Saturday, February 25, 2012

Al Dark Return and Whitey Ford Purchase

I continued my vintage return streak today with a 1953 Topps signed by Al Dark.  I had enclosed $5 cash with my request.  He also enclosed a signed religious pamphlet.


I had been looking for an unsigned Whitey Ford Living Legends Ron Lewis print, but found a signed, JSA authenticated copy on Ebay so I went ahead and bought it.



I hope to add a few more of these to my collection, including Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Virgil Trucks

Another great vintage return today.  Virgil Trucks signed a 1952 Topps, 1955 Bowman and 1956 Topps.  he also included a signed Diamond Signatures card as well as a brief note on a post-it note.




Thursday, February 23, 2012

Bob Savage - 1949 Bowman

A great vintage return in the mail today. Bob Savage signed his 1949 Bowman for me.  Mr. Savage is 90 years old.


No much else new going on.  I sent out a handful of requests last week so hopefully I'll start getting some of those back soon.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Ebay Purchases

Too much free time for me usually results in a few Ebay purchases.  I've received a few of these purchases over the last few days.

One of my favorites is a 1958 Minneapolis Millers batting lineup card signed by Gene Mauch.  Unfortunately there's no date on the card, but based on the lineup I know it's from 1958.  The players include:

Pumpsie Green
Jose Valdivielso
Lou Clinton
Art Schult
Frank Kellert
Tom Umphlett
Harry Malmberg
Jerry Zimmerman
Jack Spring



I also bought a Harmon Killebrew 8x10.  I didn't notice until it arrived that it's almost identical to a 11x14 I bought.  I guess I'll give it to my son.



 

 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Some Long Returns - Capps, Hooton and Fitzmorris

I came home today to find three returns that have been out for quite a while. I expected to get a couple back as I've sent out a handful over the last week or so, but I wasn't expecting these.

Matt Capps signed a 2008 and 2011 Topps Heritage for me.  I sent to him last September via the Twins.  The return envelop was postmarked from Georgia.



Burt Hooton signed a 1972 and 1978 Topps that I sent to him last April.



Finally, Al Fitzmorris signed a 1972 and 1978 Topps that I sent him in January of 2011.



I also received a few purchases that I'll post about tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Duke Snider - Ron Lewis Living Legends Signed Portrait

I added another Ron Lewis portrait to my collection: Duke Snider.  I bought it on Ebay and it's PSA/DNA authenticated (the sticker's on the back).



This is my 10th signed portrait from this set, along with Berra, Feller, Killebrew, Mathews, Robinson, Rose, Schoendienst, Slaughter and Spahn.  I'm still looking to add Whitey Ford to this set as well.  I'll probably never get Mantle, Mays or Koufax, but I'll get as many as I can.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

St. Paul Saints Season Ticket - 1927

I'm not sure why I bought this ticket when I came across it on Ebay.  I guess an 85 year old ticket to too much to resist.


There were many of these for sale, all assigned to the same owner.  I saw tickets from the mid-1920's up until 1958.  This guy really liked baseball!

Unfortunately, the Saints' President's signature appears to be a stamp or preprinted on the ticket.  That would have been a pretty cool autograph to have.  The owner's signature on the back appears real.


I did a quick search on the Saints team for that year, and the only player that stood out to me was 21 year old Leo Durocher, who batted .254 that year.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

TTM Returns - Paul Doyle and George Stone

Over the last couple of days, I received a couple 1972 Topps that I sent out a while ago.

Paul Doyle signed his 1972 Topps that I sent out just after the first of the year.


 George Stone signed his card that I sent last November.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

The Last of My TwinsFest Autographs

Almost done!  Tonight I'll post the last of my TwinsFest autographs that I got with my older son on Sunday, the 29th.

First, I was lucky enough to have the wristband color that allowed me to get a Justin Morneau autograph, so I had him sign a bat for me.



I had time to go through another line in that same session.  Brian Raabe and Gene Glynn signed my Target Field picture, Rick Stelmaszek signed a 1975 Topps and Al Newman signed a 1991 bobblehead for my set.








I even had time to get through a third line in the first session: this time with Rod Carew and Brad Radke.  It was close, but we made it.  I had Carew sign a 1972 Topps In Action for my set, and Brad Radke signed a ball.






