February Recap, and a trip preview

As expected, it was a light month.  On the positive side, the guitar amp is out of the shop and sounding incredible. So barring any unforeseen expenses, I should be back to mailing out pretty soon. We're also only a month away from the start of baseball season, so Frisco runs should start happening pretty soon too.

FEBRUARY 1 – Dallas Renegades Practice
Lance Dunbar, 3/3
Eric Dungey, 2/2
Landry Jones, 4/4
Frank Alexander, 1/1
Daryl “Moose” Johnston, 3/3
Greer Martini, 2/2
Sean Price, 1/1
Hau’Oli Kikaha, 4/4
Derron Smith, 2/3
Bob Stoops, 1/1
Tre Watson, 2/2

FEBRUARY 7
Rick Wilson, c/o business, 1/1, 1 year

FEBRUARY 19
Brad Maxwell, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month

FEBRUARY 21
Ken Holtzman, c/o home, 1/1, 1 month

FEBRUARY 22
Terry Labonte, c/o home, 4/4, 10 months

FEBRUARY 25
Ryan Reed, c/o team, 3/3, 10 months

I'm also looking at doing another graphing mini-trip with Arron in early June. We can catch Corpus Christi at Midland, Las Vegas at El Paso, Salt Lake City at Albuquerque, and Midland at Amarillo all in a four day span on June 3 through June 6. So that's pencilled in on the calendar. It's a good holdover until the 2022 National trip.

Speaking of that, we're now less than a year away from the 2021 Topps Heritage set being released with the 1972 design. I plan to go nuts on this set with TTM and IP and trading to get as much signed as I can in the base set, the high-numbers set, and the minor league set. I already have an improbable piece of work with the 1972 set project; I might as well add more to the Sisyphusian task.

Help me out here fans/collectors: what's my best way of doing this? Buy a hobby case? Retail case? Blaster case? Just grab a few complete sets off eBay? Snag a bunch of base lots from people breaking cases? Maybe a combination of a blaster case plus a box or two of hobby or retail?

I'm not looking to make a killing on inserts or SPs or anything like that, but I'd like at least two complete base sets, preferably three or four just for an overabundance of preparedness. And I'd like to do it in the most cost-effective way possible, knowing I'll have to lather-rinse-repeat in the fall with the high-number and minor league sets.

January Update

Very light month. Had a bunch of car repairs and my new guitar amp is in the shop too, so any spare money has gone toward those instead of mailing stuff out. On the positive side, most of my Canadian requests have come back successfully

JANUARY 3
Bob Baun, c/o home, 4/4, 3 weeks
Dick Duff, c/o home, 5/3, 3 weeks, added a short note and signed photo
Brad Park, c/o Bruins Alumni, 3/3, 2 months

JANUARY 6
Tyrone Bogues, c/o home, 4/4, 1 year

JANUARY 7
Bobby Rousseau, c/o work, 4/3, 1 month, added signed photo
Reggie Leach, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month
Leo Boivin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

JANUARY 9
Larry Hillman, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month

JANUARY 11
Gilles Gilbert, c/o home, 3/2, 1 month, signed protective index card

JANUARY 13
Pete Koegel, c/o home, 2/1, 2 weeks, signed protective index card

JANUARY 21
Rogatien Vachon, c/o home, 4/4, 2 months

JANUARY 22
Marcel Dionne, c/o work, 1/1, 3 weeks, $10

JANUARY 25 - Rangers' Peek At The Park
Tyler Phillips, 1/1
Taylor Hearn, 1/1
Ivan Rodriguez, 1/1
Willie Calhoun, 3/3

JANUARY 28
Murray Costello, c/o home, 2/1, 1 month, added a short note

Dallas' XFL team has an event tomorrow that I'm going to hit up. Looks like my major card batch is getting here in time despite having a SportLots dealer who decided to sit on my order for a while.  Players I'm hoping to get: Moose Johnston, Jim Jeffcoat, Bob Stoops, Simmie Cobbs, Landry Jones, Jonathan Massaquoi, Lance Dunbar, Cameron Artis-Payne, Derron Smith, Hauoli Kikaha, Sean Price, James Quick, Eric Dungey, Tre Watson, Greer Martini.

Capping off 2019 and previewing 2020

And starting 2020 as well!

Winters are always light on the IP front, especially with the Rangers being so woefully underprepared for the Toy Drive. I didn't go this year. I heard they didn't announce who was in what group until people were already in line inside. I have never understood why the organization has such absolute disdain for its fans.

I did at least get to go to a practice for the new XFL team and got a few there. I might have to see about going and graphing some of their games. Several former NFLers are on teams' rosters, coaching staves, and front offices. And I know I have cards of a few. I'll give a rundown at the end of the post.

DECEMBER 5
Johnny Bucyk, c/o Bruins Alumni, 3/3, 3 weeks
Casey Cox, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks

DECEMBER 6
Don Money, c/o home, 4/4, 3 months
Terry Harper, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

DECEMBER 7
Ken Hodge, c/o home, 2/2, 3 weeks - He signed one on the back and added a note that Ed Westfall is depicted on the front

DECEMBER 9
Bill Baker, c/o home, 2/2, 3 weeks

DECEMBER 12
Jim "Mudcat" Grant, c/o home, 1/1, 3 weeks, $10

DECEMBER 13
Jim Craig, c/o home, 3/2, 1 month
Rob McClanahan, c/o home, 2/2, 1 months

DECEMBER 14
Bryan McCabe, c/o Florida Panthers, 4/4, 1 month

DECEMBER 14 - Dallas Renegades XFL practice
Stacy Coley - 2/2
Jim Jeffcoat - 3/3, 5/5

DECEMBER 21
Steve Christoff, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month
Bruce Savage, c/o home, 7/6, 1 month

DECEMBER 23
Mario Andretti, c/o home, 1/1, 3 months

DECEMBER 24
Ed Westfall, c/o Bruins Alumni, 3/3, 6 weeks

JANUARY 3
Brad Park, c/o Bruins Alumni, 3/3, 2 months
Dick Duff, c/o home, 5/3, 3 weeks to Canada
Bob Baun, c/o home, 4/4, 3 weeks to Canada

I also got my new guitar amp bought. A nice Craigslist find netted me what appears based on the serial number to be a 1975 Fender Twin Reverb. At the very least it's a silverface with no tail on the Fender logo and the push-pull master volume knob to turn the overdrive on and off-- so 1974-1980. New caps and tubes on it, and I love the sound it gets. I've tried all my guitars through it just clean without pedals. And I still have about $200 left to spend on other pedals and/or a keyboard.

Or stamps. Maybe stamps. Yeah, probably stamps. $50 for stamps, $25 for a noise gate pedal, and $125 for a keyboard. I like that. (EDIT: I just ordered the noise gate pedal)

So, XFL. I'm sure there are more than these guys, but just off a cursory reading of the rosters, here are guys that are involved and that I'm relatively certain have cards...

