A Bunch of Recent Upgrades

Over the past few months, I've had luck upgrading some of the autographs in my collection. A few were obtained TTM, others were had via trade, while I had to shell out a few bucks for some others. But I have at least written briefly about all of them in the past, so I'll try to keep the write-ups short.

I'll lead off with the man with the bad attitude, Albert Belle (Oriole #636). This certified autograph replaces an "Orioles" card that pictured him in a White Sox uniform, something that I could never quite get past, especially considering the number of certified 'graphs that showed Big Al in a legitimate Orioles uniform.

This Lenny Webster (Oriole #600) card came to me via a trade on Sportcollectors.net and replaced a signed Orioles postcard. Lenny had been on my need list for way too long and I was thrilled to knock off his name.

Dick Brown had also been in line for an upgrade for quite some time before I came across this awesome Orioles postcard. This replaced a cut 3x5 autograph in my collection and while Dick technically has a Topps Orioles card, it doesn't picture him in an Orioles uniform, so I feel like this postcard is as good as it will get for him.

This is the third Juan Guzman (Oriole #627) autograph that has trickled through my collection, and this one is here to stay.

Shawn Boskie (Oriole #603) was kind enough to add a very unique inscription to this signed Orioles postcard. This is definitely better suited for my collection than an Angels card.

Here is another Orioles postcard upgrade, this of the spectacled Chuck McElroy (Oriole #658), which interestingly also knocks a signed Angels card from my collection.

This Keith Moreland (Oriole #474) Crown card knocks out a Cubs card that I obtained from the 2010 National from my collection.

Chuck Diering (Oriole #12) sent me one of the more interesting TTM returns I've ever received when he added his signed business card to my request. This personalized autograph replaces an unpersonalized Crown in my collection. 

He also answered the question in my letter about his favorite Orioles memory, and it turns out he was the team's MVP during their inaugural 1954 season. 

This personalized Joe Durham (Oriole #37) card is going to stay in my collection along with the 1958 Topps card he had signed for me at an Orioles alumni signing a few years back.
 

I'm confident that this Dave Skaggs (Oriole #326) autograph is legit, unlike the one that was previously a part of my collection.

And finally, this Dave Van Gorder (Oriole #429) Red Wings card is about a 50% upgrade over the signed Reds card that it is replacing. I hope to one day finally have Van Gorder sign an Orioles Crown card for me, but I haven't had any luck so far.

Jackpot!

So while I was back in PA at my parents house over the weekend, I was going through a bunch of my old baseball cards and came across a stash of signed cards that I had forgotten about. Included in these were a bunch of autographs of former O's, but the cards that were signed were when they were on other teams. I know that I said that I wouldn't generally share the pictures of these cards, but since this was such a pleasant surprise, I decided to show them via collage.

Al Reyes, Jeff Reboulet, Ryan McGuire, Lenny Webster, John Wasdin, Jerome Walton

Jim Corsi, Shawn Boskie, Mike Boddicker, Tito Landrum, Mike Fetters, Terry Crowley

Also, Joe Altobelli, who never played for the O's but nevertheless is on an O's card:
The Reyes & Boskie are upgrades over autographs I already had for both players, but the rest are new to me. So that is 9 new O's autographs there and then with the addition of the the three returned TTM requests below from Duane Pillete, Don Lenhardt & Bob Hale my total number of O's autos up to 336! That is 38.9% of my goal and a nice increase for a weekend!





Dave Trembley was also nice enough to sign for me at Friday's game!

More TTMs sent & a few additions

So I sent out a batch of TTM requests last night that are targeting vintage Orioles players. The first group I mailed are Billy Hunter, Duane Pillette, Don Lenhardt, Bob Hale, Sam Mele, Bob Turley and Hal Brown; all played for the Orioles in the 50s and/or 60s. I hope that they enjoy hearing from a fan of one of the teams they played on. I am way too young to have ever seen them play but still obviously need their signatures for my project.

I received a Bob Kuzava autograph in the mail that I had purchased on Beckett last week. It's a 04 Bowman Heritage Signs of Glory certified auto and I was pretty excited when it came. I hope to scan in a picture of it tonight to show it off. Apparently only 55 of these were signed by Bob so I'm happy that I was able to snag one of them.

Also, I had somehow not included the Jeff Ballard auto and a Shawn Boskie autograph on an Oriole Park card when I posted my last total so I am now up to 36.4%! That's 314 down, 549 to go...