Signed Cards From Gerard - Hirokazu Sawamura

This was kind of a TTM, but I wasn't calling it as such.  My good friend, Gerard, has been assisting his brother with private signings, and let me know that they would be seeing Red Sox reliever, Hirokazu Sawamura.  I had recently pulled these two 2021 Chronicles cards, and thought they would look cool signed.  I was right.

Sawamura (b. 1988) has played in the majors since 2021 for the Red Sox.  He has a record of 5-2 with 76 strike outs and a 3.04 ERA.

Thanks for getting these cards signed for me, Gerard.  I can't wait to see the guys that you and your brother line up for your next signings.

TTM Success - Brian Tollberg

Here are a couple cards that I picked up at a show, recently, then sent off for TTM.  The above 2001 Upper Deck of Brian Tollberg is a nice card; I had forgotten how mice a set 2001 Upper Deck was.  It's a clean design, and the cards look good when signed.

I had also gotten this 2001 Topps signed, which also turned out nicely.

Tollberg (b. 1972) played in the majors from 2000 to 2003 for the Padres.  He had a record of 15-16 with 182 strike outs and a 4.48 ERA.

I mailed to Tollberg on March 23 and got the cards back on March 31, for an 8-day TAT.

June 2022 Graphing of Riverdogs at Wood Ducks

Another series has come and gone at Grainger Stadium.  This week, the Charleston Riverdogs came to town for a 6-game series that went back and forth.  The Wood Ducks settled for a series split with the Riverdogs.  I was hpoing they would take the series, as a little bit of payback for last season's loss in the Championship round.

I got some nice cards in of Robby Ahlstrom.  The above 2021 Panini Prizm is the snakeskin parallel, numbered 11/25.  Ahlstrom liked these cards and remarked how he hadn't gotten any of his own cards, yet, so I ordered one of these off of Ebay that night.  The card will arrive while the Woodies are out of town, so I will have to give it to Robby next time they are home.

I had also picked up these two parallels.  Both of them look awesome, and I really wish I had been able to find Prizm when it came out.

Ryan Garcia was added to the roster during this series, so I was finally able to get these cards signed that I had pulled for Hickory last season.  He had Tommy John surgery, followed by two lat strains, which kept him out last season.  He pitched on Saturday, and looked really good.

I was also able to get this 2020 Pro Debut signed.  I was really glad to get these cards off of my desk, which is where they sat after my visit to Hickory last season.

I got some nice parallels signed of Ian Moller (who hit his first home run of the season, this series), Jose Rodriguez, Cam Cauley and Dylan MacLean.  My friend, Gerard, hooked me up with the Jose and the Dylans; the gold Heritage Minors of MacLean is numbered 14/18.

I had met Jonathan George a few series ago, when he was in town scouting for the Rangers.  Since then, I have carried his cards in my book, waiting for him to come back.  He was finally back yesterday (Saturday) and signed the 5 cards that I brought with me.

Several of the Riverdogs players that had cards were on the IL, so a lot of what I had pulled and prepped went back in the Box of Shame.  The guys that were there were fairly tough.  Only one of the six games of the series saw the Riverdogs with numbers on the front of their jerseys.  That made spotting the guys tougher at the onset of the series.  Carson Williams was the toughest of the guys with cards.  He only signed a couple of times, then shut me down saying "I got you yesterday; I'm only doing one per person now..."  He also told a few people that he would only sign cards when they showed him photos to sign.  I'm pretty sure he did sign a couple baseballs for some folks early in the series.

Nick Schnell was supposed to come through last season when Charleston was here at the end of the year, but had gone on the IL right before that series started.  I carried over the cards I had of him of my own and also 50/50s for guys until now.  He signed one per each time he came by, but signed every time he came by, which was nice.  I ended up finishing all of my Schnell cards, which was a goal.  I don't like having to put stuff back in my boxes.

Finally, JJ Goss was another of the guys who was supposed to come through last season, but also had gone on the IL.  I ended up with a ton of his cards, but he was good for 2 per prior to every game, except for Saturday when he was starting.  I finished off a good many of his cards, but still have a bunch I will need to carry over until the next time I see him (Durham, maybe?).

In all, I got the following autographs: Maximo Acosta x 3, Robby Ahlstrom x 3, Mitch Bratt x 4, Cam Cauley x 10, Ian Moller x 15, Dylan MacLean x 6, Jose Rodriguez x 4, Sandy Gaston x 2, JJ Goss x 14, Nick Schnell x 13, Carson Williams x 7, Ryan Garcia x 14, Alejandro Osuna x 2, Jonathan George x 5 and Xavier Valentin x 1 (on Chris's bat he was given Saturday), for 103 total autographs.

TTM Success - Cody Eppley

This random 2011 Bowman that I got signed TTM by Cody Eppley turned out nicely.  I don't have many 2011 Bowmans laying around; I guess those were in some other box that I didn't get from my former LCS.  I regret not going back and getting the rest of the boxes he had, but maybe that just wasn't meant to be.

Eppley (b. 1985) played in the majors from 2011 to 2013 for the Rangers and Yankees.  He had a record of 2-3 with 39 strike outs and a 4.61 ERA.

I mailed to Eppley on February 10 and got the card back on March 31, for a 49-day TAT.

TTM Success - Hank Foiles

This 1958 Topps of Hank Foiles may be beat up, but it has finally been signed TTM and now resides in my autograph album.  I had the card in my collection for a long time, and had even sent it TTM to Foiles in the past; only to be foiled.  Oof.  So, when a private signing came up, I went for it, and added some more frequent flyer miles to the card.

I also went ahead and paid the huge fee to have Foiles sign my 1991 Crown Orioles card.  Apparently, he had refused to sign this card in the past, since he was never paid for it.  I think I had seen that the vendor got 18 of these signed, so I felt like this would be a kind of rare thing to have in the autograph album.  The price was super high, but in the end, I'm glad I did it.

Foiles (b. 1929) played in the majors in 1953 and from 1955 to 1964 for the Reds, Indians, Pirates, A's (Kansas City), Tigers, Orioles and Angels.  He had 353 hits, 46 home runs and a .243 batting average.  He was an All Star in 1957.

I mailed to the signing on February 16 and got the cards back on March 30, for a 42-day TAT.

TTM Succes - Mike Penney

Here is a nice card that i found in one of the boxes from my former LCS.  This is a 2001 Donruss Signature Series that I sent off TTM to Mike Penney.  He hadn't signed in a long time, so I figured I'd take a chance and see if I could get the card signed.  The signature isn't much, but the card is signed and now in my album.

Penney (b. 1977) was an eighth round pick in the 1998 June Amateur Draft by the Brewers out of USC.  He played in the minors from 1998 to 2002, all in the Brewers system, and reaching AAA.  He had a record of 28-33 with 327 strike outs and a 4.12 ERA.

I mailed to Penney on March 17 and got the card back on March 29, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - Tim Crabtree

Here are some 90s cards that I thought were TTM-worthy that I can now add to my album.  I like the rock wall behind Tim Crabtree in this 1992 Stadium Club.  I like a card with a nice backdrop, and this one fits the bill.  I also love the 90s-era Blue Jays hat.

This is a glossy 1996 Fleer.  These were inserts that year; the base set of Fleer was a matte finish meant for better autographing.  The cards are decent, but a pain to leaf through (the matte ones).

Crabtree (b. 1969) pitched in the majors from 1995 to 2001 for the Blue Jays and Rangers.  He had a record of 21-22 with 288 strike outs and a 4.20 ERA.

I mailed to Crabtree on March 17 and got the cards back on March 28, for an 11-day TAT.