DALLAS: Daryl "Moose" Johnston, Jim Jeffcoat, Landry Jones, Stacy Coley, Simmie Cobbs
DC: Ray Hamilton, Kurt Gouveia, Tyree Jackson, Cardale Jones, Donnel Pumphrey, Malachi Dupre, Eli Rogers, Sam Montgomery, Scooby Wright, Matt Elam, Orson Charles
HOUSTON: Chris Miller, Connor Cook, Akrum Wadley, Andre Williams, Sammie Coates, Jalen Saunders, Kony Ealy, Ed Reynolds
LOS ANGELES: Winston Moss, Mike Wilson, Jerry Fontenot, Pepper Johnson, Otis Smith, Martin Bayless, Josh Johnson, Keyarris Garrett, KD Cannon, Jordan Smallwood, Nick Novak
NEW YORK: CJ Ah You, Cris Dishman, Matt McGloin, EJ Bibbs
SEATTLE: Jim Zorn, Mike Riley, BJ Daniels, Chase Litton, Austin Proehl, Keenan Reynolds, Cyril Richardson, Stansly Maponga, Will Sutton
ST. LOUIS: Jonathan Hayes, Chuck Long, Az Hakim, Chris Crocker, Jordan Ta'amu, Taylor Heinicke, Christine Michael, Daniel Braverman, Jordan Lasley, L'Damian Washington, Terrance Williams, Will Hill, Marquette King
TAMPA BAY: Jerry Glanville, Aaron Murray, Rannell Hall, KJ Maye, DeAndre Goolsby, Jalen Collins

St. Louis is pretty stacked and play Dallas' home opener on February 9. I might look into that and see about how much tickets are and what I have in the way of cards. At the very least, there might be some solid TTM opportunities.

Winter Caravan dates and places are out-- mostly at the Miller Tavern at Texas Live on Thursday nights, and midweek afternoons at a few Whataburger and Comerica Bank branches. The only weekend event is the annual Frisco event on Saturday January 18. Last year you were limited to ONE autograph line. No thanks. I might check out the Thursdays since it's right up the road. We'll see when they decide to announce what players will be there.

Last but not least, my TTMCast appearance is now online!

November (and early December) 2019

I'm sure a few of these names will need clarification, so I'll just get that out of the way now.

As you probably know by now, I'm a musician. I played bass and keyboards in a band called Leisuresuit Salesmen when I was in 8th and 9th grade for a talent show and New Year's Eve party, drums in a band called 45 Percent for my high school's variety show as a senior, drums (with some keyboard, guitar, bass, and vocal contributions) in CC40 in college (not the CC40 Blues Band that comes up first on Google, but a short-lived punk/alternative project from Boston that had the name long before they did), and drums and guitar with Death Before Breakfast for a few years. Recently I joined a new project called The Nothing. I was in my high school's orchestra as a percussionist. I also play a little mandolin and possibly could still play some trombone if I tried. I might record some solo stuff that I've written, and maybe some covers of some Great Lakes folk songs.

Anyways, my biggest influences and favorite bands list would likely change a lot from day to day, but the Top Five always tend to be Guns N' Roses, Weezer, Dropkick Murphys, the Funk Brothers (Motown's backing band), and the New Bomb Turks. You probably know the first two reasonably well, perhaps the third. The fourth is a little more esoteric since they were rarely credited-- the Motown marketing machine tended to concentrate on the singers while the musicians were left largely uncredited until Marvin Gaye released What's Going On, and then got pretty well screwed over by the label moving to Los Angeles with no warning given to them. Several of them found out by showing up to play and finding a note on the door. The Brothers finally started getting recognition on a wider scale with the release of the book and documentary Standing In The Shadows Of Motown. Only two of them are still living: guitarist Joe Messina and percussionist Jack Ashford.

Anyways, the last one, the New Bomb Turks, are a garage punk band of my fellow Clevelanders who assembled in Columbus, OH in the early 90s and accidentally kicked off the garage rock revival of the late 90s and early 00s. Without the album !!Destroy-Oh-Boy!!, there's a good chance you wouldn't know The Hives, The Hellacopters, The Vines, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, The Dandy Warhols, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, and a ton more. It wasn't until I was in high school, around 2000 or so, that I really started getting into punk rock. The Turks parted ways not long after, with their final album coming in 2003. And since I had parents who believed you might fall off the edge of the earth if you go west of Euclid, I never got out to many (any) shows.

Over the next 15 years, NBT would occasionally get together and play a couple shows, do a short tour, play a festival, whatever. None came near me though. The closest was Austin when I was in Wichita Falls, but having close to no disposable income at the time and having to work on weekends, I had to miss it.

So when I found out they were going to open for Rev. Horton Heat in Detroit and Chicago with the Voodoo Glow Skulls (both of whom I saw back in February together in Dallas), I knew I had to try to go. Long story short: we went to both shows, I got an album signed by two members, got one of the drummer's sticks, got called out from the stage by their lead singer in Chicago, and then had him swipe my hat and beat a couple people with it in Detroit. Awesome show, 10/10 would recommend. My only complaint is they did not play Defiled.

So, when you're asking yourself "Who are Eric Davidson, Jim Weber, and Sam Brown?" now you know. I missed having Brown and bassist Matt Reber sign my album, but I'm sure I'll get them eventually.

I also was able to get my grandfather's 12-string guitar from my uncle when we passed through Michigan. I need a new high G string (tee-hee-hee, yeah yeah, laugh it up) since it broke when I tuned it, but aside from that it's good.

NOVEMBER 9
Dave Schultz, c/o Hammer Enterprises, 2/2, 1 month, included fee of $10 per

NOVEMBER 12
Curtis Granderson, c/o Marlins ST, 1/1, 9 months

NOVEMBER 15
Ty Dillon, c/o Germain Racing, 4/4, 6 months
Bobby Knoop, c/o home, 3/3, 6 weeks

NOVEMBER 18
Nick Fotiu, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
Ted Harris, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, also signed protective index card

NOVEMBER 19
Tony Oliva, c/o Twins ST, 1/1, 9 months

NOVEMBER 20
Bobby Hebert, c/o home, 4/4, 1 week, personalized all

NOVEMBER 21
Phil Roberto, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, added signed photo
Eric Nesterenko, c/o home, 3/3, 1 week
Jim Pappin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

NOVEMBER 22
Bob Froese, c/o home, 4/4, 1 week

NOVEMBER 23
Bert Marshall, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 24 - Dallas Card Show
Rocket Ismail, 1/1

NOVEMBER 25
Dave Keon, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks
Ralph Backstrom, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 26
Harry Sinden, c/o home, 1/2, 2 weeks, kept the second card
Don Marshall, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks
Fred Stanfield, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
Alexei Yashin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
John Harrington, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

NOVEMBER 29
Jim Rutherford, c/o team, 3/3, 3 weeks
Jim Schoenfeld, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Grant Mulvey, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Joe Watson, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Steve Janaszak, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, also signed protective index card

NOVEMBER 29 - Voodoo Glow Skulls, New Bomb Turks, Rev. Horton Heat concert
Eric Davidson, 1/1

NOVEMBER 30
Mike Davis, c/o home, 3/3, 2 years
Mark Wells, c/o home, 3/2, 2 weeks, also added signed business card, paid $5 per
Phil Verchota, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Craig Patrick, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks

NOVEMBER 30 - Voodoo Glow Skulls, New Bomb Turks, Rev. Horton Heat concert
Jim Weber, 1/1
Sam Brown, concert-used drum stick

DECEMBER 2
Mike Anderson, c/o home, 4/4, 2 weeks

DECEMBER 3
Jack Ashford, c/o home, 1/1, 2 months

Two-month update

I got a little busy: joined a new band, had the find of a lifetime while sorting which I'll get to at the end, and am preparing for a couple trips later this month. So I'll sneak in this update while I have half a moment.

