2024 National Pickup - Derek Jeter Signed Baseball

While it has taken me some time to finally clean out my stuff from the 2024 National, I am ashamed to say that I completely forgot to post this signed baseball that I picked up at the show.  I got this ball on the last day of the show, and probably overpaid a bit.  Still, I am glad to cross Derek Jeter off of my list.  I'm not a fan of how high his prices are; I've always contended that had Jeter played for someone like, say, the Royals, he would be held in the same regard as Paul Molitor.  A great player, a Hall of Famer, sure, but not the legend that folks make Jeter out to be.  That may be a little bit of my dislike for the Yankees shining through, but I feel like I am not alone in this sentiment.

Anyway, Jeter (b. 1974) played in the majors from 1995 to 2014 for the Yankees.  He was a part of the late 90s Yankee dynasty that won the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 World Series.  He also won the World Series in 2009.  He had 3,465 hits (leading the league twice), 260 home runs and a .310 career batting average (with 12 seasons of batting .300 or better; ok that's actually pretty dang good).  He never won an MVP award (the horror!), finishing second in 2006 and third in 1998 and 2009.  For those that care, he had a career 71.3 WAR, according to baseball-reference's metrics.

Jeter was a 14-time All Star (1998 to 2002, 2004, 2006 to 2012 and 2014) and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2006 to 2009 and 2012).  He was the 1996 AL Rookie of the Year and 2000 World Series MVP.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2020, his first ballot, with 99.7% of the vote.  No, I don't have a vote, but even I, with my disdain for Jeter, am not dumb enough to say he didn't deserve to get in.  The argument against not voting for someone it a different discussion for a different day, but even I know he is definitely a Hall of Famer.  Duh.

Somewhere along the line, I messed up my HOF count, so in my estimation, Jeter is my 173rd Hall of Famer on a baseball.  That would also make it necessary to say that Dave Parker getting in last month puts him (Parker) as #174.  Hopefully I remember that, and can audit my numbers accordingly.

2022 National Paid Signer - Mariano Rivera

The big name that I signed up to meet at the National this year was former Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera.  I already had him on a ball (thanks to Mom), but I still wanted to meet him.  I remembered that I had this 2018 Topps Stadium Club, so I opted to get it signed and into my album.

The price point is crazy for a card, but I felt like this card was worth it.  This is an amazing shot of Rivera.  The only problem, now, is that he switched pens on me when he was signing and signed it in black Sharpie, even though I told the handler that I wanted blue.  It wasn't worth making a fuss over; the card still looks amazing.

TTM Success - Rickey Henderson

This 1987 Topps Yankees Leaders card was a tough one to complete.  I mailed out three of them at different times to Don Mattingly, and never got one back.  I finally paid for a private signing with him and got the card signed, hoping I would, then, be able to get Rickey at the National.  Rickey wasn't at the National this year, so I had to settle for a private signing, but that's alright.  I have met Rickey twice, once getting him on a ball, and the second time, I got him on the base 87 card.  Now, I can focus on others at the National, if guys I need show up.

I mailed to the signing on November 4 and got the card back yesterday (12/27) for a 53-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $85 for Rickey, and a lot more for Mattingly.

Christmas Gift From Mom - Mariano Rivera Signed Baseball

Mom always enjoys finding me stuff for Christmas that will find its way to the blog, and this year was no different.  She did get me a trash bag full of about 100 pounds of antique baseball gloves, which were really cool.  She also knocked another huge name off of my Hall of Fame list with this signed baseball of Mariano Rivera.  I wanted to get in on a Rivera signing, but baseballs were super expensive, and the cards I would do would also cost me an arm and a leg, so I held off.  This ball is amazing, and has the HOF inscription and the 1st 100% vote inscription.  Pretty amazing!

Rivera (b. 1969) played in the majors from 1995 to 2013, for the Yankees.  The greatest closer of all time retired with a record 652 saves.  His 952 games finished and 205 ERA+ are also all-time records.  He had a won-loss record of 82-60 with a 2.21 ERA and 1,173 strike outs.

Rivera was a 13-time All Star (1997, 1999-2002, 2004-2006, 2008-2011 and 2013) and his best Cy Young and MVP finishes were 2nd (2005) and 9th (2004, 2005), respectively.

He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.  He took home the 1999 World Series MVP and 2003 ALCS MVP honors.  His playoff record was 8-1, with 42 saves, 110 strike outs and a 0.70 ERA.  

