November 12, 2024, Wilson Hot Stove Event

Last night was the 49th annual Wilson Hot Stove Event in the City of Wilson.  I went last year for the first time, so I was really looking forward to going again this year.  The attendees list came out very close to the event, so it was hard to get stuff here in time.  I also had some cards left over from last year, like the above 1968 Topps John Donaldson.  He missed last year, so i was glad to finally meet him in person.

I was glad to meet a guy who I had gotten TTM twice.  I got Donaldson to sign at the get-together at the North Carolina Baseball Museum prior to the start of the event.  He seemed genuinely happy I was there, and took my graphing book from me to see who else I had cards of.  I thought that was pretty cool.

This year's big guest scheduled to be there to receive the Gaylord Perry Pitching Award was former ECU pitcher and Blue Jays 2024 first round pick, Trey Yesavage.  I didnt have any of his cards, so i got him to sign this 1994 Score Blue Jays card.

Yesavage was really nice, and posed for a picture with me.  ECU coach Cliff Godwin was nice enough to get Yesavage's attention so we could get his autograph.

Jesse and Chris came with me to the event, and we met our friends Billy and John at the Museum.  Jesse gave me this 5 x 7 photo of Mike Caldwell to get signed.  It came out nicely. 

I did find a few cards in my boxes and one of my three packages from Sportlots came in before the event, so I did have a few cards.

Phil Mankowski thanked us several times for coming out and supporting the event.  I was glad he posed for a picture with me.  I jad also gotten him TTM once before, back in 2021.

Finally, event regular John Roper signed a few more cards for me.  I had ordered some nice cards of his, but they didn't get here in time.

In all, I got the following autographs: Mike Caldwell x 4, John Donaldson x 1, Alan Fowlkes x 4, Phil Mankowski x 3, John Roper x 3, Dick Such x 1 and Trey Yesavage x 2 (18)

TTM Success - Dave Meier

Here is a quick TTM success that I got from Dave Meier on a 1985 Topps card.

The card turned out nicely after sitting in the to-be-TTMed box for a few years.  I finally got around to sending it out.

Meier (b. 1959) played in the majors in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988 for the Twins, Rangers and Cubs.  He had 70 hits, 1 home run and a .253 batting average.

I mailed to Meier on July 15 and got the card back on August 13, for a 29-day TAT.

2024 National Free Signer - Pat Tabler

Pat Tabler was the next free signer at this year's National. I ended up with two vouchers for him.  I got this 1989 Topps out of a box of cards that my grandma gave me.  The card turned out nicely.

I also got this 1985 Topps signed. This one is a bit dark, but still looks nice.

Tabler (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1981 to 1992 for the Cubs, Indians, Royals, Mets and Blue Jays.  He had 1,101 hits, 47 home runs and a .282 batting average. He was an All Star in 1987. He won the World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992.

TTM Success - John Lowenstein

A rare signing popped up that I had to jump into with former Oriole, John Lowenstein.  The signing was delayed due to Lowenstein having a stroke, but he is reportedly recovered.  I picked a random Topps issue of his, the above 1985 Topps to send to the signing along with my 1991 Crown Orioles card for the "set."

Lowenstein (b. 1947) played in the majors from 1970 to 1985 for the Indians, Rangers and Orioles.  He had 881 hits, 116 home runs and a .253 batting average.  He won the World Series with the Orioles in 1983.

I mailed to the signing on October 10 and got the cards back today (March 11), for a 153-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $30.00.

TTM Success - Donnie Scott

A random 1985 Topps was added to the autograph album when I got this TTM success in from Donnie Scott.  The card turned out nicely.  I pulled everything I had of Scott from my 1985 bulk cards and have already given a few out to some friends.

Scott (b. 1961) played in the majors from 1983 to 1985 and 1991 for the Rangers, Mariners and Reds.  He had 96 hits, 7 home runs and a .217 batting average.

I mailed to Scott on January 2 and got the card back on January 12, for a 10-day TAT. 

TTM Success - UL Washington

These UL Washington cards have been sitting in my to-be-TTMed box for a long time.  I finally got around to paying his fee, and I'm glad I got them done.  Washington jas a great signature.  I haven't gotten as many 1984 Topps as I have some others from that era, but this one looks really sharp.

I also got 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1986 Topps cards signed with this success. 

Washington (b. 1953) played in the majors from 1977 to 1987 for the Royals, Pirates and Expos.  He had 703 hits, 27 home runs and a .251 batting g average.

I mailed to Washington on September 30 and got the cards back on October 11, for an 11-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $3/card.

Another TTM Success From Davey Johnson

Another TTM success from former Oriole, Davey Johnson came in recently when I looked to get his 1991 Crown Orioles card into the autograph album. The card turned out nicely.  I wish there was a little more to the set, but I can't complain since I got the entire thing for $5 and there are guys in there who have no other cards.

I also sent a rough 1968 Topps that has some marks on the back, a 1985 Topps and a 1990 Topps buyback.  Johnson inscribed the 85 Topps with 1986 WS Champs.