After this session, we found a couple of game used Denard Span bats in the Twins Pro Shop on the Dome floor, and we went to get in his line even though it didn't start for  a couple hours.  While we were waiting, my son ran through a line with Jamey Carroll and Ben Revere for me.  Carroll signed a 2009 Topps Heritage and Ben Revere signed a 2011 Allen & Ginter.






Finally, the Span line started and we got our bats signed.


The last line was Tom Kelly, Kevin Tapani and Jack Morris.  I had Morris and Kelly sign their bobbleheads from the 1991 set, and Kelly insisted that the silver pen wouldn't work well, so he signed his in black.  Ugh.  Tapani signed a 1990 Donruss.




Whew.  That's it.  Another TwinsFest over.  I have only sent out one ttm request since the initial bunch I sent out at the beginning of the year, so I may not have a lot to post about for a while.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

My Saturday TwinsFest Autographs

Saturday was just me and my older son.  It was the first day we tried to get wristbands for Mauer and Morneau autographs.  We decided to get different colors to increase our chances of getting at least one autograph.  We agreed that if either of us were drawn to get Mauer's autograph, we'd get a bat signed for me, and if either of us were drawn to get Morneau's autograph, we'd get a bat signed for my son.

My son got luck and was drawn for both, so we both got our bats signed.

Anyway, while my son was in line for Mauer in the first session, I went down to the Dome floor and went through a line with Dave Goltz, Dick Stigman, Juan Berenguer and Tim Laudner.  Since my son was getting an autograph for me, I got all of them on cards for him, except Stigman, who I had sign a 1964 Western Oil giveaway portrait by Nicholas Volpe.

 
I also had time to get through another line in the first session: Jamey Carroll, Liam Hendriks, Chris Parmelee and Jeff Manship.  I had Carroll sign a 2007 Topps Heritage, Parmelee sign a 2006 Bowman Heritage, Liam Hendriks sign my Target Field picture and Jeff Manship sign a picture.


Next I went over to the Fergie Jenkins booth and had J.R. Richard and Fergie Jenkins sign their 1972 Topps.


 
While my son got his Morneau bat signed, I got in line for Danny Valencia and Glen Perkins.  The line was really long so my son was able to join me after he got done in Morneau's line.  I had Valencia sign a 2011 Allen & Ginter and Perkins sign a 2008 Topps Heritage.  This was the line where the two of them were talking with each other, and not even looking at the fans that they were signing for.


By the time we got to the Pavano and Marquis line in the next session, it was empty so I was able to get through twice, mainly because I had a couple of cards I wanted Pavano on.  I had him sign a 2011 Topps Heritage and 2010 Allen & Ginter.  I had Marquis sign a 2010 Topps Heritage and a 2010 Allen & Ginter.



After sitting around a bit, we finally decided to get Denard Span's autograph.  I had him sign a 2011 Allen & Ginter.


 Our last line of the day was Josh Willingham and Josh Doumit.  Willingham signed a 2010 Allen & Ginter and Doumit signed a 2009 Topps Heritage.


Sunday, February 05, 2012

My Friday Night TwinsFest Autographs

It's been a week since TwinsFest ended and I'm just getting close to having all our autographs scanned in and added to our web sites.  Today I'll post the autographs I received on Friday night that I spent with my younger son.

Our first line was Joe Benson, Ben Revere, Scott Diamond and Kyle Waldrop.  I had them all sign cards except Diamond, who signed my Target Field picture.





In the second session, I got through Bert Blyleven's line and had him sign his 1972 Topps for my set.

Next, we saw Shannon Stewart, Jacque Jones, Jerry White and Joe Vavra.  I had Jones sign a bobblehead, Stewart and White sign cards, and Vavra signed the Target Field picture above.



During the same session, we also went through a line with Brian Duensing, Ryan Doumit, Trevor Plouffe and Rene Tosoni.  I had Duensing sign a 2011 Topps Heritage, Doumit sign a 2009 Allen & Ginter, Plouffe sign a 2004 Bowman Heritage, and Tosoni signed the Target Field picture.

 

Finally, we saw Josh Willingham and Jason Marquis, who each signed cards for me.