TTM Success: Gary Roenicke

Today, this post is 100%  brought to you by people that have at birthday on December 5.  Gary Roenicke is has the same birthday as me (different years '54 vs '83).  Other baseball players who share our birthday include Cliff Floyd, Justin Smoak, Christian Yelich, and Hayden Wesneski.  

Gary had his best years as an Oriole where he was the platoon partner for John Lowenstein.  He won the World Series in 1983 and is enshrined in the Orioles Hall of Fame.  

Both of these cards turned out great.  I sent to him on December 17th, 2014 and got the cards back on January 3rd, 2015 for a 17 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. Roenicke!

TTM Success: John O'Donoghue, Sr.

Another TTM success came back the other day.  This one is from John O'Donoghue, Sr.  He was a relief pitcher for the 1968 Orioles and was awarded by his teammates in the Kangaroo Court "the John O'Donoghue Memorial Long Ball Award".  He won the award by giving up the longest home run at Memorial Stadium that season.  His trophy: a tattered, ragged-out baseball.

John came over from Cleveland in trade after the 1967 season and had previously been with the KC Athletics to start his career.  He made the All-Star team in 1965.  

His son also pitched for the Orioles in the mid 90's....

I sent to John on November 4th, 2023 and received it back on November 13th, 2023 for a 9 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. O'Donoghue!

TTM Success: Ben McDonald

Here's yet another success that I had in my draft folder since 2014.  I think with Ben I happened to send at the right time.  To me, it looks like 2014 and 2015 were the best years to send to him and then he tailed off and there has been very spotty success since 2018.  I'm very happy to have these 2 cards signed.

1994 Pinnacle

1994 Fleer Ultra

Ben McDonald was the 1st overall pick in the 1989 Draft out of LSU.  Shortly after the draft a column was written in The Sporting News about Big Ben and how he and his buddies liked to go out in the swamps of Louisiana hunting alligators after dark. Supposedly, you sneak up on them and jump out of the boat right on top of them, Crocodile Hunter style.  Seems crazy to me but to each his own.

I sent these out on December 17th, 2014 and got this return on Boxing Day, December 26th, 2014 for a 9 day TAT.  Thank You Mr. McDonald!

TTM Success: Whitey Herzog

Another one of my recent TTM returns is this 1962 Topps Whitey Herzog.  He is mostly not known as an Oriole but here is photographic proof that he did play for the team in 1961 and 1962.  He'd go onto finish his career in Detroit during the 1963 season and then get into scouting then player development.  He'd work his way up to be manager of the A's in 1973, the Angels in 1974, the Royals from 75 to 79 and then the most famous stretch with the Cardinals from 1980 thru 1990.

I sent to him on October 28th, 2023 and it returned November 13th 2023 for a 16 day TAT. I paid the $5 fee he charges per card.

 

TTM Success: Stu Miller

Personally, this one is a bit tough to post.  I'm really happy to have this card in my collection.  Not only is it an Orioles autograph, it very well might be the last autograph that he signed.  I sent to him on December 17th, 2014 and got it back on December 26th, 2014.  Stu passed away on January 4th, 2015.

I really appreciate him taking time out during the holiday season to return my card signed.

Stu was another one of the relief aces that the Orioles had during their heyday in the mid '60s.  He pitched in 297 games for the O's and had a sparkling 2.37 ERA to show for it.  

Thanks You and RIP Stu 

TTM Success: Jim Marshall

This is one of my newest successes that I was thrilled to get back.  I've been bitten (really hard) by the TTM bug again.  Thanks to William for releasing the bug at my house when we went up to the Chantilly show.

Jim Marshall was short time Oriole.  He was a rookie 1st baseman for the Orioles in 1958 and played in 85 games.  By August of that year, he had been claimed by the Cubs on the waiver wire.  Interestingly enough, he was traded with Larry Doby (among others from the White Sox in December 1957) who never played for the Orioles as he was traded before the '58 season began.

Once in the Minor Leagues, Jim hit a homerun and won. 1000 bucks because he hit a sign for the laundromat across the street from the ballpark in which he was playing.

