A unicorn is spotted in Michigan

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Ty Hensley was no longer on the roster of the Evansville Otters. There was a press release over the winter that stated he was returning this year, so I was concerned he was once again injured.

A few weeks went by, and it finally popped up in my newsfeed that Ty had signed on with a new independent league team, this time the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore Professional Baseball League.

I was unaware that Utica, NY had a professional baseball team, as that was the only Utica I know. A quick browse of their website shows that I'm incorrect, as this team is based in Utica, MICHIGAN, just outside of Detroit.

Here's Ty in his new duds, courtesy of the Unicorns' website:

Pretty cool logo. Fairly Rumble Ponies-esque.

I wish Ty nothing but the best this year, and hopefully he has a successful season. I'll be sending some cards his way to Utica to distribute to his new teammates and local fans, although I think with independent ball it's quite hit or miss as to whether or not mail is actually delivered to players. Hopefully he gets it!

So far this season, Ty has appeared in four games, with a save and 16 Ks in 10 IP. Nice numbers there! Maybe he'll dominate out of the pen and an organization will give him another shot!

Just yesterday, my 116th different Hensley arrived, yet another 1/1. This is a 2012 Leaf Memories yellow plate, with a sticker autograph obviously attached.

Good luck, Ty!

Draftin'

As many know, tonight is the first part of the 2019 MLB Draft.

It's a pretty weird event. In the NFL, Kyler Murray went #1. Most interested fans had seen him play at Oklahoma, taking home the Heisman. In the NBA Draft in two weeks, Zion Williamson will go #1. Again, a household name after his larger-than-life season at Duke.

The MLB Draft, while much more mainstream than in the past, is 40 rounds of guys you've mostly never heard of. There are times when that's not quite the case, like when Bryce Harper and Strasburg were drafted. But for the most part, it's a lot of unknowns to a more casual viewer.

The first pick tonight is owned by the tanktastic Orioles, and most believe they'll take Adley Rutschman, a catcher from Oregon State. By all accounts he's an excellent player, but outside of a few appearances on ESPN over the last couple weeks, I doubt most have heard of him.

One cool thing about the MLB Draft: bloodlines! In the first round alone, we'll see Bobby Witt Jr taken, and possibly Jack Leiter, son of Al.

Regardless, I'll still likely tune in around the time the Yankees are on the clock at #30, and hopefully one of the highly ranked players find a way to fall to them. And just a side note, #30 is where Ty Hensley was picked in 2012!

All this rambling just to show a card of the Yankees 2017 first rounder, Clarke Schmidt:

Schmidt has been good to very good when healthy, but finds himself on the IL for the second time this season. I can't seem to find an explanation. The first time wasn't arm related, as he was sick. Still, his last outing showed why he was a highly touted player, firing 6 innings, allowing three hits, and striking out nine back on May 20. If he can stay healthy and put together a few solid outings in a row, he should find his way up to AA later in the summer.

Big IF when it comes to Yanks draft picks though.

Player collectors looking out for one another

There are a few player collectors on the blogs who are dominant in their respective field. P Town Tom with Vogelmonster. Zippy with Torrens. Junior Junkie with Griffey. Collecting Cutch with McCutchen. There are countless others I'm not mentioning, but we all know the plight to try and track down all cards of one's chosen player.

My favorite player retired 14 years ago, and it's still incredibly hard to track down his cards. However, often it's my fellow player collectors who help me out the most.

Recently, Brian of Collecting Cutch sent me a few cards out of the blue. Included in the package were these:

True, I did have the '89 Redemption, but I did redeem it to receive a second Tino buyback auto (still no update there). But the 2016 Panini Prime Cuts auto, numbered to just 10? One I needed and really appreciate!

Brian is always looking out for me, and he mentioned to me that when he buys a few Cutch cards from a seller, he'll often take a peek at what else the seller has, and usually searched for Tino as one of the guys he looks for.

I found that to be a very touching gesture, and really appreciate that Brian goes out of his way to do that. He's sent me far more Tino cards than I have sent him of Cutch, and I hope one day to pull or stumble across a very rare McCutchen so that I can properly thank him.

