Lenny Wilkens TTM Success

Date Sent: 11/8/2009
Date received: 11/27/2009

This is the second TTM return I've received from Lenny Wilkens. He's a very generous TTM signer. I got a nice surprise this time with the addition of the "HOF 89,98" inscription on the card. This is not something I asked for, just a very nice addition by him.

Wilkens is one of only three people to go into the Hall of Fame as a player and a coach. John Wooden and Bill Sharman are the other two. I already have a Wooden autograph via TTM. I'll have to get a Sharman request out in the next couple weeks.

Wilkens also won a NBA Championship as a head coach and a gold medal as an assistant coach on the 2002 USA Mens Basketball Olympic team. He has quite an impressive list of accomplishments on his resume.

This return is one of the reasons that I encourage people to take up TTM autographs. All it takes is a couple stamps, some cards you won't miss if they don't come back and patience.

Mark Sanchez TTM Success?

Date sent: 11/8/09
Date received: 11/27/09

I'm not really sure if this is a success or not. The signature shows some similarities to his certified autograph cards but it's not exact. I've compared mine to all the other ones with pictures on sportscollectors.net and it looks similar with one big difference, it's not stamped. All the other recent returns have been obvious stamps, as you'll see in the pictures below. They also all have the personalization in all caps, my name is lower case. I'm thinking since it matches the stamp so closely that it has a chance of being real. You certainly wouldn't have a stamp made of a fake autograph. What are the odds that Sanchez already has a ghost signer and he/she was out of ink for the stamp?

Let me know what you guys think. I'm curious to see some opinions on this one.

Stamped TTM Returns

My TTM return and a certifed autograph

Cameron Maybin TTM Success

Date sent: 3/4/09
Date received: 10/30/09

This is another recent TTM return that I had pretty much written off. I sent it way back during spring training. On top of that, Maybin carries a 12% success rate for members of sportscollectors.net.

I'm not sure what made my request stand out but I got it back and I couldn't be happier.

I've followed Maybin ever since he was part of the trade that sent Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Tigers. I'd heard that Maybin was the key to the deal for the Marlins. I wondered what made this kid so special so I kept an eye on him. He's yet to live up to his 5-tool can't miss potential but he's still only 22 years old.

Maybin made the team last year out of spring training but the Marlins sent him down to AAA in early May as he was batting .2o2. They brought him back up on September 1st and he remained on the team through the final game. In that time he raised his batting average to .250 and hit three home runs.

Hopefully Maybin will make the Marlins out of spring training again and stick around for the whole season.

Awesome Josh Hamilton TTM Success

Date sent: 2/28/09
Date received: 11/7/09

I wasn't sure that I'd get this item back or not. Josh Hamilton has a great track record for TTM request successes but I had my doubts as it had been 8 months since I sent it off.

I'm thrilled to get this back because this is a ticket stub from the game where Josh Hamilton got his first major league hit, a home run. I was at this game, I lived in Phoenix, AZ for two years and attended many Diamondbacks games while I lived there. This was just any other game, nothing special, but I knew going in that Josh Hamilton was playing.

If you collected cards in the late 90's, you know who Josh Hamilton is. His 1999 rookie cards were the hottest thing going back then as he was the #1 overall pick in the MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Ray (Devil Rays then). You may have also heard of Hamilton's struggles with drug addiction that lead to him being out of baseball. He worked very hard to get clean and work his way back to the majors.

Anyway, I was completely aware when Hamilton came up in the 3rd inning that he didn't have a hit in the majors yet. He ripped a pitch to right field and his first major league hit was a 2-run home run. A few fans in the small crowd realized the moment and stood to applaud Hamilton, most didn't realize the significance.

Here we are three years later and Hamilton has been an All-Star and a Home Run Derby champion. He had an excellent 2008 season but was hampered by injuries last year that lead to him only playing 89 games. I've rooted for him ever since I heard of his struggles with drugs and his fight to get back to the majors. After receiving this ticket back from Hamilton I'll be more than a casual observer, I'm now a legit fan.

