A Tribute to the Best Baseball Player I Knew

     It's been a bit of a rough start to 2024 for my family and I.  The last half of 2023 was no cakewalk because of my father's ongoing health struggle.  Getting him in front of the correct doctors and the correct care he needs while living a couple hours drive and raising a young family has taken put me into survival mode.  In all of the absurdity of real life things happening, I chose to bring this blog out of mothballs and also start sending out TTMs by the boatload.  I will also just briefly mention the subject of career fulfillment and maybe elaborate on it in the future.

    Finding beauty and peace in life has not always come easy.  I had a somewhat rocky upbringing and I believe that it is only by God's hand that I have been able to turn out as decent as I have.  (Taking credit or self-praise also something that is not easy for me to do either)  I still search for answers and ask daily for the purpose of why I have succeeded in life to the degree I have.

    There have been few constants in my entire life.  Baseball cards have been always been around.  They will be here long after I am gone.  

    My father has been around for my 40 years of existence. I don't know how much longer he's going to be around. It's a struggle every time I go to see him.  The drive is long and boring.  It is very tough to carry on meaningful conversation with him even when he remembers who I am. There are only so many pictures on my phone I can show him and ask what he had for lunch.  We will watch whatever football game is on that particular Sunday but he couldn't even tell me what the score is.  Its tough seeing "Super Dad" in such a lowly state.

    The third and final constant was my Grandpa.  As I type this, it was exactly one week ago I was having one of the toughest moments of my life.  I had to make the choice with the doctors at the hospital to only provide comfort care for my grandfather.  The plan was to wait for Monday morning and come up with a plan to get him home where he could pass into eternal rest on his own terms.  It was not to be.  In the wee hours of the morning on January 22nd, 2024, my Grandpa passed into the afterlife with me by his side.  It was quick, and I pray that it was painless.  He sat up in the bed and I asked him "Are you OK, Grandpa?" He replied "I don't know." I rushed out of the room to get the nurse and when we returned ten seconds later, he was gone.  It is the only time I had ever heard my Grandpa say that he didn't know.

    That was the great man my Grandpa was.  He was the most genuine person I'd ever known.  He was the rock of our family and never wavered or changed until he padded.  He lived 90 full years of life and was a farmer right up until he was 85.  The only reason he quit is because my grandmother needed care during her terminal battle with dementia.  To me, it always seemed he  knew exactly what he was doing and exactly how he was going to do it.  It's funny that he became a farmer. I can assure that if he had chosen to be an astronaut or a police officer, he would have been the best around.  He had the drive and determination to be the best.  He was the best farmer around.  He always had the straightest rows, the healthiest crops, and the highest yields.  I will always treasure the countless times I rode with him in the the tractor, combine, or grain truck.  Even as I got into my teens and was able to help him stack seed bags, he could still out work me.  

    Our many fishing trips out on the Potomac River will always have a place in my heart because it always seemed to turn into "catching" instead of just fishing.  It was on one of these trips where I witnessed the only time he ever showed the slightest bit of frustration.  Somehow, while casting is line out, he lost his grip and accidently casted his whole rod into the drink!  He waved his hands toward the water in disgust and sat down on one of the chairs in the boat.  Luckily, after a few casts of my rod, I was able to somehow catch is gear and pull it back into the boat.  The only time in 40 years I experienced my Grandpa get upset.

    So, in going through some of his belongings late last week, I came across a baseball.  I had never seen it before, nor had it ever been brought up in conversation.  See for yourself:

    Its a bit beat up, but you can see it says "Homerun Ball, Reedville, April 14, 1949."  That was his Senior (or maybe Junior) year of high school.  Since it is in his possession and the only known one in existence, I believe this ball is more valuable than even a Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, or Stan Musial homerun ball. There are plenty of baseballs from fancy major leaguers floating around in various collections across the globe but there is only one Weymouth Hughes homerun ball, and I have it.  That is the definition of priceless.

Take a look at the other side of this ball:

    I think since the ball is missing this section of rawhide, when he hit it, the cover actually came off of it.  Nobody has told me otherwise, so that's the story I'm going to go with.  My dad told me stories of how he was told how great of a baseball player Grandpa was during his youth and as a young adult.  There was a league in eastern Virginia called the Chesapeake league that he played in.  He was named pitcher of the year a few times and was also an awesome hitter.  He later played in the men's fastpitch softball league that was huge in the Northern Neck and Middle peninsula area of Virginia in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  He had hung up the spikes by the time I was born in 1983.  While I never got to see him play,  I have no doubt that he was the best baseball player I ever knew.

