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 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 autograph received: Kim Ng

I got a straggler SASE back in the mailbox and since I have not mailed out much in recent years - there was some mystery who the return was from.

The small initials I usually scribble on the corner of my SASEs didn't clue me in off the bat - so I was really curious to see what I got.

There were two The Autograph Card blanks signed in black ink inside - that threw me for a loop, where it was not even actual baseball cards that might have been obvious identifiers.

I looked it up on my TTM log, hoping I listed the request before sending it off - this returned happened to be from former MLB general manager Kim Ng, who I mailed to c/o Miami Marlins spring training on 3/18/21.

TTM autograph received: Jim Palmer

It might have been sometime in February when my buddy decided to make a card show run and took me along to make a day of it - the first stop was at a card shop I go to with a card show that runs twice a week.

I browsed through the old-school and vintage showcase when I saw a 1966 Topps Jim Palmer rookie card #126 - I figured for $25, the card was an impulse buy that might end up as TTM fuel.

I sent off the card with $10 in a TTM request to the Hall of Fame pitcher a week or so before I left for some overseas travel - but unlike the other requests I'd sent off, I anticipated getting a response from Palmer back quickly.

Things might not have worked out as far as the timing goes, where I would have to wait a couple of months more to see whether I had a good or bad result - but did get my rookie card back signed the last day I could go to the mail box before leaving the country.

TTM autographs received: Bill Mazeroski

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - I was able to get the Hall of Fame second baseman to sign my cards for $20.

I picked this 2023 Panini Prizm Hot Box Purple Prizm for a dollar - I tried to prep the glossy surface as best as I could, so that the card would be easier to sign without any mess ups.

I fished out a 1963 Fleer from an assorted card show seller stack - it's probably easier said than done, but it's fun taking a well loved vintage card and turning into TTM fuel, where the result ends up being pretty good.

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.

TTM autograph received: Camilo Pascual

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - one of the requests I sent was to the 90-year old former big league pitcher, with $10 and a vintage 1959 Topps card I fished out of a dollar box last year, like the Whitey Herzog card from the previous post.

Maybe the odd thing was the card I sent Pascual pictures him - but is an uncorrected error card, picturing teammate Ralph Lumenti.

TTM autograph received: Whitey Herzog

In early March, I sent out some TTM requests in anticipation they would be returned when I finally came home from some overseas travel - one of the requests I sent was to the Hall of Fame manager, with $5 and a vintage Topps card I fished out of a dollar box last year.

While on the other side of the world, I'd read that Herzog had passed and for that matter, another TTM signing great in Carl Erskine - for a moment I was wondering what I would get back, but it looks like I was able to get my request within the window where my card was inked up.

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.

TTM autographs received: Zach Neto

When Neto got called up to the big leagues, there was a little FOMO, because I hadn't really paid much attention to him other than the obvious, where he was the Angels first round pick in 2022 - I didn't have any of his cards except for the ones I picked up and sent to him at the tail end of the past off-season.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get back what I'd sent anytime soon after seeing he was already playing in spring training games with the big league club - I was pleasantly surprised to randomly get an in-season response, where his autograph becomes a current player add to my all-time Angels autograph collection.

TTM autographs received: Jack Brohamer

The former big league second baseman is apparently the only player in the game's history to hit a home run wearing uniform shorts - he signed my cards in a couple of months and included a card printed with his name and a Bible verse.

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.

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.

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.

TTM autographs received: Bobby Richardson

The former New York Yankees second baseman signed my cards in 10 days - I found a 1961 Nu-Card Scoops card off a card show rummage and thought it might great to send out, though I assume it's a reprint.

I found some other cards and sent it off, though I kept thinking I had a card I was sitting on at first - maybe it was a card of Tony Kubek instead, but after I'd mailed off my request, found that one other Richardson card- which I didn't realize was a 1993 Upper Deck B.A.T. Triple-Folders, folded so it could fit a penny sleeve.

TTM autographs received: Joe Redfield

I was able to round up some cards and get the one-time big leaguer to sign in about a couple of months - maybe I saw a success posted with Redfield on an autograph forum and by chance, looked him up.

I saw he had made his big league debut with the 1988 California Angels - that spanned all of two hitless at-bats and 1 game.

Maybe as a pro baseball player, he was strictly a 4A guy - but put up some decent numbers in the minors and as a reward, got a cup of coffee for two big league teams.

TTM autographs received: Kevin McReynolds

This is my first success of 2023, though the request was mailed out in last month - I realized McReynolds had both a 1984 Donruss and a 1990 Leaf, but sat on sending out a request for the longest time because I had to go out and grab those two set cards first.

I tried picking up a 1990 Leaf McReynolds several years ago, but I ended up being shipped a miscut copy, so that was a waste of time - I had found an early 1980s minor league team issue in a card show dollar boxes of doom, but wasn't going to send the card out [McReynolds charges a $5 fee to sign] without the two priorities.

At the end of 2022, I just made it a mission where I picked up the two set cards I needed, put a request together with the cool minor league card and finally sent off a request - even though I might have other loose McReynolds cards [from the junk wax era], I figure I have the cards I really want signed out of the way.

TTM autographs received: Al Oliver

This return is probably my success of 2022 just because I wasn't sure if it would make it back to me - after sending out a request last August, I kept waiting and wondering what had happened to my cards and the $20 I sent.

Because Oliver was a fee guy, I thought I would get a quicker response - but it wasn't until the end of December until I finally got my cards inked up.

Maybe it was kind of ironic that this was part of the mail held at the post office while I was out of the country - but it wasn't bundled with the other pieces of mail I got, but a straggler that might have been found a day or so later.

TTM autographs received: Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer

I was rummaging through my lone plastic box with my other sports cards - I found some loose football cards to send out TTM and maybe it was a challenge to send to at least a couple of non-baseball subjects.

I'd probably picked up this pair of unsigned 2000 Fleer Greats of the Game at least 20 years ago but just forgot about them - however, after all this time, there was still an opportunity to get the cards inked up as intended.

The 88-year old Jurgensen signed my card in about three weeks - I enclosed $10 with my request to the Pro Football Hall of Famer.

The 83-year old Kilmer signed my card in about three weeks - maybe I wanted something a little different and these cards didn't turn out so bad.