TTM Returns: Week Ending 4-17-21

Now that I've gotten back into the TTM game, my mailbox has been filling up again! Here's a qyuck look at the cards I got back in the mail this week:

Ryan Wing - 9 days, home address

(2005 Donruss Champions is a set that almost looks like it was designed to be signed. There is all that open space on the right side of the card, and as you can see, it looks phenomenal when signed in blue. I might have to look for a set of these, and start sending them out. A great-looking TTM set, for sure.)

Matt Downs - 9 days, home address

Stu Cliburn - 11 days, home address

Sherman Corbett - 22 days, home address

Mark Wagner - 10 days, home address

George Canale - 23 days, c/o Canale's Ham & BBQ

Pat Combs - 20 days, home address

Don Hood - 14 days, home address

Diamondbacks Team-Issued Jersey

 My family and I made our annual Spring Break trip to Arizona last month, and got there just in time for the close of Spring training. Usually, we are sure to hit a couple Cubs games, but with Covid protocols and limited seating, Cubs tickets were through the roof. Every game was sold out, and on the secondary market, tickets were going for around $200 a piece. So, that was out of the question, but we were able to get tickets to the Spring Training finale for the Arizona Diamondbacks for a much more reasonable price.

The Diamondbacks usually play their Spring games at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, but for this game, they went to their regular season home of Chase Field! Now, being short on D-Backs gear, I made the stop to the team shop, but then I struck gold when I visited D-Backs Authentics. That store in Chase Field deals exclusively in game-used memorabilia, including jersey, balls, helmets, hats, and all sorts of other authentic souvenirs. 

Most of the jerseys were being sold for a hefty price tag, but there were a few that were beyond reasonable. These, for some reason, included a player's name on the back, but no number. I asked the store attendant what the story was with these, and he said usually this is a result of a jersey being made ahead of time for a player they anticipate calling up, but that person never gets the call, and therefore, never selects a number. 

The best part about these jerseys, though is the price. $50. Seriously. FIFTY DOLLARS!!! It is still a 100% authentic jersey, with the fully-sewn on patches for the logo, as well as the shoulder patches that don't get included on the replica models. These normally retail for somewhere in the $300 range, but since a name has already been sewn on the back and they don't want to reuse it, $50.

I ended up selecting my jersey purely based on what size would fit me and went with a home jersey originally made for pitcher Joey Krehbiel in the 2019 season. He made his MLB debut the year before, pitching a combined 3 innings over a span of two games. The Diamondbacks had high hopes for him the following season, but he struggled in the minors, and never made it back to the Major League team. He spent the 2020 season with the Minnesota Twins' organization, and signed a Minor-League deal with the Tampa Bay Rays for the 2021 season.

Anyway, here's a few photos of the jersey, I tried to get a close look at all of the patches, showing the intricacy of some of these. I love the snake logo on the left shoulder, and the MLB 150 patch on the right shoulder is a unique touch exclusive to 2019.

Not-So-Recent TTM Returns

I haven't really sent out a whole lot of TTMs in quite a while, so when I do receive them, it comes as a bit of a surprise. These came back a few weeks ago, but I just never got around to posting them, so here we go!

The first one is from Rod Brind'Amour. He's a good ttm signer, but as I found out, it can take some time. This was sent c/o the Carolina Hurricanes, and was originally sent back in 2015, for a 1,958-day round trip.

Nest is one is from Thomas Greiss, who is currently a goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings. This one was sent c/o the New York Islanders back in 2015. I'm certain that there was a mix-up with my cards and someone else's, as these Upper DEck cards weren't produced until a couple years after I sent my request.

That's all for now. I have been working on getting more TTM requests out, so hopefully, there will be more to show off in the not too distant future.

Bill Mazeroski Signed Photo

To follow up to my last post, there was one more that I had, and wanted to give it a post all to itself, and here it is: a signed 8x10 of Bill Mazeroski, from TSE.

For me, as great of a game as baseball is, just on its own merits, the game is also about the moments. This one harkens back to the 1960 World Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees. Mazeroski's Game 7 home run still stands as the only Game 7 Walk-Off Home Run in Major League history, and the moment was captured in this photo, signed beautifully in blue ink. Mazeroski was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, and I'm sure I'll get my hands on a signed ball soon enough, but for now, this photo will sit proudly in my collection. 

Catching Up

 In case anyone is still reading this...

I've had quite a few items over the years that I have managed to get my hands on. Once they came in, I did my due blogging diligence in scanning them, photographing them, and uploading them to a blogger post, to be completed later. Unfortunately, due to my severe procrastination, those posts never got completed.

So, in the interest of just getting those items out there, and showing off some pretty cool items, I'm just going to rapid-fire those bad boys here. Hopefully, I'll do a better job of keeping up with those in the future, but I've said that plenty of times in the past, so who knows.

