Here I
will try to update autographs that I get on a daily basis, either from
attending games or through the mail. You can look at my other
signatures by clicking on the links at the top. Click
on the smaller pictures to see a larger shot of the autograph.
Any questions or comments, you can email me at rhurd1@gmail.com

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| 2009
Requests |
2009
Successes |
2009
Success Rate |
| 83 |
44 |
53% |
|
2008 Requests
|
2008 Successes
|
2008 Success Rate
|
|
148
|
90
|
61%
|
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One of the best through the mail and in
person
autograph sites around is running free trials now until the end of the
year. Check it out and even join. It is filled with
information on who's signing, addresses, etc. Check out the
link
below, and enter me, big_r, (that's an underscore) as the reference!
Sportsgraphing.com
- check it out!!
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/25/10
It hass been incredibly slow over the last two months. I
have recieved only one piece of mail recently, coming from Marlins
outfielder Cody Ross. I also completed a trade in which I received signed cards of Joe Carter, Ray Durham, and Darrin Jackson. Lastly, I also got a signed 2006 Topps Heritage card of Ted Lilly
from an ebay purchase. The Orioles host their annual Fan Fest
next weekend so hopefully I will come out with some good in person
successes.

Cody Ross - c/o Marlins spring training, 1/1, 309 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11/25/09
Two returns have come in over the last two weeks. Both came
on the same day and were from Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton.
The first envelope was six cards which I sent c/o his agent last
December, 2 of which were signed. Second, he also signed two of my 8x10s
for me and returned the third unsigned. The photos were sent to
his home address. Very cool to add a few more of one of my
favorite players to my collection.

Josh Hamilton - c/o Agent, 2/6, 328 days


Josh Hamilton - c/o home, 2/3, 307 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11/7/09
Only one piece of mail has come in over the last 3 weeks. Reds ace Edinson Volquez signed a card for me through the team address in over 2 months.
I have also worked out two trades. The first trade with Larry brought me Chris Duncan. The next trade with Aaron brought me signed cards of Cris Carpenter, Johnny Damon, John Flaherty, Marcus Giles, Joe Girardi, Juan Gonzalez, Ryan Howard, Chuck James, Tim Lincecum, Francisco Liriano, Bret Saberhagen, Red Schoendienst, Grady Sizemore, Lee Smith, Emmitt Smith, Don Sutton, Jeff Weaver, and David Wright. Thanks to Larry and Aaron for those great trades!
Finally in an ebay purchase, I got a signed card of Derek Lowe.

Edinson Volquez - c/o Cincinnati Reds, 1/1, 79 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10/17/09
One return in today coming from Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad. Hopefully I will get a few more regular season returns back over the next few weeks.

Chris Volstad - c/o Florida Marlins, 2/2, 121 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10/14/09
Baseball
in Baltimore is finally over and I concluded the season by going to a
last game against the Toronto Blue Jays. I missed a lot of people
signing as the mood for autographing wasn't quite there. However,
the Orioles did go on to win their last 4 keeping them under the 100
loss mark! In my finale, I managed to get Blue jays catcher Raul Chavez, infielder Edwin Encarnacion, reliever Brandon League, infielder Marco Scutaro, and rookie Travis Snyder. For the O's I got pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, outfielder Adam Jones, and reliever Cla Meredith. I also got a signed ball of Aubrey Huff
through a grab bag promotion at a silent auction stand. The bags
had signed baseballs by current and former Orioles, and I was the third
person in a row to get a Huff ball. However, the next person got
a Cal Ripken signed ball, so it's good to know they had more than Huff.
I also received a couple pieces of mail in the closing week of the season from Reds first baseman Joey Votto and Braves first baseman Adam LaRoche. In a trade with Larry, I got signed cards Adrian Beltre, Mark Teixeira, and Chris Young.

Joey Votto - c/o Cincinnati Reds, 1/1, 56 days

Adam LaRoche - c/o Pittsburgh Pirates, 1/1, 179 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10/2/09
One return today from former Orioles catcher Chris Hoiles. Hoiles, who is the manager of the York Revolution signed three cards for me through the team's address.

Chris Hoiles - c/o York Revolution, 3/3, 57 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9/28/09
No returns in the mail today, but I did get a trade in. Thanks to Mark, I received an autograph of Tony Graffanino for my 2006 Topps Heritage set.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9/25/09
Actually had mail today coming from Reds pitcher Aaron Harang. Harang signed a card for me through the team address in just 2 weeks.

Aaron Harang - c/o Cincinnati Reds, 1/1, 14 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9/21/09
Finally had some mail over the last week. Phillies pitchers Joe Blanton and Chan Ho Park
each signed for me through the team's address. I was able to add
another Hall of Famer to my collection as well as I sent a ball and
donation to Stan Musial, who signed my ball for me in a week. I also received a signed card of Tony Clark and a ball of Gary Carter with his foundation COA from ebay purchases.
I also went to see the Rays take on the O's last week and was able to get pitcher Grant Balfour, infielder Akinori Iwamura (cards), third baseman Evan Longoria, coach Dave Martinez, outfielder Fernando Perez, pitcher Dale Thayer, catcher Gregg Zaun, and all around player Ben Zobrist.
Ravens nose tackle Haloti Ngata was also at the game and he
signed two ticket stubs for me. The Iwamuras, rookie Balfour,
Topps Zobrist are available for trade. Email me if interested.
Only one game left for me when the Blue Jays visit in October,
and then the graphing season is over.

