The TTM envelopes still roll in

As this blog and my collecting habits have evolved over time, one thing that has really changed is my desire to send out TTM (through the mail) autograph requests.

I have not sent out a request since 6/28/21. Before that, the last one was 2/15/21.

I collect and view the hobby a lot differently than I did 11 years ago when I started this blog. For the first five or six years, TTMs were a mainstay here. I have 415 posts tagged with TTM. I had some great returns, and great stories from those returns. I had projects and goals.

When the pandemic started, I felt uneasy about sending unsolicited mail to strangers. Was the virus on the mail? I know that was silly, but many of us were freaked out and knew very little how this thing was carried. I then saw some posts of MLB players with mounds of mail sent to their home, pleading fans not to send to their home address. I started to see this element of the hobby as a bit of an invasion of privacy.

I stopped sending to home addresses all together. It no longer felt right. In the event I did want to send to a particular player, I sent it to their stadium or spring training. Maybe that's not that much better, but it at least felt like a bit more justifiable to me if I was going to send a piece of mail.

Despite not sending out new requests, it's not uncommon for an old self-addressed stamped envelope to make it's way back to me. Just last week, a return came back from Yankees 2020 first round pick, Austin Wells:

This was sent to spring training last February, for a 365-day turnaround. Annoyingly, the signature bubbled a bit.

I'm sure a few more envelopes will make their way back to me over the years. But as for new requests, not many will be going out.

Black & white can also shine

Over the past year, I've cooled a bit on seeking out prospect cards.

I've always enjoyed following the Yankees minor leagues, but with so few prospects panning out, I'm often left with cards of guys who never made it or were dealt to other teams. While I don't collect these guys with the hopes of striking it rich, it does seem to take up unnecessary space in my collection. 

Still, there are a few exciting young prospects in the Yankees system who do seem poised to actually do something other than serve as trade bait. Outside of Aaron Judge, the last decade run of Yankees first rounders has been awfully bad. Still, there are a few right now who are pretty exciting, including bat-first 2020 first rounder Austin Wells.

After a very good 2021 and then a solid Arizona Fall League, his cards got a little noticed. Not Anthony Volpe levels, but still a little more than they had. I decided to see what current stuff he has out there, and saw a Bowman parallel I hasn't seen before:

Pretty neat looking card, and I got it for a low price. While Bowman Chrome has approximately 400 parallels, "black and white mini diamond" refractors were new to me. Perhaps they have existed before, I don't know. The card looks pretty striking with the player's photo in black and white, surrounded by colorful mini diamonds. It's not rare or numbered, but I found it to be an attractive card and to me, that counts for something.

In the same lot I also got the standard "mojo" refractor.

I hope Austin Wells turns out to be a good player for the Yankees. But even if not, I won't be left holding the bag. 

All's Wells

I've been going through a busy time at work right.

It doesn't make me different or special. Many of us feel a bit overworked and tired. I'm glad to be working, when I know some aren't that fortunate over the past year and half.

But still, I've found myself to be getting worn out easier, a tad more irritable towards my staff, and wishing the days away. And despite entering our busy season in a couple weeks, I'm set to leave for a week-long beach vacation later today with my wife and kids.

It's coming at a good time, as I plan to recharge my batteries a bit. As parents can attest, a vacation with kids often is not a vacation at all, however, I'll do my best to settle down for a few days without much of an agenda.

So for now, all is well in my world.

And speaking of 'well', Yankees 2020 first rounder Austin Wells is off to a strong pro start, hitting .260/.388/.471 with 10 HRs between two levels of A ball. Wells was one of the better collegiate hitters in the 2020 draft, so it's not surprising to see him doing well, and have the power start to show up.

I only have a few cards of him, but this really pretty Bowman Sapphire recently arrived via a TCDB trade, if you're into that sort of thing. While we don't need Sapphire for every single product, it really does look nice and enhance nearly any card design.

Between Wells and 2019 first rounder Anthony Volpe, the Yankees have made what looks to be two really strong picks in a row. People will say it's the hype machine, but these two are very legitimate prospects who are fun to follow.

And with that, I'm off to go sit in traffic on the Garden State Parkway.

10 years (and 2 days)

Two days ago, my blog's 10th anniversary came and went without a whimper. That was my fault. I had February 17th engrained in my head, but when I went to double-check yesterday, I realized I had actually missed it by a day. February 10, 2011 was the day.

I didn't have anything grand scheduled even if I did get the day right. To tell you the truth, it makes my slightly uncomfortable to think about doing this for 10 years. It's a bit of a secret part of my life that I don't really let people I know in real life in on. I also don't take it particularly seriously. This could be my last post and I'd be fine. 

With that being said, I don't want to minimize how much I've enjoyed collecting and sharing my collection with others over the last decade. My collection has grown so much and in such cool and unexpected ways. So has the hobby, and I've grown and adapted with it.

I often do still feel "lost," so I think my name still fits. Things come and go that inspire me, and rather frequently. Perhaps it's picking up 1990s NBA rookie cards one month, and then I move on from that and pick up the Yankees latest three draft picks. Thanks for that one, ZZ.

Or it's big bubble mailers to and from bloggers for years, and then eventually two-card PWEs from Trading Card Database.

One consistent is Tino Martinez, and here are the two latest from him, bringing me to 1,058.

Regardless, thank you so much for following along! I don't anticipate a "here's to the next 10," but let's go with "here's to keeping going as long as I am still enjoying it." That feels better.

First card of the year of a first year player

Yesterday, the first card I got in 2021 showed up on my doorstep.

I've always enjoyed prospect cards, but have yet to add a card of 2020 Yankees first rounder Austin Wells. Realizing Bowman Draft had come out, I did a quick search on eBay for Wells' card in the set. As expected, the Yankees tax was on him, as even the base cards were a little more than I wanted to pay.

Then I saw it!

For the same price as most of the base cards, someone had listed a gold parallel numbered to 50. I quickly added it to my card and felt like I had scored.

This was on Jan 1, so the seller shipped it very quickly, and yesterday it arrived. I was glad with my purchase, even if the graders out there will immediately see that the centering is off. Maybe that's why it was cheap! Numbered 48/50, it's a solid 1st year card.

But there was an unadvertised bonus!

The seller also threw in the lowly base card, the same card which felt a little overpriced at a few bucks. Even though it was a mere throw-in, I was thrilled!

Not bad for my first two cards of the year. Now let's hope there's a minor league season and Wells can show why he was a first round pick.