Lots of Returns to Catch Up On

It was a quiet weekend at the mailbox, just one return on Friday, but I received 6 today.

On Friday, Bob Gebhard signed the 1972 Topps Rookie Stars card to complete it.

I completed another Rookie Stars card today when Dave Rader signed the Giants card.  He also signed a 1973 and 1978 Topps.

 
Jack Billingham signed his 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1978 Topps.

 

John Strohmayer signed and returned his 1971, 1972 and 1973 Topps.

 

Steve Hargan signed his 1971 and 1972 Topps.

Denis Menke signed a 1972 Topps for my collection.

Finally, Bennie Daniels signed a 1958 and 1960 Topps.  I already have the 1958 Topps signed by him but this one is a bit of an upgrade, although I have a hard time finding a centered card of his from that year.

I also received some purchases but I'll post about those another day.

Watching the St. Paul Saints Game in Style

Last night was a special night for the youth baseball league in my town at the St. Paul Saints game at Midway Stadium.  The boys got to play on the field before the game:  pitch in the bullpen, catch flyballs at the center field wall, and hit.

Here's my older son John just missing a fly ball at the center field wall.

My younger son, David, got to watch the game from the hot tub out in left field.  He the tallest one in the back of this picture, in the middle.  It was a cool night so the hot tub must have been nice.

The Saints won 3-1.

Sadecki, Pizarro, Woodson and Brown

My son and I both received some returns today.  Usually when I send out some requests, I can expect most of them to come back in 7 to 10 days.  Lately, they seem a little more spread out so I'm not getting the big rush of returns that I usually get when I send out large groups of requests.

I did get three back today though.  First, Ray Sadecki signed his 1972 Topps and 1972 Topps In Action in 7 days.

Juan Pizarro signed his 1972 Topps that I sent out in mid-April.

Former Twin Dick Woodson signed his 1972 and 1973 Topps for me.

That brings my 1972 Topps set to 259 signed cards so far.


Finally, my son got back a 1958 Topps signed by Hal Brown.

I haven't posted much about the Twins this year.  There hasn't been much to say.  I wasn't very confident in the team this year, but I expected them to at least be .500 and be interesting to watch.  All the injuries and defensive errors have been frustrating.    They are playing the Mariners tonight and Pavano walked Ichiro and then gave up a home run in the first inning.  Span just got one run back with a homer of his own.

It will be nice to get Mauer and Thome back.  The only bright spot has been Kubel.

Great Deal on Three HOF Autos - Killebrew, Banks and Robinson

This morning I received an email from InsiderSportsDeals.com about three signed baseball cards that are TriStar authenticated.  They are the Hillshire Farms promo cards, one each signed by Killebrew, Ernie Banks and Frank Robinson, all three for only $20! (plus $5 shipping).  You won't find those three HOF autographs any cheaper than that!

http://www.insidersportsdeals.com?did=5130&rf=163266

Harmon Killebrew 1936 - 2011

Terrible news today for Twins fans.  Harmon Killebrew passed away, just a few days after announcing he was entering hospice care.

To me, Killebrew was the Twins.  He represented everything positive about the game and the organization.  We had the good fortune of meeting him on several occasions at TwinsFest and the Autograph Party. 

He was my 13 year old son's favorite player, even though he never saw him play.

I read about people's experiences getting autographs on many web sites.  Frequently you read about a bad experience someone had with a player (probably because of rude or demanding fans), even if that player is normally very friendly.  I have NEVER heard of a negative experience involving Harmon Killebrew.

At autographs functions, many people would complain about how slow he would sign and how few people could get through his lines.  As you can tell from some of the pictures on this page, it was because Mr. Killebrew always greeted his fans, listened to their stories and thanked them for coming out to whatever function he was at.

Today the Twins lost the face of their organization, and it will never be the same.

Greif, Jata and Qualters

I received two returns today and my son received one as well.

Bill Greif signed his 1972 Topps which was already signed by Ray Busse.

Paul Jata signed a 1972 Topps.  I sent this one last October so I'm happy to see it again.

My son received a 1958 Topps signed by Tom Qualters.  He now has 63 cards signed from this set.

Groat, Marichal and Harris

Three returns today.  Gail Harris signed his 1956 Topps for me.

Dick Groat signed the cover of a 1963 Sports Illustrated for me.  He returned the $5 I had enclosed and even the pen I sent him to use.

Finally, I got back two 1972 Topps signed by Juan Marichal from an AtommicSports mail-in signing.

1955 Sports Illustrateds

A couple of days ago I received two magazines I bought from the same seller on eBay.  Both are Sports Illustrateds from 1955 and contain pages of the Topps cards for that year.  I've been looking for some decent, affordable copies of these on and off for a few years and finally found some.

The first one is from April 11th, 1955 and has Willie Mays, Leo Durocher and Loraine Day on the cover.  According to the Willie Mays biography I read, this cover caused quite a stir because Willie had his arm around a white woman.

The page of cards inside includes Ernie Banks, Warren Spahn and Dick Groat.  Not Mays though.  The page is simply a printed page like others in the magazine.  I had thought perhaps it would be a thicker paper, and possibly perforated to take the cards out.  It's probably a good thing it wasn't, or there wouldn't have been many that survived intact.

The second magazine is from April 18th, 1955 and has Al Rosen on the cover.  I never noticed it until I bought it, but Rosen is batting, and the catcher is also on the Indians.  This picture must have been taken during a practice.

The cards in this magazine include Rosen, Roy Sievers and Bob Turley.

 

I have no intention of getting either of these magazines signed.  I'll just leave them as they are.

Catching Up on Returns

It's been a busy week and when I finally had a couple of minutes last night, I was getting errors trying to update the blog.  I have a couple days worth of returns to catch up on.

Wednesday, I received a couple cards from Dick Drago, who signed his 1972 and 1973 Topps.

Also on Wednesday, I received a 1955 Topps signed by John "Windy" McCall.

Yesterday, I received a 1972 and 1978 Topps signed by Joe Ferguson, as well as a 1956 Topps signed by Jose Santiago.

Very sad news today:  Harmon Killebrew's battle with cancer is nearly over and he is entering hospice care.  You can read the statement here.  Killer is a favorite of mine, and my son's all-time favorite.  He has been the kindest player we've ever met and will be a huge loss to all Twins fans.

Snyder, Rivera and Carbo

Three returns today.  Two of which I sent just 7 days ago, and one I sent April 11th.  Bernie Carbo signed his 1972 Topps that I sent in April.  I had also enclose a 1978 Topps, but didn't get that one back.  Luckily, I got the card from the set I'm working on.

Jim Rivera signed his 1955 and 1956 Topps.

Finally, Russ Snyder signed his 1964 Topps.

I wish now that I had been sending 1964 Topps along with all the 19654 Topps I've sent out.  I really like the simple design of the card and the pictures are pretty good for autographs.

TTM Returns and a Trade

Yesterday I received my end of a trade with a fellow SCN member.  I sent him 5 unsigned Gold Glove baseballs, and he sent me a 2006 All star ball signed by Jim Thome.  The ball has a few dark spots which I'm not thrilled about.

Today I received returns from three former players.  First, Don Johnson signed his 1954 Topps.

Hal Haydel signed his 1972 Topps, previously signed by Steve Brye.

Finally, Steve Arlin signed his 1972 and 1973 Topps.

I'm getting really busy with my sons' baseball schedules, so my ttm requests will probably slow down.  I hope to get some time this weekend to send out a few of the multi-signed cards from 1972 that I've got in process, but probably not much beyond that.