SEPTEMBER 6
Jaime Jarrin, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week
Carlton Fisk, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks, $40

SEPTEMBER 7
Dick Tracewski, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks
Joe Tait, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

SEPTEMBER 9
Monte Moore, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Dave Lemonds, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Steve Zungul, c/o home, 1/1, 2 months

SEPTEMBER 10
Steve Brye, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks
Enrico Ciccone, c/o Quebec Parliament, 2/2, 1 month
Mark Karpun, c/o home, 1/1, 3 weeks

SEPTEMBER 11
Fred Cambria, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

SEPTEMBER 12
Syd O'Brien, c/o home, 3/3, 1 week

SEPTEMBER 13
Bob Heise, c/o home, 3/3, 1 week

SEPTEMBER 14
Al Spangler, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

SEPTEMBER 17
Denny Matthews, c/o home, 2/2, 3 weeks

SEPTEMBER 19
Booker T. Jones, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks

SEPTEMBER 26
Charlie Hough, c/o home, 4/4, 6 weeks
Bob Gallagher, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks
Mel Behney, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

OCTOBER 1 - Rangers Development Camp
David Garcia 1/1
Josh Jung 1/1
Julio Pablo Partinez 2/4
Jonathan Ornelas 2/4
Leody Taveras 2/4
Cole Winn 4/4

OCTOBER 5 - Rangers Development Camp
Sam Huff 1/1
Josh Jung 1/1
Davis Wendzel 1/1
Cole Winn 2/2
Leody Taveras 1/1
Julio Pablo Martinez 2/2
Jonathan Ornelas 2/2
David Garcia 1/1

OCTOBER 15
Hal Lanier, c/o home, 3/3, 6 months
Mason McReakin, c/o home, 4/2, 1 week, added a signed IC and a note

OCTOBER 22
Gene Clines, c/o home, 1/1, 1 week

OCTOBER 25
Ted Giannoulas, c/o home, 3/2, 2 weeks, added a note

OCTOBER 29
Tony Esposito, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks, $10

NOVEMBER 1
Pete Mahovlich, c/o home, 2/1, 2 weeks, $10, added an extra signed card

So yeah, quite a hodge-podge in there. Three that I paid for, which I rarely do, but I had some spare cash on hand and needed them for sets. Two IP outings. Fifteen new additions to the 1972 Topps project (plus three I bought on eBay). Two for the Topps/OPC Archives hockey set. Two for the MISL project. One for the Fleer Throwback hockey set. And three just for the hell of it. Clines finished the 1971 Topps dual with Cambria, McReakin pitched in the Braves org in 2018 and is a member of the Facebook autograph groups I run, a well-known mascot in Giannoulas (The Chicken!), and Jones is my first music-related success.

So, the new band. We're called The Nothing. Right now I'll likely be splitting time on drums and guitar. I'm most comfortable on drums, but as long as I can stick to rhythm guitar then I'm competent on six strings. We're still looking for a bassist and hopefully a lead guitarist (so that I can be solely on rhythm and the lead singer can stick to just vocals instead of both vocals and rhythm guitar). I do need to get a better guitar amp soon though.

Which brings me to the find of a lifetime.

With the baseball autographing season winding down in September, I figured it was time for a cleanup. It had been a couple years since I had sorted any new additions into my inventory of stuff. I had several boxes of unsorted/barely sorted cards across pretty much every sport, whether purchases, gifts, or stuff I had pulled from inventory and failed to get signed. So to clean up, organize, and just overall make sure I had my shit together so that I didn't forget something when pulling for an outing, I decided to spend a few months sorting. We're in mid-November and I'm almost done-- I just have to finish hockey R-Z and soccer. I'll be done by Thanksgiving.

Anyways, as I was searching and sorting, within the span of about 24 hours I found three BIG cards I didn't know I had, just sitting in boxes: Patrick Mahomes' 2017 Prizm RC, Mike Trout's 2012 Topps Heritage card...

... and the 2018 Topps Ronald Acuna Jr. bat-down photo variation.

I had pulled it from a random pack a while back. I remember even getting it in the pack and just going "Wow, an Acuna RC, cool" since this was not long after my friend Arron pulled the 2018 Pro Debut Acuna auto. I figured okay, maybe this would be a $5-10 card, not knowing about the photo variation. So I just stuck it in a box and forgot about it.

Over the next few months I forgot I had it, but saw a few posts on Facebook groups about the card heating up and going for big money and thinking to myself "Man, I never have pulls like that." So when I pulled it out from this random box, I was hyperventilating and close to shaking-- pretty sure my wife was about to dial 911.

I put it in a sleeve and case and immediately made preparations to run it over to Beckett-- along with the Trout, the Mahomes, my 1989 UD Griffey RC, and an old T-205 gold border tobacco card that my in-laws had given me.  A month later, I picked them up yesterday...

Mahomes: 9 overall with subs of 9.5/9.5/9/8.5 (I knew the centering was bad)
Griffey: 9 overall with subs of 9.5/9.5/9/9
Trout: 9 overall with subs of 9.5/9.5/9/8.5 (somehow the surface got knocked down)
T-205 Tom Downey: 1 overall, no subs, which I expected; I mostly just wanted to protect it in a slab

The Acuna came back as one of the 32 best in the population report. There is one Black Label 10, and 27 regular 10s. There are only four 9.5s that have subs of 10/10/9.5/9.5 including mine.

Considering the range of 9.5s have all gone for $400-600 over the last two months, I'm hoping the two 10 subs and two 9.5 subs will get me $1000. I mean really, you cannot get a better 9.5, and I've only seen two 10s come up for sale, both of which accepted a Best Offer on eBay so I don't know the actual price-- only that they were originally listed at $3000, $2300, and there's one up now at a price of $2350. PSA 10s are going in the $1500 range. I figure a BGS 9.5 with 10/10/9.5/9.5 subs has to be about equivalent to a PSA 10, right?

So, I figure that's how I'll get that new guitar amp.

August report

As they come to a close I noticed 2019 was a vastly slower year for my baseball IP outings. 9 games (plus two just watching) vs. close to 30 last year. Even non-ballgames, this year had the Vegas MISL event, whereas last year had the NFL and NHL drafts, the National, and the NASL event.

Is my career winding down? Do I just need a break? I dunno. Maybe a little of both. I'm 35. This certainly isn't a hobby that's viewed favorably by the masses when done by anyone my age or older, even when done by those of us who aren't in it for a fast buck. I think I'll have a major resurgence once the 2021 Heritage sets come out-- though MLB IP graphing will suck in the Rangers' new ballpark. But 2022 should be a banner year with the 2021 Heritage Minors set and another planned roadtrip to the National. I'll have to hit the TTMs pretty hard for the MLB guys.

