I think he ended up as a 'scratch the itch' TTM guy, where I had a random card of his to send out and ended up with one more - however he had apparently moved where there were no new address available in the meantime, so I waited until other collectors started reporting new successes with an updated working address.
I tried to dig around and see what may catch my attention, maybe I wonder whether the material is passable or not - the seller said something about making offers to consider, so there was an opportunity to pick something up where this table might be it as far where I was going to spend most of what I had in-hand.
Among the odds and ends included a second-year Gary Carter - I want to follow the mature collectors who have tried to make something about collecting old-school and/or vintage cards, even in bits and pieces.
A rookie year certified autograph of Michael Young - he was a second baseman who last played 10-15 years ago and was underrated as a longtime hitting star.
A certified autograph of Andrew Velasquez - even though the autograph on the sticker hologram looks sloppy, I picked it up for my all-time Angels collection.
While completion isn't realistic - it's cool knowing I have the most random players' autographs that played for my home team.
A Roberto Clemente insert that was too shiny to ignored - I'm not sure if this was numbered, but I like how it pops.
A Mike Trout / Shohei Ohtani insert I thought might have been worth something - but looked too neat to leave behind regardless.
A 1993 Donruss Dominator Greg Maddux - I guess it's not a pack pulled insert set, more like a 'box topper' bonus, but still a cool card.
Though it's a piece of plastic that I would have tossed a long time ago, I really like the branded top loader - which I assume was how the cards were originally shipped in.
On the other hand, I've never really had these cards in my collection and at the very least, end up as binder material centerpieces to the collection of cards I have for each player - with these rookies in my possession, I'd have some bragging rights if I took a time machine to the junk wax era of the early 1990s.
There is a bloodlines tie where the elder Walker is the father of a former big leaguer [Neil], who played for 12 seasons through 2020 - I added an extra card of Neil to my request for Tom to keep.
Looking up his stats, it just happens he pitched in one game for the Angels back in 1977 - so he was a retired player I needed in my Angels all-time autograph collection.
After being out for a couple of weeks, my first request to Meoli was sent back to me as 'return to sender,' which usually means I used an outdated or incorrect address - in some cases, an 'RTS' may mean my request was refused by the intended recipient, though that did not seem to be the case here.
I did some 'quick research' to find a presumably updated address and sent my request back into the wild - I finally got my card signed in about a week or so.
Wilson may have starred for the Houston Astros, compiling a 104-92 won-loss record in 9 seasons with the team - but due to a fatal accident in his car, he never did build on the promise he had shown at various points of his career.
1975 Topps Rookie Pitchers #615 - feat. Pat Darcy, Dennis Leonard, Tom Underwood and Hank Webb; this card will count as a bloodlines collection add with Webb being the father of big leaguer Ryan, but Underwood [R.I.P.] was also the brother of former MLB pitcher Pat and the father of one time Dodgers minor leaguer J.D. Underwood...this card could be a beyond the glory card for Darcy, who served up Carlton Fisk’s home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
Leonard had the most success out of the four guys on this card but after being a front line starter for the Kansas City Royals - a knee injury derailed the latter part of his career; I’d put him in the beyond the glory mini-collection, though I know I have a card of his somewhere, so this card wouldn't be a 2018 add for him.
2017 Panini Score football Kiko Alonso #6 - this is where I feel my mini-collections can get really esoteric at times.
I had a Bowman Draft card of one-time pro baseball player Carlos Alonso and I looked him up just to see if he was still playing - Carlos washed out after parts of 7 minor league seasons, but I saw he had a brother [Kiko] who plays in the NFL.
It wasn't a priority - but when I stumbled upon a random base card of Kiko, I had to pick it up so I had a card for each brother.
While Brett's playing career was a bit more larger than life and his rookie card seems to be held in higher regard than Yount's - both players are one-team franchise legends who each got their 3,000th hit in 1992 and were part of the same Hall of Fame class in 1999.
While I was superficially aware of Yount as a HOF legend with all these accomplishments - I had to dig through his numbers to see how his playing career evolved since I somehow believed he was more of a compiler as opposed to being a dominant player at various points of his playing career.
Getting to the big leagues as an 18-year old really helped boost Yount's counting numbers - maybe if he'd come up at 23 or 24 like a more typical big leaguer, his playing career would be more like J.J. Hardy's than Derek Jeter's.
If somehow I'd be aware of baseball when Yount was really putting up the numbers, he would have been a fun player to follow, reminiscent of offense minded shortstops who would come of age in the late 1990s - guys like Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra.
As a last minute purchase for 2017, I had to get this rookie card of a Hall of Fame catcher since it cost as much as a discounted blaster - I don’t think it’s too weird anymore but it maybe a little peculiar to commit to buy a baseball card, when I’m out in BFE somewhere in a daze, tagging along with my parents on a casino trip late at night.
Multiplayer rookie cards are ugly, especially if it becomes the RC of a Hall of Fame legend who has to share it with one or more marginal players - but it’s part of the quirkiness of old-school/vintage cards to squeeze multiple unproven players on a card.