Link to mlb.com game article

Update - 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates TTM Project

Date sent 5/22/09
Date received: 6/6/09

Dick Groat is my fifteenth TTM return from the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Groat played fourteen seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. He also played one season in the NBA for the Fort Wayne Pistons. Groat was a two sport star at Duke University, playing basketball and baseball. He went straight to the Pirates out of college, never playing in the minor leagues.

Groat was a career .286 hitter, finishing with 2,138 hits. He was a five time All-Star and won the league MVP in 1960. Groat was also part of one of the best double play combinations of all time with Bill Mazeroski.

Well, this was really the last realistic request I had out there. I'm going to consider this project completed. The others that I'm missing will have to come from in-person signings or off of eBay. It seems like I've been doing this forever but the first request went out only 41 days ago on April 27th.

The autographs I received during that span are R.C. Stevens, Roman Mejias, Roy Face, Hal Smith, Gino Cimoli, Bennie Daniels, Dick Schofield, Bob Skinner, Danny Kravitz, Dick Groat, Bob Oldis, Bob Friend, Vern Law, Bill Virdon and Joe Gibbon. I also purchased a Rocky Nelson signed '60 Topps card on eBay.

I don't know what my next TTM project will be. I'm open to ideas if anyone wants to leave one in the comments. I'm ready for a new challenge.

Update - 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates TTM Project

Date sent: 4/27/09
Date returned: 6/5/09

Roman Mejias is one of the requests I had out there that I was beginning to wonder if I'd get it back or not. I'm very happy to get this one back.

I've also had my George Witt and Don Gross requests out there for about the same amount of time. I don't really expect to get those back as the reported successes for those two are very low on sportscollectors.net. Hopefully I'll be able to pick those up in some other fashion.

Roman Mejias played six seasons for the Pirates, never getting more than 276 at-bats in any of those. He went to Houston in 1962 and finally got a chance to play full time. He batted a respectable .286 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI. He was the first Latin American player in Houston franchise history. In 1963 he left to play for Boston and retired after the 1964 season.

I found an incredible stat while researching Mejias' career. He's one of 336 major league players to hit 3 home runs in one game. No, that's not the incredible part. The incredible part is that he did it in 1958 when he only had 5 home runs the entire season. That has to be the lowest amount of home runs in a season for a player that had a 3 home run game.

Update - 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates TTM Success

Date sent: 5/26/09
Date returned: 6/2/09

This is my thirteenth return from the 1960 Pirates. This is also another one that came back in one week or less. I actually just went back and checked the numbers, ten of the fourteen have been returned in one week or less. That's amazing.

This return is from Bob Oldis. He played in the majors from 1953-1955 and 1960-1963. He was a backup catcher that played for the Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies. He amassed only 236 at-bats over his career, batting .224. He still works as a scout for the Florida Marlins.

Well, There are only five more living members of the 1960 Pirates that I need. Four of those requests have been sent. The other one, Joe Christopher, is not worth sending as he doesn't sign TTM. There's going to be a 1960 Pirates reunion in Pittsburgh next year so I'll catch him then.

Update - 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates TTM Project

Vern Law
Date sent: 5/26/09
Date returned: 6/1/09

R.C. Stevens
Date sent: 5/22/09
Date returned: 6/1/09

This are my eleventh and twelfth TTM successes in my quest to get autographed 1960 Topps cards from all living members of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates Team. My original plan was to complete this and give it to my Dad for his birthday but it's on Wednesday. This will have to be a gift for another occasion as it's not going to be completed in time.

These two returns are from Vern Law and R.C. Stevens. Vern Law came back in less than a week. I've been impressed throughout this whole project at the speed of some of the returns. Stevens took a bit longer but still came in under two weeks. You can't ask for more than that.