Anyways, a recap of the month...

AUGUST 1
Dave Hoggan, c/o home, 5/5, 3 weeks

AUGUST 2
Joe Torre, c/o MLB Offices, 4/4, a year and a half
Von Hayes, c/o home, 1/1, 3 months

AUGUST 17 - DallasCardShow and Kansas City T-Bones at Texas Air Hogs
Tatu, 17/17
Shawn O'Malley, 1/1
Daniel Nava, 3/5
Henry Owens, 3/3
Chris Bando, 6/6

AUGUST 22
Dale Mitchell, c/o home in Canada, 7/7, 5 weeks

AUGUST 24
Tim Wittman, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks

AUGUST 24 - Northwest Arkansas vs. Frisco
Scott Blewitt, 3/4, 1/1
Zach Lovvorn, 2/2
Brady Singer, 1/1
Daniel Tillo, 3/3
Blake Perkins, 4/4
Khalil Lee, 1/1
Tyler Zuber, 1/1
Doug Henry, 9/9
Gabriel Cancel, 2/2
Abraham Nunez, 3/3
Kevin Merrell, 3/3
Walker Weickel, 3/3
Greg Hibbard, 4/4
Jackson Kowar, 1/1
Leody Taveras, 1/1

AUGUST 26
Bobo Lucic, c/o team in Slovenia, 3/3, 7 weeks

AUGUST 28
Bobby Brown, c/o home, 1/1, 1 week, 3 weeks

AUGUST 29 - KC T-Bones at Texas Air Hogs
Shawn O'Malley, 1/1
Daniel Nava, 3/3
Erik Manoah, 1/1
Carlos Contreras, 5/5
Zech Lemond, 9/9
Chris Bando, 9/9
Henry Owens, 3/3
Brett Eibner, 1/1
Kevin Joseph, 2/2

AUGUST 31
Bill Crook, c/o home, 5/5, 7 weeks

I mailed off several in the last few weeks, with a few more ready to go soon. I'm venturing out into a few musical requests as well this month: custom index cards to Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper (of Booker T and the MGs), as well as Jack Ashford and Joe Messina (the last two living members of the Funk Brothers, Motown's instrumentalists).

Speaking of music, my previous band kicked me out, so I'm in search of a new one.  Also, I built a guitar out of a National Treasures box.

The rest of July

JULY 8
Rich Robertson, c/o home, 1/1, 2 months

JULY 14 - Amarillo at Frisco
Hudson Potts - 7/7
Luis Torrens - 1/2
Owen Miller - 2/2
Jimmy Jones - 4/4
Peter Van Gansen - 1/1
Brad Zunica - 1/1
Ivan Castillo - 1/1
Taylor Kohlwey - 1/1
Lake Bachar - 1/1
Phillip Wellman - 1/1
Rodrigo Orozco - 1/1
Dauris Valdez - 1/1
Nick Margevicius - 2/2
AJ Kennedy - 1/1
Collin Wiles - 5/5
Leody Taveras - 1/1
Tony Sanchez - 2/2
Walker Weickel - 4/4
Charles Leblanc - 1/2
Hunter Pence - 1/3
Jonathan Hernandez - 5/5
Joe Barlow - 1/1
Blake Bass - 1/1
Andretty Cordero - 1/1
Brendon Davis - 1/1
Michael De Leon - 1/1
Demarcus Evans - 1/1
Alex Kowalczyk - 1/1
CD Pelham - 1/1
Tyler Phillips - 1/1

JULY 19
Tim Fedewa, c/o team, 4/3, 6 months, added in another signed card

JULY 24
Bernie James, c/o team, 1/1, 2 weeks

JULY 26 - Tulsa at Frisco
Yadier Alvarez - 2/3
Justin De Fratus - 2/2
Josiah Gray - 1/1
Adam Melhuse - 2/2
Jared Walker - 2/5
Rob Zastryzny - 2/2
Logan Bawcom - 1/3
Connor Wong - 1/3
Jonathan Hernandez - 2/2
Charles LeBlanc - 1/1
Leody Taveras - 1/1
Brock Burke - 3/3
Tony Sanchez - 1/1
Jake Lemoine - 3/3
James Jones - 2/4
Wade Lamont - 2/2
Michael De Leon - 1/1

JULY 27 - Arkansas at Frisco
Evan White - 1/2
Luis Liberato - 2/2
Aaron Knapp - 3/3
Wyatt Mills - 3/3
Logan Gilbert - 2/2
Joe Odom - 1/1
Kyle Lewis - 1/1
Isiah Kiner-Falefa - 2/3
Greg Hibbard - 3/3

A (mostly) IP report

Glad I got the May-to-mid-June one out of the way, so I can just knock out the end of the month through this past week.

JUNE 20
Jim Evans, c/o home, 1/1, 2 months

JUNE 24
Mark Eaton, c/o home, 4/4, 6 months

JUNE 30 - Midland at Frisco
Bobby Crosby 4/4
Zack Erwin 6/6
Logan Verrett 5/5
James Jones 3/3
LeDarious Clark 1/1
DeMarcus Evans 1/1
Tony Sanchez 2/3
Grant Holmes 2/2
Daulton Jefferies 6/6
Taylor Motter 2/2
Mikey White 6/6
Kevin Merrill 3/3
Leody Taveras 1/1

JULY 2 - MISL40, Day 1
Brad Smith, 3/3
Dave MacKenzie, 9/9
Alan Mayer, 8/8
Juli Veee, 10/10
Godfrey Ingram, 19/19
Gordon Jago, 4/4
Perry Van der Beck, 9/9
Gerry Gray, 7/7
Zoltan Toth, 16/16
Nick Megaloudis, 1/1
Guy Newman, 1/1
Norman Piper, 1/1
Dave D'Errico, 1/1

JULY 3 - MISL40, Day 2
Gus Mokalis, 8/8
Jim Sinclair, 1/1
Len Bilous, 1/1
Kai Haaskivi, 26/26
Doc Lawson, 16/16

For more on the MISL40 event, check out my entry on it on my Pacific Soccer Autograph Project blog.

Late June Recap

I was going to do the latter half of May and all of June in one post, but I'll be out of town at the time when I'd be putting that together.  So, here's one for the last month-ish.

