Featured autographs - a certified quartet

These aren't the greatest big league players, but to quench my thirst for new autographs featuring current guys I don't expect to see - I picked these up so I can say I have their scribbles squirreled away somewhere.

Austin Hayes - the outfielder had a breakout minor league year in 2017, fell back a bit in 2018 and has spent the past couple of years trying to stick in the big leagues for good.

Dakota Hudson - the righthander gave the St. Louis Cardinals another good, young starter to build on besides Jack Flaherty until he needed Tommy John surgery towards the end of the shortened 2020 season.

Sean Reid-Foley - Foley might have been the No. 1 pitching prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays system before the emergence of Nate Pearson as that No. 1 guy in recent seasons.

Parker Markel - I wouldn't have noticed he already made his big league debut in 2019, but the Angels signed him last off-season and I jumped the gun, hoping he would make a big league appearance with the Angels in 2020.

Maybe I was inspired to put this post up when I saw Markel had moved on and was just signed by the San Diego Padres - to show I buy my share of random things for reasons that don't actually play out in reality.

TTM autographs received: Gene Richards

Former San Diego Padres outfielder Gene Richards signed my cards in about a month - maybe it was just natural for guys expected to hit the ball with some skill rather than brawn to choke up on the bat, but the way Richards' hands are positioned looks so exaggerated on the 1984 Donruss and also the 1983 Topps cards.

Digging around, a little bit of trivia is Richards wore jersey #19 for the Padres - a number in team history associated in perpetuity as legend Tony Gwynn's.

TTM autographs received: David Nied

The former big league righthander signed my cards in about a couple of weeks, including his 1992 Leaf Gold Rookies insert, a card I once coveted as a kid - I thought Nied was destined for stardom, following the likes of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery in the Atlanta Braves rotation in the early 1990s.

Looking back Nied's ascent from a 1987 draft pick to a legitimate pitching prospect - paralleled the Braves' rise from bottom feeders to perennial contenders through the 1990s.

However Nied was left unprotected in the 1992 expansion draft and was the No. 1 pick of the Colorado Rockies - so maybe his big league career never really had a chance of taking off.

Some random non-sport additions

I can never get into anything other than baseball, where collecting just doesn't hit right when I'm not seeking out cards picturing dudes who play ball for a living - but going down the COMC rabbit hole leads to different places where I'm tempted to pick up cards I wouldn't normally consider, so there is something else to look at.

For the nostaglia, I grabbed a couple of cards of Jennifer Love Hewitt, who might have been destined to be the 'it' girl of the early 2000s - while the actress is still working in Hollywood, currently cast in a TV show, time flies and perhaps her star is a little bit more low key into her early 40s.

I also picked up a couple of cards of Rosamund Pike, including a 'cool' acetate insert - the British actress' most notable film in the U.S. might be Gone Girl, which I have not seen.

However Pike has been a low-key favorite for playing an up-and-coming, by the books MI6 agent who just happens to betray James Bond in Die Another Day - which is probably a popcorn movie for me.

Finally I grabbed a card of Lauren Cohan, another British actress best known for her portrayal of Maggie Greene in The Walking Dead TV series - I may have wanted this particular card several years ago, but I was only really into the TWD for the first 2 or 3 seasons before realizing it wasn't a series that was going to wrap up quickly with some resolution and/or happy ending.

TTM autographs received: Rusty Greer

The former Texas Rangers outfielder signed my cards in about a month and was glad to tally a success because Greer was really a great player during his short peak - when it came to prominent opposing players in the American League West through the late 1990s, I definitely paid more attention to guys like Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro.

However, before chronic injuries derailed the back end of his playing career Greer checked all the boxes as far as athlete cliches - despite the implicit media bias of tagging certain types of pro athletes as being gritty, being a gamer, being a lunch pail guy, etc, Greer lived up to the ideal.

Some random award winner additions

With MLB awards being handed out, it's time to look for loose cards of 2020 winners to add to my collection - in the meantime, I was able to add these three COMC stragglers as upgrades to my collection.

Al Dark was a successful manager who guided to the Oakland Athletics to a World Series championship in 1974 - as a player, he was the second MLB Rookie of the Year winner after Jackie Robinson and the last single ROY winner before there was one awarded for each league.

I was able to get a 1971 Topps card signed by Dark through the mail years ago [he passed away in 2014] and while I'm mostly satisified with any random cards for my award winners collection - I wanted a card [1982 Cramer Baseball Legends #3] showing Dark as a player, even if it's a retro issue from the early 1980s as opposed to an authentic vintage card.

