2023 Topps Series 1 hit - James Outman auto

Go figure, I finally get lured by a mass email to finally buy something through Larry Fritsch Cards, which was a hobby box of 2023 Topps - maybe I was worried about not getting their print catalogs again, but I know I'm still on their mailing list and browsing through the actual catalog goes over my head real fast.

While flagship Topps is pretty basic, there is a curiosity to see what the new cards are about for the current year - maybe blasters are $25 now, so to change things up, a lone hobby box [rather 3-4 blasters for the year perhaps] might have been a viable purchase for now.

Admittedly, there is no tradition where I bust a personal box of anything each year, though there might be a curiosity to be able to do so - especially a hobby version of flagship Topps, where I'm hoping on that slim chance to pull something nicer, something unexpected.

Bracing myself for some one color relic action of a minor star or rank and file guy, I was glad my hit was an autograph - Outman is unfamiliar to me, but coming up through the rich Los Angeles Dodgers farm system, he has put up numbers and might be a serviceable big leaguer for the next 5-10 years.

My card was apparently the black parallel of the 1988 Topps Baseball autographs inserts - my copy was serial #'d 099/199.

Featured autograph - Matt Moore

I picked this up because he was just signed by the Angels and figure a cheap certified autograph would be an easy add to my all-time autograph collection - I don’t remember whether I got him in-person during his young hotshot years as a starting pitcher Tampa Bay Rays.

Maybe it's better to have a random certified autograph to file away than to dig for an autograph I might not have at all - I looked up my memory banks and in 2012, it looks like I was able to get him in-person on an 8x10 print after being denied the previous day because he was tagging along with Evan Longoria.

TTM autographs received: Todd Zeile

I got a response from a request I sent to the former big at the end of October 2022 - I wasn't sure if he really signed TTM [maybe he was locked up with an autograph middleman or promoter], but took a chance of sending since he had a 1990 Leaf I wanted inked up.

Zeile was a hot prospect for a moment in the middle of the junk wax era, but never really ascended to that perennial all-star performer level - he ended up a being a perfectly competent player who bounced around different teams in the middle of his career, where you can plug and play him on a short term basis.

TTM autographs received: Ross Baumgarten

The former big league lefty signed my cards in about three weeks - for most part, it doesn't matter as long as I get a card inked up, but it is noticeable in-hand where sometimes an autograph signed on a card [1981 Donruss] ends up kind of bleeding into the darker or more cluttered image used.

Maybe the card was signed as it was, where there were no obvious blemishes or smears - but it just doesn't stand out.

Panini redemption mail result from 2014

I had a bubble mailer dropped off in front of the door and since I haven't bought anything lately, I figured it had to be a redemption - why was the package dropped off where it was, instead of inside the mail box?

Inside was an 2021 Panini Prizm Rookie Autograph Silver Prizm Isaac Paredes Auto No.RA.AP - there was a preprinted note saying the card was a replacement for a redemption that could not be fulfilled.

My first guess was this was for a Garrett Crochet auto redemption from last year, which I didn't see listed under open/closed ticket status, when I reset my password to log into Panini’s Web site - I couldn't see whether it was for that redemption, though the Paredes was from a different Panini brand.

I wondered if it was for a 2013 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Brian Navarreto auto redemption from this blaster break - I scanned through some e-mails and last year, there was something from Panini that said any lower end redemptions still open entered through 2017 would basically be closed and there would be something of equal value sent out.

On the bubble mailer, there was a sticker label actually covering the ticket number and go figure, I was able to match it with my Navarreto redemption listed in my account on the Panini Web site - it only took 10 years to finally get something back, but I don't have to wonder whatever happened to the $2 autograph card I was promised.

The April 2022 trade that sent Paredes from the Detroit [Tigers] to the Tampa Bay [Rays] for Austin Meadows was panned, but Meadows just had a lost season with various ailments - Paredes only hit .205 last year, but his ability to walk and hit for pop made him a useful player with a 114 OPS +.

TTM autographs received: Paul Wilson

The former pitcher signed my cards in about three weeks, including a 2004 Upper Deck Team USA 25th Anniversary - I've made it a micro-mini mission to get scattered cards from the set signed for the past 20 years.

Wilson was once a top pitching prospect for the New York Mets in the mid 1990s [Generation K, along with Bill Pulsipher and Jason Isringhausen] - I'm not sure if I remember having any of Wilson's cards and/or really being aware of the hype as part of the next big thing in Major League Baseball, but I know he was pictured in at least a couple baseball boxes [1996 Bowman and 1996 Fleer Update].

TTM autograph received: Ted Bowsfield

I found this vintage Topps card off a card show rummage and checked if the one-time expansion Los Angeles Angel was still able to sign TTM - I sent it off and got a response in a couple of weeks.