Alex Liddi

 My first TTM back from my 2022 attempts.  I always thought this was a great action card!

Alex Liddi
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Home address
31 days

Chris Perez

This is a nice TTM return!  I always love the card stock of Heritage, Allen & Ginter and Archives.

Chris Perez
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
105 days

Jose Tabata

 This was a nice quick return from Jose Tabata.  I always thought he had awesome cards!

Jose Tabata
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
22 days

James Russell

WOW!  This one is so old it had my maiden name on it!  He made two different stints with the Cubs.

James Russell
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Chicago Cubs
2095 days

A couple of weeks worth of TTMs

A whoppin' 4 envelopes back over the last two weeks, and most of them are from MLB TTM request!

Nate Jones
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Chicago White Sox
42 days

Jedd Gyorko
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o St. Louis Cardinals
106 days

Lewis Brinson
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Miami Marlins
56 days


Ken Gerhart
Signed 3/3
Sent c/o Home address
59 days

A week's worth of PWE

I have taken on a new TTM strategy for this baseball season.  Instead of waiting to get a bunch back before I sent out more, I have decided that once a week, I'll send out three envelopes...one to a MLB player, one to a MiLB player, and the final one will be to a former player.  My early evaluation of this new strategy has been positive.  It's been nice to see at least one or two PWEs a week.  I may reevaluate soon and maybe send out six instead of three, but we'll see.

Brian Dayett is a former Cub.  I have known he was a pretty good TTM signer, but I have never owned enough of his cards to send a request out until now!

Brian Dayett
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
11 days

Jack Daugherty is a former MLB baseball player who played with several teams, but was probably known for his time with the Rangers, which he spent the longest time with them.

Jack Daugherty
Signed 3/3
Sent c/o Home address
7 days

The last envelope is quite exciting.  I got this back from Nick Kingham, who recently was called up by the Pirates and had an amazing MLB debut.  

Nick Kingham

Signed 1/1

Sent c/o Indianapolis Indians

19 days

TTM week

As some of my TCDB friends know, I had my third surgery in less than 10 years on my ankle last week.  I will be down and out for anywhere from 2-6 weeks.  You'd think this would be a great time to get caught up on trades and sorting, but I am non-weight bearing, so getting downstairs to do cards is not an option.  However, I did some surgery pre-prepping to keep me a little busy.  First, I found some cards for spring training TTM requests.  This weekend, I spent my time writing my letters, addressing them and preping my cards.  Other hobby related things that will keep me a little busy are entering my set needs from my "needs binder" into TCDB and continuing to enter my junk wax cards into TCDB and Zistle.

The one thing I can't do is trade!  I have been trying to be good about notifying any trade proposals on TCDB that I can't do it right now, and everyone's been pretty cool about it.

On a good note, I had several TTM PWE come back this week.  Since I can't get downstairs, I downloaded a scanner app to scan my cards.  It's an ok app, but it may be due to the multiple errors of the user!  I'm getting better with it, though.  It will have to do, for now.

Gerald Alexander spend his entire career, although short, with the Texas Rangers.  The Score card I got as part of a repack, so I thought it would make a good TTM request, and, of course, who could pass up a Rated Rookie card.

Gerald Alexander
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
188 days

Jace Peterson is currently in spring training with the Yankees, as a non-roster invitee.  He spent last year with the Braves.  I love the look of the 2012 Bowman gold cards, but they are thick, which makes them back to send as a TTM.  I have done another TTM request with a 2012 Bowman gold, and the same thing happened...creases.  

Jace Peterson

Signed 2/2

Sent c/o Atlanta Braves

145 days

Finally, Walker Buehler sent these cards back.  He spent most of last year with Oklahoma City, however did get a late season call up, where he pitched in 8 games and was 1-0.  He figures to be in competition for a starting position with the Dodgers this year.

Walker Buehler

Signed 2/2

Sent c/o Oklahoma City Dodgers

172 days

Mike Montgomery

The holiday season has treated me well in regards to TTM.  My mailbox has been slow, partially due to the large batch I sent out in August and September with a trickle of responses from that batch.  One of the batch is Mike Montgomery, pitcher for the Cubs, former Royal.  Best of both worlds, right?

Mike Montgomery

Signed 2/2

Sent c/o Chicago Cubs

133 days

Neil Walker

A player collection TTM!!  This is exciting!!  Neil Walker is currently a free agent, but spent last year with the Mets before being traded to the Brewers.

Neil Walker
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Pittsburgh Pirates
255 days

A great mail week

I got more little white envelopes this week!  This is the best mail week I've had in quite a while!

Jake Smolinski spent most of 2017 on the DL rehabbing a shoulder injury.  He did come back and played 27 games with the A's.

Jake Smolinski
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Oakland A's
50 days

Adrian Houser is currently playing in the Arizona Fall League with the Salt River Rafters.  He spent most of the year playing with Wisconsin and Biloxi.  The did pitch in two games with the Brewers in 2017.

