TTM Mailbag: John Maine

I received a TTM autograph return this week. This was my first return of the year. I thought this was a spring training return, but the envelope only had a 44 cent stamp on it. It turns out the envelope was from John Maine. I received two cards signed in 276 days. I sent the cards to AAA Colorado Springs but the envelope was postmarked from Charlotte, NC. Both cards came back in great shape signed in black Sharpie. By the way, did anyone realize that Maine signed a Minor League deal with the Red Sox?

1st TTM Autograph Requests of 2012

I sent out my first TTM autograph requests of the year out this week to spring training facilities. I made a list of the players that I wanted to send letters to this year. I sent 5 letters out to Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano, Aaron Hill, Chris Volstad, and Neil Walker. A couple of those are close to sure bets. I would be thrilled to get the Joba request back. Typically, I will send 5 letters out at a time just to make life easier and continue doing so throughout the year. Any advice for who to send to during the rest of the year?

eBay Mailbag: Manny Banuelos

I picked up a 2011 Bowman Chrome Throwback Card #BCT11 of Yankee prospect Manny Banuelos on eBay. I paid 1 cent shipped. It doesn’t get any cheaper than that. I figure that my investment can only go up in value. Banuelos is a big pitching prospect in the Yankees organization. He has yet to make his big league debut. That will probably come at some point this year. He will probably start the season at AAA Scranton. This is my second card of Banuelos. I will probably be looking to pick up a few more Banuelos cards in the future.

eBay Mailbag: On Card Autographs

My eBay purchases had earned me some eBay Bucks for this last quarter. With these Bucks set to expire, I had to use them up. After several unsuccessful bids, I finally bought two cards from the same seller. Both cards cost less than a dollar after using my Bucks.

The first card is a 2011 Topps Chrome autograph of Aaron Crow. Crow was an All-Star last year for the Royals. Of course, Mark Redman was once an All-Star for the Royals. But the Royals have to have an All-Star and last year it was Aaron Crow. I only bought this card because I recognized the name from the All-Star roster. If he’s any good, he will move on to another team someday and have a decent career.

The other card is a 2009 Goudey autograph of Phil Coke. I bought this card because it shows Coke as a Yankee. Coke was one-half of the “Phil-thies” with Phil Hughes. Coke was eventually shipped to the Tigers in the Curtis Granderson trade. I am happy to say that both cards are signed on the card rather than a sticker. However, the Coke signature can be missed after taking a quick glance at the card.

On an unrelated topic, I have not purchased any 2012 Topps product nor do I intend to. I will save my money for Heritage or maybe Allen & Ginter. That is all I have to say on that topic.

eBay Mailbag: Alex Rodriguez

My latest eBay pickup is a 2010 Upper Deck Biography card of Alex Rodriguez. I paid a total of 6 cents shipped for the card. That’s pretty good for an ARod card. This was one of those penny auctions that I placed a bid on without any expectation of winning. For some reason, there were no competing bidders. To make this an even better deal, I paid using eBay Bucks. By the way, if you still have any eBay Bucks remaining, they will expire this coming week.

eBay Mailbag: Josh Willingham

My latest eBay purchase is a 2006 Fleer Tradition Rookie Card of Josh Willingham. The card cost me all of 5 cents. I love buying cards for less than the price of postage. You might notice that Willingham is shown in his catcher’s gear, even though his is listed as an outfielder. He is still an outfielder. He actually just signed a 3 year $21 million contract with the Twins. Not bad for a .262 career hitter.

Draft Results Part 2

So here is the remainder of my draft haul from Cardboard Heaven. It’s interesting to see the different strategies used by different people in the draft. I often found myself saying “Why take that card with that pick?” I sure everybody said that about me a few times. After the game-used and autographs were gone, I basically stuck to rookie cards and shiny cards. The best rookie card is the 1983 Donruss Tony Gwynn. It’s not in perfect condition, but it’s still a nice card. I also think the 2003 Topps Chrome Utley Rookie was a steal. The shiny cards consist of Chrome, Refractors, and XFractors. Overall, I think I did pretty good. The draft was a lot of fun. I can’t wait for the next one.

Draft Results Part 1

I have received my draft proceeds from Cardboard Heaven. Thank you Cameron. Overall, I think I was a very good general manager. I wound up with 7 autograph cards and a game used jersey card. My first pick of the draft was the Adam Lind auto. That was the card that I was really after. I only sought out autographs to begin the draft. I picked up the lone game used card mid-draft. It’s a no name player, but nobody else took it and it was getting kind of late into the draft. The remaining autographs are Cliff Pennington, Lance Broadway, Dennis Sarfate, Carlos Villanueva, Trevor Crowe, and Ian Snell. I picked up a bunch of other cards in the draft which I will detail in a future post.

Hip Hip, Jorge!

According to MLB.com, the Rays may be interested in signing Jorge Posada as a backup catcher to Jose Molina. This would be ironic as Molina was once a backup on the Yankees to Posada. It would be sad to see Posada finish his career in another uniform, but there is about a zero chance that the Yankees will sign him. Realistically, Posada has declined significantly in recent years. He is no longer able to start at any position every day. He would probably be best served to simply retire. If the Rays don’t sign him, it’s rumored that the Orioles or Phillies might be interested. I love Posada, but I think he is done.

You've Been Drafted

There is a baseball card draft over at Cardboard Heaven. You can check it out here. Basically, you get 25 picks for $15.00. There are some pretty decent cards in the draft - plenty of autos and game used cards. There are only 11 spots so you need to hurry.