Rivera was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2019 with 100% of the vote.  He is the only person ever elected to the Hall with 100%, and probably will be the only one, since there are idiots out there who like to make statements with their ballots; the handful of people who didn't vote for Hank Aaron, WIllie Mays, Ken Griffey, Jr., or Cal Ripken should never be allowed near another ballot.

Rivera is the 159th Hall of Famer in my collection.  Thanks Mom!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

TTM Success - Willie Randolph

Another private signing came through where I was able to get another 1987 Topps signed for my set.  I had been waiting for a Willie Randolph signing for a while, and one finally came up.  I got my card done, and it looks awesome.

Randolph (b. 1954) played in the majors from 1975 to 1992 for the Pirates, Yankees, Dodgers, A's, Brewers and Mets.  He had 2,210 hits, 54 home runs and a .276 batting average.  He was a 6-time All Star (1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1987 and 1989).  He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1980 and his best MVP finish was 15th (AL) that same season.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1977.

Randolph managed the Mets from 2005 to 2008.  His managerial record was 302-253 (.544 win %).

He appeared on the 1998 Hall of Fame ballot, but only received 1.1% of the vote.

I mailed to the signing on April 9 and got the card back on May 14, for a 35-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $40.00.

TTM Success - Bernie Williams

This 1997 Zenith Bernie Williams is a card that was at the very top of my list of cards I really wanted to get signed and into my autograph album.  I had found it a while back at my former LCS when they allowed me to look through boxes in the back room.  Since then, I was able to get all of the 1997 Zenith cards that they had, but I didn't know that I would be getting them at the time I found this Bernie.

The card is amazing, and frankly, the set is awesome.  There may be one or two cards in the set that I probably wouldn't spend money on to get signed, but most of them have great shots, and would be worth sending off.  So, I put this card aside and waited until I saw a Bernie signing, and when I did, I jumped all over it and sent the card off.

Williams (b. 1968) played in the majors from 1991 to 2006 for the Yankees.  He had 2,336 hits, 287 home runs and a .297 batting average.  He was the 1998 AL Batting Champion.  He was a 5-time All Star (1997 to 2001) and a 4-time Gold Glove Award winner (1997 to 2000).  He won the Silver Slugger Award once (2002).  His best finish in the AL MVP race was 7th (1998).  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.  He appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 2012 and 2013, but only received a high of 9.6% of the vote.

I mailed to the signing on March 4 and got the card back on May 8, for a 65-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $50.00.  My good friend, Aidan, spotted the signing and let me know about it right away.

2021 National - Phil Hughes Autographs

Since he retired, Phil Hughes has been very involved in the card collecting hobby.  His Youtube channel, Phils Pulls, is very popular, as is his Twitter account.  Hughes had a table set up at the National this year, and when Andrew and I found out that he was going to be there, I pulled a couple cards to bring along with me, just in case.

We ended up meeting Hughes, and I got him to sign two of the four cards that I brought; I gave the other two to Andrew, which he got signed.  Phil charged $15.00/card, which wasn't a problem for me.  I figured it was so he could keep the lines small around his table.

The above 2007 Topps Turkey Red chrome turned out great.  I was glad I was able to find that one and bring it along.  It is numbered 529/999.

This 2008 Bowman blue parallel is  numbered 279/500 and also turned out well.

Hughes (b. 1986) played in the majors from 2007 to 2018 for the Yankees, Twins and Padres.  He had a record of 88-79 with 1,040 strike outs and a 4.52 ERA.  He was an All Star in 2010, and his best Cy Young Award finish was 7th in 2014.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 2009.

TTM Success - Roy White

I held onto his cards for a while, until I was ready to spend some money on a non-1987 signing.  Then, I sent off 4 cards to Roy White.  I had some nice stuff, like the above 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York.  The NY logo is actually fuzzy, like made of felt.  I have several of these cards, and was glad to get one into my album.

I also had White's 1973 Topps, 2001 Topps Archives and a 2009 Upper Deck Goudey.  All of the cards came out great.  I had a decent stack of White's cards put aside, since he was supposed to be at a National a couple years ago.  He ended up not being there, so the cards sat and waited.

