TTM Success - Aaron Miles

A TTM success came in this week from Aaron Miles that added the above 2007 Upper Deck and below 2012 Topps Jeritage to the autograph album. 

Both of the cards turned out nicely.  I found two other Miles cards on my desk today; I guess I had pulled them, then forgot to send them along with these two.  Oh well.  These were just fine.

Miles (b. 1976) played in the majors from 2003 to 2011 for the White Sox, Rockies, Cardinals, Cubs and Dodgers.  He had 793 hits, 19 home runs and a .281 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2006.

I mailed to Miles on March 27 and got the cards back on May 6, for a 39-day TAT. 

Another TTM Success From Bobby Shantz

While going through boxes recently, I found this 1991 Topps Archives of Bobby Shantz.   I thought I'd go ahead and send to him again so I could add it to the album. Shantz is 98 years old and is still signing.  It was an easy decision. 

I mailed to Shantz on April 26 and got the card back on May 6, for a 10-day TAT. I paid his fee of $5.00/card.

May 5, 2024, Graphing of Dash at Grasshoppers

With the rain clearing out Sunday, Jesse and I decided to head to Greensboro to see the Grasshoppers take on the Dash and try to finish off some stacks of cards we had put together last month. We had seen the Grasshoppers at Dash, now we flipped that and Jesse could add another stadium to his list.

We graphed inside pre-game and outside post-game.  Samuel Zavala hit everything we had outside.  That almost completely wiped me out of his cards, save for three 2023 Pro Debuts that i couldnt reasonably fit into one of the books.

Peyton Pallette did something I hadn't seen before. He was late coming onto the field pre-game, so he said he would sign for us when he walked by after the first inning. He made good on that promise and signed everything we had.

I found some old Greensboro team sets for $5.00/set and got this 2010 Guilford the Grasshopper signed during the game.

In all, we got the following autographs: Jack Brannigan x 6, Guilford x 1, Termarr Johnson x 4, JP Massey x 1, Jacob Gonzalez x 2, Wes Kath x 1, Peyton Pallette x 5, Jordan Sprinkle x 5, and Samuel Zavala x 13. (38 total autographs).

May 4, 2024, Graphing of Revolution at Rockers

This past weekend, Jesse and I made the trip to High Point so Jesse could knock another stadium off of his list.  He also had never been to an independent league game, so that was new to him also.  Jesse turned me onto the above 1993-95 Cardtoons of "Frankie Violin".  I didn't recall seeing this card before, so when he showed me, I bought one to take to High Point to get signed.

Viola signed everything we had right before the game was set to start.  Once he hit the last card on Jesse's page, the rain started to fall.

We got the game in, though.  Viola ended up being ejected when the Umpires heard some chirping coming from the Rockers dugout.  Unable to identify who it was, he tossed Viola.  It was a bit of extra entertainment added to an already entertaining game.

I knocked out 10 cards (including the Viola) from my 2023 High Point set.  I missed Jeremy Rhoades, but he did start the game, so if would have been tough anyway. I forgot to look for him post-game outside.

We were lucky to get Kyle Barraclough.  He was picked up by the Rangers today.  I finally got the two Ryan Meisinger cards shown above signed.  I had been waiting to get them done for a while. I had been waiting longer to get Peter Solomon, though.  His 2018 Carolina League top prospects card had floated around my boxes since that season.

My friend, Gerard, sent some supplemental cards that I couldn't get in a pinch like the above 2019 Bowman green parallel of Evan Edwards.

Colin Moran was signed to High Point last Thursday, so I was able to find 8 of his cards before I pulled out of the driveway on Friday.  He signed for us twice, doing one per each time.

Jamari Baylor was the only York guy that I was able to get.  I missed Ethan Lindow and Will Stewart.  I'll try to get them sometime later this season. 

In all, we got the following autographs: Ben Aklinski x 1, Kyle Barraclough x 4, DJ Burt x 1, Evan Edwards x 4, Ryan Grotjohn x 1, Jamie Keefe x 1, Ryan Meisinger x 3, Colin Moran x 4, Neil Ramirex x 4, Austin Ross x 1 Peter Solomon x 8, Frank Viola x 17, Ryan Weiss x 1, Zander Wiel x 1 and Jamari Baylor x 8 (59 total autographs).

TTM Success - Danny Hultzen

Slowly, some past Spring Training TTM requests are trickling in, like this one from Danny Hultzen.  The above 2020 Topps Fire was a nice card to get back signed.

I also got a 2013 Bowman Chrome mini refractor.  Hultzen kept my 2020 Topps.

Hultzen (b. 1989) played in the majors in 2019 for the Cubs.  He got into 6 games for 3.1 innings and allowed no runs with 5 strike outs.  He didn't register any wins or losses.  He was the second overall pick by the Mariners in the 2011 June Amateur Draft out of the University of Virginia. 

I mailed to Hultzen on February 9, 2021, and got the cards back on May 2, 2024, for a 1,178-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dylan Bundy

This return from a private signing with Dylan Bundy helped me get two cards that I tried getting signed in Durham finally added to the autograph album.  Last season, I walked around with this 2012 Bowman Sterling for two days trying to get Bundy to sign, but got ignored both days.  The card looks great.  

This 2013 Topps short print was another one that i had hoped to get signed. I had a couple copies of this one, so it was nice to get one of them signed.  It would have been better had he stopped for us in Durham, but it's all good.  I had gotten Bundy in person myself several times.  

Bundy (b. 1992) played in the majors in 2012 and from 2016 to 2022 for the Orioles, Angels and Twins.  He had a record of 54-65 with 852 strike outs and a 4.74 ERA.  He finished 9th in the 2020 AL Cy Young Award voting.

I mailed to the signing on January 31 and got the cards back on May 1, for a 91-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $15/card.

TTM Success - Joe West

Before I paid for the signed Joe West ball that Gerard sent me, I had signed up for a private signing to get the above 2022 Topps Allen and Ginter Chrome signed.  The card turned out nicely.  I now have a card and a ball signed by West.  I hope that he makes it into the Hall of Fame soon.  He just missed it during the most recent veterans committee voting.  I believe he has to wait three years for the next voting for his category.

I mailed to the signing on February 2 and got the card back today (May 1) for an 89-day TAT. I paid a fee of $30.00.