MAY 13
Ron Bryant, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks
Dennis Higgins, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks
Ken Sanders, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks
Jerry Bell, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks

MAY 16
Gary Pettis, c/o team, 4/4, 3 weeks

MAY 21
Daniel Suarez, c/o team, 4/4, 3 months

MAY 24
Denny Doyle, c/o home, 1/1, 1 month

MAY 28
Brendan Gaughan, c/o home, 3/3, 5 months

JUNE 8
Martin Truex Jr., c/o team, 1/1, 4 months

JUNE 10
Heinz Wirtz, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

JUNE 15 - Northwest Arkansas Naturals at Frisco Roughriders
Abraham Nunez, 3/6
Taylor Featherston, 2/4
Gabriel Cancel, 2/2
Travis Jones, 1/1
Nelson Liriano, 5/6
Brady Singer, 1/2
Khalil Lee, 1/2
Doug Henry, 8/8
Andres Sotillet, 1/1
Andrew Beckwith, 1/1
Anderson Miller, 2/3
Meibrys Viloria, 2/2
Preston Beck, 2/2
James Jones, 6/6
Jonathan Hernandez, 6/6
Michael De Leon, 2/2
Christian Lopes, 1/3
Tony Sanchez, 2/3
Juremi Profar, 1/1
Joe Barlow, 1/1 (I'm an idiot; I thought he was Joe Palumbo so it's on Palumbo's game program...)

JUNE 17
Ryan Newman, c/o team, 4/4, 4 months
Tyler Reddick, c/o team, 3/3, 6 weeks

So as the link above says, I'll be in Vegas for a MISL 40th Anniversary Reunion event. I might try to do the Aviators-Aces game while I'm there, but likely will have to miss that-- the only games while I'm there are at the same time as major reunion weekend events. I will be going out to Frisco again on June 30 though. Got Midland coming to town again and a pair of Bobby Crosby jersey cards that need a sig on them.

Hmm... Las Vegas and the MISL... think former Cincinnati Kids co-owner Pete Rose might be there?

April to Mid-May Recap

Going to have some busy weekends the rest of the month, so my high hopes for a lot of IP in Frisco are kind of dashed until June.  Plus the TTMing has slowed a bit-- most of my stamp budget has gone to buying guitar pedals. On the positive side, I have a very full pedal board now, though I still have a few I'd like to add.

APRIL 5
Kyle Larsen, c/o team, 4/4, 2 months

APRIL 7 - Midland at Frisco
Jake Lemoine, 3/3
Bobby Crosby, 5/7
Greg Deichmann, 1/3
Zack Erwin, 4/4
Tommy Everidge, 5/5
Jonah Heim, 4/4
Kevin Merrell, 4/4
Logan Verrett, 2/2
Trey McNutt, 4/4
Mikey White, 9/9

APRIL 20
Lance Lynn, c/o Rangers ST, 1/1, 3 months
Brad Keselowski, c/o team, 2/2, 2 months

APRIL 22
Chad Little, c/o home, 5/5, 2 months - envelope was RTSed (postmarked March 30)

MAY 2
Joe Mullen, c/o home, 1/3, 1 year and 1 month - returned two unsigned

MAY 6
Ken Aspromonte, c/o home, 2/1, 1 week - added a signed photo

MAY 8
Will Middlebrooks, c/o home, 2/3, 1 week - kept 2013 72-mini insert

MAY 11
Bob Reynolds, c/o home, 1/1, 1 week
Bruce Froemming, c/o home, 1/1, 1 week
Ken Schrader, c/o home, 4/4, 3 months
Christopher Bell, c/o team, 3/3, 4 months

Looks like I have another 3 coming in today per USPS Informed Delivery. My guesses based on postmarks: Jerry Bell, Ron Bryant, and Dennis Higgins.

February 2019 Update

A fairly light month, as the winter usually is...

FEBRUARY 5
Geoff Bodine, c/o home, 3/4, 1 week, returned one unsigned

FEBRUARY 7
Bobby Hillin Jr., c/o T-Rex Engineering, 4/4, 1 week

FEBRUARY 8
Phil Parsons, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks

FEBRUARY 11
John Wall, c/o Washington Wizards, 1/1, 2 months, personalized

FEBRUARY 20
Landon Cassill, c/o team, 4/4, 3 weeks

FEBRUARY 24 - College Baseball IP
Mike Pelfrey - 8/8
Andy Stankiewicz - 0/6 ("I really can't, I gotta go stretch with the guys")

FEBRUARY 25
Matt Williams, c/o Oakland A's, 4/4, 1 week

FEBRUARY 28
David Ragan, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks
Ross Chastain, c/o team, 3/3, 2 weeks

January 2019, and a lesson learned

My mailing is a little slower right now: I bought a nice size batch of stamps back in December and have been creeping my way through them. So my stamp budget has gone toward buying new guitar pedals.

And with the Sidekicks' alumni game being moved to April, the in-person outings are rare as well.

My lone in-person outing led to me violating my own Rule #1 Of Collecting-- always be prepared.  But I'll get to that in a moment. For now, the usual recap...

January 2
Mickey Stanley, c/o home, 3/3, 4 months

January 5
Al Worthington, c/o home, 4/2, 3 weeks, added two signed photos and an extra signed card, kept my CIC
Harry Gant, c/o home, 4/4, 3 weeks

January 9
BJ Surhoff, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month
Ned Jarrett, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks

January 10
Manny Trillo, c/o home, 4/4, 2 years
Lenny Wilkens, c/o home, 3/3, 1 month

January 11
Chris Ford, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month
Bobby Allison, c/o home, 5/3, 3 weeks, added a signed card and a signed photo

January 12
Chase Elliott, c/o home, 3/4, 3 weeks, returned one unsigned
Bill Elliott, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks

January 22
Jimmy Britton, c/o home, 1/1, 3 months
Larry Nance, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month
Robert Parish, c/o home, 4/4, 1 month
Bobby Labonte, c/o home, 3/3, 1 month
Hailie Deegan, c/o team, 2/2, 1 month

January 27 - Rangers Winter Caravan in Irving
Adrian Sampson, 2/2 (one for Chris)
Lance Lynn, 2/2, 3/3

January 31
Terry Steinbach, c/o home, 1/1, 5 months, paid $2 fee for his scholarship fund

So. Lance Lynn.

I got my stuff together and Chris came over and we rode over to T-Mobile together. As we get there he mentions that he's in the Archives '72 design. Which is a set I'm working on. Which I forgot he's in.

Shit.

So, if someone out there has that card signed I'd gladly trade for it. I did fire off a TTM request to him at Rangers Spring Training, but I'm not too hopeful. He hasn't TTMed since 2016, but maybe joining a new team will make him pick up the pen, at least early on. I mailed quickly since I overheard him telling someone that he was heading out to Arizona later that day. Our resident local Cardinals fan says Lynn was never a good signer at the ballpark, so it may be my best chance. Positive note, he's on a three-year contract, so maybe he'll do a Caravan next year too.

Again, Rule #1 Of Collecting-- always be prepared. LFMF.

The streak ends... begins... and ends again.

Well, it was good while it lasted.

25 mail delivery days in a row with at least one autograph success-- September 13 through October 12 (30 days total minus four Sundays and Columbus Day).

My follow-up streak ended at one in a row as USPS has nothing on my Informed Delivery today.