Joe Blanton - c/o Philadelphia Phillies, 1/1, 44 days

Chan Ho Park - c/o Philadelphia Phillies, 1/1, 7 days

Stan Musial - c/o Stan the Man Inc, 1/1, 8 days (w/ donation)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9/13/09
I've been to a couple of O's games over the last two weeks.
First I saw the Indians where I had little success. Next
came the Rangers where I did much better and even got my first (and
probably last) game ball of the season! As for the mail, I've
only had one return, coming from Rangers DH Andruw Jones,
who was a signing machine on their trip through Baltimore. The
mail came after I got him in person so it wasn't quite as exciting
after I just got him to sign 7 cards a few days before. I also
had an ebay purchase come in of Juan Marichal.
For the Indians I was able to get outfielder Jamey Carroll, DH Travis Hafner, outfielder Matt LaPorta, pitcher Jensen Lewis, reliever Chris Perez, and catcher Wyatt Toregas.
The Rangers that signed for me were shortstop Elvis Andrus, outfielder Julio Borbon, first baseman Chris Davis, pitcher Scott Feldman, reliever Neftali Feliz, closer Frank Francisco, pitcher Derek Holland, DH Andruw Jones (cards, card), pitcher Brandon McCarthy (card), reliever Darren O'Day, coach Gary Pettis, catcher Kevin Richardson, infielder Omar Vizquel (card), and reliever CJ Wilson (cards).
And the Orioles that I got over the two series were pitcher Mark Hendrickson, reliever Kam Mickolio, former first baseman Boog Powell (Cards), and pitcher Chris Tillman.
Some of the Jones cards are available for
trade. I'm looking for his signed 2006 Topps Heritage that for
some reason didn't have when the Rangers came. The Vizquel Allen
& Ginter, Scott Feldman, Kevin Richardson, and CJ Wilson 2006 Topps
cards are also available for trade.

Andruw Jones - c/o Texas Rangers, 2/2, 64 days
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/27/09
Mail continues to be extremely slow, but I do have a trade and
ebay purchase in. I also have an in person success. My good
friend Brent saw that former Mets and Reds pitcher Pete Schourek (card, cards)
was playing golf at the course that we work at and told me to bring
some cards up to get signed. Brent was able to get 5 cards done
for me and said that Schourek couldn't have been nicer. Thanks,
Brent!
In a trade I got signed cards of Heath Bell and Justin Masterson. Thanks, Larry for another great trade. Finally in an ebay purchase I added a signed ball of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn to my collection. I got this ball at a great price and couldn't pass it up.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/19/09
Two pieces of mail in the box today. Atlanta Braves outfielder Matt Diaz signed a card for me through the team address and former Diamondbacks first baseman Travis Lee
signed four cards for me through his home address. Both returns
came back very quickly and Diaz is a new addition to my collection.
It's nice to finally get some mail!

Matt Diaz - c/o Atlanta Braves, 1/1, 14 days


Travis Lee - c/o home, 4/4 6 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/18/09
Only one return has come back in the mail over the last two weeks. 16 year old phenom Bryce Harper
signed a Sports Illustrated for me in a week from his home address.
I added another signed 2006 Topps Heritage card to my collection
through an ebay purchase of a Chris Reitsma signed card. I also received signed cards of Vida Blue, Gavin Floyd, Brad Lidge and Ben Sheets in a trade with Tim. Thanks, Tim!
I also did some graphing as the A's came to Baltimore. I was able to get pitcher Brett Anderson, closer Andrew Bailey, pitcher Trevor Cahill, reliever Santiago Casilla, shortstop Bobby Crosby (cards), second baseman Mark Ellis, first baseman Tommy Everidge, reliever Edgar Gonzalez, pitcher Gio Gonzalez, third baseman Adam Kennedy, pitcher Jay Marshall, outfielder Cliff Pennington, catcher Landon Powell, catcher Kurt Suzuki, outfielder Ryan Sweeney (card), reliever Michael Wuertz, and reliever Brad Ziegler (card).
The only Orioles I got were former catcher Rick Dempsey (cards), pitcher Rich Hill, reliever Chris Ray, and outfielder Nolan Reimold (card).

Bryce Harper - c/o home, 1/1, 7 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/6/09
A nice day at the mailbox today. I had one return from newly acquired Indians pitcher Justin Masterson, who signed two cards for me with the postmark coming from Boston. I also received a signed ball of Hall of Famer Billy Williams in an ebay purchase.
I've also been busy with a few trades. In one of them I received signed cards of Will Clark and Pudge Rodriguez, and also spring training programs signed by Juan Gonzalez and Johnny Oates. Thanks to Bill for a great trade!!!


Justin Masterson - c/o Boston Red Sox, 2/2, 31 days
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/3/09
Just returned from my honeymoon on Friday and came home to two returns. Cardinals reliever Jason Motte and Diamondbacks pitcher Max Scherzer
both signed for me in a few weeks. I'll be trying to get a good
amount of requests out this month and also hitting Oakland and Anaheim
next week when they come to Baltimore.

