Featured autographs - Jesse Barfield

On a forum I belong to, I saw a post where someone was going to helping out with a signing with the former outfielder from the 1980s through early 1990s - the idea of looking for and sending out cards to an organized, paid signing ends up feeling like too much work, but the person helping out had extra unsigned cards in-hand and I picked out a 1984 Donruss and a 1990 Leaf.

I sent out a SASE and $15 per card about a month before the signing and waited around - where I got my cards back several days after the signing was completed.

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.

Featured autograph - Rene Gonzalez

Off a Facebook f/s listing, maybe it was easier to pick up a signed card [$5] of the one-time Angels utility infielder from the early 1990s - without worrying about sending an autograph request to some address and not getting a response, where I have to look somewhere else to add to my all-time Angels autograph collection.

Whether certain guys would actually sign if I just took the time to send them a request - there are countless rank-and-file guys that don’t seem to get any TTM traffic reported over the years, so I assume they don't sign or perhaps might do so through an autograph middleman of sorts.

Featured autograph - Harold Baines

Maybe purchases are answers to my droughts TTM - to give me something to look at when there isn't always going to be an incoming return from autographs requests I've sent out.

It's different beast however, especially when it comes to expecting a SASE or two to come back on a random day - it’s not as big of a thrill when results in the mail end up being someone else’s envelope.

My request to Baines last year was returned in my SASE with my money [$10] back and card unsigned - I ended up picking up this uncertified autograph card off a Facebook listing.

I assume the seller got the autograph TTM when Baines was generally less picky about taking people’s money to sign - the autograph is on a copy of the 2019 Topps Allen and Ginter I sent out, so with Baines hit or miss, I figured to grab it to knock off a card for my ongoing, perpetual set projects.

Featured autographs - purchases

Off a couple of Facebook posts from the same collector [presumably a Milwaukee Brewers fan, so that's a theme here] - I saw some IP/TTM signed cards offered f/s and decided to take a couple off his hands.

I thought I was good with the pair of purchases [Jacob Barnes and Jim Ganter], but the next time I'm scrolling through my feed - but I saw another f/s post, which was more certified autographs from some 'prominent' Brewers stars of the early 2000s i.e. Ben Sheets, Richie Sexson, etc.

Barnes was an Angel in 2020 so I needed his autograph for my all-time collection - the 5-year big leaguer had a bloated ERA but struck out 24 batters and walked only 4 in a decidedly small sample size of 18 innings through pandemic 2020.

Ganter doesn’t register as a guy whose autograph I had to get, but his playing career went through the junk wax era, so at least I'm familiar with the name - the oddball Milwaukee Brewers police set issue from 1992 caught my eye and while I don't really consider it vintage [despite all the years that have passed], the yellowed top loader certainly is.

A second baseman for most of his career, Gantner spent 17 years with the Milwaukee Brewers - he wasn't the type who put up big offensive numbers like teammates Robin Yount or Paul Molitor, but was solid for the era he played in.

Maybe the scavenger in me is looking to salvage things once in a while, so while I probably didn't a Jenkins autograph in the here and now - it's a 20 year old pack pulled issue from a debut year of a set that has some tradition and history associated with it.

Jenkins was a hard hitting outfielder who had starred for the Brewers for most of his career before ending up with the Philadelphia Phillies for the their World Series championship run in 2008 - I remember where he had a little cult favorite following in Milwaukee because he resembled NFL star Brett Favre.

Featured autograph - Duane Ward

Off a Facebook post, I saw some extra signed cards offered f/s, presumably from a past signing with the former big league reliever - I saw there was a 1990 Leaf pictured and picked it up for $11.

It probably doesn't work for everyone, but rather than deal with the hassle of sending in a smaller item like a trading card to an organized signing - I would rather take my chances seeing if there are leftovers where I can take a look at how an autograph comes out for a card from a particular set [when available].

While I don’t think Ward has been considered a historically tough autograph to get - he seems more likely to do something for pay than for free and I don't know if there was ever a period of time [maybe over the past 15-20 years] where he regularly responded to through the mail requests.

I remember Ward as a hard throwing weapon out the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen through the early 1990s - he pitched a lot of innings in his prime and while his postseason pitching totals were a little shaky, he did his part during the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993.

I mostly forgot about him through the mid 1990s, though he missed all of the 1994 season and his MLB career was basically done the next year - he was inducted to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Featured autograph - Masahiro Tanaka

This is a card I probably didn't need in the 'here and now,' but even though Tanaka's stardom has devolved ever since he came over as a super hyped import from Japan back in 2013 - there was still some lingering scratch the itch allure with his autograph as some thing I've never gotten.