R.C. Stevens only played in the majors for four seasons. His career high in at-bats was only 90. That was in his rookie season of 1958 with the Pirates. He played for the Pirates through the 1960 season and was traded to the Senators after season. He played in Washington for one season which would be his final in baseball.

Vern Law played sixteen seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates accumulating a 162-147 record. Law won the Cy Young award in 1960 going 20-9 with 18 complete games. He topped that off by going 2-0 in the World Series. Law is currently the head coach of the Provo High School varsity baseball team in Provo, UT. His son, Vance, also a former major leaguer, is head coach across the street at Brigham Young University. Law was credited with saying "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards."

Hopefully I'll be reporting a few more returns in the near future.

Jamie Moyer TTM Success?

Date sent: 3/10/09
Date returned: 5/29/09

I don't think that I'm ever going to send a jersey card in a TTM request again. If you've been reading my blog for a little while you'll recall what happened when I sent a TTM request to Mike Mussina with jersey cards included.

I sent a 2004 Topps All-Star Stitches card to Jamie Moyer back during Spring Training. The request came back today. The jersey card was there and it was signed. The only problem were the huge creases and tears down the middle of the card. I've included scans of the front and back for you to see.

I'm certainly not accusing Moyer of anything but when you grab the card with both of your hands and start to bend it around the creases the damage sure looks like it could be a result of that action.

The card was sent in a top loader and returned in a top loader. The envelope that the card came back in was not damaged and there wasn't any damage to the top loader.

All this being said, I'm very happy to get a return from Jamie Moyer. He is an ageless wonder and is a true rarity of today's game. Moyer has 249 wins for his career so he most likely won't stick around long enough to get to 300 wins as he'll turn 47 after the season.

I think I'll stick to sending rookie cards with my TTM requests. I think my experiment with sending jersey cards is over at two requests. I'll have to dig a Moyer rookie card out of my 1987 cards over the weekend and get another request out next week.

Update - 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates TTM Project

Date sent: 5/16/09
Date returned: 5/22/09

This is my tenth return in my quest to get 1960 Topps cards signed by all living members of the 1960 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

I sent three more requests today. Those went to Dick Groat, R.C. Stevens and Joe Christopher. Stevens and Christopher do not have 1960 Topps cards. I got a 1959 Topps of R.C. Stevens and a 1961 Topps of Joe Christopher.

Cards that have already been sent but have not been returned are George Witt, Don Gross and Roman Mejias.

The requests that have not been sent yet are Vern Law and Bob Oldis. I purchased those cards off eBay and they should be here any day now.

The only living player that doesn't have a card is Dick Barone. He only played one season in the majors, that was 1960. I'm not quite sure what to do for his autograph. Maybe I'll just send an index card.

Vin Scully TTM Success

Date sent: 2/21/09
Date returned: 5/14/09

When I first started thinking about doing TTM autograph requests back in February, two people came to mind immediately that I wanted to send requests to. Those were John Wooden and Vin Scully.

I sent both requests in February and received back my signed card from Mr. Wooden less than a week after I had sent the request. I was so happy to get that back. A short time after I received it he came down with pneumonia and his family asked that the autograph requests stop.

I'm so thrilled to get this request back from Mr. Scully. I sent it way before the season started but was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get it back. He signed my 8x10 photo beautifully in blue sharpie.

Listening to Mr. Scully announce a Dodgers game is as close to perfection as you're going to get. He knows everything about every player that takes the field and always has a story to tell. His style was developed on radio where you have to paint a picture for the listener. He never changed that when he started doing games on TV. I have the MLB Extra Innings package and I always turn over to Dodgers games to listen to him do at least an inning. There's nothing quite like it.

Neftali Feliz TTM Success

Date sent: 3/6/09
Date returned: 5/8/09

I started sending TTM autograph requests about three months ago. About a month after I started, in March, I started sending requests to veterans and prospects at their Spring Training sites. I think I sent just over twenty requests and I only got one return. That was from Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles.