Adrian Houser
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Salt River Rafters
17 days

Mike Pritchard is one of my NFL requests that I've gotten back.  He played his college ball at Colorado, where he won a National Championship in 1990.  He was drafted in the first round by the Falcons in 1991.  His best season was in 1992.

Mike Pritchard
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Home address
87 days

Little white envelopes

I sent out a bunch of TTM requests to MLB and MiLB players in the weeks before the end of their respective regular seasons.  I've been a little anxious because I haven't been getting many requests back, until this week.

Stephen Vogt was with the A's this year, then suddenly released.  He was picked up by the Brewers, but was hurt shortly after arriving in Milwaukee.  He did finish the year active for the Brewers, while they were making a run for the playoffs.

Stephen Vogt
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Milwaukee Brewers
52 days

Next up, former Royal Greg Holland.  The Rockies played the Royals here in KC late in the year, and in true Kansas City fashion, the fans gave him a warm welcome back to KC.  Unfortunately, the Rockies just got bounced from the playoffs by the Diamondbacks.

Greg Holland

Signed 2/2

Sent c/o Colorado Rockies

63 days

Finally, Matt Andriese.  I wanted and got all of Tampa Bay's rookie pitchers (Andriese, Honeywell, and Snell).

Matt Andriese
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Tampa Bay Rays

Liam Hendriks

Liam Hendriks spend a short amount of time with the Kansas City Royals in 2014.  He came over in a trade with Eric Kratz that sent Danny Valencia to the Blue Jays.  He made his first appearance for the Royals in a game against the Twins, in which he pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 run, and striking out 5 en route to a Royals win, 6-1.  This was a huge game when it came down to the Royals post season run in 2014.  I had wanted to get his autograph after this, but he soon landed back in Toronto, and I've never attempted to send a TTM to Canada, so I figured it was a lost cause.  Currently, Liam is with the Oakland A's.

Liam Hendriks
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Oakland A's ST
13 days

Eric Hinske

Eric Hinske is currently the Cubs assistant hitting coach.  Now that the Cubs have made the playoffs, he had some time to sign my cards!  I love the red boarder on the Braves card!

Eric Hinske

Signed 2/2

Sent c/o Chicago Cubs

150 days

#FlyTheW

Chris Parmelee

Chris Parmelee personalized this card for me.  I sent this to Spring Training, but he sent it back from the Orioles AAA club, the Norfolk Tides.

Chris Parmelee
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Orioles ST
98 days

Joe Blanton

Joe Blanton was assigned to the Omaha Storm Chasers after the Kansas City Royals Spring Training. Joe was called up in May to Kansas City.  He's been pitching well since arriving in Kansas City.  Rumor has it he may be starting for the Royals soon because they just placed Jason Vargus on the DL.

Joe Blanton
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Royals ST
65 days

Arizona Fall League mail

I sent out my usual 6 envelope to the Arizona Fall League this year.  I usually try to get one guy from every team.  I got two responses back this week!

Daniel Robertson is with the Oakland A's system.  He won AFL player of the week honors last week. He spend the 2014 season with Oakland's minor league team, the Stockton Ports.

Daniel Robertson
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Mesa Solar Sox
14 days

John Hicks is with the Mariners organization.  This is a UER on Topps part; I have read on message boards they improperly photo shopped him.  He spend some of last season with Tacoma, the Mariners AAA team.

John Hicks
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Surprise Saguaros
17 days

Jason Grilli

I felt a little guilty getting this one back last week.  I sent this to Jason Grilli right after he got traded to the Angels from the Pirates.  My Royals swept the Angels, en route to the ALCS.  He signed this after they lost to the Royals.

Jason Grilli
Signed 2/2
Sent c/o Los Angles Angels
53 days

Kirk Nieuwenhuis

I have gotten a couple of Bowman Platinum cards autographed.  I really like the way they look with a signature on them.  I sent this one out to Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets at the end of April.  Shortly after I sent it, he was shipped to AAA Las Vegas.  I thought it was a lost cause; not so fast my friend! I got this back over the weekend with a postmark from Las Vegas.  Thanks Kirk!!

Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Signed 1/1

Sent c/o New York Mets

38 days

Drew Storen

Since I started sending out TTMs, I am frequently frustrated with Spring Training requests.  I keep reading this is the best time to get cards signed because so many players sign during Spring Training,  However, I don't feel like I've had much luck.  My current percentage is 43%, and I don't feel like that is that great.  However, I got mail back this weekend from Drew Storen.  He's currently with the Nationals.

Drew Storen
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Nationals ST
68 days

Craig Breslow

Well, this is one I thought was long gone.  I got this back on my birthday last week.  Breslow is currently with the Red Sox.

Craig Breslow
Signed 1/1
Sent c/o Boston Red Sox
314 days