Jason Motte - c/o St. Louis Cardinals, 1/1, 25 days

Max Scherzer - c/o Arizona Diamondbacks, 1/2, 25 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/22/09
Two more decent returns in the box today. Former
Orioles, Blue Jays, and Indians second baseman Roberto Alomar signed and personalized a ball for me through his home address. I also got a return from Pirates third baseman Andy LaRoche.

Roberto Alomar - c/o home, 1/1, 13 days

Andy LaRoche - c/o Pittsburgh Pirates, 1/1, 16 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/13/09
Two quick returns in the mail today coming from current minor league manager Joe McEwing and former Orioles pitcher Milt Pappas.
Both autographs only took 5 days to get back to me. I also
went on my first trip to the Phillies' own Citizens Bank Park.
They have an awesome stadium and it was cool to get my first
glimpse of it. I went to the game unprepared for autographs, but
saw rookie outfielder Andrew McCutchen signing autographs during bp so I had to get my ticket signed.

Joe McEwing - c/o Winston-Salem Dash, 1/1, 5 days

Milt Pappas - c/o home, 2/2, 5 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/9/09
For the first day in a long time I actually have
some mail! Former Mets and Rangers manager Bobby Valentine signed a card for me through his home address and Cubs pitcher Randy Wells signed a card for me as well. Also in from a trade with Jonathan were two signed cards from Manny Sanguillen.

Bobby Valentine - c/o home, 1/2, 159 days

Randy Wells - c/o Chicago Cubs, 1/1, 14 days
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/3/09
Finally time for another update. I recently
saw the Red Sox and Nationals come to Camden Yards and the two teams
could not have been more different. It seemed that everybody from
the Nats signed and just a couple of Sox signed. For the Red Sox,
I was able to get outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and catcher Jason Varitek and also Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley who is a broadcaster for them.
The Nationals were a lot more fun as I got manager Manny Acta (team card), pitcher Tyler Clippard, pitcher Jesus Colome, outfielder Elijah Dukes (card), infielder Alberto Gonzalez, coach Marquis Grissom, infielder Christian Guzman (cards), infielder Anderson Hernandez, first baseman Nick Johnson, coach Pat Listach, pitcher Shairon Martis, catcher Wil Nieves, pitcher Craig Stammen, pitcher Julian Tavarez (cards), reliever Ron Villone (card), outfielder Josh Willingham, and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
Over the two days, I was able to get the following Orioles: pitcher Matt Albers, pitcher Jason Berken, pitcher Rich Hill, 2009 first round draft pick Matt Hobgood, centerfielder Adam Jones, former first baseman Boog Powell, closer George Sherrill, catcher Matt Wieters (photo), utilityman Ty Wigginton, and catcher Gregg Zaun.
Also in two trades I was able to get signed cards of Justin Morneau and Mariano Rivera. Thanks to Chad of www.sportsautosttm.com for the Rivera trade!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/20/09
No mail at all over the last week but I made a
feeble attempt at graphing the Mets as they were in town earlier in the
week. The only ones I could get were infielder Alex Cora, pitcher Livan Hernandez, manager Jerry Manuel, catcher Brian Schneider, and outfielder Gary Sheffield. I also got Orioles manager Dave Trembley and former first baseman Boog Powell. Up next are the Nats next weekend.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/14/09
I had a disappointing day Friday as I went to see
the Braves in Baltimore. I was only able to try for graphs during
batting practice and the Braves were a poor signing team inside the
ballpark. I was able to get outfielder Jeff Francoeur, pitcher Mike Gonzalez, infielder Diory Hernandez, and coach Terry Pendleton.
Also in the mail this week was one return from 1998 AL ROY Ben Grieve.

Ben Grieve - c/o home, 3/4, 129 days
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/5/09
I have been to many O's games
since Opening Day seeing the Yankees, Rays, Twins, White Sox, Blue
Jays, Rangers and Tigers. Here's my team by team successes:
For the Yankees, I got reliever
Brian Bruney, pitcher Joba Chamberlain, catcher Jose Molina, pitcher
Andy Pettite, closer Mariano Rivera, broadcaster Ken Singleton, and
pitcher Chien-Ming Wang.
The Rays weren't quite as good as
I only got outfielder Gabe Kapler, pitcher Scott Kazmir, and pitcher
Jeff Niemann.
The Twins, despite having no
batting practice the day I went due to rain, were a good signing team
as always. I got Scott Baker, pitcher Craig Breslow, pitcher
Jesse Crain, third baseman Joe Crede, infielder Brendan Harris, pitcher
Francisco Liriano, closer Joe Nathan, pitcher Kevin Slowey, and
outfielder Denard Span.
As for the White Sox I was able
to get infielder Wilson Betemit (cards, card), infielder Josh Fields,
reliever Scott Linebrink, and shortstop Alexei Ramirez.
The Rangers were great. I
got shortstop Elvis Andrus, pitcher Kris Benson (card), outfielder
Marlon Byrd, outfielder Josh Hamilton, outfielder Andruw Jones,
outfielder David Murphy, shortstop Omar Vizquel, and closer C.J. Wilson
(cards).
The Blue Jays were also decent as
I got catcher Rod Barajas, second baseman Aaron Hill (card), infielder
Joe Inglett, outfielder Adam Lind, first baseman Kevin Millar, third
baseman Scott Rolen, outfielder Vernon Wells (cards), and pitcher Brian
Wolfe.
The Tigers were the last team to
come through Baltimore and I got pitcher Armando Galarraga, outfielder
Curtis Granderson, manager Jim Leyland, reliever Brandon Lyon, pitcher
Zach Miner, and pitcher Nate Robertson.
I never tried too hard for the
Orioles, but so far this year I have gotten pitcher Brad Bergesen
(Debut ticket), pitcher Adam Eaton (card), pitcher Jeremy Guthrie,
former pitcher Dave Johnson (card), centerfielder Adam Jones, Hall of
Famer Cal Ripken, and second baseman Brian Roberts. They also have been hosting Alumni Autograph sessions at certain games at which I have received Paul Blair, Tim Nordbrook, and Joe Orsulak.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/4/09
After
a short hiatus from the site, it is finally time for an update. I
have been to a number of Orioles games already this year and also have
some good mail to report. For the mail, I have received Athletics
infielder Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers pitcher Eric Milton, Rockies pitcher Jason Marquis, Marlins minor leaguer Jai Miller, former Orioles pitcher Rodrigo Lopez, Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, and 2008 NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Nomar Garciappara - c/o Athletics team, 1/1, 10 days

