Some Recent TTM Successes

After going through a dry spell of sending out TTM requests, I finally sent out a batch to a group of former Orioles who reliably sign autographs by mail. The first few successes have already found their way back to my house.

 

The first success was from Ray Barker, who played a single season for the O's in 1960.  He also played for the Indians and Yankees over his four seasons in the Bigs. With a $5 signing fee, Ray signed and personalized my request and got it back to me in only five days.

 

Steve Reed was my second success; he personalized, signed and returned this card in only seven days, which is pretty amazing as it had to travel from Maryland to Colorado and back.

I had recently traded for a signed Padres card of Steve, but this Orioles card is obviously an upgrade for me.  It's a double bonus card too since Steve is wearing an orange uni and is shown in the middle of his sidearm pitching motion.

 

This card is a perfect representation of the lengths I will go to for my collection. I already had Bob's 1981 Topps card signed, and this Crown card uses the exact same photo as the Topps card. I guess no pictures of Bob in an O's uniform exist since he only played in eight games for the O's in 1979. So even though both cards use the same picture showing Bob, mouth agape, in his Sox hat, I had to have this one signed for my collection since it's his only "Orioles" card.  

Bob returned my card in ten days, but unfortunately didn't personalize it as I requested. 

 

Elliott Maddox kindly personalized and signed my card in eleven days. I added $5 to my request which always helps, but I was happy to add Elliott's only Orioles card to my collection. He played 11 seasons in the Majors for the Tigers, Senators/Rangers, Yankees, Orioles, and Mets. 

 

This card is actually the second TTM request that I sent Rich's way. I normally try to avoid sending multiple requests to the same player, unless they didn't sign the first time, so as to not have the player think I'm greedy and ruin their signing habits for everyone. Yes, I'm looking at those of you who ALWAYS send seven cards to be signed. I think that's a bit excessive.

Anyway, Rich signed and returned my request back in March when I sent a Twins card. At that point, I didn't think any Orioles cards existed of him. Then, about two months ago, a friend of the blog by the name of Riley contacted me about a set of Orioles Hershey cards. They appear to be some sort of giveaway and are approximately the size of an index card. But they're really awesome and the set includes the only Orioles cards I have ever come across for multiple players, including Rich. So I sent this off to him and now it's a part of my collection. 

Paul Adds to My Collection

Recently, I pulled off another trade with blog reader, Paul. And by recently, I mean about three weeks ago. Yep, it took me that long to get the cards scanned and posted. So without any further delay...

Eli Marrero played in only 22 games for the Orioles at the end of the 2005 season, but did manage to hit 3 HR over that time. He played 10 total seasons in the Majors, 7 of those with the Cardinals, and nearly had his career (and life) derailed by thyroid cancer in 2000. Luckily, he was able to win his battle with cancer and it didn't even cause him to miss a full season of games. I also found out that Eli is the uncle of current Nationals prospect, Chris Marrero.

Eli's 2005 Topps Update card shows him in an O's uniform and I sent that card to him in a TTM request back at the beginning of 2009. I don't think it's coming back at this point. I still hope to get his Orioles card signed at some point, but will have to wait for a private signing since he is only a 36% TTM signer.

Steve Reed pitched for the Orioles in 2005, the final year of his 14 season career in the Majors. He is a submarine-style pitcher, which is a major plus for me, however his 6.61 ERA over 30 games for the O's made it tough for me to like him too much.

Steve also has a card that shows him in an Orioles uniform, a 2005 Topps Total card that also features Aaron Rakers. I have a better chance of getting that signed TTM since Steve signs requests at a 85% success rate.

Chris Widger doesn't have any Orioles cards, likely due to the fact that he only appeared in 9 games for the Birds at the end of the 2006 season, so this card is now a permanent resident of my collection. I really like it too; the blue sharpie works great with the Expos colors on his uniform and on the card. Chris signed this at the perfect spot too, anywhere else the blue sharpie would've disappeared into the blue on the card.

Paul's trade also included orange uniform autographs of Nolan Reimold and Jeff Fiorentino, as well as Orioles player postcard autographs of Scott McGregor and Nate Snell. Somehow I failed to scan all of those, but figured it was about time to post this trade. Thanks again Paul!