TTM autographs received: Justin Turner

It happens once in a blue moon, but it is nice to find a straggler TTM request back in the mail box when I least expect it - the free agent infielder / DH signed returned my cards earlier this month after sending out a request c/o Boston Red Sox in May 2023.

I stopped sending out TTM requests last year and just found missing some of the TTM fuel I wanted to send out back then - it might be a thing to see whether I can restart things, just so I have some cheap thrills to look forward to.

Featured autographs - Tony Armas

Through a Facebook post, I picked up a pair of extras [$12.50 each] from a signing featuring the Venezuelan slugger who peaked in the 1980s as sort of Dave Kingman / Rob Deer lite - I had to get a 1984 Donruss, where I'm trying to chase down signed cards from the set and a 1990 Score, which goes into my Angels all-time autograph collection.

TTM autograph received: Jim Rice

Maybe he was $10 per autograph for the longest time, but bumped his fee to $20 a couple of years ago - I sat on his 1984 Donruss for a while, but didn't want to make it where there was another hike i.e. to $30 before I relented to finally send out the card.

TTM autographs received: Luis Tiant

The former big league starting pitcher signed my cards in about a couple of months - I ended up picking up a couple of loose cards [1974 Topps and a 2021 Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary] that ideally would look nice with an autograph and I ponied up to send $20 [$10 per card] to have my cards inked up.

Tiant was a player certainly before my time, but he pitched in the big leagues for 19 years and won 229 games - he is among the Hall of Very Good, but maybe deserved more consideration for actual the Hall of Fame.

TTM autographs received: Mike Napoli

The former Angels catcher signed my two cards in about a couple of weeks c/o The Chicago Cubs were he is employed as a coach - I don't remember seeing him in the past 10 years, where I could have gotten him to sign, but I apparently got him to sign a card in-person during a spring training trip in 2017.

I think his Angels narrative was he was a power hitting late bloomer who made good, mashing his way to the big leagues - after establishing himself for several seasons, then manager Mike Scioscia 'gave up' on him because Scioscia preferred the catching skills of Jeff Mathis, who ended up never hitting at all despite eventually lasting through 2021.

Napoli would move on, help the Texas Rangers get to the World Series in 2011 and then help the Boston Red Sox win a championship in 2013 - he would be seen as this fan favorite, man of the people type who was always about the good vibes.

TTM autographs received: Bill Lee

The former big league lefty signed my two cards in about a month - it looks like tried to mimic his facsimile autograph on the 1971 Topps.

He sent my letter back as well, writing that he just got a callus on his left index finger and as response to the 'I hope you are doing well' I add to the end of my requests - he wrote no he isn't doing well, "my left calf is [broken]."

2011 Topps Update J.D. Martinez RC #US186

I picked up a loose 2011 Topps Update J.D. Martinez RC #US186 [$10] off a card show table and while he started too late to be a serious Hall of Fame case - Martinez has been a slugging star with a rookie that comes from 2011 Topps Update set.

After 11 years there might be some 'pedigree' that trickle down to notable cards from the set because it features Mike Trout's rookie card - the values doesn't confirm any extra allure however, where copies of the Martinez actually goes for about $2-$5 on eBay, which makes the card I grabbed a peculiar overpay after the fact.

Martinez may symbolize the definition of ironically picking up a single of a player I'm 'iffy' about otherwise - go figure the same day I got my card in my grubby paws, he hit a grand slam in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, so that was a nice pick to click.

Card show results - Puckett and Yaz

I made a mid week pit stop at a potential LCS storefront and new card show set-up twice a week - I took look a around and maybe there was four or five tables along with the shop set-up, so it wasn't looking too good.

I did realize it wasn't the weekend and it may take time for guys possibly setting up - to be on that weekday grind with real life stuff in the way.

I don’t know if it was the same guy at this particular table I stumbled on, but I recognized some old school / vintage material from the very first show I attended this year - there maybe a couple of binders with vintage football sets on display and a showcase with some modern and / better stuff.

There were was a couple of piles of $5 cards and I doubt I would find anything - but I ended up with a 1973 Topps Carl Yastrzemski #245 and a 1985 Fleer Kirby Puckett RC #286.

