Saturday, July 30, 2011

Jeff Cirillo

Mailed on 7/11/11 and received 3/4 back on 7/30/11. Very nice return from a long time big leaguer. Mr. Cirillo was a professional in every sense of the word and got it done for a few different teams in his time. He signed three of the four cards I sent but didn't sign the card I would have liked to have signed most. I wonder how these guys choose which cards they want to sign. 3 cards back is still awesome and I'm happy to get this one. Cards were mailed to his home.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Luis Gonzalez

Mailed on 6/22/11 and received 4/4 back on 7/29/11. This is my second attempt to Mr. Gonzalez and I'm glad this one worked out. Mr. Gonzalez had a great MLB career and is now working with the Astros. He has a very nice signature and all of these look great. One of the cards is pretty hard to see the autograph on but overall great success. Cards were mailed to the Astros.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Henri Richard

Mailed on 7/5/11 and received 5/3 back on 7/28/11. Happy to add one of the all-time greats to my collection. Mr. Richard has been a great signer for a long time and I finally got around to sending some cards off to him. Not only did he sign my three cards for me but also included the card with him and the Cup and also the bigger picture. At age 75 Mr. Richard continues to be one of the classiest men around and I'm so happy with these. I encourage anyone out there who hasn't written to him to do so because these are really some great items! Cards were mailed to the Canadiens alumni association.

Jason Motte

Mailed on 7/23/11 and received 1/1 back on 7/28/11. Another really fast return from the hard throwing righty in the Cardinals bullpen. I first saw Jason play when he was in single-A with the Swing of the Quad Cities. He started his baseball career has a catcher and got to AAA before he made the conversion to a pitcher and it has benefitted his career very well. He throws absolute gas out of the bullpen and has had a great ERA since joining the Cardinals. Another Topps 2011 card signed that looks awesome! Card was mailed to the Cardinals.

Austin Kearns

Mailed on 7/23/11 and received 1/1 back on 7/28/11. Really fast return from a current big leaguer! Mr. Kearns has had some nice seasons with the Reds and Nationals and looks to make a name for himself on the up and coming Indians. He has struggled a bit this season but I'm glad to see him still getting his work in and still signing for his fans. I bought a 2011 Topps set and been sending a lot of these cards out. It's a great looking set with a lot of guys who are willing to sign. Very happy with how these cards are turning out! Card was mailed to the Indians.

Jon Lieber


Mailed on 7/18/11 and received 4/4 back on 7/28/11. A long time veteran, Mr. Lieber was a reliable guy to throw every 5th day. He had a few great season with the Cubs and always got the job done for a few other teams. These cards look great with the blue sharpie popping out really well especially on the Cubs cards. Interesting signature for sure. Cards were mailed to his home.

Arthur Rhodes

Mailed on 6/23/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/28/11. Mr. Rhodes has been in the bigs for a long time and he continues to be great out of the pen. He was an all-star just last season after he had an almost perfect first half of the season. He's always been one of the best lefties in the league and the way he is going he may never retire. I mailed these cards to him not knowing if he was a signer or not, I guess I just had a hunch that he would sign. I've heard that he was a nice guy in person so I decided to give it a shot. Cards were mailed to the Texas Rangers.

Jimmy Key

Mailed on 7/18/11 and received 1/3 back on 7/28/11. Mr. Key has always been a reliable and quick signer but has become a one-per request signer. I have a bunch of his cards I would like signed but I'm happy with one signature. Very nice autograph, you can actually read his name! The Blue Jays uniform looks nice with the bold blue sharpie used. Cards were mailed to his home.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Tom Wilhelmsen

Mailed on 7/12/11 and received 3/3 back on 7/23/11. I was looking for Mr. Wilhelmsen for a few years now hoping to get my Beloit Snappers cards signed. It turns out he left baseball for 5 years to backpack around the world. He eventually came back to the game and worked his way back through independent baseball. That's an awesome story and I'm glad to see he is back and pitching very well. Cards were mailed to his current team.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Erik Berard

Mailed on 7/11/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/22/11. Very happy with this one! I saw a few successes from Mr. Bedard and decided I would try my luck as well. Didn't expect it so fast so I was surprised to open it up so quick. Despite some health issues Mr. Bedard has had a great season so far this year and hopefully he returns and can be dominant again. He has some great stuff and if he could put together a few good years we could really appreciate what he can do. Cards were mailed to the Mariners.

Chone Figgins

Mailed on 7/5/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/22/11. Mr. Figgins has always been a reliable signer and I finally got a letter out to him. A quick turnaround and a quick signature from Chone. Looks like he signs "Chone" with some loops. An autograph is an autograph! Mr. Figgins has had a couple tough years in Seattle but he has the talent to be a star on the field in some many different areas. Cards were mailed to the Mariners.

Tony Womack

Mailed on 6/29/11 and received 2/4 back on 7/22/11. Very happy to get a long time MLB veteran in Mr. Womack. He was always a pesky hitter and a terror on the bases. He was a part of some great teams and was a great guy to make on a team. He signed two of the four cards I mailed him and didn't sign the two I probably would have liked to have signed but thats ok these two turned out great. Cards were mailed to his home.