    It is a testament to his legacy that so many people showed up to pay their respects today at his funeral. In a small town everybody knows everybody and everybody knew my Grandpa.  I even reconnected with folks I knew when I was growing up that I didn't even know I was related to today. It was an absolute honor to stand in front of them today and tell them what he meant to me.  At the same time, it was one of the toughest things I had ever done and one of the easiest things I had ever done. It was wonderful to hear each and every person I spoke with today told me how great of a guy he was.  We will all miss him.

I Love You Grandpa

https://welchfuneralhomeva.com/book-of-memories/5367835/Hughes-Roland/index.php

TTM Success: Wes Stock

 These two returns came in from Wes Stock recently.  Both of these cards are a bit beat up but they still look great signed. I've noticed on the inside of most of the return envelopes that there ends up being a bit of the ink from the cards rubbing off. causing the paper loss you can see on the 1961 Topps just below.

It seems that this is unavoidable.  I could risk putting the cards in soft sleeves, top loaders, or even card savers but there's been some collectors having horror stories that the protection ends up getting signed instead of the cards.  I started out using index cards as protection and the results have been mixed.  I've just gone to leaving the cards loose in the envelope and hoping for the best.  That's mostly the name of the game for chasing TTMs anyways.

I Sent these two cards out on October 28th, 2023 and got them back on November 24th, 2023 for a 27 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Stock!

TTM Success: Dyar Miller

 This was a nice return I got back just before Thanksgiving.  Dyar Miller is known as a very gracious signer and will write a note back to you.  Looking back, it made me smile the day I got it back and it made me smile again when I just looked at it.  He thanked me for being a baseball fan and especially for being an O's fan.  He wrote in the letter that he still follows them closely and was pretty happy the way the season went.  He then wished me and my family to stay safe and healthy and to have a great holiday season. What a class act.

I Sent these cards out on November 6th 2023 and got them back on November 24th 2023 for an 18day TAT. Thank You Mr. Miller!

TTM Success: Paul Mitchell

This TTM was a pretty quick and easy affair.  Paul Mitchell didn't play for the Orioles for a very long because he was shipped to the Athletics in the trade that brought Reggie Jackson to Charm City.  Mr. Mitchell has a nice signature that I wish I had gotten him to also put on an Orioles Crown card.  Beginner's stupidity has led me to make a comedy of errors in sending cards through the mail to get autographed.  You live, you learn that you're a dumbass.

I sent to this 1976 Topps out on November 7th 2023 and got it back on November 21st 2023 for a tidy 14 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Mitchell!

TTM Success: Fred Beene

 This Orioles Crown return was a quick one from former Orioles pitcher Fred Beene.  He also pitched for the Yankees and Indians during his career. He had a respectable 3.63 ERA mostly as a bullpen arm, but seemed to walk too many batters.  I'm mainly focusing on Orioles autographs so I only sent this one card.  He shared his rookie card with another former Orioles star, Terry Crowley. I tend to shy away from getting duo and triple player cards signed through the mail so I decided against sending it to him.  

A fun fact about Fred Beene is that after his playing days were over, he was a Brewers scout for 20 years. On of his most notable signings was Jim Morris when he was originally drafted.  If you remember Jim Morris's story was the subject of the baseball movie, "The Rookie".  Jim Morris had several arm issues, retired and then made his MLB debut 16 years after originally being drafted.

This was one of my first couple of requests that I sent out with an index card question: 

I love that he name dropped Thurman Munson in his response. I appreciate his time to write a well thought out response.

I sent my card and index card question on November 10th 2023 and got them back on November 20th 2023 for a 10 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Beene!

Midlothian Card Show Pickups: Workmanlike

I was able to hit up my semi-monthly hotel ballroom card show this morning and if I had to  characterize it, I would sum it up in one word: workmanlike.  I was up to my usual dumpster diving behavior for a good portion of the show but I did make my first and only big purchase of the show right off the bat. Behold:

 

I've been after a Vlad Daddy rookie card for good while now and I'm happy to be able to finally get one that fit into my collection.  Right price, right condition.  I walked into the show with a clear goal for the day but for some reason, I stopped off at a random table with random boxes and happened upon this card. At first, I thought it may be a reprint but its legit.  For one Andrew Jackson, this card will have a permanent spot in my collection.

My original goal for this show was to dive deep into a certain vendor's quarter boxes.  He regularly streams on Whatnot under the username rva_sports_cards.  I got into his boxes at the tail end of the Tuckahoe show a few weeks ago and only got a sampling of what he had.  My one big purchase from him was the above Dean Kremer Chrome Gold Refractor.  Kremer is underrated in my opinion so I'd love to see a breakout this season from him.  