The Yastrzemski was the mutton chops Yaz card featured an episode of The Simpsons, so there was some novelty there - I saw the Yastrzemski displayed before, but the table setup changed up over the past several shows.

With ‘here and now’ interests taking priority, maybe the Yaz was just another card collecting dust in a seller’s stash somewhere - but I was able to to find it again today and it’s worth $5 to have it in-hand.

Come to think of it, I’ve never had a Puckett rookie so it maybe a start to looking for his more common rookie cards - the 1984 Fleer Update is the XRC to have, but that maybe a card that I'm not going to run into anytime, while I still kind of think his 1985 rookies were kind of ‘second tier’ at best.

Puckett was a larger than life superstar during the junk wax era and I ended up with his share of cards - he was a gamer and was on his way to posting more significant counting number through his mid 30s, sbefore he was diagnosed with glaucoma late in his career.

When he was playing, there was never a bad thing spoken about him on or off the field - but he was a flawed human being, who wasn’t the most savory of characters, especially after retirement.

2021 Topps Home Run Challenge prize card - J.D. Martinez

Off some early 2021 Topps breaks, I pulled Home Run Challenge inserts for Freddie Freeman, Gleyber Torres and J.D. Martinez - pick a date when a player would hit a home run, enter the code on the Topps contest Web site [you have to be registered at Topps.com] and see if the player connects on the game chosen.

Martinez was the only 'winner' out of the group and I felt pretty smart trying to guestimate when he would hit his home run - after seeing I had a winner, it probably took a couple of months for Topps to ship the winning [serial #'d to the number of correct entries] card to me.

I think I've only entered a single Home Run Challenge card before 2021 and didn't know much about the actual prize cards before - going through a box of cards at a show, I think saw a similar Martinez card from a previous year and I guess most of the winning cards printed from the contest are fairly common.

I'd like to point out, Martinez is not a favorite at all, but the slugger has put up significant hitting numbers - while putting together a collection of loose cards together in a page, I made sure to save space for Martinez's 2021 Topps Home Run Challenge card.

TTM autographs received: Linda Ruth-Tosetti

I mailed out some cards to the granddaughter of Babe Ruth and was one of those TTM requests I had to put together to see what would come back - my cards ended up being signed and Miss Ruth-Tosetti also sent back my letter, responding to what I'd written, saying that one thing that amazes her is how her grandfather's legacy continues to live on through this day.

TTM autographs received: Ken Tatum

The former big league reliever and one time Angel from the late 1960s through early 1970s signed my card and added a signed postcard in about a month - though only the card will be tallied for my Angels all-time autograph collection, it's nice to get something extra such as personal response or extra item enclosed.

TTM autographs received: Jim Rice

After holding off since my last success in 2017, I finally sent another request with $20 to Rice and he returned my cards signed in 8 days - the 2013 Topps Allen and Ginter was the only non-insert Ginter I still needed, so that was a priority.

I also sent a 1985 Fleer I found in a Dollar Tree repack - the 'pre-junk wax era' cards through mid 1980s holds some allure, probably because that is where the good rookie cards from that era came from and there is some trickle down interest, even if the cards came out before my time.

The flap on my SASE was loose and I was might have panicked a little- but the cards were still in envelope.

TTM autograph received: Jim Lonborg

The former big league starting pitcher and 1967 American League Cy Young Award winner signed my card in blue ink in about three weeks - while I have a couple of previously signed cards of Lonborg in my award winners collection, this retro card from 2004 remained unsigned for the longest time in my A-Z archives, so I wanted to send it out when the person pictured is still signing.

TTM autographs received: Andrew Miller

The St. Louis Cardinals reliever signed my cards in about two or three years c/o Cleveland Indians spring training - being a lefty, he might get to pitch through his early 40s, but maybe age and usage has caught up with him.

When he finally found his groove as a big leaguer, Miller was a weapon out of the bullpen for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Indians - despite only having one MLB season where he recorded 30 or more saves.

1959 Fleer Ted Williams card pickup

There are simply other interesting cards from this eclectic one-player vintage set, but I impulsively grabbed this one as a bookend card for my micro-mini Ted Williams PC - which, as a tribute to the Hall of Fame icon, apparently exists with two or three other cards and a couple of autographed items.