Drew Henson

Mailed on 7/1/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/22/11. Mr. Henson was a big prospect for the Yanks a few years back but unfortunately was never able to stick in the big leagues. He was a great athlete, playing quarterback at Michigan. The Fleer prospect card that he personalized for me look awesome. He used a bold blue sharpie and he has a great looking signature. Cards were mailed to his home.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Russell Springer

Mailed on 6/29/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/18/11. Mr. Springer had a long career out of the pen for a few different teams. He was on my favorite team, the Astros, during their best years and he was great. He was a great guy to have in the dugout as well. Happy to get both of these signed. Cards were mailed to his home.

Woody Williams

Mailed on 7/5/11 and received 4/4 back on 7/18/11. Very quick return from a long time MLB'er. Woody was a solid pitcher for a long time, he didn't have electric stuff but he used his smarts and location to get outs. Nice signatures on all four of these and they look great! Cards were mailed to his home.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Brian Pellerin

Mailed on 5/24/11 and received 2/2 back on 7/16/11. I've sent out a few of these Peoria Rivermen quests lately and I'm glad to get them back. Mr. Pellerin signed both of these in Red which actually looks pretty good on these. Cards were mailed to his home.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Chris Perez

Mailed on 6/29/11 and received 2/4 back on 7/14/11. Mr. Perez is a pretty unique and cool guy. He has become one of the best closers in baseball and he is very fan friendly on twitter and signing his mail. Two weeks for an all-star is pretty awesome. I'm not upset he kept two cards, I mailed four of this same card and told him to keep as many as he would like. I first got to know Mr. Perez when he was in single-A in the Cardinals organization. He was a big prospect then and I'm glad to see he has fulfilled that potential. Cards were mailed to the Indians.

Phil Nevin

Mailed on 6/23/11 and received 2/4 back on 7/14/11. Mr. Nevin was a great big leaguer for a long time. He was really underrated I believe, he played in San Diego most of his career so he didn't get much attention. He had some monster years and I'm happy to happy him to my collection. Cards were mailed to the team he is managing now.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Shane Doan


Mailed on 11/13/10 and received 4/4 back on 7/11/11. Nice cards from Mr. Doan, I was surprised to see this one come back. On the Beehive card I got back I guess I forgot or didn't rub the card down enough before sending (rookie move!) Cards look nice and I'm very happy with these. Cards were mailed to his home.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Fausto Carmona

Mailed on 6/23/11 and received 1/1 back on 7/7/11. Really fast return from a current player. Fausto has some brilliant stuff when he is going good but can really struggle when his mechanics are off. If he could really find himself and consistency with his pitching he could do amazing things. He is still young so he has lots of time. Card was mailed to the Indians.

I also bought a 300 signed card lot from the card store I bought those other cards. These were from the same collector who went to a lot of games and I'm really happy with what I got. These 300 were mostly minor league guys but there were some big prospects in there and I really got my moneys worth. 300 signed cards for $50 sounds good to me.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Brenden Morrow

I don't know when I mailed this one out but I received 3/3 back on 7/5/11. I couldn't find the exact date I sent this one out but I know it was a while ago. I've written to Mr. Morrow a couple times because I've seen other successes with him but I had never been so lucky. Mine finally came rolling in today and it was a pleasant surprise. A great player and captain in the league, pumped to get these back. Cards were mailed to the Stars.

Antonio Alfonseca

Mailed on 6/20/11 and received 4/4 back on 7/5/11. Very happy with these four, I remember watching Mr. Alfonseca dealing in the big for various teams including my home town Cubs. Good ol' Six fingers had a nice career and is still pitching today. He is one of many former big leaguers now playing in Independent leagues. It's cool that he is signing and still playing. Cards were mailed to this team.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Russ Courtnall

Mailed on 6/1/11 and received 6/6 back on 7/2/11. Mr. Courtnall has always been a reliable signer, this is the second time I have had a success with him and both times he signed all my cards for me. Nice big autographs on all of the cards, great success overall. Cards were mailed on his home.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Some Steals!

I usually don't post things that I buy on the internet or at card stores but I couldn't resist posting these cards up. I made a stop the a card store that is about 20 minutes from my house and they had some new signed cards that someone came in and sold them. I was excited to see some big name guys and Blackhawks players as well. The best part of all of this was that the cards were $1 each! The cards passed my eye authenticity test and the owner said the guy who sold these to them was a long time collector who went to 40-50 games a year. Very excited with what I got and I can't wait to go back and get more of them
Cristian Guzman, Vernon Wells, and Michael Bourn. Vernon Wells was an elite player just a few years ago. I also like the Astros so I was excited to add Michael Bourn to my collection. Cristian Guzman just kind of jumped out at me, veteran player who I didn't have an autograph of.
Carlos Lee and Josh Johnson. Carlos Lee is a very tough signer so I was pumped to see his card up for a buck. I used to go to lots of Astros games and even went to Spring Training twice and only managed to get one Carlos Lee autograph in all that time. Josh Johnson is my favorite card that I bought today, he is a stud as long as he can stay healthy. I love good young pitching and he is as good as it gets. I probably would have paid $10 for his signed card so I'm pretty pumped I got it.
Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland. These were my two favorite of the couple signed Hawks cards they had at the store. There was also a Brouwer (ex-Hawk now), Bickell, and another Bolland. Sitting at home now I wish I would have bought them all but I'll be back to the store soon. The Bolland signature is one of the most detailed signatures of his I've seen, I love it. The early Patrick Sharp card is sweet and no doubt worth a dollar.

I always try to support small card stores over buying cards on ebay or any other website. Its always fun to go in and see what gems you can find. I certainly got a nice deal with these and I'm glad I could spend a few bucks at a local business. I'll definitely be back for more soon!