Mourning a Legend

I received the text message from my friend Michael that Frank Robinson had passed away right as I was getting on a conference call for work.  I didn't have much time to process the information while I was discussing work stuff, but it still hit me pretty hard.  I knew Frank wasn't doing well, but conflicting reports a few days ago at least gave me some optimism that he was better off than what I had initially feared.  Sadly, he succumbed to bone cancer today at the age of 83.

Frank was the last of the Orioles Hall of Famers that I hadn't "met".  I use quotations there, because I still count being shoulder bumped by Earl Weaver meeting him.

I was lucky enough that my good friend, Ryan, was working on an Orioles Hall of Fame project, and needed Frank on a baseball.  He paid for me to go to the signing at this past year's National, and I would be able to meet Frank in exchange for getting Ryan's ball signed.  I'm so glad I was able to take advantage of that opportunity.

For whatever reason, Frank is such an underappreciated baseball legend.  His 586 home runs were 4th all-time when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1982 (alongside his good friend, Hank Aaron), and continue to be ranked 10th all-time.  He was a World Series winner in 1966 and 1970 with the Orioles.  He is the only player to win the MVP Award in both the AL and NL.  He was the Triple Crown winner in 1966.  He is part of one of the worst trades in MLB history, and he also turned the Orioles organization into a perennial contender.  He was the first African American manager in MLB.  Yet, when legends of baseball are discussed, Frank's name hardly ever comes up.  I'm not sure why, but that needs to change.

His number 20 is retired by the Orioles, and he has a statue in Camden Yards (and also in Cincinnati).  He was the 81st Hall of Famer on a baseball in my collection, thanks to my good friend, Drew.

This is the image I always want to remember Frank by.  Here he is at the 2018 National after having signed Ryan's baseball.  The autograph vouchers never come with photo-ops; you have to pay for those separately.  Still, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, right?  Well, the look Frank is giving me is right after I asked if he would pose for a photo.  A stone cold gaze, and then he dropped Ryan's ball on the table.  I was about to apologize profusely, when Frank grinned, and said "sure, come on."  The photo at the top of this post is the result.  He even shook my hand after and smiled.  I read later on that Frank had a sharp and biting sense of humor, and it was on full display here.

Furthermore, while I was waiting to have the ball signed, I saw Frank's wife sitting next to him looking bored.  All of the fans would greet Frank, tell him how great he was, how they were big fans, but no one would speak to her.  So, I said hello to her and asked her if she was having a good day.  It looked like it took her by surprise, but she thanked me for asking her.  She asked me my name, where I was from.  She told me her name, and what she did.  That she was enjoying the show.  She was such a super nice lady.  I can't help but think of her, and hope that she can find comfort and peace in this difficult time.  Her husband is no longer suffering from the bone cancer that took him so quickly.  He is definitely loved, and will be missed by the countless fans he won over the years.  I'm so happy that I got the opportunity to meet him (and her), and I will always remember him fondly.

Rest in peace, Frank, you truly are one of the all-time greats.

Thanks Ryan for buying the voucher that allowed me to meet him, and thanks Michael for the great photos.

TTM Success - Jerry Terrell

These cards came back signed from Jerry Terrell recently, and I was pretty pleased with the results.  I was able to get a 1975 Topps signed (above).  He signed the cards with a ballpoint pen, but the signature still turned out well.

I also got a 1979 and a 1980 Topps signed by Terrell.  He inscribed each card with a bible verse, which was a nice touch.

Terrell (b. 1946) played in the majors from 1973 to 1980 for the Twins and Royals.  He had 412 hits, 4 home runs and a .253 batting average.

I mailed to Terrell on January 9 and got the cards back on January 18, for a 9-day TAT.

Sox and Cubs Fest Autos From Max

I can always count on my good friend, Max, to take some cards off of my hands and turn them into signed cards for my autograph album.  This year, I got a nice return from both Cubs and Sox Fests, and the autographs are really great.

I was excited about the above Zack Collins that I had pulled out of a pack a month or so ago.  It had gotten damaged in transit to Max, but you can't tell from the scan.

He hooked me up with some nice Will Venable cards, especially the above 2013 emerald parallel.  You can't see the auto too well from the scan, but it is there.