This return that came today really shocked me. It's from Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers. I sent this request back in March to Surpise, AZ, the Spring Training site of the Rangers. The request that I received today came from Oklahoma City, OK, the home of Feliz's current team, the Oklahoma City RedHawks. He must have taken his Spring Training requests with him when he left.

Feliz is ranked as the #10 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America. He's off to a slow start in 2009 but remains a tremendous talent. Here is his player page on milb.com.

Mike Mussina Really Likes My Cards

Date sent: 3/13/09
Date returned: 4/8/09

I will start this post off by saying that Mike Mussina is one of the best TTM signers out there. You rarely find a modern day player of Mussina's stardom that signs so reliably. I've sent requests to him on three different occasions and each time received cards back signed in under 5 weeks. You can see from the picture that he has a very nice signature.

I thought it would be cool to get a couple cheap jersey cards and have Mussina sign those. As I've said before, I'm willing to send some nicer cards to players that charge for autographs, or in Mussina's case, are very reliable. So, I purchased two 2008 Topps Heritage jersey cards off eBay and sent them off. The cards only cost me a total of $10 with shipping included.

Here's where it gets a little odd... I had read some posts in the past on the sportscollectors.net forums that Mussina is a collector and tends to keep jersey cards that are sent to him. I'd read the same thing enough times to make me purchase two '08 Heritage jersey cards. Otherwise, I would have just sent one. I figured if I sent two that he wouldn't possibly keep both of them, I'd at least end up with one. I even said in the letter that I wrote him that he could keep one and to please sign one for me.

Well, on April 8th I opened my mailbox and there was an envelope with my handwriting and a return address of Montoursville, PA. I knew that it was my Mussina jersey cards. The minute I picked up the envelope I knew something was wrong, it just wasn't thick enough. I tore it open and found a 2006 Bowman Chrome and a 2001 Bowman Heritage.

I posted to the sportscollectors.net forums later that night asking if anyone had received my cards. I listed the cards that I had received and stated that I'd like to switch them out if anyone got mine. The only replies that came back were members that had sent jersey cards and received others in return, just like me. The rumors were true. Mike Mussina keeps jersey cards.

Am I upset? Not at all. I knew the risk and I'm thrilled to get back beautifully signed cards from Mussina each time I send a request to him. The signed Upper Deck rookie pictured above was a recent return from him. I'll just know not to send jersey cards to him in any future requests.

Matt Davidson TTM Success

Date sent: 3/28/09
Date returned: 4/16/09

I had a crazy idea a few weeks ago while looking at some 2009 mock MLB draft boards. I knew that a lot of the players listed had cards in the 2008 Upper Deck USA set. The problem is that many of these players are still in high school. Could I possibly send a TTM request to a high school player? Was this breaking some sort of TTM code of conduct? I really wasn't sure so I decided to send a few off to see what would happen.

My request that I sent to Matt Davidson of Yucaipa High School in Yucaipa, CA arrived in my mail today. For each request I sent, I included two cards. I asked each player that they sign one card and keep one for themself. Matt Davidson did just that.

Here is what Baseball America says about him in their Top 50 Draft Prospects article today: "Some of the best raw power in this year's high school crop."

In the end, I'm glad that I sent this and the other requests. Any doubts I had about whether it was right or wrong to send a request to a high school player were curbed when I saw that they have already been paid to sign cards for Upper Deck.

What do you think? Has anyone else out there sent a request to a high school player? If not, would you?

Don Larsen TTM Success

Date sent: 3/11/09
Date returned: 4/2/09

This is another example of a request I sent off where the player charges a fee for his autograph. So, as with the Johnny Bench request, I sent Don Larsen his rookie card, a 1954 Bowman. As I said before, I feel that it's safer to send more valuable items when a player charges for his autograph. Don Larsen only charges $7 to sign a card.

I was thinking it would be nice to have the famous photo of Larsen and Berra after the '56 World Series perfect game signed too. I will purchase one of those on eBay soon and send that off. My first priority is always to get a rookie card signed, when possible and affordable.