My workmanlike behavior landed me a good variety of cards.  I had my water bottle, a couple of snacks, a chair to sit in and my good buddy Scott and his son Austin to start the digging. I methodically dug through box after box of quarter goodness.  No really crazy finds today, just value. I found a handful of rookie cards from the last few years with some decent color match parallels of those guys.  I haven't really made up my mind on collecting the pictured insert sets above.  Curiously, I did not find any cards from any of the other insert sets haunting my wantlists.  

I found a couple of PC cards like this Mussina,

and an O-Pee-Chee Eddie Murray.  Awesome cards that will now be stashed in my binders of the respective players.  

On the way out, I had some money left in my pocket.  The only true vintage table on the floor was from an older gentleman.  He was sitting behind the table working in his notebook.  Very workmanlike. I backfilled a few cards from my Orioles wantlists.  A few of the cards these are replacing got scribbled on over the last few months and some are out on tour through the mail system.

I was able to spend some time on a Sunday afternoon looking through cards with a good friend I hadn't seen in a while and was able to snag a few nice cards for my collection. unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any new Cal Ripken cards I didn't have.  I'm sure they were there, I just ran out of time and money to search for them.  Either way,  I call this card show a solid win.

TTM Success: Chuck Estrada

 This TTM from Chuck Estrada came back shortly before Thanksgiving.  I have since already been to a card show and was able to backfill my 1962 Orioles team set with this beauty of a card. '62 Topps has grown on me over the years. Out of the decade of the '60s, it comes in 2nd place to....

1965 Topps.  I'll eventually get around to getting a list put together for what I need to complete it one of these days.

I'm very happy to have these 2 awesome cards autographed and in my collection.  I sent these out on Halloween, October 31st, 2023, and got them back on November 20th, 2023 for a 20 day TAT. Thank You Mr. Estrada!

TTM Success: Charlie Maxwell

 Here's another TTM that came back just before Thanksgiving.  Charlie Maxwell is currently the 8th oldest baseball player at 96 years young.  I've always been a fan of the old school Bowman cards so I'm very glad I could get Mr. Maxwell to sign this one for me.  He only played in 4 games for the Orioles to start off the 1955 season before he was traded to the Tigers.

I sent this one out on November 7, 2023 and it returned signed beautifully on November 20th 2023 for a 13 day TAT.  I paid his requested signing fee of $10.  Thank You Mr. Maxwell!

TTM Success: Paul Gilliford

 This success came back to me a few days before Thanksgiving.  The TTMs have really been rolling in since I started putting real effort into mailing Orioles cards out to the gentlemen that played for them.  This return from Paul Gilliford was the first time I tried a little something different. He never had an official card released to the masses so my options were limited in selecting something to send.  Once again, I'm saved by the cursed blessing, 1991 Crown/Coke Orioles SGA set.  I'm thankful for this set of cards because I have a chance to connect with a handful of nearly forgotten Orioles.  While I was writing my letter of request to Mr. Gilliford, I read that he attended and played baseball at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.  Randy Mac as its known around the area, is about a 35 to 40 minute drive up I-95 from where I live.  Its a very small college that is not well known for its sports endeavors.  

I had a bright idea that day to send a question on an index card in an effort to interact a bit more with him.  Since that day I've included an index card question to each of the players I've sent autograph requests to.  

A bit of a look into the future from this request, the results have  made me smile and chuckle a bit at some of the responses.  Hopefully, the readers of this blog will enjoy the responses as much as I have.  Don't get me wrong, I still love the autographs I've gotten!

Here's my first (of many) index card questions: 

I sent out my card and question on November 10th 2023, and got both back on November 20th 2023, for a speedy 10 day TAT.  Thank you Mr. Gilliford!

TTM Success: Darold Knowles

Darold Knowles was one of the first 1991 Crown Orioles to come back that I had sent out. This is his only single Orioles card.  He has 3 different his "Rookie Stars" cards over 3 separate years. He shares  1964 with Les "Buster" Narum, 1965 with Richie Scheinblum, and Don Buschhorn, and 1966 with Andy Etchebarren.  I don't think I remember seeing a player other than Knowles have 3 straight years of Rookie Stars cards like he had.  Cracking the Orioles rotation or bullpen during the mid 60's was really tough so he played a ton in the minors before he got his shot at the majors.  He only pitched a handful of games in Baltimore before he was dealt to Philadelphia before the 1966 season.  He was a bit of a journeyman around the league during his career but always had good numbers except for one year in 1975 with the Cubs.  He also had 14 losses during the 1970 season but carried a 2.04 ERA. That seems tough to do.

I sent this 1991 Orioles Crown card out on November 10th, 2023 and got it back signed on November 18th, 2023 for an eight day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Knowles!
 