Eric Milton - c/o Dodgers spring training, 1/1, 38 days

Jason Marquis - c/o Rockies spring training, 1/1, 62 days

Jai Miller - c/o Marlins spring training, 1/1, 63 days

Rodrigo Lopez - c/o Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 1/1, 11 days

Kevin Kouzmanoff - c/o San Diego Padres, 1/1, 329 days

Tim Lincecum - c/o San Francisco Giants, 1/1, 9 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4/6/09
One return and an exciting trade in for me today. Former Padres pitcher Shawn Estes
signed a card for me which was sent to the team last season. Also
in a trade with Dan I received a signed ball of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
The Orioles had their Fanfest over the weekend and
while I was not able to stay long enough to get autographs during their
signing, I was able to pick up some former player signed 8x10s for only
$1 each. They were pitcher Danys Baez, pitcher Chad Bradford, pitcher Brian Burres, utilityman Freddie Bynum, pitcher Lance Cormier, utilityman Brandon Fahey, infielder Luis Hernandez, and outfielder Tike Redman.

Shawn Estes - c/o San Diego Padres, 1/1, 321 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3/30/09
Mail! Tigers outfielder Curtis Granderson
signed two cards for me through the team's spring training address.
Good thing the team kept his mail while he was playing in the
WBC. Opening day in Baltimore is just a week away!!

Curtis Granderson - c/o Tigers spring training, 2/2, 27 days
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3/29/09
Mail continues to be slow with the regular season
just a week away! Another small 50/50 came back today from Dave
consisting of signed cards from Rangers pitcher Kevin Millwood (cards). Thanks, Dave!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3/25/09
Another spring training return in today bringing my
huge total up to 2! Pirates pitcher Craig Hansen nicely signed
two cards for me through the team's spring training address. I
also had a return from former journeyman pitcher Mark Clark.
In a Washington Nationals 50/50
deal, I received signed cards of pitcher Daniel Cabrera, infielder Jose
Castillo, catcher Jesus Flores, outfielder Willie Harris, outfielder
Ryan Langerhans, infielder Pete Orr, and pitchers Josh Towers and Ryan
Wagner.


Mark Clark - c/o home, 6/6, 46 days

Craig Hansen - c/o Pirates spring training, 2/2, 16 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3/10/09
Got my first spring training return
today from Red Sox reliever Hideki
Okajima.
Hopefully this will be the start of a number of returns
through
spring training, although I've only sent out about 15 requests.

Hideki Okajima
- c/o Red Sox spring training, 2/2, 13 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3/6/09
I have yet to receive any mail in the
month of
March, but am slowly getting more requests out. However, I
have
obtained two new autographs for my collection. My parents
went
to a home show about a week ago and stumbled across former Oriole Paul
Blair
who was signing at a realtor booth. The realtor gave my
parents a
baseball for Blair to sign and it he has a very nice signature.
I
also pulled a certified autograph of Rangers minor leaguer Johnny
Whittleman from a pack of 2008 Bowman Draft.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2/20/09
Finally got something for the week.
Former Nationals closer Chad
Cordero and Dodgers first baseman James
Loney
both signed for me. The Loney is interesting because I
remember
sending it out last spring training, but I did not document it, so it
took roughly a year but I'm not sure about the exact time. My
parents also went to the Baltimore auto show last weekend where Al
Bumbry was signing
so they picked a couple things up for me.

Chad Cordero
- c/o home, 1/1, 52 days

James Loney
- c/o Dodgers spring training 2008, 1/1, unknown....
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2/13/09
One return today to keep me rolling
through the week. Former Twins pitcher Joe
Mays signed a card for me through his home address.

Joe Mays
- c/o home, 1/1, 8 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2/12/09
It has been a great week for mail.
After a
pretty dry week to start the month, I received multiple returns
throughout this week. Former Yankee and Ranger Chad
Curtis, former Brewers pitcher Jeff
D'Amico, 1967 Cy Young award winner Jim
Lonborg, former Braves and Rangers outfielder Oddibe
McDowell, and Indians All-Star centerfielder Grady
Sizemore
all signed for in the past week. It's nice to get a good
amount
of mail back, especially the Sizemore, who has continuously eluded me
at Camden Yards.