White (b. 1943) played in the majors from 1965 to 1979 for the Yankees.  He had 1,803 hits, 160 home runs and a .271 batting average.  His best MVP finish was 12th, in 1968.  He was an All Star in 1969 and 1970 and won the World Series with the Yankees in 1977 and 1978.  He appeared on the 1985 Hall of Fame ballot, but received no votes.

I mailed to White on November 23 and got the cards back on January 2, for a 40-day TAT.  I paid his fee of $5/card.

TTM Success - Randy Maris

I don't mind getting a baseball legend's card signed by a relative, if the legend himself has passed.  In this case, I got a couple Roger Maris cards signed by his son Randy.

Maris (b. 1934 - d. 1985) played in the majors from 1957 to 1968 for the Indians, A's (KC), Yankees and Cardinals.  He had 1,325 hits, 275 home runs and a .260 batting average.  He was a 2-time AL MVP (1960 and 1961), a 7-time All Star (1959-1962, with double honors in 1960, 1961 and 1962) and a Gold Glove Award winner in 1960.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1961 and 1962 and with the Cardinals in 1967.  He was the single-season home run champ until Mark McGwire hit 70 in 1998.

Maris appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the maximum of 15 times (1974 to 1988), but never got more than 43.1% of the vote (and that was in his final year of eligibility).  Arguments can be made for and against Maris's Hall credentials; I'm not sure his two good seasons and one epic season among his 12 in the league qualifies him, but if he did get in at some point, I wouldn't be upset.

I mailed to Randy Maris on October 28 and got the cards back on November 9, for a 12-day TAT.

TTM Success - David Cone

This is another of those cases where my scanner clearly did an injustice to a really nice card.  This is a 1998 Fleer Metal David Cone that I sent TTM through a private signing.  I really liked the card because of the World Trade Center in the background, so I wanted to get it signed and into my album.  In person, the card looks awesome.  The scanner just crapped the bed on it, I guess.

Cone (b. 1963) played in the majors from 1986 to 2001 and 2003 for the Royals, Mets, Blue Jays, Yankees and Red Sox.  He had a career record of 194-126 with 2,668 strike outs and a 3.36 ERA.  He was a 5-time All Star (1988, 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1999).  He was the Cy Young Award Winner in 1994 (AL) and finished 9th in the MVP race that season.  He won the World Series 5 times (1992 with Toronto and 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000 with the Yankees).  He pitched a perfect game in 1999.

Cone appeared on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot, but received only 3.9% of the vote.

I mailed to the signing on August 17 and got the card back on October 13, for a 57-day TAT.  I paid a fee of $35.00.

TTM Success - Matt DeSalvo

Here ae a few cards that I got out of my rookies box and into my album.  The cards were signed TTM by Matt DeSalvo and turned out really well.  The above 2007 Topps Rooke 52 looks cool when signed.

I also got a 2007 Bowman and 2007 Bowman Chrome signed that had been in my box since 2007.  It really is nice getting stuff out that has sat for that long and have them signed.

DeSalvo (b. 1980) played in the majors in 2007 and 2008 for the Yankees and Braves.  He had a 1-3 record with 12 strike outs and a 7.89 ERA.

I mailed to DeSalvo on July 20 and got the cards back on July 30, for a 10-day TAT.

Another Hall of Famer on Mom's Ball - Lefty Gomez

Mom thinks I forgot about this amazing baseball that covers my birthday and Christmas presents from now until something like 2034, but I did need something to kick off the birthday posts.  Yeah, my birthday was almost a month ago, but I do like to stretch things out, and since this year was a nice round number, I figured I wasn't in any kind of a hurry to get things going on that.

Anyway, here is the last Hall of Famer on Mom's ball that I didn't yet have in my collection.  I kept getting Lefty Gomez and Lefty Grove mixed up, but Grove is the tougher of the two, having died in 1975.  On this ball is Lefty Gomez.  This Lefty is a Yankees legend and still a "tough get" as far as single signed baseballs go.  Mom was worried that I would only want single signed baseballs of these guys, but I'm happy taking what I can get.  My entire collection was built on a budget, and if I can knock out 3-4 guys on one ball, let's do it!

Gomez (b. 1908 - d. 1989) played in the majors from 1930 to 1943 for the Yankees and Senators.  He had a career record of 189-102 with 1,468 strike outs and a 3.34 ERA.  He was a 20-game winner 4 times (1931, 1932, 1934 and 1937) and an All Star in seven seasons (1933 to 1939).  He won the pitching Triple Crown in 1934 and 1937.  His best MVP finish was 3rd in 1934.

