TTM Success: Ken Holtzman

Former Yankee Ken Holtzman signed - or scribbled on - my card in 17 days that I sent to his home address. I guess this is a success? I know I'm not the first to be disappointed by how a Holtzman auto looks.

Assuming I don't get any TTM success on Dec 31, that leaves me with 51 successes this year, out of about 138 sent out...not great. But that's the risk you take when you're in the TTM business. I sent to some bigger names in hopes of getting lucky. Hopefully next year will be a bit more successful. I'm already getting ready for Spring Training!

My favorite card of 2016

This was a tough one. In 2014, I had this.

In 2015, there was this.

But there was no iconic card for me in 2016. I'm not man enough to pick a card featuring a player from another team, so I set my sight on only Yankee cards, yet no card jumped out.

However, a moment jumped out. August 13, 2016.

The Yankees had waved the white flag and traded away Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman, and Carlos Beltran. They called up Gary Sanchez, followed by Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge.

Austin and Judge found themselves hitting 7th and 8th, respectively, in their Major League debuts. In the bottom of the second, Austin lined a 2-2 pitch from Matt Andriese just inside the right field pole for a homer in his first Big League at bat.

While Austin was still hugging teammates, Aaron Judge blasted a homer off of the restaurant windows in dead center. Back-to-back HRs, first MLB hits, in their MLB debuts. It gets no cooler than that.

So while this may not be these greatest looking card, it's my favorite memory from the 2016 Yankees, and it's cool to have a piece of cardboard that celebrates the feat.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope everyone has a great holiday, and that you get more cards than me (which will be zero).

Merry Wes-mas

I got my cards from the JBF Trade-a-thon. I claimed two cards, but of course Wes didn't sent only two cards. When would he ever send only two cards?

I absolutely loved this 1997 Donruss Studio Hard Hats insert set. I have the Bernie Williams and I really want the Jeter one day. For a card with a 5,000 print run, it's impossible to find. I have a saved eBay search, and it NEVER shows up.

So I had to jump at the chance to own another.

The second card I claimed was this shiny gold Andy Pettitte Bowman Prime Prospect. I am not familiar with this card, and had definitely never seen it.

I would have been happy if those were the only two, but Santa Wes had other plans. Like this:

And this:

And a whole bunch of other Yankees I'm happy to have. Lot of serially numbered goodness, and I really like the mini green refractor of Miguel Andujar. He's a very exciting prospect and could be the Yankees 3B one day.

Wes, you are the man. I have a a return pack for you which I'll be sending soon!

SuperTraders #24: Infield Fly Rule

I think I have only seven more #SuperTraders packages to send along to the original crew, and then I'll be bowing out because I just don't buy enough new product to replenish what I've sent. I'll still trade with the group, I just can't formally be a part of it. But for collectors of the Jays, D-Backs, O's, Pads, Phils, M's, and White Sox - I know I still owe you an official package, and I've got cards set aside for each of you.

Adam of Infield Fly Rule sent me a second #SuperTraders package. I'm not sure if Adam and I are the same age, but I kind of think so because he packages always come with a '90s flair. I think this is our third or fourth exchange of cards, and the '90s are definitely the motif, which I will never complain about.

We seem to share a similar love for Collector's Choice as well, which I'm always happy to see. Seriously, so much good stuff here!

 

I don't think baseball has any plans for expansion, but how crazy would a modern-day Expansion Draft be? Exciting and stressful, for sure.

Adam sent a fewer newer cards too. I definitely didn't have this guitar-rockin' Bernie.

Thanks, Adam!

TTM Success: Larry Gura

Former Yankee Larry Gura signed and returned my card in just 8 days. He charges a $2 fee, which I was happy to provide. You can definitely tell he's a lefty with the slant in his signature!

Gura is best known for his 10 seasons with the Royals. He was traded to them by the Yankees for Fran Healy. He had a solid career, winning 18 games twice and placing in the top 10 of the Cy Young voting three times. He was an All-Star in 1980.

I love getting vintage Yankee card signed, so this is a great one to add from the '70s.

Baseball Card Ripdown

Yeah, see what I did there? I replaced the word "Break" with "Rip." Do you know why? Because the most creative card blogger out there, Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown, sent me a custom rip card. Who the hell makes custom rip cards? Gavin.

I was nervous about ripping it. Ok, I cut it. I didn't officially rip it. But I was still nervous about damaging what was inside. I figured it was a Ginter mini or something. I should have known better. Behold!

How awesome is this? A custom Tino mini magnet? So freaking cool.

That's not all. As he did with Zippy Zappy, P-Town Tom commissioned a card based on Ty Hensley's selection in the Rule 5 Draft. I now have a Hensley in another pro uniform. Wow. Weird. As usual, Gavin's work was was flawless, and I thank Tom for his generosity and helping me take the next step in my Hensley collection.

Gavin also included a custom that is so good I had no idea it was a custom. Eventually I flipped the card over and saw that it was a Baseball Card Breakdown card, but the first few times I looked at it, I had no clue. I just figured it was a reprint from some Upper Deck product at some point.

I didn't have any of these Topps Retired cards. They are cool!

As is this shiny Godzilla.

Lastly, Gavin included a card for my son's HOF collection, as well as a few Sportflics, which he was very excited about because one of the players was Joey Hamilton, and his name is Joey, so it basically made my four-year-old's life.

 

Gavin, thank you so much!