Chad Curtis
- c/o home, 3/5, 11 days

Jeff D'Amico
- c/o home, 2/2, 8 days

Jim Lonborg
- c/o home, 1/1, 10 days


Oddibe McDowell
- c/o home, 5/5, 6 days

Grady Sizemore
-
c/o home, 1/1,
44 days
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/31/09
Finished off January with a success from
former Pirates outfielder Xavier
Nady. Nady signed and personalized my card in seven
months through the Pirates team address.
Xavier Nady
- c/o Pittsburgh Pirates, 1/1, 215 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/27/09
Just an ebay purchase in today.
I recently bought a signed ball of Frank
Robinson with a Steiner COA for a decent price. I
now have a signed baseball by each Hall of Famer from the Orioles!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/25/09
One return this weekend from the very
reliable Mike
Mussina.
Moose signed the card I sent to him in less than two weeks.
I have had success with every request I have ever sent to
Mussina
and I think he has one of the nicest signatures around.
Mike Mussina
- c/o home, 1/1, 11 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/20/09
Started the week off with two very fast
returns. Former pitcher Jimmy
Key and former Phillies catcher Mike
Lieberthal both signed for me through their home addresses.
Jimmy Key
- c/o home, 7/7, 8 days
Mike Lieberthal
- c/o home, 1/1, 8 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1/16/09
Today I received my first return of the
new year, as
well as one of my last requests from 2008. Former closer Todd
Jones and former Mets manager Willie
Randolph each signed for me in a few weeks.
Willie Randolph - c/o home, 2/2, 17 days
Todd Jones
- c/o home, 1/1, 13 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12/31/08
No mail today to finish the year,
however I did
receive a trade with David. In the trade I obtained
autographs of
Chris
Duffy, Victor
Martinez, Lastings
Milledge, and Manny
Parra. Thanks for the trade, David!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12/23/08
A HUGE update compared to what mail has
been in the
last month or so. I received 2, count it, 2,
returns today
from Diamondbacks pitcher Micah
Owings and former Cardinals pitcher Bob
Tewksbury.
Also in a
50/50 deal with Brennan I received signed cards of Ricky
Bottalico (more),
Drew
Anderson, and Matt
Belisle.
Micah Owings
- c/o Arizona Diamondbacks, 1/1, 146 days
Bob Tewksbury
- c/o home, 3/3, 21 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12/13/08
I have really been slacking recently
with getting
mail out, and will be trying to pump some out for the new year.
My only return recently has been former pitcher Pete
Harnisch. I sent him 6 cards and told him to keep
any that he wanted. He returned 3 signed and kept the others.
Pete Harnisch
- c/o home, 3/6, 11 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11/28/08
Another surprise today coming from Hall
of Famer Paul
Molitor.
This card was sent during the 2007 season, and was another
long
wait. Very cool that he is catching up on all of his mail.
Paul Molitor
- c/o Minnesota Twins, 1/1, 541 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11/25/08
Mail has still been incredibly slow,
with just a
trade and an old request coming in. Hall of Famer Paul
Molitor signed a card for me through the Minnesota Twins
address in over a year. This was a nice surprise to get back.
In a
trade with Dave I received signed cards of Vince
Coleman and Nelson
Cruz.
Paul Molitor
- c/o Minnesota Twins, 1/2, 555 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11/11/08
I finally have something to post after a
long time with no mail. Brewers outfielder Mike
Cameron and Yankees pitcher Mike
Mussina each signed for me through their home addresses.
I also received a signed card of Jimmy
Rollins in a trade with Brian.
Mike
Cameron
- c/o home, 1/1, 7 days
Mike Mussina
-
c/o home, 1/1,
8 days
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10/17/08
Three returns from the regular season
have come in
over the last week or so. Hopefully more items that I sent
out
during the season will be returned in the upcoming weeks.
Rockies
infielder Clint
Barmes, Phillies catcher Chris
Coste, and Mets catcher Brian
Schneider all signed for me through their team addresses.
Clint
Barmes - c/o
Rockies spring training, 1/1, 243 days
Chris
Coste -
c/o Philadelphia Phillies, 1/1, 75 days
Brian
Schneider
- c/o New York Mets, 1/2, 71 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________
10/7/08
Just got back from vacation to find a
few successes waiting for me. Angels pitcher Jon
Garland, Yankees prospect Austin
Jackson, Dodgers outfielder Juan
Pierre, and Reds reliever David
Weathers
signed for me through their team addresses. I also received a
card back unsigned former Giants third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo.
I also
received a signed card of Craig
Biggio in a trade.