Getting these two Venables was nice, too, because they had hung out in my Bowman box for quite a long time.

These Randy Hundley cards turned out well.  He has a funky signature, and you can definitely see that on the 1973 Topps that he signed (right).

Here are a couple horizontal cards that look really nice.

Max got me a whole bunch of cards signed.  I have no more Ed Farmer in my bulk boxes, which is nice.  I always enjoy moving stuff out of those boxes and either into my album or as trade bait.

We were able to fix my issue of not having a Daryl Boston for my 1987 set.  I forgot to send him one last year, and this year, we made sure one got done.

 He also got these Bostons signed, and they all look nice.

I was upset that I bought a Bowman Hi Tek Nicky Delmonico at the National last year, and misplaced it.  It would have looked nice when signed.  Still, I got some nice stuff back, and the 2010 Ryan Sweeney turned out really well (top left).

Here are a few more of the cards Max got done for me.  The 1976 Traded (bottom left) was a nice addition to the album.

Finally, I have a signed Pete LaCock card for my album.  This 1978 Topps is really nice, and I'm gad Max hooked me up with it.

Thanks so much, as always, Max.  I hope you were able to get some good stuff for yourself, also.  I can't wait til the next signing takes place and we can put some more of my bulk cards to use.

Signed 1987 Topps Dave LaPoint From Jacob

My good friend, Jacob, sent me this signed 1987 Topps Dave LaPoint in exchange (I think) for a few Expos cards that he needed.  I have been so slow to ship him stuff, but I'm waiting on the last few names for Expos Fest to be announced.  Once they are, Jacob is set to get a decent package of cards.

LaPoint (b. 1959) played in the majors from 1980 to 1991 for the Brewers, Cardinals, Giants, Tigers, Padres, White Sox, Pirates, Yankees and Phillies.  He had a career record of 80-86 with 802 strike outs and a 4.02 ERA.  He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 1982.

Thanks for the card, Jacob!

TTM Success - Adam Lind

There aren't many signed 2009 Topps cards in my autograph album, but I added one more with this TTM success from Adam Lind.  The card was out for a while, but it finally came back in, and looks great.

Lind (b. 1983) played in the majors from 2006 to 2017 for the Blue Jays, Brewers, Mariners and Nationals.  He had 1,247 hits, 200 home runs and a .272 batting average.  He was a Silver Slugger Award winner in 2009.  That was the only season where he received MVP votes; he finished 15th in the voting that season.

I mailed to Lind on February 22, 2018, and got the card back on January 18, 2019, for a 330-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dirk Nowitzki

I'm not an NBA fan by any means, but a while back, I ordered something off of Ebay, and the seller added a bunch of basketball cards as filler to my package.  One of those cards was this Dirk Nowitzki, and I had seen some folks get him TTM.  So, I sent it off and waited for it to come back.  It finally did, but the signature wasn't too great.  It's there and all, but it would have been nice if it were better.  Oh well.

Nowitzki (b. 1978) has played in the NBA since 1998 for the Dallas Mavericks.  He is a 13-time ALl Star and won the NBA championship in the 2010-2011 season.  He has scored a total of 31,275 points in his career and was the NBA MVP in the 2006-2007 season.  I don't know a whole lot about basketball, but I imagine he will be a Hall of Famer at some point, for sure.

I mailed to Nowitzki on September 29 and got the card back signed on January 19, for an 111-day TAT.

TTM Success - Daulton Varsho

I saw that a good number of folks were getting cards signed from 2018 Heritage Minors and 2018 Bowman, so I wrote down a couple names of guys that I had seen successes of, and put together a couple TTM requests.  One of the ones that came back was this really cool success from Daulton Varsho.  I was especially happy about this 2018 Heritage Minors Deckle Edge card.  He inscribed it to me, and signed in black Sharpie.  No, that's not a real autograph below it in blue.

I also got his 2018 Heritage Minors base and 2017 Bowman Draft signed.

Varsho (b. 1996) was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the second round of the 2017 Amateur Draft out of the University of Wisconsin.

So far, he has 153 hits, 19 home runs and a .301 batting average along two minor league seasons.

I mailed to Varsho on January 5 and got the cards back on January 18, for a 13-day TAT.