sent this card out to have signed by Mike Pagliarulo.

Pagliarulo (b. 1960) played in the majors from 1984 to 1993 and 1995 for the Yankees, Padres, Twins, Orioles and Rangers.  He had 942 hits, 134 home runs and a .241 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Twins in 1991.

I mailed to the signing on November 6 and got the card back on November 30, for a 24-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $15.00.

TTM Success - Stump Merrill

I got this card among several boxes from the Goodwill near my parents' house a while back.  Every now and then, they have baseball cards, and Mom made sure to let me know when I was in town one time that these were there.  The boxes were a bunch of Topps Traded sets (busted, with key cards removed) and some other alternative sets like Donruss Highlights, The Rookies, etc.  So, since the sets had been busted, I broke some of them up even further and sent out a few TTMs.

Stump Merrill (b. 1944) managed the Yankees from about two-thirds of the way through the 1990 season to 1991.  His managerial record was 120-155 (.436 %).  This was a forgettable time in Yankees history, which is fine by me.  Notably, Merrill's successor was the great Buck Showalter.

I mailed to Merrill on October 28 and got the card back signed on November 30, for a 33-day TAT.

TTM Success - Ned Jarrett

I have his grandson (Zach) on some Delmarva Shorebirds team set cards and his son (Dale) on a Wood Ducks pocket schedule, so it was only natural to try to send some cards to Ned Jarrett when I saw that he was signing TTM.

I went on COMC and picked out some cards that I thought looked cool, and they all came back signed.  I like the ones showing the old race cars.  My mom always liked seeing photos of the racers themselves, but I always liked taking photos of cars and I think that has kind of moved over to the cards as well.

All of these cards are really cool, and I didn't pay a whole lot.

Jarrett (b. 1932) ran in NASCAR's Cup series from 1953 to 1966, amassing 50 wins and 2 series championships (1961 and 1965).  He once won a race (the 1965 Southern 500 in Darlington) by a margin of 14 laps and 2 car lengths, or a total of 19.25 miles.  This is still the largest margin of victory in NASCAR history, in terms of miles.  Jarrett retired in 1966 when Ford announced they were pulling out of NASCAR.  He is still the only driver to retire as the Champion.  He went on to be a popular broadcaster for NASCAR following his retirement from racing.  He was elected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in the second class of inductees in 2011.

I mailed to Jarrett on November 4 and got the cards back on November 30, for a 26-day TAT.

TTM Success - Kurt Kepshire

I went through my 80s box and pulled a few guys who sign TTM and came up with these Kurt Kepshire cards that I sent out.  The above 1985 Topps turned out really well.

I also got this 1986 Topps signed.  It also looks cool.  I was glad to get some of these cards out of the boxes.

Kepshire (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1984 to 1986 for the Cardinals.  He had a career record of 16-15 with 144 strike outs and a 4.16 ERA.

I mailed to Kepshire on November 4 and got the cards back on November 26, for a 22-day TAT.

TTM Success - Derryl Cousins

I used up another 1987 Topps checklist recently when I sent TTM to former umpire, Derryl Cousins.  I wanted to add some of the umpires to my set, so if the slot for the checklist is already full, I will add this one to the back of the binder.  I plan on adding some other, different, stuff to my binder via the hundreds of checklists that I ended up with.  We'll see if I can make that happen.

I also had these ad and promo cards put aside for some reason, so I included them with the TTM request to Cousins.  I figured getting an umpire on these would be fine.  Now, these oddball ad cards will have a place in my album, as well.

Cousins (b. 1946) was an umpire in MLB from 1979 to 2012, beginning as an AL umpire from 1979 until the AL and NL umpires were combined in 2000.  He officiated three World Series (1988, 1999 and 2005) and three All Star games (1987, 1998 and 2008).

I mailed to Cousins on October 28 and got the cards back on November 25, for a 28-day TAT.

TTM Success - Nick Masset

I added some fairly recent cards with this TTM success from former pitcher, Nick Masset.  The above 2011 Topps Update Wal Mart Blue was a nice parallel to add to the autograph album.

I also had this 2005 Topps Update, and went ahead and sent it along.  Both cards look nice.

Masset (b. 1982) played in the majors from 2006 to 2011 and 2014 to 2015 for the Rangers, White Sox, Reds, Rockies, Marlins and Braves.  He had a career record of 20-16 with 339 strike outs and a 4.06 ERA.

I mailed to Masset on October 23 and got the cards back on November 23, for a 31-day TAT.

Instagram Trade With Drake

I completed a trade on Instagram with a kid named Drake a few months back.  I really didn't think I would pull the trade off when we first met, because he would comment on my posts about wanting autos that weren't available, culminating with a direct message complaining as such.  I figured that would be the end of the interaction, but a few days later, I got an apology, and we got to talking.

We ended up working out a trade, and carrying on a conversation about graphing the minors, the propsed changes to the system itself, and just life stuff in general.  I was really glad that I didn't overreact to his initial message, and gave the guy another chance.

I keep a box of extra autos that I accumulate throughout the season, and use that as "currency" in proposing trades for cards that I need.  I have also had to use some to entice some folks to take a card for me to get signed.  Graphing can be a tough business sometimes.

Still, though, I end up with autos that some folks need, and I am happy to make some trades to get some new stuff into my albums.  Once the cards make it into the albums, they don't get removed (which probably was the source of Drake's frustration).

We ended up going through the box via video messages on Instagram, and settled on a 1 for 1 trade (meaning, for every card I sent, he would send one).  I was happy with the stuff I was able to get.

Anyway, we are friends now, and we plan on doing some 50/50s and consignments for the upcoming season, so I feel like we will continue in a positive direction.