TTM autographs received: Sid Fernandez

I have not kept up with TTMs through the past year, but occasionally see a success posted [on social media] that intrigues me - especially when I do not have either TTM or in-person history with getting a former player's autograph, like the former MLB pitcher from the 1980s through the mid 1990s.

I realized that Fernandez had 1984 Donruss #44 RC and 1990 Leaf #66 cards that I did not have in-hand - I needed to hold off sending out to him until I was able to get the two particular cards.

I ended up picking up the cards online and once received, sent them off along with an oddball Dodgers issue I pulled apart from a perforated sheet and a 1991 Upper Deck #242 - it looked like the responses from 'El Sid' were quick and I got my cards back signed in a week.

TTM autographs received: Kent Hrbek

Hrbek signed my cards in about four weeks with his unofficial fee being $5 an item - Hrbek was a hulking, slugging first baseman who starred for the Minnesota Twins from the early 1980s through the early 1990s.

Though compared to teammate Kirby Puckett, I considered Hrbek more of a regional, team star - I was familiar with Hrbek for the junk wax era cards I might have seen or had in-hand picturing him.

He played on Twins World Series championship teams in 1987 and 1991 - where he engaged in some chicanery, pulling Ron Gant off the bag in Game 2.

When more borderline HOF guys get their call

As a baseball fan, I'd probably be more of a big hall kind of guy - but I thought it was a joke when I found out through scrolling through a social media post that apparently Smith and Baines were elected to the Hall of Fame through the 2019 Today's Game Era Ballot.

Baines' election to the Hall of Fame will probably cause just about every numbers oriented analysts' heads to explode - I won't begrudge or bemoan his induction to the Hall since there are too many writers messing around with someone's actual accomplishments in the guise of being objective.

Personally, I consider Baines in the middle of the pack as far as a Hall of Very Good guy, but in a roundabout way - Baines probably got some extra consideration for the 134 hits he didn't get towards that 3,000th hit club he missed out on.

The last card I touched featuring Baines was his 1991 Upper Deck [#562] - it went in my awesome action collection as a game face card; I like the image of him on the on-deck circle, about to swing while doing his high leg kick.

As far as Smith, though he once held the all-time saves record, I've always thought of him as mostly a junk wax era journeyman reliever - however, with Trevor Hoffman getting into the Hall of Fame recently and with Mariano Rivera on the way, someone had to fit Smith in-between the two in order to have a little run of modern era closers.

Maybe an obvious non-Rivera candidate in the next several years will likely be Billy Wagner - depending on who is on the ballot.

My favorite Smith card was his 1996 Upper Deck card [#266] because while it obviously shows him with the Angels - it was also a seemingly more elaborate image setup compared to a typical baseball card picture.

1990 and 1991 Upper Deck set pick ups

From an out of town card shop, I grabbed these sets for $5 each to have some stuff to go through when I'm bored - it’s kind of ironic that even though the junk wax era may have been the absolute worst time to be collecting cards, that was when I first really got into it.

These looked to be factory sets, though it looks like they might have been opened at some point where the seal on the boxes may have been loose or just frayed over time- these sets felt like bricks and was considering just taking one or the other since I had to take them back home.

I bought these sets because it's tough accounting for all the junk wax era mini-collection cards and when there is no value in one particular common card - I might as well splurge on picking up complete sets as opposed to looking to buy applicable cards piece by piece.

For my image based mini-collections, the Upper Deck cards are sort of pesky because the cards have two images - I'm not exactly a 'card back connoisseur,' so it maybe tedious to find that some of the more unique images used are actually lurking on the backs.

I busted through the 1991 Upper Deck set first and sorting them out is kind of tedious - at the same time, it's fun going through the cards as an exercise in nostalgia.

I think these cards have held up well as far the design and the photography - even though these may as well be cards obscured by history.

1991 Upper Deck Charlie Hough #792

I listed this card as an awesome action 'want' because it brings to mind the image of a crafty [knuckleball] pitcher working on his game during a spring training situation perhaps - even going as far throwing batting practice to teammates.

I don’t know if it puts things in any sort of perspective but for a professional baseball player, Hough has always looked like a grandfather - he’s only 43 on this card, but probably looks like he's 20 years older and it’s just hard for me to imagine looking as old as Hough does in five years.

$1 Michael Jordan baseball card finds x2

Jordan is the iconic professional athlete of my time and while his dalliance with professional baseball seemed to be a novelty - Upper Deck tried to ensure a little crossover appeal [not that he needed it] for the sporting icon, inserting an MJ batting practice card [SP1] into 1991 Upper Deck packs.

Jordan would step away from the NBA to play one season of minor league baseball in 1994 and while there were other licensed Jordan minor league cards - his Upper Deck baseball cards always looked the best, even as the one time Chicago White Sox farmhand hit only .202 with 3 home runs in 436 official at-bats.

TTM autographs received: Chili Davis

Davis signed my two trading cards in black Sharpie in about 12 days c/o The Boston Red Sox, where he is the hitting coach - on SCN, it looks like successful responses are spotty at best but I must have seen a posted success on another collector's Instagram account and figured to try and get a couple of my loose Angels cards signed.

I was thinking I might not get my cards back or if I did, it would be one of those situations - where my SASE randomly shows up out of nowhere after a couple of years.

TTM autographs received: Mike Timlin

The former big league reliever signed my cards in about 3 weeks - in his 18-year playing career, Timlin played for six teams and was part of four World Series championship teams between the Toronto Blue Jays [1992 and 1993] and Boston Red Sox [2004 and 2007].

1991 Upper Deck Sid Fernandez #242

OK Doc, one more fat joke and I'll whack your head off like Mitchell did to that cat a few years back.

1991 Upper Deck Otis Nixon #520

The image on the front is great, but I also like the second image on the back of the card where Nixon attempts to lay a bunt down - looks like he is made to dance by a pitch down by his feet.

Featured autograph - Brian Downing

Brian Downing was a little bit before the time I started really getting into Major League Baseball in the early 1990s - but from what I assume now, he was probably the heart-and-soul of the Angels through the 1980s.

Downing may not have been a true star, but a guy who fans identified with more than some of the superstars the Angels had acquired back in the day - Downing showed up everyday and someone who was put all his efforts into becoming a productive player.