Brian also sent me a few Cutch cards (always appreciated), and a cool Giancarlo Stanton custom from the World Baseball Classic. The design looks like it's from the Rookies App.

Last but not least, a sweet RC Red Refractor of Dellin Betances. The card is amazing looking in person, as the scan didn't do it justice.

Player collecting is a bond of sorts, and guys like Brian really help make the battle worth it!

TTM Success: MLB Draft prospect Bryant Packard

Earlier in the spring, I bought one lonely fat pack of Donruss. I think it was one of the 50-card packs, actually. It was a confusing pack, with a lot of card variations, the black rookie cards, and a few inserts. It felt all over the place.

One of the inserts was a very shiny card called "American Pride," which is a set that depicts the Team USA Collegiate National Team. The subject of this card, Bryant Packard, is a junior OFer at East Carolina University.

Upon a bit of googling, turns out Packard is a very impressive player. He hit over .400 last year, ranking sixth in the nation. He followed it up with another performance year this year, leading ECU to a #10 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

Packard is currently ranked as the #106 Draft Prospect according to MLB.com, which would put him in consideration for a pick around the 3rd round. Although, you never really know with the Draft and team's strategies in rounds 4-10ish.

Anyhow, I thought it would be cool to try a TTM request to Packard, and sent the card to ECU's baseball facility. He was kind enough to sign and return the card in about 2 weeks time.

Now I just need the Yanks to draft him!

Blake of the Year

Yesterday, I received a TTM success from Blake Snell.

While he's obviously not a Yankee, this is one of the times I don't mind sending a TTM to a player on another team. Snell is a guy who I respect from a team within the AL East. He's a bit of a quiet star, but I remember him making his debut against the Yankees, looking like a 12-year-year-old on the mound. I figured he'd be a force for the Yanks to deal with for years, and thus far that's looking accurate.

In just his third season in the Majors, Snell won the AL Cy Young. He went 21-5 with a 1.89 ERA. Pretty damn awesome for a dude who pitched the entire season at age 25.

While the Rays are a very pesky team, there's not much to dislike about Snell...except when he's on the mound against your team.

Just Anthony

Over the past few months, I've seen Yankees 2018 first rounder change his signature from "Anthony Seigler" to just "Anthony."

I don't have a strong opinion on such a matter, I just thought it was interesting. A player can sign his name however he sees fit, from very neat to very messy to very abbreviated. As someone who has long gone by initials instead of a given first name, I'm not one to judge an abbreviated signature.

I just found it interesting, and wonder if it was the result of signing so many autographs that he couldn't bear writing out his last name, or if it just naturally shortened over time and eventually ended up in its current state.

The first time I saw his signature, it was on this TTM autograph I received from him:

Here is Seigler's autograph on a recent Bowman's Best purchase I made.

And here is his autograph on some Leaf set I don't know anything about but bought it because it was a dollar and numbered to /99.

Looks like it's just Anthony moving forward. Or maybe he'll be Tony one day. Or Tone. Or Big Tone. As long as just Anthony/Ant/Tony/Tone hits and catches well and plays in the Bronx someday, he can go by whatever he wants in my book.

TTM Success: Mark Teixeira

My TTM conquests over the last year have really slowed down. I don't have as much desire to send out the cards as I once did. Part of it is working long hours, and when I get home from the day, I don't feel like writing letters and addressing envelopes.

But I do send out a few here and there, and I've been going after a few big fish. One of those paid off handsomely.

I sent a request to former Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira, and was thrilled to open up an envelope this past weekend to find this:

I had never gotten Tex before, so this was a thrilling TTM success. Despite injuries late in his career, Teixeira really was a great Yankee. In NY, he was an All-Star twice, MVP runner up, 3-time Gold Glover, and obviously was a big part of the 2009 World Series team.

I can't say enough how incredible these Turkey Red cards look signed too. I'm not trying to build a collection of them, but I definitely go out of my way to send one when trying to capture an autograph. Here are a few others I've gotten: