Cookie Rojas, Joe Margoneri and Chuck Essegian TTM Returns

I forgot to update my returns from Tuesday, and didn't receive any yesterday.

I had missed out on sending to Joe Margoneri up to this point because he only has a 1957 Topps and I usually don't send those out.  They are one of my least favorite cards because the colors are so horrible.  But I am happy to add 95-year-old Mr. Margoneri to my collection.

I sent Cookie Rojas (who is "only" 86) 8 cards and a blue Staedtler along with his fee and he signed them all very nicely.  These may be the nicest signatures I've received from him over the years.

And today I received a couple cards from 93-year-old Chuck Essegian.

I am sending out three requests with pens today, including Camilo Pascual, Bob Skinner and Ted Kazanski.  All three are over 90 years old.  I focus on these "vintage" players in my collection, and I can see the end of the road coming soon as we continue to lose some of these guys.

Brad Radke Mail-In Signing Return

Former-Twins' workhorse Brad Radke was elected to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2009.  One of the bobbleheads commemorates that but wasn't produced until 2020.  I also sent in a Season Ticket Holder red base version from 2007.  (The green base version was a stadium giveaway in 2006).

I also just realized he has another Season Ticket Holder red base bobblehead from 2004.  I probably would have sent one of those in as well, but I overlooked it.  Next time, I guess.

I also sent in his 2004 and 2005 Topps Heritage cards.

I was a little surprised to see Radke get into the Twins Hall of Fame.  I have nothing personal against him, but I thought he was pretty mediocre.  It seemed that whenever I watched his pitched, he gave up runs early in the game and we were always trying to come from behind.

In his 12-year career, all with the Twins, he had one All Star Appearance in 1998.  His best year was probably 1997, with a 20-10 record and a 3.87 ERA.

In his first two seasons, he led the league in home runs allowed.  He led the league in losses in 2000 with 16.  He ended his career with a 148-139 record and a 4.22 ERA.  He did pitch a lot of innings though.  In his 12 seasons, he pitched over 200 innings in nine of them.

Maybe I'm missing something, but he just didn't seem that outstanding to me.  I'd be happy to be convinced otherwise.  Any opinions out there?

Juan Marichal TTM Return

Juan Marichal is in my normal rotation of ttm requests, along with Bill Mazeroski and Vern Law.  Cepeda was included in my rotation before he passed away.

These guys are reliable signers and have a lot of great cards, both vintage and new.  They have reasonable fees, especially considering the quality of the careers they had, and (usually) use appropriate pens and sign your items in good locations.

But you can't be too careful :-), which is why I decided to enclose a blue sharpie with this request to Juan Marichal.  I don't think he's ever used anything other than blue when signing for me, but since I was sending a Hall of Fame postcard, which has a glossy finish, and a 1962 Post in decent condition, which cost over $60, I didn't want to take any chances.  Also, he charges $20 per card now, which isn't unreasonable, but it's not low enough that I wouldn't be disappointed if it came back signed in black.

I also included a 1963 Post with this request, which isn't as expensive as the 62, but still a $20+ card.  The Post cards are really hard to find in decent shape.  Presumably it was mostly kids that cut them out of the cereal boxes, and they did a terrible job.  Crooked lines, cut marks into the card and wonky corners are common.

To be fair, Post didn't do a good job of leaving any space between the cards, so if you wanted a decent border on one card, you had to sacrifice the card next to it.  Panels in good shape are ridiculously expensive and pretty uncommon.

Anyway, enough of my weak justification for spending too much on this hobby.  Fortunately, he used the sharpie I sent, or a similar pen, and signed in the location I requested as well.  Thank you, Mr. Marichal!  

He also returned the pen along with my cards, which I said wasn't necessary in my letter and requested that he keep the pen.  This helps avoid any incident that could occur if the pen were to break or leak somehow, ruining my cards and who knows what else along the way.

Camilo Pascual Return

I don't know why Camilo Pascual doesn't get more credit.  He was a pretty dominate pitcher in his day.  As good as he was, maybe he weas still overshadowed by other pitchers, like Koufax.

He led the American League in complete games in 1959 (17), 1962 (18) and 1963 (18).  Last year, there were 28 complete games in both leagues combined!  He also led the league with complete game shutouts in 1959 (6), 1962 (8) and 1963 (5).  He led the American League in strikeouts in 1961 (221), 1962 (206) and 1963 (202).  

His career ERA was 3.63, which doesn't sound super impressive, but I'm not sure what was good for the 1950's and 60's.

Anyway, he signs for $10 per card or photo.  His fees aren't specific for other items, but $20 seems to be adequate for baseballs and magazines, in my experience.

I decided to fill some gaps in his Topps run in my collection and also found some Venezuelan cards on eBay.  I also started on a new 1966 Topps Twins team card, since my original one appears to be lost after sending it to Al Worthington.  

I just did a quick inventory of my Pascual-signed Topps cards, and I've got all of the regular issue cards, including All Star and Leaders cards, except one:  a 1964 Topps A.L. Pitching Leaders card (wins) along with Whitey Ford and Jim Bouton.  I ordered an unsigned one from eBay and will include it in my next request.

That would have been a nice card to get completed by all three and wouldn't have been hard.  Ford's fee was about $40 or $50 when he passed away, but years earlier I was paying just $25.

I just sent Mr. Worthington another request, mentioning my previous request in my letter and asking if perhaps my cards got separated from my sase, or my request got misplaced at his home and if so, could he please send them back along with this new request.  It's a Hail Mary, and I'd be super happy just to get the 1966 team card back.  

There was also a 1967 Twins team card in my earlier request, along with two of his regular cards.  The 1967 team card already had 8 signatures on it, but none that I can't try to get again.  The 1967 team card itself is cheap.  I think I paid less than $3 shipped on eBay.

The 1966 team card, however, is quite expensive. It's a high number card, and it commemorates the 1965 World Series team.  I paid $38 for the first one that now appears to be lost, and nearly $60 for this one!  Also, the lost one had Rich Rollins' signature on it, who passed away recently.

My missing cards:

I know, I know, don't send anything in the mail you can't afford to lose.  People need to stop saying that.  It's obvious, and basically means, "I don't care that you lost your stuff."  Worthington has a 94% success rate on SCN, so it seemed like a safe bet, but I know there's always a risk.

Pete Cimino was the last player to sign those team cards.  His 1966 Topps rookie card, who he shares with Cesar Tovar, is also an expensive card.  I paid over $40 for the one I had him sign.

My uncontrollable urge to get all the Twins cards signed from each year is getting pretty expensive.

Yesterday I mailed out a bunch of Grand Slam portraits that I mentioned a couple days ago.  Several to paid signings, and a couple to ttm signers.  It'll be a couple weeks before I get any back, probably, but I'll try to keep sending out more in the meanwhile.

Bill Mazeroski Return - 1960 Pirates Yearbook and a Couple Cards

Bill Mazeroski did a nice job signing a 1960 Pirates yearbook I sent him along with a couple cards, including a 1962 Post and a 1957 Topps Pirates team card signed by Roy Face, Vern Law, Bob Skinner and Johnny O'Brien.

Johnny O'Brien passed away recently, unfortunately.  He was a great signer and signed the team card back in February of 2024.  He was one of the few players left that had cards in the early 50's, like this 1953 Topps.

His brother, Ed, also played in the majors, but passed away back in 2014.  He also had a card in the 1953 Topps set.

The brothers shared a card in the 1954 Topps set.  I had each of them sign it in 2010.

Joe and Jake Mauer share a similar card in the 2003 Topps Heritage set.  I have not had that card signed yet though.  It should probably be towards the top of my Mauer want list.

I decided at the last minute to send another Mauer item to the Fan HQ signing.  He already signed one session for them but left the bulky stuff for another day.  I sent in some bobbleheads, and I think one card but decided to also send in a Grand Slam print.  

If you're not familiar with them, do a search for "Grand Slam Prints" and their eBay store will be one of the first hits.  They are drawings of players from old to current and are perfect for autographs since they have no backgrounds, just the white card stock.  I bought about 20 of them for good ttm signers and Twins players.  They are not MLB licensed, however, so I expect a few players might reject them.  We'll see.  Carew comes to mind.  I bought one anyway, but would probably try to check with a promoter before sending it in.

Wally Bunker TTM Return and Another Morneau Purchase

I sent out 11 requests today.  I've sent out 254 requests so far this year, which is a pretty good total for an entire year, based on my history.  I sent out 253 requests in all of 2020, but I purposely slowed down because I wasn't sure how players were going to react to COVID and if it would prevent them from signing.

The last four years I've sent out between 325 and 483 but am on pace this year to send out about 500. In my first year sending out ttm requests, I sent 506, and I didn't start until June!  And back then, I wrote most of my letters by hand.  Prior to 2020, I had about four non-consecutive years where I didn't even send out 100.  My lowest total was only 21 requests in 2017.

Anyway, today I received a disappointing return from Wally Bunker, who used my least favorite type of pen.  I don't know exactly what he used, but when players use a fine, black felt tip, there's a very high probability that the signatures will be smeared.  And that's what happened with this request.  Three of the four cards smeared quite badly.  Bummer.  The 1966 Topps also has a pretty good crease on it now.  I don't recall that being there when I sent it, but I can't be sure.  The other cards also have some warping and don't lie completely flat, so something also happened to these cards since early March when I sent them out.

The 1980 Fleer commemorating the 1966 World Series was previously signed by Jim Palmer.  It's a tough card to get signed because it's very busy and dark.  Maybe I should have just left it with Palmer's signature and called it done.

I also received an eBay purchase of a Justin Morneau signed 2024 Topps Archives on a 2012 Topps Heritage.  I don't know if they reprint the card, or if they simply stamp the Archives logo on it like they do with the Buy Back cards.  The copyright on the back of the card says 2012, so I think it might be an original card.

I'm not 100% sure why I bought this, which is a disturbing trend lately, because I have a 2012 Topps Heritage which I got signed by him at TwinsFest in 2013.  The one I got signed at Twinsfest (pictured below) has a much stronger, bolder signature.  I probably saw a few certified cards of his considerably cheaper on eBay than what I just paid to get a few cards signed by him at a FanHQ signing, so decided they were a bargain.  I paid about $23 for this 2024 Archives card.

Cecil Cooper TTM Return

Just one return today, but it was a nice one from Cecil Cooper, who signed a couple 1972 Topps rookie cards already signed by Mike Garman, as well as a couple of his 1982 Topps for my set.

Pete Vuckovich is not a willing signer and hasn't done a paid signing for several years.  His fee in the past had been about $30 per card, so I'm not sure I'd spring for it anyway, so this leader's card is probably done.

I plan to send out these 72 Topps cards to Carlton Fisk, but I'll probably do one at a time to reduce the risk of getting lost/damaged in the mail, or if he were to use a bad pen, etc.  All three of these players are great signers and do a really nice job on this card.  Here's one I've already completed.

Ken Tatum TTM Return

Ken Tatum was kind enough to sign his 1971 - 1973 Topps cards for my collection.  The 72 and 73 are upgrades for the request I sent him about 10 years ago when he returned them signed in faint black pen.  
Luckily, he signed them nicely in blue sharpie, which I did not include in my request, but saw his history on SCN showing a good chance he'd use one.

The 72 Topps is a high number card, so I'm glad to not have to buy another to try again.  I paid a little over $11 for this one.

Here is the 72 Topps I received back when I sent to him in 2015.

Tom House and Terry Hughes TTM Returns / Billy Martin and Robin Yount Purchases

Today I received a couple ttm returns after a quiet week. 

Tom House helped my finish two more of his 1972 Topps cards.  I posted two others completed by Rick Kester.  I think I have five or six of these cards completed now.  I either need to stop or get enough completed to fill up a 9-pocket page.  Just kidding, I have enough now.  

I recently completed four of these, because I sent two to Britton, didn't get them back, so sent two more, then got all four back.  So, I felt the need to get all four completed by the other two, and did so in two requests each, sending two cards each time.

Anyway, House also signed his 1969 Topps as well as the 1972 Topps Braves team.

Terry Hughes signed his 1974 and 1975 Topps.  My first attempt at this 1974 card got a little ruined by a bad pen used by Andre Thornton, but I finished it anyway.  I'll send this one off to John Knox next, who can be a little slow in returning his requests.  My last one took over 4 months.  But he is still reliable and generous.  Just a little slow sometimes.

Here's the previous attempt at this one.

I bought a slabbed 1971 Topps Billy Martin from an SCN member, and a 2013 A&G signed by Yount from Tom Orr's eBay sales.  I am still amazed I can buy these Ginter's signed by non-TTM-signing Hall of Famers for between $20 and $25.