September 28
Ray Rippelmeyer, c/o home, 3/2, 1 week, wrote a note back
Lee Thomas, c/o home, 2/2, 1 week

September 29
Jerry McNertney, c/o home, 2/2, 3 weeks

October 1
John Castino, c/o home, 5/5, 3 weeks
Jim Rooker, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks
Dave Marshall, c/o home, 3/3, 3 weeks

October 2
Don Sutton, c/o home, 1/1, 1 month, $5

October 3
Lee Richard, c/o home, 3/2, 2 weeks, added signed notecard
Ray Culp, c/o home, 1/1, 1 week

October 4
Tony Oliva, c/o Twins Spring Training, 1/2, 8 months, kept one, but gave good signature
Cookie Rojas, c/o home, 3/4, 3 weeks, sent one back unsigned
Ron Swoboda, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks, $5 each
Sparky Lyle, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks, $5
Rick Kester, c/o home, 2/1, 1 week, wrote note back

October 4 - Stars Opening Night Green Carpet
Alexander Radulov, 1/1

October 5
Brent Strom, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

October 6
Bobby Floyd, c/o home, 3/3, 2 weeks

October 9
Greg McMichael, c/o home, 4/4, 6 months

October 10
Ron Stone, c/o home, 2/2, 3 weeks
John Odom, c/o home, 2/2, 2 weeks, $5 each

October 11
Ken Tatum, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

October 12
Darrell Waltrip, c/o home, 3/3, 1 year
Buddy Bradford, c/o home, 1/1, 2 weeks

October 15
Mike Cosgrove, c/o home, 3/3, 1 month
Eddie Fisher, c/o home, 2/2, 1 month

I got Radulov finally, but had to skip my potential outing for the Anahim Ducks this past weekend due to rain. Hoping it all finally lets up by this weekend for the Frisco NASL event.

End of baseball 'graphing season

Possibly, at least. I have a couple more I might do, but they're unlikely. Palmeiro comes once more, and there's one more Frisco series. If anything, I'm more likely to consider trying an Oklahoma City game or two.

IP August 19 - Lincoln Saltdogs at Texas Airhogs
Dan Johnson - 3/6, 4/6 (7/9 total)

IP August 25 - Midland Rockhounds at Frisco Roughriders
Richie Martin - 1/2, 1/2
Jonah Heim - 4/4
Skye Bolt - 8/8
Tommy Everidge - 6/6
Kyle Finnegan - 1/1
Logan Shore - 2/8
Juremi Profar - 2/2
Josh Morgan - 8/8
Wei-Chieh Huang - 1/1
Taylor Hearn - 1/1

IP August 26 - California vs. Texas States Play
Luis Alicea - 7/7
Andy Stankiewicz - 3/3
Jerry Manuel - 2/2
Darren Oliver - 4/4
Gerald Laird - 4/4
Tom Gordon - 8/8
Homer Bush - 3/3

Quick update before I forget...

I'm actually going to try to stay on top of things. Sort of.

TTM July 31
John Kruk, c/o Phillies, 2/2, 1 year

TTM August 13
Jose Canseco, c/o home, 2/2, 5 months

IP August 15 - Cleburne Railroaders at Texas AirHogs
Rafael Palmeiro, 1/4, 3/3
Angelo Gumbs, 2/2

I have one more Grand Prairie outing and one more Frisco outing all coming up. I just need one autograph in that time to hit 200 for my third straight month, and four more to hit 700 across June-July-August.

We'll be seeing the Lincoln Saltdogs on Sunday in Grand Prairie (Dan Johnson, Shairon Martis, Dan Reichert, Joe Bircher, Curt Smith, and Brandon Jacobs all have cards), and I'll be headed out to Frisco next weekend for the Midland Rockhounds. Both teams' seasons are done on September 3 unless Frisco can overcome a 4.5 game deficit in the final two weeks.

The National: Final

Whew. We had a busy few days after my return (had a good friend stay with us one night, band practice Saturday), I finally had a moment today to photograph almost everything. Not pictured: Set cards, items I got signed for others, and the 100+ hockey sig lot I picked up for Lee Alexander.

FINAL TOTALS

Miles driven: 3,358
States visited: Fourteen
Games attended: Twelve
Autographs obtained, whether in-person, trade, purchased, or pulled from a pack: 574

A gigantic rundown-- and this doesn't include signed photos or the unsigned items I snagged...

Preview: A Q&A on what's to come

Days One and Two: Birmingham and Lexington

Days Three and Four: Charleston and Columbus

Days Five and Six: Lake County and The National

Days Seven through Ten: NSCC, Akron, Lake Cty., Cleveland, and Ft. Wayne

Day Eleven: Cedar Rapids and Des Moines

Days Twelve and Thirteen: Des Moines and Kansas City

The National Trip: Days 12 and 13

I'm back in Arlington, having survived the week. Got about half the car unloaded.  I'll probably have a full recap next week.

DAY 12

START TIME: 9:30 am Central
STARTING CITY: Des Moines, IA
STOPPING POINT: Kansas City, MO and Wichita, KS
STATES VISITED: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 400
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 2,932

Fortunately this game was much more calm than the previous. Not much to talk about, so we'll roll through it fast.

Arron and I got in a little before 11 and caught the 51s doing a bullpen session. Ian Krol signed 2/2, PJ Conlon 1/6, and Buddy Baumann 4/4.

At the other side, we got hitting coach Joel Chimelis coming in, signing 2/2, and Peter Alonso who signed the lone card I had left on him.

For Iowa, Chris Valaika signed 3/4, starting pitcher Jen-Ho Tseng signed 1/1, and Trevor Clifton signed 3/3.  I only missed Taylor Davis on the trio of Rookie Stars from the 2018 Topps Heritage set-- I might be able to get him in Iowa at some point. Ironically, I had heard he was the easiest to get of the three!  Also got to meet up with Josh Middleton of some of the Facebook autograph groups.

Food was excellent as well-- we went to Zombie Burger in downtown Des Moines, and hit Gates BBQ in Independence, where I was able to finish off a trade I made with Brian Reser for some soccer and baseball autos, plus some old IHL and CHL media guides.

RUNNING TOTAL: 343 autographs

* * * * * * * * * *

DAY 13

START TIME: 10 am Central
STARTING CITY: Wichita, KS
STOPPING POINT: Wichita Falls and Arlington, TX
STATES VISITED: Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 426
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 3,358

We drove. That's all I got.

I'll have more next week, like I said. Give me a day or five to relax and get everything sorted and organized.

The National Trip: Day 11

DAY 11

START TIME: 10 am Central
STARTING CITY: Cedar Rapids, IA
STOPPING POINT: Des Moines, IA
STATES VISITED: Iowa
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 128
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 2,532

Sometimes I seriously hate people. Especially those with a New York Inferiority Complex™. But we'll get to that in a moment.

The day started out just fine. Or at least comparatively well compared to later. I was hoping to see the first house I ever lived in, but it was about a 30 minute drive to get there, then probably another 20 back to the ballpark, so we skipped that. We got to the stadium in Cedar Rapids, met up with Larry from the Facebook groups... and it starts raining. Just soft enough that it wouldn't cancel the game, just hard enough to make it hell on us graphing. Down next to the Beloit dugout, I was at least able to get Nick Allen and Webster Garrison each on 1/1.  After his pitcher warmed up, Don Schulze came over and signed 8/8.  Up on the concourse, the Kernels had a couple of players signing, so I got Randy Dobnak and Andrew Bechtold each on a card, along with Tyler Watson who was charting.

