2025 National Free Signer - Hal Morris

Hal Morris was one of the Wednesday fewe VIP signers at the National.  I had gotten him TTM in the past, but I still had a bunch of his cards that I could get signed.  The above 1994 Topps turned out great.

They called Wild Cards on Morris, so I was able to get s few more cards signed.  The 1997 Bowman Chrome (left) turned out great.  The 1996 Topps Gallery (middle) was from the box of cards I busted a long time ago while visiting Andrew.

Finally, the card on the right is a 1996 Topps Finest.  These are also nice cards but they kind of blur or fade.  This one turned out fine and shouldn't fade since it'll be stored in my album.  By fading, I mean the actual card, not the signature.

Morris was really nice.  I was glad to meet him, and his line.moved pretty quickly. 

2025 National VIP Party Signers

The 2025 National has come and gone.  From Wednesday to Sunday, I searched a lot of boxes, got a bunch of stuff signed, waited in a lot of lines and smelled a lot of B.O.  Still, I had a great time and met some all-time greats.  The festivities started on Wednesday with the VIP Party signers.  I had gotten autographs of Al Oliver and Bill Madlock before.  I was down to a scant few cards of them, and am now pretty much cleared out.  The above 1976 Hostess card came out of a stack that Max gave me a few years ago.  I found it in a box not too long ago and was glad to get it signed.

I also had a 1981 Topps left over of Oliver and got it done, as well.  I also had a few of the 2023 Pro Debut Bill Maslock.  Those are cool cards and this one looks great signed.

Finally, I got Bill Cartwright on this card.  This is a 1995 Topps Stadium Club that I picked up from Sportlots.

The VIP Party was packed, but this year they had food stations in each corner, which made getting food easier.  The autograph lines didn't take too long, which was nice.  The VIP Party was a good precursor to the show and a.sign that we were in for some crowds.  Stick around for recaps from what else I got signed this year.

TTM Success - Dick Estelle

My post about Masanori Murakami was missing one card, my 1965 Topps Giants Rookie Stars card.  I got it back from Murakami and sent it off to Dick Estelle.  The card.came back signed quickly and looks awesome.

Estelle (b. 1942) played in the majors from 1964 to 1965 for the Giants.  He had a record of 1-2 with 29 strike outs and a 3.23 ERA.

I mailed to Estelle on April 16 and got the card back on April 25 for a 9-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Neil Medchill

The older Bowman box helped out with a couple Neil Medchill cards that I sent off TTM.  They came back signed in ballpoint pen.  Above is a 2010 Bowman of Medchill.

As usual, the 2010 Bowman Chrome didn't scan for crap, but rest assured, the card looks nice.  I was pretty satisfied with the autos even though the cards were signed in pen.

Medchill (b. 1987) was an 11th round pick by the Yankees in the 2009 June Amateur Draft out of Oklahoma State.  He played in the Yankees system from 2009 to 2013, reaching AAA.  He had 310 hits, 53 home runs and a .234 batting average. 

I mailed to Medchill on December 4 and got the cards back on April 21 for a 138-day TAT.

TTM Success - Pedro Alvarez

Whoops. I forgot to post last night.  Here is a great TTM success that I got back from Pedro Alvarez.  I got him on this 2017 Topps that shows him in an Orioles uniform. 

I also sent this 2014 Bowman that turned out great.

Alvarez (b. 1987) played in the majors from 2010 to 2018 for the Pirates and Orioles.  He had 704 hits, 162 home runs and a .236 batting average.  He led the NL in home runs (36) in 2013.  That season he was an All Star and won the Silver Slugger Award. 

I mailed to Alvarez on March 22 and got the cards back on April 19 for a 28-day TAT. 

TTM Success - Justin Morneau

A great TTM success came back recently from Justin Morneau.  I sent to him via the Twins at the start of the season last year, and the card finally came back signed.

The card is a 2006 Bowman Heritage.  I had a small handful of these cards and it was nice to be able to get one signed.

Morneau (b. 1981) played in the majors from 2003 to 2016 for the Twins, Pirates, Rockies and White Sox.  He had 1,603 hits, 247 home runs and a .281 batting average.  He was a 4-time All Star (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) and th 2006 AL MVP.  He also won thr Silver Slugger Award twice (2006 and 2008).  He appeared on the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot, but received only 1.3% of the vote).

I mailed to Morneau via the Twins on March 26, 2024, and got the card back on April.18, 2025, for a 388-day TAT.

July 26, 2025, Graphing of the Cyclones at Grasshoppers

Last Saturday, I went to Greensboro to cash in one of the rain out tickets I had.  The Greasshoppers were playing the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets High A affiliate.

I was excited to get Konnor Griffin finally.  The above 2025 Bowman insert came out of a blaster box I opened a couple hours before the game.  Mom had picked the blaster up for me.  I didn't have my baby powder with me to prep the card, so Mom had to hook me up with some corn starch from the kitchen.  The corn starch worked.

I had a bunch of cards for Brooklyn.  Everyone except Jesus Baez signed everything I had.  Baez did 2 per pregame and then did 3 post game outside.  

Nate Dohm inscribed one of his 2024 Bowman Draft cards with his nickname, Dohminator.  Funny that I got Dohm and Baez, though, as they both were traded to the Cardinals in the Ryan Helsley trade today.

I was glad to get all of my Colin Houck cards signed.  I had some nice stuff of him, but was afraid he would limit. 

I got Griffin pregame and post game.  Post game he ran with someone's black Sharpie. I didn't mind though. I picked up a 2025 Grasshoppers team set and got a couple cards from it signed.

I also got my sparkle parallel of Carlson Reed signed.  He paused when he was signing and admired the card for a bit.

Finally, I knocked out a couple of my Lonnie White, Jr. cards.  I didn't do too well with the team set, but I have some stuff for the next time I go.

In all, I got the following autographs: Jesus Baez x 5, Nate Dohm x 2, AJ Ewing x 5, Colin Houck x 8, Diego Mosquera x 3, Eli Serrano x 2, Marco Vargas x 4, Konnor Griffin x 2, Geovanny Planchart x 1, Shalin Polanco x 3, Carlson Reed x 6, Enmanuel Terrero x 5, Michael Walsh x 1, Lonnie White x 12 and Connor Wietgrefe x 1 (60 autographs).