I like the card because it looks old-school cool, but then again maybe it needs a little ‘pop’ factor - the blue ink autograph gets my stamp of approval.

When he first came over, Tanaka was one of the autographs I've had to get because of his stature overseas - he might have been considered one of the best pitchers in the world.

As it goes, despite being a successful big leaguer for the New York Yankees, he's been more of an unspectacular innings eater - who has never pitched 200 innings in a big league season.

His stuff is good enough to get big league hitters out during most outings - but perhaps not good enough to consistently dominate with the lights out stuff he possessed in his first couple of big league seasons.

I don’t know how Tanaka is ever going to gain a higher level of prominence in the United States, especially if he ends up returning to Japan - but I like the feeling of adding the autograph of big leaguer who has been a ‘pro’s pro’ to my personal collection somewhere.

Featured autograph - Gordon Beckham

From a f/s listing in a Facebook group I belong to, this was 1 of 3 IP/TTM autograph cards I picked up for $2 each - while I made sure to get a certified autograph of Beckham early in his pro career, he did not seem like he was an easy player to get an autograph from IP/TTM.

Coming out of college, I thought Beckham was going to be a big league star, but despite sticking around for 12 years - he was more of an up-and-down disappointment than a player to build around.

A look back into a 2020 collecting goal

Like everyone else it seems, I have a yearly set of collecting goals, but maybe it gets too long winded to fully break down on a blog - I feel like a goof when I don't catch up to any of them and so maybe it is easier to keep them offline.

Looking at my generic goals I'd written for 2020, stuff that made sense at the beginning of the year - doesn't end up ringing quite as true, like trying to add some high-brow cards for my personal collections, notably old-school / vintage rookie cards of selected Hall of Famers for example.

The ongoing pandemic makes me skittish about throwing money into something that only sounds good on paper - when values have supposedly been artificially pumped up across the board, I find myself priced out in general.

Maybe I've shifted to lower-end interests in my collections, whether talking about strictly baseball cards or anything to do with autographs - one of the listed goals I had for 2020 to see if I can pick up 10-15 autographs of one-time Angels players.

I was able to ramp things up and 82 new autographs for my collection, though I have to officially list them - to make sure they are physically in my collection or otherwise accounted for.

1. 2014 Panini Donruss The Rookies Signatures Series autograph Tommy La Stella #68 [$1.75] - COMC; listed as a ‘Atlanta’ [Braves] card

2. 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter Framed Mini Autographs Julio Teheran #AGA-JT.1 [$3.99] - COMC; listed as a Atlanta Braves card

3. 2014 Bowman Prospect Autographs Chrome Mike Mayers #BCAP-MM.1 [$1.25] - COMC; listed as a St. Louis Cardinals card

4. 2019 Bowman - Chrome Prospect Autographs Jose Suarez #CPA-JS [$3.85] - COMC

5. John Verhoeven - TTM card

6. Al Spangler - TTM card

7. Chris Knapp - TTM card

8. Dave Sells - TTM card

9. 1989 Fleer Update Claudell Washington CAS Certified Sealed auto #U-17 [$5.45] - COMC

10. 2014 Topps Pro Debut Autographs Matt Ramsey #PDA-MR [$1.99] - COMC

11. 2013 Panini Pinnacle Autographs Tony Campana #TC [$1.08] - COMC

12. 2011 Topps Pro Debut Solo Signature Autographs Thomas Field #SSA-TF [$1.14] - COMC

