TTM Success: Juan Gonzalez (and a contest)

Ok, I feel a little bad about this. I got another Juan Gonzalez TTM success.

Over summer, I got my first Juan Gonzalez TTM success. But then JBF had a tradeathon, and I snagged a Gonzalez from one of my favorite insert sets growing up: 1997 Studio Hard Hats. I requested the card with the sole purpose of getting it signed. It looks great, although it smeared just a tad. Still, cool to have it signed. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

TTM etiquette-wise, I really don’t like to re-send to players, unless it’s a guy I regularly write to, like Ty Hensley. I always throw in extras and whatnot if I do. My general thought is to not inundate someone with so much mail that they stop signing. I’m all about sharing the wealth a little bit.

Now I’m going to share the wealth with you. You see, I included an extra card and Mr. Juan Gone was nice enough to sign it as well. But I don’t need it. I got what I wanted. So, leave a comment on this post to enter, and I’ll randomly draw someone’s name and will send the card out via a PWE. Please keep in mind I cannot guarantee the authenticity of the signature, but I'd like to believe it's authentic, of course.

Feel free to share, although I’m not going to award bonus entries. One per person. Entries close at 11:59pm ET on Sunday night. Good luck!

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!

TTM Success: Juan Gonzalez

TTMs have been slow for me lately. I know it takes a few weeks for mail to forward to a new address from a previous one, so hopefully that is the reason for the delay. Otherwise, it hasn't been a very successful TTM summer for me.

Anyhow, again I've got a non-Yankee success to show off. I'm actually surprised this guy was never a Yankee, as I know George Steinbrenner lusted after him on several occasions.

However, I've always been a fan of Juan Gonzalez because I remember watching a game with my older brother, and Juan Gone becoming mythical to me because of that.

It was probably 1992 or 1993, and I was a bit gullible. My brother - seven years older than me - once told me Michael Jordan never missed a shot. Well, I watched a game and saw him miss one, so I went around telling everyone at school "I saw Michael Jordan miss a shot." Idiot me.

Another time, we were watching a baseball game. I'm not even sure if it was Yankees/Rangers or some other team vs the Rangers. Juan Gonzalez came to the plate, and I hadn't heard of him. My brother, not being as mean as in the MJ instance, said "You gotta watch this guy. He hits a HR every at bat." Sure enough, Gonzalez went deep that very at bat.

Obviously he didn't hit a longball every time up, but I'll always remember him because of that story.

Mr. Gonzalez was nice enough to sign a few cards for me c/o his home in 24 days.