I mailed to Johnson on September 29 and got the cards back on October 10, for an 11-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5/card.

2023 National Free Signer - Steve Trout

The next free signer at the National was Steve Trout, a guy who I had gotten as a free signer before at a National a few years ago.  I had a bunch of his cards put aside for a potential TTM at some point.  I had held off sending to him because I didn't want to pay a fee to send to someone I've already met.  I'm glad I waited, because I ended up with 6 of Trout's vouchers.

I got the above 1981 Topps signed, which turned out well 

I also got a 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988 Topps signed.

The above 1989 Topps was one I found while locking for Jim Gantner cards prior to leaving for the show, and it turned out nicely, as well.

Trout is always fun to meet.  He's very friendly and seems to enjoy doing signings. I believe I have most of his Topps run signed, so that's a plus.

2023 National Free Signer - Bob Dernier

Bob Dernier was the next free signer on the last day of the National.  By the time I got through Dernier's line, most of the people had cleared out.  Still, I had two more signers to go after Dernier, but it was a far cry from earlier in the week.

I had sent all of my Dernier cards out to my friend, Max, in the past, so I picked these three cards up from the guy selling signer cards at the show.  I liked the above 1982 Topps Traded, even though I didn't realize it was a Traded until later on.

I also got a 1985 Topps and a 1985 Fleer signer by Dernier.

Dernier (b. 1957) played in the majors from 1980 to 1989 for the Phillies and Cubs.  He had 634 hits, 23 home runs and a .255 batting average.  He finished 17th in the 1984 NL MVP race abd won a Gold Glove that year.

May 6, 2023, Graphing of the Frederick ? at the High Point Rockers

With my sister graduating from Salem College this past Saturday, I was afforded another opportunity to graph at High Point.  Another Saturday of Independent Ball, and I was pretty excited.  The Atlantic League Baseball Club of Frederick still has not been named, so they took the field in some pretty cool question mark jerseys, complete with question mark hats.  I liked them so much, I bought a jersey and hat before the game started.

A problem I have noticed the last couple of years while graphing at High Point is that the independent leagues are terrible at updating their rosters online.  Their scores are also hard to find on their webpages.  So, I went into this game a little blind.  Add in the fact that the Frederick team was missing 11 foreign players due to visa issues.  This included the one player I was really looking forward to seeing, Starlin Castro.  I was told by the manager that the players would arrive 10 days after the game.  This didn't do me a whole lot of good.  Still, it was a successful trip.

I hit up Ebay, since I knew well in advance that I would be seeing Frederick.  I picked up this oversized Johnni Turbo for the post card album, mainly because his name was so cool.

I also had plenty of time to go through my boxes, since the Wood Ducks were out of town the last two weeks.  I found a bunch of my Steven Brault cards, including a couple from the box of shame.

I found a ton of John Nogowski cards at the local card shop in Winston-Salem as I was killing time before the game.  That was nice, because I wouldn't have gotten him at all, had I not gone by the shop.  The Jeff Johnson card was the last card I would get signed.  I only needed him, Kole Cottam and AJK Cole outside after the game.

Cottam was really nice.  I picked his cards up off of Ebay, and he even commented on the green refractor.  I know Gerard had gotten him for me in the past, but I wanted to have something in the book for this trip.

I knew my mom would like to see the Charleston Charlies cards make their way into the album.  These were really cool West Virginia Power team set cards that I found on EBay.

I was also really happy to finally get these 2013 Perfect Game Justin Twine cards out of the box of shame.  I had been waiting to get those, as well as his 2014 Bowman, signed for quite some time.

These four Max Povse cards were Ebay purchases, and they turned out great.  I had one more Povse card that I had ordered that missed the cut.  It came as I was out of town.  I'll have to try to see Frederick again, and add that card to the book then.

AJ Cole was really nice.  I missed him post game by the dugout, since he had pitched in the game and had already gone to the clubhouse afterward.  I got him outside, and when I asked him to sign, he asked "Are you sure you want me to sign?"

Cole laughed, and signed my cards anyway.  He missed the Bowman Chrome at the top of the post, but quickly signed it after I asked him nicely if he would include it.  That was the ONE card of his that I really wanted to get signed.

Of course, I got Frank Viola to sign some more of his cards.  He had actually came out of the dugout and into the crowd to sign autographs.  He is such a nice guy, I enjoy going to High Point just to see him.

It will be a while before I run out of Viola cards, but as long as he is cool about signing, I am going to keep asking.  He seems to legitimately enjoy interacting with the fans in High Point.

In all, I got the following autographs:  Steven Brault x 7, Kole Cottam x 4, Jeff Johnson x 1, David Kubiak x 3, Mark Minicozzi x 2, Max Povse x 4, Justin Twine x 7, Johnni Turbo x 2, Elih Villanueva x 2, AJ Cole x 6, John Nogowski x 8 and Frank Viola x 8 (54 total autographs).