Gomez won the World Series 5 times with the Yankees, in 1932 and 1936 to 1939.  He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972 via the Veterans Committee.

Gomez's numbers don't quite stack up to some other starting pitchers in the Hall.  He may be benefitting from being on the Yankees.  There is a pitcher not in the Hall of Fame who appeared in 17 seasons (albeit one game in one of those seasons) who has a similar won/loss record (177-135), more strike outs (1,534) and an almost comparable ERA (3.39).  The other pitcher won 20 games only once, however, and also had only one World Series win.  Anyway, Gomez is in, and you can't take that away from him.

Gomez is my 151st Hall of Famer on a baseball.  There's another nice round number.

When I can get caught up with some other posts, I will come back to this baseball and feature the other guys on the ball.  That will be a lot of fun, and should happen sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Again, thanks for the awesome ball, Mom!

Another TTM Success From Jim Leyritz

I had forgotten that I had received a TTM success from Jim Leyritz back in 2017, but I suppose that's ok, because I got some nice cards back signed (and a couple smudges).  The above 1990 Score Traded is a nice card, but Leyritz smudged the crap out of it.  What a shame.

The 1993 Topps buyback (above left) was what caused me to want to send to Leyritz again, and at least that card turned out great.  The 1998 Topps got smudged, as well, but the 1991 Donruss turned out pretty nicely.

I mailed to Leyritz on May 21 and got the cards back on June 11, for a 21-day TAT.

Another TTM Success From Bobby Richardson

I used another of the 2010 Topps Franchise History cards to get an autograph of a historical player of whom I had no remaining cards.  Bobby Richardson has a really great signature, and I thought it would look cool on this card, and it does.

I mailed to Richardson on May 6 and got the card back on May 16, for a 10-day TAT.

Another Hall of Famer on Moms Ball - Red Ruffing

Another Hall of Famer that I can cross off of my list, thanks to my mom, is Red Ruffing.  Mom really nailed it with this baseball, as the guys that are on it are ones who would be super tough to get on single signed baseballs.  So, this multi-signed ball really helps the collection a lot.

Ruffing (b. 1905 - d. 1986) played in the majors from 1924 to 1942 and 1946 to 1947 for the Red Sox, Yankees and White Sox.  He had a career record of 273-225 with 1,987 strike outs and a 3.80 ERA.  He was a 6-time All Star (1934 and 1938 to 1942) and had a career-best MVP finish at 4th place in 1938.

Ruffing's career got off to a rough start between 1925 and 1929, losing between 13 and 25 games each of those seasons.  He led the league in losses in 1928 and 1929 with 25 and 22, respectively.  He turned the corner in 1930 when the Red Sox traded him for Cedric Durst; at the time, Ruffing was 0-3, but he would go 15-5 with the Yankees.  After the trade, Ruffing would average almost 17 wins a season for the next 13 seasons.  He won 20 games or more in four straight seasons (1936 to 1939) .  Ruffing won the World Series with the Yankees in 1932, 1936 to 1939 and 1941 ( 6 championships).

When Ruffing was traded from the Red Sox to the Yankees, then-Yankees manager, Bob Shawkey, a former pitcher, was convinced he could get better results out of Ruffing by changing his pitch delivery.  The changes worked, and the trade of Durst for Ruffing is considered one of the most lopsided trades in MLB history.

Red Ruffing was elected to the Hall of Fame in a run-off election in 1967, his final year of eligibility on the ballot.

Ruffing is my 150th Hall of Fame signature on a baseball. 

Mom's HOF Ball Part 2 - Earle Combs

The next Hall of Famer on the baseball Mom gave me is Earle Combs.

Combs (b. 1899 - d. 1976) played in the majors from 1924 to 1935 for the Yankees.  He had 1,866 hits, 58 home runs and a .325 batting average.  He led the league in triples in 1927, 1928 and 1930.  He batted .300 or better in 8 seasons, 4 of which he batted .340 or better.  He won the World Series with the Yankees in 1927, 1928 and 1932.  In his World Series appearances, he batted .350 (4 series, includes a 1926 loss to the Cardinals) with 1 home run.  His best MVP finish was 6th, in 1928.

