TTM success from a Yankees catcher

Yankees backup, backup catcher Kyle Higashioka signed two cards for me earlier this spring. He's definitely one of the best signers on the Yankees, as I've gotten him to sign cards through the mail in the past.

While I try not to send to the same guy multiple times, I did really want Kyle's 2017 Topps Update RC signed.

After nine years in the minors, he finally made his MLB debut last April. Gary Sanchez was down with an injury, so Austin Romine slotted into the starting role and Higashioka as the backup. He hit 21 HRs in the minors in 2016, so I was excited to see what he could do.

Unfortunately, he went hitless in 18 bats, and got sent back down to the minors when Sanchez returned. I hope he gets another shot this year for his first Big League hit. He certainly has persevered and deserves it!

K-Mart saves the day

This past week, I took Tuesday-Thursday off. It was kind of weird to take three mid-week days off, especially during a busy time. My wife traveled for work, and without family members able to come down to help with school drop-offs and pick-ups, I just decided to burn a few extra vacation days and stay home.

On the final day, I decided that I'd swing by Target after I dropped off each kid at school. I was hoping to look for a a few card products, in this order: Topps Chrome Mega box, Topps Fire, Topps Update.

Here is what I found:

No baseball cards. Ok, I should clarify. There are two baseball cards. A blaster of 2016 Series One, and a bunch of untouched Mets team sets. Plus some baseball stickers. Meh.

Now on one hand, this is the cleanest I've ever seen the card aisle at this particular Target. Usually it's a mess and has a cart filled with all the store returns just sitting there.

On the other hand, baseball cards were sold out. In speaking with someone in the industry recently, he told me what a huge year it was for cards. Obviously this is the Judge/Bellinger effect, but the hobby is strong right now. This is a good thing. I don't want cards to be a scarcity, but it's good seeing them fly off of the shelves versus collecting dust like the hockey cards.

Disappointed, I headed to the toy aisles and picked up a few small Christmas gifts for the kids. Cruz Ramirez and Hudson Hornet McQueen!

On the way home, I decided to stop at a local shopping plaza that has a Dollar Tree and K-Mart. I went into the Dollar Tree first to see if they had any of their repacks. Bone dry.

I then went to K-Mart, and luckily found some Update. Salvation!

They had two 36-card jumbo backs and two 72-card hanger boxes. For some reason, K-Mart doesn't participate in the same pricing as the other big box store, as the hangers were each $12.99 instead of the standard $9.99. I decided to buy the two jumbo packs and leave the hanger boxes.

Overall, I did pretty well! This is the very first card that greeted me.

I also snagged this HR Derby Bellinger, and three Judge cards total, two of which I didn't have. Those are certainly worth the price of the packs.

 

 

This Gary Sanchez was new for me as well.

I was happy to see these guys get some Update love. TTM fodder for the spring! Higashioka is a great signer. I'm not sure about Torreyes. I sent to him once without success.

Is this the first card to feature a dab?

Lastly, a few more solid pulls. I thought the Rizzo was a buyback, but it's actually a Rookie Cup insert.

I still wish I would have gotten a Mega Box, but my two packs ended up being pretty darn good from K-Mart. Not a bad way to end my mini staycation.

TTM Success: Kyle Higashioka

Ok, ok. Spring TTM successes are slowly rolling in. My second from 2017 ST is from Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka. He's basically the Yankees #3 catcher at this point, a 26-year-old who has yet to make his Big League debut, but smacked 21 HRs between AA and AAA in 2016. That earned him a spot on the 40 man roster, as it should.

Having depth at backup catcher is a nice luxury to have. He'll probably just end up with the Pirate at some point (or Austin Romine will), but still, it wouldn't surprise me to see him make his debut some time this season.

Higashioka was nice enough to sign three cards for me. The green sparkly Bowman is especially cool.

 

 

TTM recap - 2012 Spring Training

This spring, I sent 41 TTM requests out. I received successes from 17 of them. I also received one failure (a card returned unsigned). Therefore, 23 went unanswered. Now, I will never write any of these off. They could still trickle in, but for the most part, it looks like I batted a little under .500 this spring. I know that’s part of the game, so I’m not upset. A few players were reaches and I knew that going in.

Here are my successes from 2012 Spring Training:

Ackley, Dustin

Adams, David

Brackman, Andrew

Higashioka, Kyle

Kuroda, Kiroki

Laird, Brandon

Martinez, Tino

Melancon, Mark

Nix, Jayson

Noesi, Hector

Pendleton, Lance

Rivera, Mariano

Romine, Austin

Soriano, Rafael

Stoneburner, Graham

Taillon, Jameson

Warren, Adam

TTM Success: Five in one day

Two Thursdays ago, I had a really nice TTM day. I arrived home from work to find five SASE’s. I’m nearly certain five in one day is a record for me.

The card featured in the first envelope has already been shown in a blog post. Austin Romine signed my 2012 Topps card. I hadn’t been able to get a success from Romine in a few attempts while he was in the minors, so this was very welcome. 

Next up, Brandon Laird signed three cards for me. I’ve gotten him in the past, and I actually asked him to keep two of the three cards I sent. He signed all three. The Obak looks nice. 

Third, we have Kyle Higashioka, a catching prospect. He signed my Bowman Chrome and Topps Heritage Minors cards.

Next, Adam Warren signed two cards. He is a good prospect who would fit in nicely in the back end of most pitching rotations in the league. If the Yanks need a spot start, he’ll probably get called on ahead of both Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos.

Last, pitching prospect Graham Stoneburner signed my Bowman Chrome. He has one of the most badass names in baseball. Look for him in the Yanks bullpen in the next few years.

So no huge names here, but all great successes.