Jon Garland
- c/o Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 2/2, 18 days
Austin Jackson - c/o
Trenton Thunder, 1/1, 70 days
Juan Pierre - c/o
Los Angeles Dodgers, 1/1, 119 days
David Weathers - c/o
Cincinatti Reds, 2/2, 57 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9/14/08
Mail has been extremely slow
with only one
return, although it was a good one. Giants shortstop Omar
Vizquel signed a ball for me in a few weeks.
I also
did my last rush of in
person graphing at Camden Yards with the Indians and Twins in town last
week. First up was the Indians as I was able to get
outfielder David
Dellucci, catcher Sal
Fasano, DH Travis
Hafner, catcher Victor
Martinez, shortstop Jhonny
Peralta (cards),
and catcher Kelly
Shoppach.
Second
was the Twins. I was able to get outfielder Brian
Buscher, shorstop Adam
Everett, first baseman Justin
Morneau, closer Joe
Nathan, pitcher Glen
Perkins, and pitcher Kevin
Slowey.
For the
O's I got pitcher Garrett
Olson and former first baseman Boog
Powell.
Also in
two trades I received signed cards of Brian
Bass, Justin
Christian, Todd
Jones, Jay
Marshall, Sean
Marshall, Micah
Owings, Vicente
Padilla, Zach
Segovia, Chris
Snelling, Larry
Walker, and Vernon
Wells.
That
wraps up my in person
autographing at Camden Yards for 2008 and hopefully the mail will start
to flow in more!
Omar
Vizquel
- c/o San Francisco Giants, 1/1, 20 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/28/08
It's been a good week for mail so far as
I have gotten returns from Cardinals outfielder Brian
Barton, White Sox pitcher Mark
Buehrle, Giants pitcher Brad
Hennessey, Nationals prospect Anderson
Hernandez, and former batting champ Bill
Mueller.
I also
did some poor autographing
as the White Sox came to town. During one session of batting
practice I was only able to get coach
Harold Baines and Orioles third baseman Melvin
Mora.
A 50/50
with Dan also brought me signed cards of Paul
Byrd.
Brian
Barton
- c/o St. Louis Cardinals, 1/1, 27 days
Mark
Buehrle
- c/o Chicago White Sox, 1/2, 23 days
Brad
Hennessey
- c/o Fresno Grizzlies, 1/1, 28 days
Anderson
Hernandez - c/o
New Orleans Zephyrs, 1/1, 14 days
Bill Mueller
- c/o home, 1/1, 90 days
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/22/08
Another
decent sized update today. Last week I went to see
Baltimore's
single A team, the Frederick Keys. I haven't been to
Frederick
for a game in over 10 years, so it was nice to go back there.
I
bought a team set and was able to get autographs from second baseman Miguel
Abreu, pitching coach Blaine
Beatty, coach J.J.
Cannon, infielder Todd
Davison, catcher Zach
Dillon, pitcher Cory
Doyne, outfielder Danny
Figueroa, catcher Justin
Johnson, shortstop Ryan
McCarthy, pitcher Jeff
Moore, pitcher Ryan
Ouellette, catcher Mike
Pierce, pitcher Jake
Renshaw, pitcher Ryan
Rodriguez, third baseman Billy
Rowell, first baseman Brandon
Snyder, outfielder Brandon
Tripp, outfielder Chris
Vinyard, and outfielder Paul
Winterling.
It has
been a decent week for mail as well, as I got returns from Twins minor
leaguer, Alex
Burnett, former Bowie Baysox manager Bien
Figueroa, former Rangers outfielder Richard
Hidalgo, Red Sox pitcher Javier
Lopez, Rangers minor leaguer Zachary
Phillips, and Giants pitcher Tyler
Walker.
I also
completed a few trades for autographs of Elvis
Andrus, Willie
Harris, Doug
Jones, Jed
Lowrie, Dustin
Majewski, Marshall
McDougall, and Brandon
Morrow.
Alex
Burnett - c/o
Ft. Myers Miracle, 1/1, 20 days
Bien
Figueroa - c/o
Connecticut Defenders, 2/2, 70 days
Richard
Hidalgo - c/o Long Island Ducks, 1/1, 7
days
Javier
Lopez - c/o Boston Red Sox, 2/2, 34
days
Zachary
Phillips -
c/o Bakersfield Blaze, 1/1, 24 days
Tyler
Walker -
c/o San Francisco Giants, 1/1, 70 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/13/08
Time for a giant update. Last
week I took my
one annual trip to Bowie to see the O's AA team and go for some
autographs (Matt Wieters specifically). It was a good time,
as it
was Adam Loewen bobblehead day, my fiance won a contest by being the
first one to the announcer with an Orioles keychain, winning $15 worth
of scratch offs (yielding $7 in winnings), and I won an Orioles
memoribilia raffle giving me an autographed photo of Hayden
Penn. Here's the autograph totals: first baseman Ryan
Finan, pitcher David
Hernandez, coach Moe
Hill, pitcher Ryan
Keefer, third baseman Jeff
Nettles, outfielder Nolan
Reimold (cards),
second baseman Carlos
Rojas, pitcher Felix
Romero, pitcher Chris
Tillman, second baseman Jonathan
Tucker, and catcher and O's top prospect Matt
Wieters (cards).
Over the
weekend I decided, like
every other autograph collector/dealer on the east coast, to graph Josh
Hamilton and the Rangers here in Baltimore. The Rangers were
a
very good signing team despite the crowds, as I only missed a few
players. I was able to get pitcher Joaquin
Benoit (card),