Combs was elected to the Hall  of Fame in 1970 via the Veterans Committee.  He had appeared on 15 Hall of Fame ballots between 1937 and 1962, but didn't received more than 16% of the vote.  His career WAR, if anyone cares, 43.9; he had 7 seasons of 4.0 WAR or better, which is pretty good, even though I still don't understand the stat.  Regardless, for a veteran of 9 full and 3 partial seasons, Combs has some really good stats.

Earle Combs is my 149th Hall of Famer on a baseball.

Fun fact, of all of my baseball player autographs in my collection, Combs is my first to have played on the legendary 1927 Yankees.

Mom Knocks A Bunch of Hall of Famers off of the List Part 1 - Frank Home Run Baker

My mom has been working hard on crossing some tough names off of my Hall of Famer list.  She found this Yankees legends signed baseball and handed it to me this past week while I was vacationing back home.  I had taken the vacation as a mental health break, and ended up riding around with my mom while she ran errands, like old times.

She had told me that my Christmas gift for 2020, 2021 ans 2022 had come in, and she couldn't wait until December to give it to me, so she went ahead and hooked me up while I was in town.  I was surprised that she found a baseball with at least 4 Hall of Famers that I needed (and another Hall of Famer that I already had, but was happy to add again).

One of the Hall of Famers on the baseball is Frank "Home Run" Baker.  His signature is at the top of one of the side panels on the baseball.  From what I was able to gather, this baseball was signed at a Yankees legends or old timers day.  The ball is a very old baseball; it looks like it is a Spalding official baseball.

There are also a bunch of other former Yankees on the ball, and as time allows, I will tackle each one in a separate post.  I can't thank Mom enough for the ball, and the ability to cross off some of these tough players from my list.  So, thank you, Mom!  Here we go with the first player profile:

Frank "Home Run" Baker (b. 1886 - d. 1963) played in the majors from 1908 to 1914, 1916 to 1919 and 1921 to 1922 for the Philadelphia A's and New York Yankees.  He had 1,838 hits, 96 home runs and a .307 batting average.  His best MVP finish was 3rd, in 1914.  He led the league in home runs, hence the nickname, from 1911 to 1914.  This was during the deadball era, so his home run totals were 11, 10, 12 and 9 in those years, respectively.  He also led the league in RBIs 1912 and 1913;and in triples in 1909.

Baker won the World Series with the A's in 1910, 1911 and 1913.  He appeared on 15 Hall of Fame ballots, before being elected in 1955 via the Veterans Committee.

Baker managed the Easton Farmers of the Eastern Shore League and is credited with discovering Jimmie Foxx.  He was fired as manager upon selling Foxx to the A's because the Farmers believed that Baker didn't get enough money for Foxx.

Baker is my 148th Hall of Famer on a baseball.

TTM Success - Alan Closter

I added another 1973 Topps to my autograph album when this card signed by Alan Closter came back TTM.  He signed it nicely in black pen.

Closter (b. 1943) played in the majors in 1966 and 1971 to 1973 for the Seators, Yankees and Braves.  He had a career record of 2-2 with 26 strike outs and a 6.62 ERA.

I mailed to Closter on April 16 and got the card back on April 30, for a 14-day TAT.

TTM Success - Scott Nielsen

I have been chipping away at my 1987 set lately, and some long-awaited TTM successes have helped me to cross a few names off of the list.  This Scott Nielsen is one of those cards.

Nielsen (b. 1958) played in the majors from 1986 to 1989 for the Yankees and White Sox.  He had a career record of 9-11 with 47 strike outs and a 5.49 ERA.

I mailed to Nielsen on September 13 and got the card back on December 26, for a 104-day TAT.

TTM Success - Stump Merrill

I got this card among several boxes from the Goodwill near my parents' house a while back.  Every now and then, they have baseball cards, and Mom made sure to let me know when I was in town one time that these were there.  The boxes were a bunch of Topps Traded sets (busted, with key cards removed) and some other alternative sets like Donruss Highlights, The Rookies, etc.  So, since the sets had been busted, I broke some of them up even further and sent out a few TTMs.

Stump Merrill (b. 1944) managed the Yankees from about two-thirds of the way through the 1990 season to 1991.  His managerial record was 120-155 (.436 %).  This was a forgettable time in Yankees history, which is fine by me.  Notably, Merrill's successor was the great Buck Showalter.

I mailed to Merrill on October 28 and got the card back signed on November 30, for a 33-day TAT.