TTM autographs received: Rich Harden

I got a straggler SASE in the mail box a couple of weeks ago and wondered who could it be since sending out TTMs has not been a thing for me - inside were the cards I sent out to the former big league pitcher on October 2020.

These were counted off as goners, but even if the eventual response took a while - it's a cheap thrill to get something back from a request I remember making a mission to send out.

It has been just such a long time from the early 2000s - but I remember trying to get Harden to sign in-person around the first time he got called up as a top flight pitching prospect with a rocket arm.

While Harden didn't have a metronomic run of success where he became a star pitcher in the big leagues - he was pretty good when relatively healthy and was named to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2023.

TTM autograph received: Ruben Sierra

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - the former big league slugger was on my scratch the itch list since I saw a random success posted on Twitter / X.

I sent Sierra a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack 'set card' and $10, which is his apparent fee to sign things TTM - maybe it's been a thing where I've sent out less TTM requests over the past couple of years and might need to add $5 or $10 to more requests in order to get something signed.

On the other hand I do not really mind when subjects charge outright, rather than through a middleman or promoter - where it might be fun to see what results I get from a guy like Sierra, who I've never had TTM history with.

I would have also liked to also get a 1990 Leaf signed, but did not have the card in-hand - so I might end up looking for one that is already inked up.

Featured autograph - Ryan Klesko

I first learned of Klesko as a top prospect with the Atlanta Braves in the early 1990s - the lumbering slugger with a big swing didn't have the all-world numbers like one-time Braves teammate Chipper Jones would have, but had a pretty good MLB career for himself.

Featured autograph - Kevin Brown

I ran into a long time collector who was selling some extra autograph cards and in his portfolio book, I spotted a Kevin Brown signed card - I saw the autograph was on a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack, so I relented to pick it up for $5.

I've been trying to get cards from the 2004 Topps Cracker Jack set signed in-person / through the mail for the past 10 years - as is, there are holes in the set I'll probably will never fill, but it's nice to add another random card to what I have signed already.

The Brown is signed in black but I'll take what I can get since in his day, Brown was surly in-person and not someone who would sign in-person most of the time - I know I got a signed card TTM either in 1997 or 1998 and got him once in-person back when he played with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Featured autograph - Dmitri Young

I've had several Dmitri Young cards bundled with his brother Delmon's cards, hoping Dmitri might show up where Delmon was playing - hoping to see Dmitri in-person, I was able to take advantage of an opportunity to get a couple cards signed by Dmitri after an Angels game in Anaheim on Monday.

I didn't want to ask Dmitri during the game [after another, dedicated autograph collector at the stadium spotted Dmitri and said he was around] - he was with family and I was afraid he'd give me some attitude [the last time I got him in-person, he told me, 'how about asking about how me how I was doing,' instead of having him sign something].

Dmitri expressed shock I had some cards of him and he said he'd sign a couple, since he had to get his kids home - he was fairly pleasant though no one really thought to bring anything for him except my friend and I.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Delmon - after the game I assume the guy just wanted to be with family and not stick around the ballpark to sign autographs.

Still, a couple of 'true fans' of the game talked him up and broke him down to sign just for them - I did see him sign a just couple more and tried approaching him myself, but was rebuffed quickly.

"If you all don't get the F out of my way," Delmon said.

Considering the trouble Delmon has gotten himself into a couple of times in his pro baseball career - I guess getting his older brother's autograph was good enough for the night.

Autograph request through the mail received: Mike Lieberthal

Mike Lieberthal c/o home - the former Philadelphia Phillies and Dodgers [for one lone season] catcher signed my cards in blue ink and kept one in about two weeks.

The 2006 Topps Allen and Ginter's, 2005 Topps Turkey Red and 2004 Topps Cracker Jack are 'setters' to add to my collection - from these sets I collect, I have no misconceptions of the cards I can or can't get signed, but it is nice to be able to get three more out of the way.

I've always liked the 2001 Topps HD because I didn't have many of the super premium quality cards printed on thick glossy card stock - unfortunately the autograph is sort of obscured because it was signed in a dark area.

Autograph request through the mail received: Juan Gonzalez

Juan Gonzalez c/o home - I was surprised 'Juan Gone' was responding to autograph requests sent to him. I scurried to find what I assumed was the working address online and sent a small package to him, with a blue Sharpie [it may have been the second time I've ever sent a Sharpie out with an autograph request, though I'm pretty sure I've sent some ballpoint pens out]. It may have taken a week before I actually sent my request out and in another two weeks, before I got my self-addressed stamped envelope back with my cards signed [on Wednesday], including a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack 'set card.'

At his healthiest during the mid to late 1990s, Gonzalez was an RBI machine - all the ribbies he got may have been the result of guys hitting infront of him and getting on-base, but there is no denying the man could rake.

I remember being so excited to get his and Ivan Rodriguez's autograph on cards 10 years ago after getting into a baseball stadium before the gates were scheduled to open - Gonzalez actually was a pretty good signer if you saw him and I think even have a picture with him.

Of course things went sort of downhill for Gonzalez when he turned down something like $140 million over 10 years from the Detroit Tigers in 2000 - he had a great season with the Cleveland Indians in 2001, but various bumps and bruises presumably ended his Major League career a few years later [he tried to make a comeback with the St. Louis Cardinals in the spring of 2008, but pulled up lame].

Gonzalez is probably a borderline Hall of Famer but possible red flags in his prolific Major League Baseball career [during the Steroids Era] - include being associated with noted [or infamous] Dominican Republic trainer Angel Presinal and also with good ole' Jose Canseco who implicates Gonzalez [among other prominent, early 1990s Texas Rangers' players] of PED use in Canseco's first book [Juiced].