injured third baseman Hank
Blalock, outfielder Brandon
Boggs, DH Milton
Bradley (cards,
cards),
outfielder Marlon
Byrd, outfielder Frank
Catalanotto, first baseman Chris
Davis (card),
outfielder Jason
Ellison (card),
pitcher Frank
Francisco, pitcher Eddie
Guardado (cards),
All Star Josh
Hamilton (ball,
Beckett),
pitcher Matt
Harrison, pitcher Tommy
Hunter, All Star second baseman Ian
Kinsler, catcher Gerald
Laird (cards),
pitcher Warner
Madrigal, pitcher Luis
Mendoza, pitcher Dustin
Nippert, pitcher Josh
Rupe, catcher Jarrod
Saltalamacchia (cards,
card),
infielder Ramon
Vazquez (cards,
card),
and pitcher Jamey
Wright.
For the
Orioles, I got pitcher Fernando
Cabrera, infielder Juan
Castro, former Oriole Boog
Powell, outfielder Luke
Scott, and I finished one of my own 8x10 photos by getting Nick
Markakis.
Finally
for the mail, which hasn't been much. Giants minor leaguer Ronnie
Ray signed for me and I also added a signed card of Corey
Koskie to my 2006 Topps Heritage collection through a
purchase.
THE END!
Ronnie Ray
- c/o Connecticut
Defenders, 1/1, 13 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/7/08
This is the first time in a long time
that I've
actually had multiple returns in a week. One was almost a two
year wait as former Phillies outfielder Doug
Glanville signed three cards for me. The other came
from Diamondbacks third baseman Mark
Reynolds
which was sent out during spring training. Tonight I'm going
to
my annual Bowie Baysox game, and then it's the Rangers here in
Baltimore!
Doug
Glanville
- c/o home, 3/3,
648 days
Mark
Reynolds - c/o Diamondbacks spring
training, 1/1, 161 days
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/5/08
Started off the week with one success,
coming from former Rangers outfielder Tom
Goodwin. Tom is now a coach for the Lowell Spinners
in the Red Sox minor league system.
Tom Goodwin
- c/o Lowell Spinners, 3/3, 10 days
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8/1/08
Well, I started off the new month with a
return in the mail box. White Sox prospect Ehren
Wassermann signed a card for me through his minor league team
address in almost a month.
Ehren Wassermann
- c/o Charlotte Knights, 1/1, 26 days
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/31/08
The Blue Jays were in town last week and
I saw them
twice. In the two days, I got catcher Rod
Barajas, pitcher A.J.
Burnett (cards),
pitchers Jesse
Carlson, Scott
Downs (card),
infielder shortstop David
Eckstein (cards,
cards),
pitcher Jason
Frasor (card),
manager Cito
Gaston, infielder Joe
Inglett, outfielder Adam
Lind (card),
pitcher Jesse
Litsch (card),
pitcher Shawn
Marcum (cards),
infielder John
McDonald, outfielder Kevin
Mench (cards),
coach Dwayne
Murphy, closer B.J.
Ryan, DH Matt
Stairs (cards),
pitcher Brian
Tallet, outfielder Brad
Wilkerson (card),
and catcher Greg
Zaun (card).
For the
O's I got pitcher Randor
Bierd, Hall of Famer Jim
Palmer, and outfielder Luke
Scott.
Once
again mail has been very slow, and I have only received Yankees minor
leaguer J.D.
Closser in the last 9 days.
J.D. Closser -
c/o Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees, 1/1, 60 days
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/22/08
Mail has been very slow as of late, but
I have
received two quick responses. Orioles catcher Ramond
Hernandez and Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih
Kuo both signed through their team addresses.
I also
took a day after the All
Star break to try to graph the Tigers a little bit here in Baltimore.
I came out with pitcher Armando
Galarraga, outfielder Curtis
Granderson, third baseman Brandon
Inge, utilityman Ryan
Raburn, and catcher Ivan
Rodriguez. For the Orioles I was only able to get
pitcher Brian
Burres.
Ramon
Hernandez -
c/o Baltimore Orioles, 2/2, 12 days
Hong-Chih
Kuo - c/o
Los Angeles Dodgers, 2/2, 12 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/11/08
Finished the week with a couple more
returns. Braves prospect Josh
Anderson, Cardinals prospect Jarrett
Hoffpauir and Red Sox prospect Iggy
Suarez all signed through their minor league teams.
Josh
Anderson
- c/o Richmond Braves, 2/2, 13 days
Jarrett
Hoffpauir -
c/o Memphis Red
Birds, 2/2, 11 days
Iggy
Suarez
- c/o Portland
Sea Dogs, 1/1, 13 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/7/08
More decent mail coming in today.
Former Orioles minor leaguer Pete
Maestrales, Athletics prospect Jamie
Richmond and former Diamondbacks slugger Matt
Williams all signed for me. The Williams was a big
surprise as it took over 2 years to come back.
Pete
Maestrales
- c/o Long Island
Ducks, 1/1, 25 days
Jamie
Richmond
- c/o Kane County Cougars, 1/1, 9 days
Matt
Williams
- c/o home, 1/1,
871 days
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/3/08
The other day I went to see the Royals
in town to
visit the O's. I only tried for autographs during batting