13. Dustin Garneau - IP card

14. Dick Lange - TTM card

15. Steve Kealey - TTM card

16. Don Kirkwood - TTM card

17. Jack Hiatt - TTM card

18. Tom Donohue - TTM card

19. Lloyd Allen - TTM card

20. Tom Egan - TTM card

21. Larry Harlow - TTM card

22. Dave Parker - TTM card / $10

23. Merv Rettenmund - TTM card

24. Roger Repoz - TTM card

25. Jason Castro - IP card from 2012 era

26. Trevor Cahill - IP card from the 2012 era

27. Steve Renko - TTM card

28. Jason Gurka - TTM card

29. Ken Oberkfell - TTM card

30. Rudy Meoli - TTM card

31. Terry Humphrey - TTM card

32. Ed Ott - TTM card

33. Tom Bradley - TTM card

34. Billy Cowan - TTM card

35. Eddie Fisher - TTM card

36. Jim Barr - TTM card

37. Don Robinson - TTM card

38. Jack Lazorko - TTM card

39. Paul Hartzell - TTM card

40. Mike Bielecki - TTM card

41. Jim Hibbs - TTM card

42. Bob Botz - TTM card

43. Ike Hampton - TTM card

44. Balor Moore - TTM card

45. Tom Griffin - TTM card

46. Doug Rau - TTM card

47. Richie Scheinblum - TTM card

48. Frank LaCorte - TTM card

49. Bob Sprout - TTM card

50. Jim Walewander - TTM card

51. Bill Grabarkewitz - TTM card

52. Dave Goltz - TTM card

53. Gary Lucas - TTM card

54. Ron Tingley - TTM card

55. George Hendrick - purchased card (s)

56. Bill Melton - TTM card

57. Steve Lubratich - TTM card

58. Syd O’Brien - TTM card

59. Jarrett Grube - TTM card

60. Ken Berry - TTM card

61. Bill Voss - TTM card

62. Dyar Miller - TTM card

63. Ed Halicki - TTM card

64. Billy Moran - TTM card

65. Rick Burleson - purchased card (s)

66. Bart Miadich - purchased card (s)

67. Rich Rodriguez - purchased card (s)

68. Skip Lockwood - TTM card

69. Leo Burke - TTM card

70. Bob Duliba - TTM card

71. Sherman Corbett - TTM card

72. Tom Murphy - TTM card (s)

73. Vic Davalillo autographed custom card [$4 plus $1 PWE plus $0.99 = $5.99]

74. Jose Lind - purchased card (s)

75. Pete Coachman - purchased card (s)

76. Craig Gerber - purchased card (s)

77. Tim Fortugno - purchased card (s)

78. Lee Thomas - TTM card

79. Ken Tatum - TTM card

80. Dave Lemanczyk - TTM card

81. Chuck Dobson - TTM card

82. Dick Drago - TTM card

Maybe it’s ‘easier’ to have a looser goal where I can cobble things together where I’m not restricted by specifics or standards - being able to add a number of random autograph cards featuring rank-and-file guys that played for a random big league team may make me more like a hoarder, but it’s fun nonetheless to see what I can nerd out on as far whose random autographs I can find and add.

Trading cards are the easiest to store in any sort of quantity so for most of the ‘rank and file’ names, that what the autographs are on - for 2021, the goal to add more one-time Angels player autographs sticks though I need to dig deeper to see if I can add old-school / vintage player content, get the 'here and now' players, while adding different players as I can through TTM requests and purchases.

Featured autograph - Vic Davalillo

To add another autograph to my Angels all-time collection, I grabbed this autographed card from Facebook - Davalillo was a Venezuelan outfielder who played 16 years in the big leagues and spent parts of 2 seasons with the Angels back in the 1960s.

The card was descibed as a custom but looks a little fancier with an actual, detailed card back - I'm not sure what the details spell out, but there is a serial #'d notation on the back [36/80] and the cards may have been whipped up by a collector in Venezuela specifically for a card show event.

Featured autograph - Jimmie Reese

Reese didn’t play for the MLB Angels, but was a beloved figure as a longtime coach for the team - he was also a one-time roommate of Babe Ruth.

I started following baseball during Reese's later years in life in the early 1990s - I picked this autograph card up through Baseball Card Exchange to flesh out my Angels PC and as a small nod to this man working behind the scenes until his passing,

Featured autograph - Satchel Paige

I wanted an autograph of Paige for my personal collection because it's pretty neat to own an autograph of a larger than life personality from the history of professional baseball - I picked up this yellow HOF postcard signed by Paige and while they don't exactly 'pop,' there was some familiarity with the postcards once being mainstream items to get signed longtime HOF autograph collectors.

There was a 15% promo [POPUPSAVINGS] on eBay and I decided to pool together some Christmas money and some funds out of my pocket - to grab this one up in December, in case something came up past the new year that complicated things [knock on wood].

Featured autograph - Donnie Moore

I saw this a couple of weeks ago and while a tragic figure, I wanted Moore's autograph for my Angels all-time collection - I settled for a larger sized autograph card [sold by Kruk Cards] since it stood out more than a regular sized card.

The PSA/DNA slabbed autograph will probably be counted as a signed card for my Angels all-time collection - as well for the regional component of my Top 50 common PC.

I was happy to see this was in the mailbox, but the position of the actual card in the slab is quite crooked - it looks upright in the pictures in their listing, but what I received is above.

The slabbed item was shipped in a photo mailer, but it was kind jammed into my mailbox haphazardly - so presumably the card 'moved around' from when it was originally shipped.