April 29, 2023 Graphing of Long Island Ducks at High Point Rockers

Graphing independent ball is a challenge that is a bit different than affiliated ball.  You have to have a wide range of cards, and a lot of time devoted to finding stuff of the guys on the teams you're going to see.  I had found out that Daniel Murphy had signed with the Long Island Ducks and that they would be visiting High Point on a weekend that the Down East Wood Ducks were out of town.  So, I planned early for a trip to High Point, and took a bunch of cards with me from some older boxes.

I got Murphy on two cards, which was nice.  I got him inside pre-game, and outside after the game.  I wish I had put the Gypsy Queen parallel that I had in my book by itself so I could have gotten that signed, but I was still happy that he hit this 2016 Topps Chrome.

He signed this 2019 Topps outside.  I had hoped he would do more than one outside, but I am still happy with what I was able to add to my album.

Wally Backman was the first signer for me yesterday.  He signed two inside pre-game and one outside as he was walking to the bus.  He was nice enough, even though he didn't say a whole lot.  I was glad to add a couple of these 80s Topps and a 1992 Upper Deck to the album.

I had to raid my factory sealed 2006 Topps set to get the two Lew Ford 2006 Topps cards.  I also had to raid my hand-collated 2005 set for that card, as well.  I went ahead and ordered replacements in case I was able to get him on all three, and I did well.

Adieny Hechavarria was really cool.  I got him on everything in my book pre-game, right before the National Anthem.  I refilled what I had left, traded a 2015 Bowman for the 2010 Pro Debut and got him again outside after the game.  He was super nice, and commented on how he liked the 2018 Topps Big League card.

I was surprised that I had some Sam Travis cards.  He was nice, as well.  I felt bad but I presented a ton of cards to Edward Salcedo, since I didn't want to put any 2010 or 2012 Pro Debuts back in the box.  He didn't seem to mind signing a bunch of the same cards, so I have some stuff I can send out in some blind trades.

Al Albuquerque was nice.  He made like he was going to sign for us, walked away with a hat, then made like he was coming back; then he finally did come back and signed everything I had.  I don't think he was messing around, he looked like he was trying to find someone.

Ian Clarkin was the starter, so I was unable to get him before the game.  So, it was guaranteed that I was going to try to get some autos outside after the game.  He was really cool outside.  He talked to me, along with a couple other graphers about his night.  He also commented on how fun these mini Bowman Chromes are.

I also got three other different Bowman Clarkins signed; his 2014 Chrome, 2014 paper and 2015 Chrome.  He signed some extras, no problem, so I have even more trade bait.

I was worried that I missed Kyle Lobstein, so when a pair of players walked outside, I asked them if Lobstein was still inside.  One of them said "I'm right here" and he signed my cards.  We laughed a bit, but he was really nice.

Matt Vogel got shelled in the game, but was still nice enough to stop and sign my two cards at the dugout post-game.  I appreciated him stopping, even though he didn't have to.

Finally, I got Frank Viola to hit a page in my book of a bunch of different cards.  I was surprised that out of all of the cards he signed for me, only one of them was one I had gotten before.

I had a snap case sitting on a desk here at the house from a past trip to High Point.  I was glad I had found it and got some Violas out of it and into the autograph album.

In all, I got the following autographs: Al Alburquerque x 5, Wally Backman x 3, Ian Clarkin x 7, Lew Ford x 3, Adeiny Hechavarria x 9, Kyle Lobstein x 5, Daniel Murphy x 2, Edward Salcedo x 10, Sam Travis x 4, Frank Viola x 8 and Matt Vogel x 2 (58 total autographs).

TTM Success - Fred Breining

This mugshot of Fred Breining aside, I was happy to add a few 80s cards of the former pitcher to my autograph album recently.  I got these three cards back signed TTM.  The above 1985 Topps is a bit curious to me; the card looks airbrushed, and could have been taken the same time as Breining's portrait shot on the inset of the below 1983 Topps.  It looks like the same stadium in the background.  I believe they took an alternate shot from that photo session and airbrushed it in order to make the 1985 Topps card.  I could be wrong, but that's my theory.

Breining (b. 1955) played in the majors from 1980 to 1984 for the Giants and Expos.  He had a record of 27-20 with 260 strike outs and a 3.34 ERA.  Breining was traded to the Expos on February 27, 1984, along with Max Venable, for Al Oliver and a player to be named later.  That player is my current insurance rep, Andy McGaffigan.

I mailed to Breining on October 27 and got the cards back on December 5, for a 39-day TAT.

TTM Success - Dale Berra

A really cool TTM success that I got back recently was from Dale Berra.  He is the son of Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra.  The cards I sent off turned out great.  I wish I had gotten this 1985 Topps father/son card signed by Yogi, but I was late on that.

I was really happy to get my 1988 Rochester Red Wings card signed.  This was sent to me as a team set in a care package, and I have gotten a couple of the cards from the set signed already.  I also got a 1984 and 1983 Topps signed.

Berra (b. 1956) played in the majors from 1977 to 1987 for the Pirates, Yankees and Astros.  He had 603 hits, 49 home runs and a .236 batting average.

I mailed to Berra on November 7 and got the cards back on November 26, for a 19-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5.00/card.