"To Ryan"

As some of you already know, I prefer my Orioles autographs personalized to me whenever it's possible. Getting autographs can be tough enough and adding the extra personalization request can further complicate things at times. But it lets the players know that I have no intent of flipping the autographs I receive and I really like how it makes the autographs unique to my collection.

Over the years, I've added personalized autographs to my collection in a few different ways.

The two most common have been:

Public Signings/Appearances- especially when there is a small number of attendees and/or you can pay a little extra for personalization. Some of these autographs are probably 15 years old at this point.

 

Every Orioles fan has an Al Bumbry autograph if they really want one. Dude is always around town.

 

I was a Pirates fan when I was younger. Drabek later played for the O's, so this card has stuck around.

 

 I have an abnormally large amount of Rick Krivda autographs, even for me. 

I remember something about a private signings with very few attendees, many years back.

 

Dave is another guy who lives in the Baltimore area and has appeared around the vicinity for many years.

To the best of my recollection, Tackett is one of very few Orioles to have appeared during his playing days at the mall "card show" in my relatively small hometown of Carlisle, PA. Demand was pretty low for him too.

Sheets is yet another omnipresent former Oriole.

Singleton might have also made the trek to Carlisle, but I can't say for sure.

 

I got this one done through a signing on Sportscollectors.net. 

Probably the method that is responsible for the most personalized autographs in my collection is TTM requests. Players who sign autographs through the mail generally are happy to personalize as well..

 

I was really happy to come across this oddball Orioles issue of Pete Smith, even happier to see 

that he signs TTM, and happier still when he returned this to me after over 250 days.

Dave charges to sign TTM, but at least he signs.

Kelly was even nice enough to add "Best Wishes"

At just under a year, this one took a long time to get back, but I'm always happy to get those envelopes!

The third most effective way to add personalized autographs is in-person, which is easiest when the players are in the minor leagues. 

 

As is the case with former Oriole and current AA Bowie Baysox member, Armando Gabino.

 

Devo is currently a coach with the hi-A Frederick Keys; he was nice enough to personalize earlier this year.

Recent TTM Successes*

I've mentioned before how I was a Pirates fan growing up. (And I've disclosed that I know this is strange for most O's fans because of the major Pirates-Orioles rivalry in the 1970's. But I wasn't born yet, so it didn't mean much to me growing up. And Sid Bream was from my hometown. Boom. Case closed.) 

Anyway, Doug was the best pitcher on those late 80's/early90's Pirates teams that I followed because of Sid. My parents would take me out to Three Rivers Stadium once every few seasons and I would watch the Pirates and try to get autographs. I have a few signed Drabek Pirates cards from back then, but I finally upgraded to an Orioles card. I know that Doug was pretty much dried up by the time he pitched for the Orioles in 1998 in his last season in the Majors, but I collect what I collect.

And yes, I find this card to be as ugly as you do, but it's his only Orioles card that I own, and he's a great TTM signer, so off it went. I also sent a few ticket stubs from his son Kyle's Major League debut against the Orioles in Baltimore, a game that I just happened to attend.

Doug signed and personalized my card in 49 days. I didn't get any mention for the tickets, but hey, I'm just glad that he signed the card. And an interesting note, Doug seems to personalize almost everything he signs, I guess as a way to prevent people from selling his autographs. I always request personalization to make the items in my collection mean more to me, so that 's great for me. Of the two signed Pirates cards I have from almost 20 years ago, one is personalized and one is not.

Randy Miller pitched in one game for the Orioles in 1977 and five games for the Expos in 1978. Let's just say that his brief Major League career didn't go as he might have preferred. The stats aren't pretty. But I'm glad that Randy is kind enough to sign TTM autograph requests.



*Typing the word successes feels funny. It just seems like a constant stream of c's & e's & s's. It's like it will never end. I get the same feeling typing the word bananas. I never know when to stop.