I like the card because it seems kind of a quirky image where Williams is having his eye exam, holding up a tool where his face is partially obscured - whether or not it is the case, I dwell on the idea he is playing peekaboo, either bored or too good to have his picture properly taken.

Loose ungraded singles only sell for so much, so any sort of serious value is just not there for these 60-year old cards - to tie this pick up with some current events, I simply chose a PSA graded copy, even when sifting through issues with third party grading of more significant vintage cards.

1973 Topps Dwight Evans RC #614

Rookie cards of the hall of very good or guys with borderline cases, who end up getting jumped into the Hall of Fame - maybe the new market inefficiency in collecting cardboard.

I've never thought much about Evans except as an older veteran guy pictured on junk wax era cards through the early 1990s - as is, I picked up his multiplayer rookie card because with Harold Baines getting into the Hall of Fame, it might reopen the door for a better all-around player like Evans.

Evans was a longtime star for the Boston Red Sox, but not a national superstar in terms of sentiment - as the story goes, through the first part of his playing career, Evans was a good defensive right fielder with a competent bat, but his year-to-year numbers as a hitter didn't quite 'pop' until he was in his 30s.

Evans fell off the HOF ballot 20 years ago, but there would have been a campaign to get him in the Hall of Fame like a Bert Blyleven or Tim Raines - instigated by a generation of writers / bloggers more inclined to look not just at the counting numbers, but also the advanced stats to push through their personal pet projects.

If Evans' career was quite unfamiliar to me past his junk wax era cards, I can kind of see where picturing him like Tim Salmon would make sense - Salmon [for my 'home team' Angels of the early 1990s] wasn't quite a true franchise quality player, but as a hard hitting outfielder / DH, he was the heart and soul for the Angels for his career.

#CARDCORNER: 1991 Topps Dwight Evans

1997 Bowman’s Best Adrian Beltre RC #117

I wanted a Beltre rookie card and grabbed this as an impulsive purchase to squirrel away - the 1997 Bowman Chrome RC #182 is the one to have, but maybe I’ll wait a little bit before seeking that one out.

This maybe a condition sensitive card as chrome cards from the 1990s tend to ‘hulk’ when exposed to the weather conditions - the copy of the card I picked up doesn’t appear to be discolored, though I have to account for when it happens.

Admittedly for the longest time, up through when the retiring Beltre was gunning for his 3,000th hit - I didn’t think much of him as having the numbers to merit any sort of serious consideration for the Hall of Fame.

I’ve always thought he was a minor star at best who lucked into a flukish season in 2004 - after collecting his 3,000 hits in 2017 and passing Rod Carew in 2018 as the all-time Latin American hits leader, Beltre's baseball playing accomplishments have the substance as he looks to become a first ballot Hall of Famer in five years.

Accounting for his all-world defense, the hitting numbers and the quirkiness he’s occasionally exhibited, Beltre has become a fan favorite to be goofed on in good fun - he didn't he like his head touched by his teammates and he had one of the most exaggerated follow throughs on his swing.

He and Texas Rangers teammate Elvis Andrus never get tired of messing around with each other - Andrus seems to be Beltre’s best friend on the field, but also his main antangonist.

Featured autograph - Steve Pearce

When Pearce was named the 2018 World Series MVP, I had to dig this card from somewhere and was glad to find it relatively quickly among a brick of cards I'd organized for players involved in transactions in a particular year - I may remember watching an at-bat of his once in-person when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates [in 2008 perhaps].

I thought he had a nice batting stance and perhaps the look of a guy who can put up some decent numbers - though didn't seem like a top prospect and hadn't really established himself at all in the major leagues.

He has bounced around in his big league career and I guess the best thing I could say before this postseason - was he was a role player who had some pop in his bat and performed well at times in a platoon situation.

I got this card from an autograph forum that once had these listings where you could use points you collected from commenting or otherwise helping someone out - the autograph [I assume it was from TTM request] isn't too bold and maybe exposure to the natural elements made it fade a bit faster.

TTM autographs received: Greg Harris

The former MLB pitcher signed my cards in a couple of weeks - besides having a 15 year career, Harris' most notable big league quirk was being able to pitch with both arms.

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.