Jim also played in Japan for a couple years for the Chunichi Dragons with other former Orioles Bob Nieman, and Billy Klaus.

Back stateside, he was the manager for the Cubs and then the A's.

Quite and interesting baseball career to say the least!

I sent to Mr. Marshall on October 27th, 2023 and got it back on November 13th, 2023 for a 17 day TAT.  Thanks Mr. Marshall!

TTM Success: Ed Watt

Another TTM that was languishing in my draft folder for nearly 9 years.  I sent this extra '74 Topps card of him and he signed it in thin blue Sharpie.

Ed Watt was a relief ace for the Orioles during their golden years from '66 thru '73.  He never started a game in the majors after his rookie year in '66 and his Orioles ERA was a tidy 2.74 over 363 appearances. He also wasn't a terrible batter (for a pitcher) when he got the chance.  Nearly half of is at-bats were in the aforementioned '66 season.  He carried a .190 batting average for his career.  

Its notable that he has shown up at many of the Orioles on-field special celebrations over the years. 

I sent to Mr. Watt on December 17th, 2014 and got it back on December 28th, 2014 for an 11 day TAT.

TTM Success: Ken Singleton

Another TTM Success from 2014.  Ken Singleton was a great player for the Orioles in the late 70's and early 80's.  He makes his off season home in Maryland and was at an Orioles FanFest a few years back and signed an 8x10 photo for me.  I sent these out and they came back beautifully signed. 

I sent these out on December 17th 2014 and got them back December 26th 2014 for a 9 day T-A-T

TTM Success: Gil Coan

This is one of the TTM's that has been sitting in my draft folder for about 9 years.  I had this "extra" 1955 Bowman of Gil Coan sitting in my box of duplicate Orioles cards so I decided to send it out and see if he would sign it. At the time I sent, he was 92 years young.  He passed away in 2020 at the age of 97.  

Gil Coan played for the Senators, Orioles, White Sox, and Giants during his career.  He was the starting center fielder in the first Orioles game on April 13, 1954, batting 3rd.  

Sent December 17th, 2014, and  Received December 24th, 2014 for a 7 day turn around time.

TTM Success: Ron Hansen

This post might hold several records that are worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records.  First off, This TTM has been in my Draft folder since December 23, 2014.  Official record keeping at Guinness headquarters show that this is officially the longest time between the time that a TTM has been received by the purveyor of this blog,  from the signer, and when it is actually posted for the world to see.  There seem to be a lot of frivolous records that go into the yearly publication but this is one that I will hold near and dear to my heart.  I knew this blogging gig would eventually bear fruit.  I had no idea that this record would mean so much more than the the friendships and contacts I've made through the years.

Obviously, this is a joke.  I have been on a long hiatus from writing in this space for about 9 years.  I've been busy (aren't we all!)  I've been an avid reader and lurker in the blogosphere since then.  I've never really taken a break from collecting either.  In fact, I'm probably more engaged in the hobby as I've ever been.

Anyways, from what I remember, I had a handful of duplicate vintage Orioles cards and had a little free time back in late 2014 so I decided to send them out and see what happened.  I picked some guys that were virtually locks to sign.  Ron Hansen was a great signer back then and continues to be as this is posted.  I sent to him on December 17th, 2014 and it showed up 5 days later on the 22nd.  Thank You Mr, Hansen!

Post Season TTM's!

I sent these 2 TTMs out later in the season and got them back after I got back from the honeymoon.  I guess these guys opened all of their fan mail after they had gone home for the winter.  

Unfortunately for me I tried a new way to send out TTM's and it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. You can't really tell from the scan but the autograph smudged in the middle of his last name.  You can see it rubbed off in the envelope and reapplied to the card on the white portion near the bottom.  This is what I get for sending Chrome cards through the mail expecting that every player has a Staedler pen to autograph cards.  Lesson learned.  Nonetheless, I am very pleased to get Zach's autograph for my collection

I had the opportunity to get Nolan's autograph at Fanfest last winter and decided to get him on an 8x10.  I ultimately wanted to get a regular card signed sooner or later at the ballpark or TTM.  I wasn't able to get him while I was in Atlanta because he either rode the team bus or snuck in through the Braves team entrance with Nick the Stick.  I thought I would try my luck through the mail and perseverance pays.  Both of these cards look great signed.  If I had to pick a favorite of the 2 it would have to be the Topps Heritage because of the All-Star rookie logo.