I was familiar enough with Willie McGee as a minor star who played through the junk wax era of the early 1990s - a fan favorite with the St. Louis Cardinals, his breakout postseason helped the 1982 team win the World Series and three years later, was named the 1985 National League MVP.

I wasn't familiar with 1980 American League Rookie of the Year Joe Charboneau except as a hot rookie star who made a lot of noise as a cult favorite with the Cleveland Indians - he was a one year wonder who failed to really build upon his promise and was a poster child for 1980s card collectors as a baseball card bust.

I was able to pick up a 2006 Fleer Greats of the Game Nicknames certified autograph - it would have been nice if the it was on-card, but I like how Charboneau was able to fit in his autograph and his 'Super Joe' nickname on the themed insert set.

TTM autograph received: Glenn Hubbard

The former MLB infielder signed my 1984 Fleer in about three weeks - supposedly Hubbard didn't sign the cult favorite card for the longest time, but loosened his stance over the years.

Though Hubbard wasn't on my 'here and now' list of possible TTM subjects to write to - I'm always looking for 'inspiration' and got it when I saw a collector [on an autograph forum I belong to] post his Hubbard success [with his copy of the 1984 Fleer signed].

I may have at least 3 or 4 more unsigned cards of Hubbard - but the 1984 Fleer was my No. 1 priority, so it was the one sent out.

Some miscellaneous Keston Hiura finds

The Milwaukee Brewer was my pick to click as a breakthrough star in 2020 after a good rookie season in 2019 - I thought it would be fun picking up a few low end Hiura cards including four rookie cards and a couple of other prospect cards.

Unfortunately, he only hit .212 this past year, though I’m inclined to give players who struggled through a 60-game MLB season a pass - the 24-year old has the talent and presumably the aptitude to bounce back, though contact issues [16 walks / 85 strikeouts] may prevent him to be a hitting star outright.

Digging around through COMC in the winter of 2019, I sought out the Hiuras while passing over some similar types of cards - featuring Vladimir Guerrero Jr. [he was okay, but probably underwhelming] and Fernando Tatis Jr. [do’h, he was the second year big leaguer who actually broke out as a superstar].

1956 Topps Bill Sarni #247 pick up

This was the oldest card in my COMC delivery and was purchased because I wanted something random and vintage to add to the mix - I now have this 65-year old Topps card where I can make out the familiar image of the MLB icon, Jackie Robinson as a 'bonus baby,' making a cameo on another player's card.

Check Out My Cards - shipment arrival

I had my cards shipped last week and go figure, it only took about a week to get my cards in-hand - I was pleasantly surprised to see a COMC package in my mailbox, when I still see where other collectors on forums, on Twitter complain about the long wait time and/or not getting their shipment of cards according to schedule.

Your mileage may vary, but maybe this time, paying a COMC shipping premium was better than a blaster - especially when I can’t find a loose baseball blaster out in the wild to save my life.

My collecting activity the past several months has been to cobble together through the mail autograph requests - maybe this 'new' stash will give me something to go through and get me back to playing with my cards.

TTM autographs received: Scott McGregor

The longtime Baltimore Orioles lefthander from the mid 1970s-1980s signed my cards in about a month - McGregor wasn't an overpowering lefty, but with the help of the teams playing behind him, was able to put up big numbers as a middle of the rotation starting pitcher.

I got a copy of McGregor's 1984 Donruss card to send out with my request - I might not bother trying and get more cards from the set signed like some people do with a particular brand/year of cards, but I really like how the 1984 Donruss looks.

Check Out My Cards - trying to tie up loose ends

I don’t know what I did messing around with COMC, but I've finally had cards [around 70] I've bought over the last year finally shipped - against my best interests, I even bought more stuff, going with the worst option to pick up cards I need in the 'here and now.'

I had wondered if I was ever going to have the cards I’ve bought shipped - the longer my island of misfit toys was sitting in my account, the more I worried about forgetting them, when they should have been in-hand already.

Because of the pandemic excuse COMC has flouted, I might have gotten my shipment on some unspecified date next year if I used the economy $4.99 s/h fee - I assume they are still making like they are backlogged, but to get my cards in a seemingly more reasonable three or four week time frame [in 2020], I went with economy rushed, which is $4.99 for the first item and $0.25 for additional items.

With how this particular year has dragged on for the worst, it's hard for me to see into 2021 as being reality until the year finally changes over - despite the idea I’m being finessed by circumstances COMC has created for themselves to marginalize their Web site [as opposed to their consignment service through eBay], I paid up get to see if I get my miscellaneous cards to me sooner than never.