Tuckahoe Card Show Pickups: I am a Trash Collecting Hypocrite

    Happy New Year everyone.  Christmas hoopla is in the rearview mirror and 2023 is done and dusted.  I was able to finish out 2023 by goint to a midsize card show that is held at an indoor baseball training facility at one of the Little Leagues in town.  I like this show because the floor is made out of field turf so its easier on the knees and legs to stand and look through cards than the concrete and berber carpet of the other local show at a hotel.  I don't usually end up standing that much because I'm a bit of a trash panda at shows and vendors usually end up offering me a chair while I search their dime and quarter boxes.

    Each card featured in this post I either paid only a single dime or a quarter. I had my nephew with me and he's a football collector.  He came in real handy while dumpster dime box diving.  He picked out Orioles cards for me and I searched for Bears and Justin Fields cards for him.  He's even pickier than I am when digging through 5000 count boxes.  I've taught the kid well.

 I'm pretty happy about this find.  I've been collecting Diamond Kings and Pro-Visions cards for the last year or so.  Most come from junk wax sets. Pro-Visions for example, 

'91: one every couple of packs or a full set in the factory set

'92: it was a subset of the base set and not hard to obtain, 

'94 and '95: pretty affordable inserts that can be had for less that a buck

1993 is a whole different story.  These babies are pretty frickin' rare and to find one in a quarter box, It mind as well been Christmas miracle. Its cartoon Cecil Freaking Fielder holding a katana with a geisha looking on in front of the Miami(!?!) beachfront. I love the early 90's.

I'm not a fan of the gimmicky stuff Topps puts out like the Holiday mega boxes, the horribly conceived 2023 Big League debacle, or the 2022 Topps Chrome Platinum abominations.  But I love old Diamond Kings and Fleer Pro-Visions.  I'm such a hypocrite!

I hit nearly every player collection I have going at the moment.  Speaking of the 2022 Topps Chrome Anniversary I grabbed a near Orioles team set of them and these particular Moose and Eddie will reside in their own albums.  I kept the streak alive of finding at least one Ripken I need at each show I go to. The Hays is a refractor and would look great with his scribble on it. Especially with the yellow background.

Speaking of gimmicks and hypocrisy, I fell in love with the All Aces set from this year's Topps flagship.  I'm working on the entire series 1, 2, and Update sets.  The look like playing cards and are gimmicky as hell but I love 'em.  Don't ask me to even spit in the direction of baseball playing cards or the Showdown game from the early 2000s.  Such a hypocrite.  Gypsy Queen Tarot cards. Gimmick, but still collecting 'em.  This year's Bowman Platinum New Money inserts: Gimmick, love it.  Check my set wantlist to help me out. It's a bit of a blood bath on that list right now but I'm trying to collect one of every single insert card ever made (kidding! maybe..)

I didn't hit my actually set wantlists that hard.  I only got this one from 1998 UD3.  I remember busting blaster boxes with my childhood buddy in the car.  Good Times!  I don't think I whipped out my phone to look at my lists at all during the show. This show really allows the vendors to spread out their wares and bring a bunch of product to set out so there were plenty of dime and quarter boxes to sort through. Its a refreshing change from the Chantilly show that has showcase after showcase of slabbed cards I could give a crap about.

I'm in the official "I Despise Every Panini Product except Stars and Stripes cuz 'merica, because they are a Waste of Paper" club.  Sometimes I have to put my membership card in my back pocket when I need a guy that pitched 6 games for your favorite team and I need his card for my "One Card of Every Oriole" binder.  Topps doesn't think this guy actually exists but I have proof he does.  Anybody have a card of Louis Head they are willing to trade me?

These vintage card were in a quarter box.  No way I could leave them behind.  The image I always associate Jack McKeon with is his 1990 Topps card.  This poorly scanned 1973 card proves he is not actually Groucho Marx.

Both of these cards are quite random additions to my various stacks of cheap finds.  The Hershiser is from back when refractors were more or less box hits and the Bay Chrome rookie is a gold refractor.  Refractors are quite watered down these days and barely worth a quarter but I still can't resist their shiny charm.  

So this card of Zach Neto was just chillin in a pile of regular old Bowman Platinum from this year... for a quarter.... Notice in the top right corner under the logo there is foil stamping that says 9/10.  It almost seemed to be too good to be true when I found it.  I'm not a 100% sure what I'm going to do with it yet.  The last time I held onto some truly valuable cardboard to appreciate in value, that particular player decided he liked "childish" things and is currently waiting arraignment in a foreign country....

I've never showed this on the blog because I pulled it right as Bowman came out in Spring of '22. For all the good feelings I had when pulling this card from a pack, I feel like a damn fool for not selling it now. Feast/Avert your eyes: 

The pain is real

So, the Tuckahoe card show was really awesome this time.  I got to spend some time looking through cards with my nephew, I found a lot of interesting cards to add to my collection and I didn't even spend half of my budget what I had self-imposed.