In case Nolan or Zach reads this, Thanks for signing my cards and sending them back to me!

TTM Success: Gus Triandos

Since receiving the Orioles Encyclopedia for Christmas last year I have been reading bits and pieces of it off and on this year.  I had always known Gus Triandos was a good player for the Orioles back in the day yet he doesn't get the credit he deserves.  Most of the Oriole teams he played on from 1955 thru 1962 were fairly forgettable but Gus stands out as the only superstar on the team during that period (other than Brooks Robinson when he started to come into his own).  He was the Orioles All-Star Representative for 3 years (57,58,59) and was a solid backstop from what I can tell.

I began to become intrigued with his career and decided to send him an autograph request.  Ryan from The Great Orioles Autograph Project hooked me up with his home address and now after about a 3 week turnaround, I have these to add to my collection:

These are definitely my favorite TTMs that I have received so far this year.  Thanks Gus for taking time out to sign these cards for me.

2011 Spring Training TTM Success #1

I got home from work yesterday and patiently waited for the mail. Sometimes my mail comes at 9:30 in the morning sometimes it comes at 8:30 at night. Really, there is no telling when the mail will arrive most days. Anyways, last week I sent out 24 TTM requests to players in Orioles camp, Braves camp, and to former Orioles players in other team's camps. Here's the first success of the year:

Chris Ray signed this card and returned it to me in 1 week flat. He has one of the more legible autographs that I have in my Orioles collection. He's currently in the Seattle Mariners camp on a minor league contract. I liked Chris when he was with the Orioles. When he blew out his elbow in 2007, it started a long process of him working his way out of the O's future plans. He was traded to Texas before last season and ended up with the Giants. Either way he got his World Series Ring! I hope Chris has a good season this year (just not when we visit Safeco or he visits Birdland!)

TTM Success!

Some long time readers of my blog might remember this post: http://anotheroriolesblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-first-rainbow.html

Now I have another unique card to add to my Caleb Joseph rainbow! I missed out on getting Caleb's Autograph this year when I saw him play live here in Richmond versus the Flying Skunks, errr, Flying Squirrels. I sent him a TTM request to his Arizona Fall League team about 3 weeks ago and this came in the mail:

I'm pretty stoked about the autograph. It looks like it has changed a little bit since he signed his rookie contract with Topps but it is still recognizable. I wish the surface of the card was a little more accepting of the sharpie he used but that's my fault. I have heard different ways of prepping glossy cards for autographs. What does everybody else do? If some of you more experienced autograph seekers have any pointers I'd love to hear it! I'd really like to get some feedback on this so I can send out some TTMs during spring training this year.

Poor David Hernandez

Somebody get this man some runs. I thought this would be a good opportunity to showcase another of my TTM sucesses from last year. I sent this custom postcard not long after he won his debut last season. He autographed it and sent it back in about a week! I really think that he has the stuff to be a really good player but I think he tries to nibble at the corners of the plate. His fastball has enough giddyup to blow right by hitters yet he tries to work the corners a little to much and gets in trouble with his off-speed and breaking pitches. I may be regurgitating the same thing Jim Palmer said last night but it is true. If batters can't catch up to your fastball, don't try to fool them with your breaking ball. I don't know how much longer David will get to stay in the Baltimore rotation because Chris Tillman and Jake Arrieta are tearing up Triple-A hitters lately. I think David has pitched pretty well for 3 or 4 innings and then the wheels start to come off. I think that he will ultimately end up as a late inning bullpen guy where he can blow hitters away with that mid 90's heater. But in the mean time, how about the Orioles score some runs for this man?