As is, I contacted Kruk's Cards and once they finally responded, offered a simple solution that actually worked - "You should be able to knock the card around within the slab by just lightly tapping the slab."

Featured autograph - Dean Chance

I was doing a random search on eBay and spotted an autographed 1962 Topps PSA/DNA blue flip 1962 Topps rookie card [sold by Baseball Card Exchange] - Chance’s autographs may not be hard to find but I wasn’t able to secure his autograph before he passed away in 2015.

I was thinking of getting the RC as an impulsive, ‘scratch the itch’ purchase - so I don’t have to worry about not having an autograph of the former Angel who won the 1964 American League Cy Young Award.

It looks like BBCE had at least several slabbed autographs of Chance in their eBay store and decided I’d rather have the autograph on a larger 1964 Topps Giants card - which looks a little prettier and where Chance’s shaky but still readable autograph doesn’t look as crammed in like the one on the regular sized card.

There is another eBay seller with 1964 Giants Chance auto cards [selling for $14.99 each] - but the ones sold by BBCE come already slabbed, so there is a little peace of mind as far as far as authentication goes.

The Chance autograph will probably be triple counted as a signed card for my Angels all-time collection, for my award winners collection and finally for the regional component of my Top 50 common PC - as a side note, I’d like to really start putting TTM/IP autographs in my PCs, with the caveat they have to be PSA/DNA certified first.

Featured autograph - Cody Ege

When he popped up on the Angels' active roster, Ege sounded like the most random guy ever - a 15th round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 2013, the 25-year old lefty was traded to the Miami Marlins a couple years ago and then picked up on waivers by the Angels

Ege fits a profile of guy who may put in a couple of years playing at the big league level before fading out - I wondered how I was going to add his autograph to my Angels collection, but I picked up signed minor league card through the SCN message boards.

Featured autograph - Yunesky Maya

I picked up a 2011 Topps Allen and Ginter in-person signed card of Maya and it was kind of a no brainer - it was another $2.50 auto from a group of autograph cards detailed in this previous post.

I can go ahead and put my original set card in my collection of foreign born players and not worry about needing him to sign something specific - it's not like Maya was a major want, but it's one autograph set card out of the way from a player that might be tough to track down.

A Cuban defector who was a free agent bust with the Washington Nationals, Maya was pitching in the Atlanta Braves' system this year before being sold to a baseball team in Korea - I just want to say that he's already 32 years old and while he's probably not permanently going back to Cuba, he is on the pro baseball journeyman path.

Featured autographs - Chad Tracy

While not an immediate priority, I purchased these signed cards for $2.50 each, because they are parts of sets I'm trying to get signed bit-by-bit - Tracy was with the Angels in spring training, but didn't make the team and then retired as a player back in April.

The cards include a 2005 Topps Turkey Red, a 2006 Topps Allen and Ginter, and a 2007 Topps Allen and Ginter - while it costs a few bucks and there, knocking out three set cards without really spending the time to get them signed feels pretty good.

Featured autograph - Bill Singer

I picked this autograph through the SCN fs/trade section for $5 along with a group of 10 other in-person autographs I needed for specific card sets - I'm not really into buying autographs, but I'll pick up a few impulsively if I can sniff out a 'true' autograph collector [as opposed to someone who is kind of far removed from actually graphing in-person or even through the mail] and something catches my eye from whatever extras he or she is trying to get rid of.

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.

Featured autograph - Brad Hawpe

I'm not sure when I'm going to round up [or feature] any of the 2013 Angels autographs I can add to my all-time collection - I haven't done anything as far as determining which ones I have already, which ones I've gotten this season and which ones I still need.

One featured autograph I can put up is a TTM autograph card of Brad Hawpe I picked up through a forum several years ago - I also remember pulling a 2008 Topps Stadium Club certified autograph of Hawpe, but I'll probably use the TTM auto for my all-time Angels collection.

I realize the situations aren't at all comparable but the Los Angeles Dodgers can call up a stud like Yasiel Puig - while the Angels end up bring up a guy like Hawpe from oblivion.

A late bloomer, Hawpe had some nice seasons with the Colorado Rockies - but for whatever reason his bat ran out of juice and he has bounced around with four different teams before the Angels signed him this season to serve as AAA depth.

I've noticed he kind of holds his bat in a peculiar way and it's kind of funny to watch him hit - he and Anthony Rizzo of the Chicago Cubs look sort of the same when they are at the plate.

I'm not counting on any sort of success but hopefully this guy will be of some use to the Angels - even if he is pretty much cooked as a MLB hitter.