TTM autographs received: Gerald Young

The former big league outfielder from the 1980s through 1990s signed my cards in about two weeks - who knows whether the image was actually game action or staged, but because of the athleticism the card oozes, the 1989 Upper Deck [#135] is simply a keeper as far as random junk wax era commons go.

TTM autographs received: Richie Scheinblum

The one-time Angel from the 1970s signed my cards in about 10 days - he was the first Jewish player in Japan and had a couple of nice seasons with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp to wrap up a 13-year professional playing career.

TTM autographs received: Jarrett Grube

I had a couple of loose cards of Grube, a longtime minor league pitcher whose only big league appearance was for the Angels in 2017 where he faced three batters, gave up a home run while recording 2 outs - I dug around for a possible address to send my cards and they were signed in about a week.

One of the cards he signed appears to be a penny sleeve casualty [using penny sleeves maybe a habit I have to ditch, but it gives me peace of mind, when sending my cards off] - rather than leaving the blemished card as is, it looks Grube tried to sign his autograph again.

TTM autograph received: Lou Whitaker

Whitaker finished off my 1994 Fleer Superstar Special dual subset card with Alan Trammell - because Whitaker charges a little bit more than the usual $5-$10, maybe the stream of reported TTM successes tends to be a little more sporadic.

I probably got Whitaker through the mail 20 years ago, but had not really thought about getting him again - even though his name is thrown out as someone who should join his longtime teammate in Cooperstown.

The lure of getting a dual player card completed by an iconic keystone combination was too strong - I finally finally took a chance and sent Whitaker a request with $20.

Despite wondering if something would come back - it only took about three weeks to get a response.

TTM autograph received: Steve Lubratich

The longtime minor league infielder and one time Angel from the 1980s signed two cards in about a couple of weeks - however, the 1984 Fleer I’ve had in-hand for the last 5 or 6 years got smeared in the penny sleeve.

Fortunately the 1988 ProCards Spokane Indians #1928 [mall set card with Lubratich posing with a cardboard cutout of Whitney Houston] - looks it was able to make it back with no blemishes and will be the one used for my Angels all-time autograph collection.

Featured autograph - Derek Bell

On forums or other social media, I see other autograph collectors' 'brag posts' as far as what they get - there maybe more purchases and/or private signing stuff mixed in with the usual TTM successes.

Perhaps I want to fall in line and condition myself to accept a new reality - where I end up purchasing more autographs ‘here and there’ as a viable option to get some new scratch the itch curiosities in my collection.

I turn my nose at most of the send-in signings for the rank and file or semi-stars I've gotten TTM or in-person at some point over the past 20 years - but 'Operation Shutdown' was someone whom I never had the opportunity to get, a decent player through the 1990s, with a bunch of cards that made me familiar with him.

A promoter on Facebook was selling extras from a past signing and I thought about getting a card - I was looking for a more unique card, maybe a rookie issue and one of the cards shown in the F/S post was a 1988 O-Pee-Chee.

I realize no one really cares, but I'm vaguely familiar with the odd draft pick card only included in the Canadian version of Topps - if I had to break the bank [$10 plus $1 PWE shipping] to purchase a random signed Bell card, the OPC would the one I wanted.

Go figure, I might have actually liked to send into a Bell signing - he’s on a 2001 Fleer Tradition, a set I'm still trying to get cards signed from, in-person or TTM.

TTM autograph received: Bill Melton

The former big league slugger from the early 1970s signed my cards in about a couple of weeks - a card I wanted to pick up and get signed for my own was the 1972 Topps Boyhood Photos of the Stars subset; I like the novelty of the one-time Angel player pictured in an Angels' uniform, though as a kid from his Little League days in Southern California.

Melton would mostly star for the Chicago White Sox, though past his prime, eventually spent a season with the Angels - I had the 1976 Topps Traded to send him with an airbrushed Angels cap, so it may not be an actual Angels card, but he is depicted and identified as such, so that will be the card to go into my all-time Angels autograph collection.

The 1972 Topps In Action card looks like a nice horizontal image of Melton - though it really captures him swinging awkwardly at a ball instead of a more 'natural' follow through.

TTM autograph received: Camilo Pascual

The former big league righthander signed my 1964 Topps Giants card in about two weeks - I didn't know what result I'd get from the 86-year old, but sent a request with $10 to see if I could get a little 'time travel' action with a former player from a vintage 20th century era I would not be typically familiar with.