Funny thing about Watson, we went and asked him to sign just before the national anthem, and he said he'd sign after. I thought he meant after the game, so we sat back down. Turns out he just meant after the anthem, and actually walked over to our section and signed. I've never seen that before.

By the end of the game, the rain had cleared off so we went out to the bus out back and hoped for the best.  The tough part about 'graphing outside is you have no jersey numbers to help you out. So you have to figure out heights, weights, and distinguishing features to have any hope. We did alright though: Cibney Bello, Toby Gardenhire, and Trey Cabbage each signed 1/1 and Bailey Ober 2/2 from Cedar Rapids. For Beloit, Austin Beck signed 1/2, and Lazaro Armenteros signed 3/5.

We didn't see Akil Baddoo, and missed Blayne Enlow, but Larry offered to help us out with Baddoo.

From there, it was a two-hour drive to Des Moines, and we arrived only 15 minutes after gates opened. Las Vegas was finishing up batting practice, but we weren't able to get anyone just yet.  Having zero luck early on the Iowa side, we went over to try the Vegas side and at least got Patrick Kivlehan on 4/4 and Bryce Brentz on 3/3-- putting me past my stated goal of 300 for the trip.

And this is when my trouble began.

Arron and I are down doing our thing, minding our own business, chatting with a couple other 'graphers when over comes this guy in an Iowa Hawkeyes shirt, 51s hat, and beard and glasses that make him look like some hipster candyass.

"SO, WHICH OF YOU ARE VEGAS FANS? METS FANS? THEN YOU NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW."

Clearly I don't take well to that, so I just look and scoff at his arrogant douchebaggery. So he doubles down...

"YOU A METS FAN? I DON'T SEE IT ON YOUR HAT. YOU'RE SOME BANDWAGON CUBS FAN AREN'T YOU?"

Oh. Hell. No. I don't bandwagon anything, much less the Cubs. So I told him to go sit back down. Repeatedly

"SO, WHAT, YOU'RE HERE TO GET THESE AND SELL THEM, AREN'T YOU?"

I told him yeah, exactly, I'm that desperate for a dollar. Sarcasm clearly doesn't go over well with him. Meanwhile Jeremy Accardo came over and signed 2/2, followed by Dominic Smith on 1/2. So Mets Fan Cockwagon goes and sits back down for a bit, telling everyone around that I'm a dealer. On my way back out of the section, I called him out for the fact that it's amazing that this "bandwagon Cubs fan" knew all of his team's players better than he did.

By the way, this dude was getting a computer-printed team logo sheet signed... and didn't even fit it onto a single page.

So he strikes back at me-- of course-- this time loudly dropping F-Bombs that are echoing throughout a couple of sections, with a kid right next to him. When I pointed that out he expressed the fact that he "didn't give a fuck" who was around. Meanwhile one of the other decent 'graphers notified security, who... did absolutely nothing except check his ticket and tell him to tone it back. I was hoping he'd be escorted out and I probably would try to needle him into punching me on the way by.

Even two Mets fans at the top of the section were on my wide in the whole thing seeing it all go down. Most Mets fans I know are decent people. No idea why this guy was looking for a fight or why he went after me for it, but as the former penalty minute leader of a few floorball leagues, I think most people I know are well aware I don't back down from an altercation if I'm in the right. And every witness agreed that I was.

Postgame went better. One of the 'graphers who saw it all go down said "Geez, you're really getting it tonight, aren't you?" He said he had never seen that guy before, so he wasn't remotely representative of the Des Moines 'graphers. Over at the bullpen, I got Casey Coleman on 2/2 and as the teams left the field it was Peter Alonso on 2/3 and Glenn Abbott on 3/3 as he was heading off the field.  Closer to the dugout I added Ryan Court on 1/1.

Outside it was too dark to see at the Vegas doors, so we went for the Cubs side. I got Chesny Young on 1/1, Dillon Maples on 1/2, Cory Mazzoni on 2/2, Kyle Ryan on 2/2, James Norwood on 1/2, and Rob Zastryzny on 1/4. The coaches came out last, as Marty Pevey signed 1/1 and Desi Wilson 3/3.  Or at least we thought they were last:  Stephen Bruno was close behind, signing 2/2.

So, despite the near-throwdown with some total asshat, it was good. Day 12 will consist of hopefully more of the same, but with different names and hopefully no throwing of hands.

RUNNING TOTAL: 326 autographs

The National Trip: Days 7, 8, 9, and 10

Time has just been incredibly limited, sleep is at a premium, and my brain is melting.   So please forgive my lateness. Caffeine is my friend.

DAY 7

START TIME: 8 am Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Westlake, Cleveland, Akron, and Macedonia, OH
STATES VISITED: Ohio
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 164
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 1,812

The first full day of the National saw Arron handling the 'graphing while I went searching the tables.  Signers were Isaac Curtis, Ross Browner, Len Barker, and Tom Cousineau.  At the tables, I mistly spent my time at a $1 autographs booth, where I managed to pull over 100-- mostly for Lee, with a few for me. I also grabbed a few 1972 Topps set needs, and a few random cards to TTM.  I also got to spend the show with my dad.

Meanwhile in the evening, it was down to Akron for the RubberDucks game against the Bowie Baysox.  We went for Akron inside, and they were excellent. We never say Triston McKenzie, but signers for us included Rob Kaminsky on 2/4, Mitch Brown on 4/4, James Karinchak on 1/1 (finishing my Lake County No-Hitter card), Kieran Lovegrove on 1/1, Matt Whitehouse on 2/2, Logan Ice on 2/2, Sam Haggerty on 1/1, Mark Mathias on 4/4, Joe Sever on 2/2, Tyler Krieger on 2/2, and Ka'ai Tom on 2/3. Inside postgame we got Dillon Tate, who was charting. He signed 2/2.

Postgame we went to the Bowie bus. Before a group of overzealous, rude, and demanding kids ruined it, we got Brian Gonzalez on 2/2, Ryan Mountcastle on 1/4, Yusniel Diaz on 1/1 (he's now one-per), and D'Arby Myers on 2/2.

Side note, apparently a dealer had his inventory confiscated and was taken into custody by the Cleveland Police's Financial Crimes unit over selling alleged forgeries. Apparently his forgeries have been known to the hobby for AT LEAST five years too (check the latter link and you'll see a poster at Net54 calling Posada's company My Favorite Forgeries). Keep on busting the big fish-- it helps to keep the petty scammers like like Andrew Miller from getting too comfortable.

RUNNING TOTAL: 197 autographs

* * * * * * * * * *

DAY 8

START TIME: 9 am Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Cleveland, Eastlake, and Macedonia, OH
STATES VISITED: Ohio
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 88
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 1,736

Friday put me back into the autograph lines for Charles White, Steve DeBerg, Livan Hernandez, and Rico Petrocelli. Petrocelli was a non-ticketed signing (yay!) limited to one item per person (boo...). So given the option of my 11x14 photo, 1972 Topps set card, or 1965 rookie card that I procured for a dime the day before, I went with the photo. He signs by mail for $5, I could knock out the other two next week if I really want to (and I do).  White got started late, talked a lot, and people randomly jumped into his line so it took forever.  I was able to get through DeBerg's line while I was waiting and not lose much time (two for me, two for Arron, and one for another friend we were helping out).  Finally I got through and got a total of ten items signed by the former Heisman winner-- six for me, four for Arron.  Hernandez's start time got moved up which I didn't notice, but I was able to get to him quickly even though he started while I was still in White's line. Knocked out six items there-- two for me, two for Arron, two for another friend. Hernandez was on his phone the whole time, but did respond at least when I thanked him.