It's amazing how cheap you can pick up some great vintage rookie cards on eBay if you're not too concerned about condition. I think I only paid about $7 before shipping for this Larsen. It has a crease but I don't really care about that if I'm only getting it for an autograph.

Johnny Bench TTM Success

Date sent: 3/11/09
Date returned: 4/3/09

Sorry for the lapse in updates. I was in Phoenix for a wedding a mini vacation. It was a great time and the weather was perfect.

I was quite happy finding this return from Johnny Bench in my mailbox when I got back in town. Bench charges $40 to sign cards through Johnny Bench Enterprises. Whenever a player charges for autographs (or asks for donations), I usually feel safe sending something more valuable. I'm not sure if everyone feels the same.

With this request, I decided to send Bench's best card, his 1968 Topps rookie. It was a bit of a risk but I was willing to take it. It was already one of my favorite cards in my collection before it was signed. Now it's so much cooler.

I got a few more really great returns while I was out of town. I'll post those over the next few days. What's cool is that they're all rookie cards. I prefer getting rookie cards signed over anything else.

Lenny Wilkens TTM Success

Date sent: 3/17/09
Date returned: 3/25/09

I decided to send off an item to Lenny Wilkens because he holds the all-time mark for coaching victories in the NBA and he's a great TTM signer. Knowing how reliable he is, I decided to purchase his rookie card on ebay to have signed. I think I only had to pay $3 for it. It does have a crease across the top left corner of the card but that doesn't really bother me. I like to get vintage rookies signed, the condition isn't a large concern for me.

I think Lenny's autograph looks great on this card. This card in particular is also a great looking card with plenty of room for a nice autograph.

I'll pass up sending a rookie card from time to time if the card isn't attractive. Some cards just won't look good autographed. I haven't been able to find any Topps Heritage blasters locally. As soon as I do I'm going to get a couple. Those cards are perfect for TTM autographs. I love that 1960 Topps design.

I'm wondering how much thought other TTM collectors put into the cards that they send off. Leave a comment and let me know.

Spring Training TTM Success

Date sent: 3/2/09
Date returned: 3/26/09

I've sent 20 total requests to spring training sites and this is the only one that I've received back. The majority of my requests were sent to prospects, with only a few to established veterans. I guess I don't feel too bad as most members at sportscollectors.net are reporting the same lack of success for spring training requests.

Of all the prospect requests that I sent, this would be the one that that I wanted to get back the most. Matt Wieters is rated by most as the top prospect in all of baseball. The Orioles sent him back to AAA last week but you can be sure he won't stay there long.

Wieters doesn't have too many cheap cards so I decided to purchase a Razor rookie on ebay for a couple bucks and send that. I think you have to send out your requests with the mindset that you're not going to get them back. That way you won't send anything too valuable and won't end up being too disappointed if your request never comes back.

TTM Autograph Collecting

I used to send cards to athletes through the mail to have them signed when I was a kid. I did some googling a couple months ago to see what kinds of information was out there and realized that people still do this. There's a whole TTM (through the mail) community. I joined a great site called sportscollectors.net that provides all the successes and failures of the community as well as address information. You can keep track of everyone's requests, not just your own. It's a great site.

I decided to start mailing out requests focusing mainly on older Hall of Famers and young prospects. I just started this blog today so I'll be posting successes from the last two months. I'll add the date to each success just in case that information is helpful to anyone. I'll eventually catch up and add requests if and when they come in.

I decided I'd start off by posting one that just came in last week. I'm very lucky to have received this request from George Kell because he passed away on Tuesday, March 24th. I received this in the mail on Thursday, March 19th. This may have been one of the last items he signed. I had read on sportscollectors.net that he was one of the best TTM signers out there so I decided to get something nice for him to sign. I purchased a 1952 Topps card on ebay and sent it off on Friday, March 6th.

RIP Mr. Kell.