practice and didn't get a whole lot. I was able to get
outfielder
Mike
Aviles, pitcher Brian
Bannister, outfielder David
DeJesus, and third baseman Mark
Teahen (cards).
In the
mail I also got Yankees prospect Anthony
Claggett and Mariners pitcher Mark
Lowe.
Anthony
Claggett
-
c/o Trenton
Thunder, 1/1, 7 days
Mark
Lowe
-
c/o Seattle
Mariners, 2/2, 23 days
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7/1/08
Another piece of mail today
coming from independent leaguer and former Pirates infielder Bobby
Hill.
Bobby
Hill
- c/o Newark Bears, 2/2, 20
days
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/30/08
Only
a trade came in today from Chad of Sports Autos TTM.
In the trade a received a signed card of Orlando
Cabrera.
I have done many trades with Chad and he is always a pleasure
to
deal with. Check out his site as he has a great collection
and
sends out more ttm requests than anybody I know.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/27/08
One piece of mail has come in this week.
Brewers pitcher Seth
McClung
singed one of two cards for me through his team address.
McClung
always eluded me in person when he was with Tampa, so it's nice to add
his autograph to my collection.
Seth
McClung - c/o
Milwaukee Brewers, 1/2, 10 days
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6/20/08
Well,
the last month has been ridiculous with my site. I lost it
somehow and just figured out the easy way to fix it. However,
in
the process I deleted any old information that I had on here, so I have
no way of going back and putting up my previous successes. I
have
a million things to update, but it will take forever. I've
seen a
few games over the last month, including the Nationals, Red Sox,
Pirates and Astros all here in Baltimore. From what I
remember,
here's how I did with Washington:
Aaron
Boone, Ryan
Zimmerman,
Jesus
Flores, Austin
Kearns, Joel
Hanrahan, John
Lannan, Tim
Redding (cards),
Saul
Rivera, Wil
Nieves, Christian
Guzman (cards),
Wily
Mo Pena, and Felipe
Lopez.
The Red
Sox were easier to
remember since I only got pitcher David
Aardsma.
Just did
the Pirates and did
great; Jason
Bay (ROY
Ball), Raul
Chavez, Jose
Bautista, Jack
Wilson, Ian
Snell (Card),
John
Russell, Luis
Rivas (card),
Xavier
Nady,
Jason
Michaels (card),
Doug
Mientkiewicz (cards),
Nate
McLouth, Damaso
Marte, Paul
Maholm (card),
Adam
LaRoche, Tom
Gorzelanny, Chris
Gomez,
Lou
Frazier, Zach
Duke (cards),
Ryan
Doumit, Matt
Capps, Sean
Burnett
(card),
and Tyler
Yates.
Most
recently I saw the Astros
who were ok signers; Darin
Erstad (card),
Reggie
Abercrombie (who
almost got in a fight with an asshole dealer), Wesley
Wright, Wandy
Rodriguez, Humberto
Quintero, Sean
Berry (cards),
Mark
Loretta, Geoff
Blum, Ed
Romero, Ty
Wiggington, Jose
Valverde, Geoff
Geary, Jose
Cruz
Sr, Brad
Ausmus, Hunter
Pence, Miguel
Tejada, and Kaz
Matsui signed for me.
Tejada was also the last signature needed on this
piece that my
fiance and I have been working on for the last year.
The
totals for the Orioles during
the Astros and Pirates games go like this; Lance
Cormier,
Guillermo
Quiroz (card),
Oscar
Salazar, Garrett
Olson, George
Sherrill
(cards),
Brian
Roberts, Luke
Scott (card),
Jim
Johnson (card,
Debut
ticket), Alex
Cintron, Matt
Albers (card),
Adam
Jones, and Radhames
Liz. Also attended a signing for pitcher Dennis
Sarfate
(card,
postcard).
Finally
for the mail, which has
been great for the last month. Two Hall of Famers as I got
signed
baseballs from Jim
Bunning and Goose
Gossage. Also received and
autograph from Danny
Putnam on his ML Debut ticket. Here are all
the other autographs I received through the mail in the last
month; Jeromy
Burnitz, Royals pitcher Kyle
Davies, Brewers
pitcher Mitch
Stetter, Padres pitcher Chris
Young,
Red Sox prospect Mark
Wagner, Giants closer Brian
Wilson, former Tigers
slugger Cecil
Fielder, former Orioles infielder Jeff
Reboulet (cards),
Yankees prospect Chris
Stewart, Padres reliever Cla
Meredith, and York
Revolution pitcher Nick
McCurdy.
Also, in
a couple of 50/50 deals
I got signed cards of Ron
Coomer (cards)
and Ricky
Bottalico.
And last but not least was a pack pull of White Sox prospect Brian
Omogrosso.
Mark
Wagner - c/o Portland Sea Dogs, 1/1, 8 days
Danny Putnam
- c/o Sacramento River
Cats, 1/2, 378 days
Jeromy
Burnitz -
c/o home ,1/1, 27 days
Kyle
Davies - c/o Royals spring training,
1/1, 100 days
Mitch
Stetter - c/o Nashville Sounds, 1/1, 7 days
Brian
Wilson - c/o San Francisco Giants, 1/1, 8 days
Cecil
Fielder - c/o Atlantic City Surf, 1/3, 8 days
Jeff
Reboulet - c/o home, 7/7, 7 days
Chris
Stewart - c/o Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 1/1, 11 days
Cla
Meredith - c/o San Diego Padres, 1/1, 14 days
Nick
McCurdy - c/o York Revolution, 1/1, 12 days
Chris
Young - c/o San Diego Padres, 1/1, 344 days
Jim
Bunning - c/o home, 1/1, 6 days
Goose
Gossage - c/o home, 1/1, 9 days ($10 donation)