With the All-Access Super VIP package, we got five free authentications, so I used one each on White and Hernandez.  We never ended up using the other three at all. Mostly since I didn't think to do it.

It was a lighter day at the tables for me-- a small amount spent at a random 12 for $10 autograph table, but not much else.  I wanted to be able to have a total bonanza the final day.

That night, it was off to Lake County.  We got the Captains again pregame on a few cards that we had left over from the team set-- coach Kyle Hudson on 3/3, Felix Tati, Ulysses Cantu, Todd Isaacs, and Juan Acevedo each signed 1/1, and Will Benson did 1/2.  I also got Bowling Green coach Manny Castillo to sign 5/5 and shortstop Taylor Walls on 1/1.  Postgame I got Mikey York on 2/2, and Will Benson on my last card.

RUNNING TOTAL: 225 autographs

* * * * * * * * * *

DAY 9

START TIME: 10 am Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Cleveland and Macedonia, OH
STATES VISITED: Ohio
RAPID TRANSIT LINES USED: Red from Brookpark to Tower City and back
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 60
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 1,796

Arron handled the lines the final day as I hit the tables.  I went back to the 12 for $10 autographs and bought a bunch from that box as well as a $5 box that had several set needs for 1972.  I also grabbed a ton of Dave Stieb in the first box-- I'll gladly grab everything for $1 from a guy who charges $10 to sign!  I also snagged a bunch of non-personalized Doug Drabek and Cecil Cooper sigs.  Gotta love having trade bait on the cheap.

Over in the autograph lines, Arron got Randy Jones, Gregg Jefferies, Jose Rijo, and Marty Cordova.  Marty's pen slipped a bit on my photo, but it still looks alright.  So from this, I added three from Jones, one Jefferies, one Rijo, and three Cordova.

We kept the graphing light since we were close to dead at this point.  Pregame, the Indian had Jim Poole and Eric Plunk signing in the center field plaza, and each did a card for me.  I wish I had known they would be there: I have tons on them at home, and had to quickly scan through some cards my dad found at his place (found a 1992 Topps on each for Arron) and open up the 1991 Score factory set I got for $2 on Thursday (found both for myself).  Corey Kluber looked like his Cy Young self, pitching a complete game shutout. Exactly four years to the day was my last game at The Jake, where I saw Kluber go seven, allowing one run in a 7-1 win over Cincinnati.

RUNNING TOTAL: 235 autographs

* * * * * * * * * *

DAY 10

START TIME: 9 am Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Fort Wayne, IN and Cedar Rapids, IA
STATES VISITED: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 608
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 2,404

Sometimes you just get on a roll and want to knock out an entire drive.  So we went all the way to Cedar Rapids after the Fort Wayne game.

My friend Shawn texted me updates as he helped us out getting the last day's signers-- Tommy Helms, Benito Santiago, Tom Browning, Joe Charbonneau, and Billy Sims.  From those, he got ten for me (three from Helms, two each from Sims, Santiago, and Charbonneau, and one from Browning) and several for Arron.

Meanwhile in Fort Wayne, I got the two Lansing players I had items for before the game-- five from former outfielder (now coach) Matt Young, and two from former shortstop (now pitcher) Emerson Jimenez.  The Tincaps were in no mood to sign before the game since they had an on-field signing session postgame.  So at that, we immediately went for MacKenzie Gore who signed 1/2.  The only ones signing multiples were Austin Smith on 2/2 and Mason Thompson on 3/3.  Granted, I only had one card on most of these guys-- each signing 1/1 were Caleb Boushley, Tom Cosgrove, Osvaldo Hernandez, Aaron Leasher, Evan Miller, Luis Patino, Ben Sheckler, Jalen Washington, Juan Fernandez, Esteury Ruiz, Tirso Ornelas, Jeisson Rosario, and Jack Suwinski. I had two of Luis Almanzar, but he only signed one.

RUNNING TOTAL: 272 autographs

So, my goal of 300 is in reach if this rain holds off. We got into Cedar Rapids at about 1 am after our second longest day of driving to this point. It rained overnight and looks pretty cloudy this morning.  At the very least, I need to buy a hat. I was born in Cedar Rapids but we left when I was about a year and a half old to move to Ohio. I went back for a week in 1990, but haven't been here since.  Back when my family lived here, they were still the Cedar Rapids Reds.  My parents saw the likes of Eric Davis, Paul O'Neill, Rob Murphy, Ron Robinson, Terry Lee, Kal Daniels, Chris Sabo, Kurt Stillwell, Lenny Harris, and Joe Oliver come through before they made it in Cincinnati.  Now the Kernels, I need to get a hat to go with the ones I bought for the Indians, RubberDucks, and Captains on the trip.

We'll be heading onward to Des Moines later as well for the Iowa Cubs vs. Las Vegas 51s. Thinking we likely will skip the Royals-Cubs game, and may pull double duty on the Cubs-51s since they play at noon tomorrow as well, and we'll be right there in Des Moines already.

The National Trip, Days 5 and 6

DAY 5

START TIME: 9 am Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Eastlake, OH, and Macedonia, OH
STATES VISITED: Ohio
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 53
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 1,648

Usually I like rain. And then it affects graphing.

We took off under cloudy skies to head up to the Great Lakes vs. Lake County game.  We stayed dry early-- inside the ballpark I got Juan Hillman on six cards, pitching coach Joe Torres on four, Oscar Gonzalez, Jose Vicente, and Tyler Friis each on one, three from Jonathan Laureano, and two from Francisco Perez.

And then the rains came.  The game did finish just fine, but it was just enough to make us not want to go for anyone postgame. And since the weather looked questionable for the afternoon and evening, we figured it was a good day to cancel the trip out to Toledo.

So, our first double will be delayed until we hit Iowa next week.  On the positive side, the rest was much-needed.

RUNNING TOTAL: 155 autographs


DAY 6

START TIME: 12 noon Eastern
STARTING CITY: Macedonia, OH
STOPPING POINT: Brookpark, OH, and Macedonia, OH
STATES VISITED: Ohio
MILES DRIVEN TODAY: 58
MILES DRIVEN TOTAL: 1,706

Despite having to scramble a bit when I realized that my computer clock is still in Central time, we got to the National on time and got all the signers.  We went for Luis Tiant first since his line was a mile long. Mike Hargrove came second, Calvin Murphy third.  Then the regularly scheduled signers of Eric Metcalf and Ickey Woods did their thing, and all was good.

Pretty simple really. Short entries for short days. But be prepared: it all hits the fan with a full day of the National and a return to 'graphing in Akron.

RUNNING TOTAL: 160 autographs