Carter was a prime time star with the Montreal Expos from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s - however, I was only aware of Carter's playing days through the junk wax era cards he showed up on during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Washington probably had as much big league success as any random person who wasn't an actual baseball player can have in Major League Baseball - but as a world class sprinter, he was given a chance to do his thing for a little bit, even if stumbled in the biggest stage one can find themselves in.
The Singer goes into my all-time Angels autograph collection though I had to hit up baseballreference.com to see what Singer actually did in an Angels' uniform - admittedly, I only really remember him mentioned as trying to make small talk with 'long-time GM prospect' Kim Ng while mocking her ethnicity back in 2003.
I found this card in a quarter box and decided to grab in just in case the autograph is real - not worth much, but it's nice to find an old-school autograph card of a former Angels player.
Jose Cardenal c/o home - signed my three cards [1975 Topps, 1977 Topps and 1978 Topps] in blue Sharpie in about three weeks; I remember him mainly for being a coach with the New York Yankees through the late 1990s, but played 18 seasons in the Major Leagues as well.
Looking at Cardenal's stats, he had his most productive seasons in the mid 1970s with the Chicago Cubs - he also played for the Angels from 1965-1967.
I wasn't particularly attached to a 1983 Topps Bill Madlock card in my portfolio - so I traded it for a 1975 Topps common just to get an old-school [though not quite a 1973 or before vintage] card into my Topps Diamond collection.
Maybe I could have gone retail and picked up a blaster of 2011 Topps Opening Day or even a blaster of 2011 Topps - but I stopped at the card shop after I'd gotten my haircut because I was still feeling a little empty after I'd gone on a card show trip detailed in my previous post.
The card shop I go to on-and-off is sort of quaint - while it seems up to date as far as the newer products and the layout of the store is fairly organized, the actual experience being in the store makes you feel like you've walked into some collector's closet.
I was going to dig through the quarter box, hoping for some 2011, late 2010 commons - but I was hoping for something different, something to catch my eye. The box of $3 jerseys with mostly hockey cards, a few football and no baseball wasn't really what I was looking for.
I went through what seemed to be a 5,000 card box of 1984 Donruss that was all commons and wasn't really of much interest - despite the fact I did want to see what was inside after a previous visit a year ago.
I went through some old-school Topps cards that caught my eye - but the problem as much as I'd like to get to have some nice old Topps cards just because they maybe 35-40 years old, I only want to immediately collect the cards of players I may know something about. I also know I was going through mostly commons, so there maybe a disconnect as going through the older cards and not recognizing the rank-and-file players pictured on them.
I think my immediate goal were to perhaps look for old school Topps cards I may have seen online as being chronicled for whatever reason - maybe a cult baseball player or a baseball card with a unique characteristic.
After picking out three other cards, I think paid too much [$10] for the 1962 Topps American League Home Run Leaders [#53] I saw in one of the shop's showcases - it is beater of a card but was drawn to it because it features Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle and encapsulates the 1961 American League home run race between the both of the Yankees' sluggers.
I thought I was getting a well-worn, beater card to have in-hand and show off - but I saw all the marks on the back of the card was like, 'd'oh!'
With the Angels' 50th Anniversary celebration, perhaps I need to brush up on my knowledge regarding former Angels like Rick Reichardt, pictured on his 1968 Topps card [#40] I picked up for $1 - about 10 years ago I had a friend who was only 18 at the time, but took time to learn about Halos of the past and write to them for their autographs.
I've seen this 1973 Topps card of Willie Davis [#35] on some other blogs and wanted to add it to my 'awesome action' collection of cards - it seems either Davis was either hit by the pitch or perhaps he was brushed back according to this blog.
I was leafing through a binder of 1975 Topps commons and this 1975 Topps card of Oscar Gamble [#213] stood out - I think I already have his 1976 Topps Traded card, so I got 1975 Topps version as another tribute to the African-American ballplayer who like his hair, hit their prime years in the mid 1970s loud and proud.
I've known collectors who strictly collect autographs of a particular team [like the Los Angeles Dodgers] - I have also read up on some autograph forums and collecting blogs about collectors trying to collect as many autographs from their teams as possible.
While not quite an original idea, I'm looking to join the herd and start a team collection - I'm looking to add about 100 new Angels' autographs in 2009 with a goal of being able to count out at least 300 different by the end of the year.
Andy Hassler signed three cards I sent to him through the mail - he represents the first Angels' autograph I've gotten in 2009 and hopefully I can add 99 more.
My bread and butter is the uncertified in-person or through the mail autograph - though I'll probably be looking for certified autograph cards of Angels' players I've never gotten before or uncertified autograph cards of former Angels' players who have fallen through the cracks.
I guess the emphasis is on signed cards - but I'm open to picking up anything bearing an authentic, hand-signed autograph of an Angels' player.
A distinction I want to make is to separate signed cards - by players wearing an Angels' uniform and by players not wearing an Angels' uniform.
While it maybe nice in an ideal world, I don't think my goal is completion - but to build on a theme and at the very least, be able to say I have a certain number of autographs from my favorite Major League team.