End of the Month

To end January, I added a nice upgrade of a tough signer, Paul Kilgus. I also had a few Ron Hansen cards laying around. I sent them out even though I didn't need him for the official collection. Mr. Hansen sent them back in 5 days (including a Sunday). Definitely one of the Oriole greats!

Busy Week!

Since I've last updated, I've received several new TTM autographs and worked out a big trade with fellow O's collector, Kirk, from Eutaw Street Cardboard. Well first for my new TTM additions:Fritz signed both my Crown cards in 2 weeks from his home address. For an interesting write-up of his career visit the blog, "Orioles Card 'O' the Day". Now I know he has a regular Oriole card, which I'll look to obtain and get signed.

I received Trent Hubbard back today. I got worried because after I sent my request I noticed he might be doing a paid signing. Luckily he still honored my request TTM but kept one of the cards.

Finally is my haul from the previously mentioned trade. I added 6 new autos and upgraded 3. Thanks again Kirk!

A 'Tom' Type of Day

Today was an exciting day at the mailbox. I got back 5 returns, some on guys that don't have the highest success rates signing TTM. Of those 5, three are all named Tom! Additionally, I received a Jerry, a Fred, and finally a Luis in a trade.

First up is Tom Patton. Tom played his only game in the Majors with the Orioles on April 30, 1957.

Tom Chism also signed for me in a faded blue marker.
An awesome success came from Tom Dukes who included his own signed photo and wrote a letter back to me!

I was very happy to get back Jerry DaVanon, who only had one success listed since late 2009. I sent out a 1991 Crown anyways.

Luis came to me in a trade on Sportscollectors.net. I gave up a 2010 Upper Deck Jake Fox.

Trade With Russell

Fellow Oriole autograph collector Russell recently reached out via email with his trade and wantlists. We were able to work out a deal. My Russ Ortiz for his Tim Nordbrook. Thanks again and I look forward to working out another trade for the other autos I need!

Hey Mickey!

I must say this is one of my favorite cards in my collection and I've always wanted a signed copy. Unfortunately, I have not had any luck TTM with Mickey so I jumped on an auction lot that featured this card. The 1989 Upper Deck always was special to me as it was my birth year. Tettleton on this card reminds me of the Big League Chew cartoon on the packages.

I also added a few upgrades and a new auto to my O's collection with this auction. The upgrades come way of Dave Borkowski, which replaces a Tigers card:

Steve Kline, which replaces a blank Orioles postcard I had signed at the 2011 South Atlantic League All-Star game, where Steve was the pitching coach for the Northern Division.And a new addition of Shane Turner. Turner was drafted by the Yankees but traded to the Phillies with another former O, Keith Hughes. He made his debut for the Phillies in 1988 and later played for the Black & Orange in 1991. After his playing career, Turner had a managerial career for 10 years. He currently is a instructor for the San Francisco Giants.

2012, New Year - New Autos

At the end of 2011, I hit the 50% mark on my Orioles collection. I was happy to hit this milestone so quickly. I began the year at around 25% and this year was the year I really focused on trying to obtain every Oriole. Sadly, I'm approaching the part of my collection where they are players who aren't automatic through the mail. But, I like a challenge and I'm motivated to further my collection. That being said, 2012 already looks promising with some recent additions TTM and purchase.

This past week has brought in 3 TTM successes. The first was Ricky Jones:

Ricky only played for the O's for 16 games and that was his entire MLB experience. I found he had been twice drafted before in 1976 & 1978 by the Braves and the Mets, as early as the 5th round in the amateur draft, but declined both before signing with the Orioles with a 15th round pick in 1980.


Today brought in 2 successes with Dyar Miller and Steve Luebber.

Dyar included a nice note and added a signed business card to my request.


Steve Luebber had a rather forgettable Oriole career only appearing in what was the final 7 games of his career. He was later sent to the Texas Rangers as part of an earlier trade. An interesting tidbit I found about his career though was this:

Luebber was part of the longest game in professional baseball history, the famous 33-inning contest between the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League in 1981. Luebber came on for the Red Wings in the 15th inning, pitching the next eight frames before giving way to Jim Umberger, who threw the next 10. The game was finally suspended after 32 innings (4:09 am) and resumed the following day, in which Pawtucket won it in the 33rd, 4-3.

http://500level.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/steve-luebber-we-hardly-knew-you/

Neat Return from Chuck Locke

It's always nice to get a letter back when writing requests to players. I've had quite a few letters come back and they're almost always from guys who played back in the 50s. I had a nice note come back from former Oriole Chuck Locke. It was especially interesting because in high school I wrote a paper on the Eastern Shore Baseball league, which he mentions in his letter. Chuck only played 2 games in the majors but he had a long career, totaling 9 years, before making it to the show in 1955.