I picked up this Matt Murray puck on a sale from Pittsburgh's Total Sports Enterprises a while back, and now that I finally got around to posting it, he is no longer with the team, as he was traded this past off-season, but before then, he backstopped the Penguins to Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017. 

Next, is a puck, from a short-lived Penguin, Nick Bjugstad. He played for the Penguins for just two seasons, but I had to get something of his, as he's a Minnesota native, and as luck would have it, is now playing for his homestate team, after being traded to the Minnesota Wild.

I picked up this Michael Pineda baseball from a FanHQ baseball draft, full of current and former Minnesota Twins players. I ended up being randomed a lower spot in the order, but it is always nice to get a ball from a guy I don't already have. Pineda has played for the Twins since the 2018 season and is signed through the end of 2021.

As a Cubs fan, I am supposed to hate the St. Louis Cardinals and everything associated with them, but I still decided to grab two autographed photos from a sale at St. Louis area's Collectors Corner. I got the Vince Coleman because not only is he a record-setting base stealer, but the photo looks amazing signed in blue. I also got Terry Pendleton, who was the 1991 National League MVP. Both were under 10 bucks a piece, which was too good of an offer to pass up.

Lastly, is an autographed LeVeon Bell photo that I got out of a mystery envelope from TSE. I got this right after his rookie season, after a great year with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, since then, he has cut ties with the Steelers, played two tears with the Jets, and is now playing in the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Well, I'm finally caught up with my backlog of autographs. There is one more, though, but that one deserves its own post.

TTM Returns from Joe Pavelski

When things started shutting down with Covid-19, it also took down pretty much any opportunity for in-person signings. It didn't seem to affect the TTM part of the hobby too badly, though, and may have even helped, as some current players now had some extra time to catch up on old mail. One of those players, apparently, was Joe Pavelski, who signed and returned two TTM requests from me that I had long given up on. These were sent out in December of 2015 and October of 2016 when he played for the San Jose Sharks, and made it back to my mailbox two weeks apart in April 2020, when he is now playing for the Dallas Stars.

Cubs Spring Training - 2019

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do here, as my blogs have been severely neglected, but I figured I should share with you my Spring Training autographs from last year.

We make the trip every year, as my family has a vacation house in Chandler, AZ, and we try our best to claim a time during Spring Training. Of course, with work and the kids in school, the scheduling can be pretty tricky, but with a couple exceptions, we make it every year. We actually made it this year, and got to one game before Covid shut the whole operation down.

I made it to two Chicago Cubs games in 2019, though. Of course, I absolutely love the sun, the warm beer, and the outfield grass seats at Mesa's Sloan Park. The other draw for me is the autographs from former MLB players. Cubs legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins hosts autograph signings behind the left field grass area to benefit his foundation, and I am always sure to grab a few when I attend games there.

The one I had already gotten in the past, but HAD to get that year, was Lee Smith. 2019 was a special one for him in particular, because we would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame For many people, including me, the honor was a long time coming. He mastered the role of the closer in an era where that role was starting to develop, and was seen as the best one-inning pitcher in the game. I had gotten photos and a ball signed by him previously, but this time around, I had to get one with a Hall of Fame inscription.

Another guy I had to get a signature from was Bill Buckner. I got a ball signed by him in 2018, but decided to grab a photo from him last year. I know everyone remembers him for 1986, but that one mistake overshadows the fact that in his prime, he was one of the best hitters in the game, winning the National League batting title in 1980.  In the couple of interactions that I had with him, Buckner was always a super friendly guy. Unfortunately, he would pass away just two months later after a battle with Lewy body dementia. It serves as a reminder, if you have the chance to meet somebody, take advantage of those opportunities, because you never know what will be your last chance.

There are a lot of regular guests there, who you will see at every game, every season, but there are also a few who make an appearance far less frequently. Oakland A's great Bert Campaneris is one of those. Campaneris is mostly known for playing for the A's for 12 years, winning three World Series from 1972-74. I had him inscribe the ball with one of his most unique accomplishments, when he played all nine positions in a game in 1965, and even pitched ambidextrously.

Another player who isn't one of the more frequent guests is former Kansas City Royal Willie Wilson. Wilson did play for the Cubs for two seasons in the 90s, but was mostly known for his accomplishments with the Royals, where he won the American League Batting Title in 1982 and a World Series with the team in 1985. I had him sign a 1989 Topps card for the set I'm working on.

Lastly were three balls I got signed by three regulars. Gary Matthews, Bob Dernier, and Pete LaCock are there almost as often as Fergie, but I figured I might as well get some ink from them. I also had them add some inscriptions, recognizing Matthews' Rookie Of the Year award and Dernier's Golg Glove Award.

Well, I'm a year and a half late posting these, but I finally got to it. My autograph seeking hasn't been too fruitful this year, apart from a few private signings, and I've been kind of slow getting some TTM requests out. I'm trying to get myself motivated to work on all of this some more, as it is a wonderful hobby. I hope to have plenty more to show off in the near future.