A Care Package From Gerard

I got a care package in the mail from my good friend, Gerard a while back that included this IP auto of Robert Andino on a 2013 Topps.  I only had two or three signed 2013 Topps, so this one helped the binder.  Andino is back in the Orioles organization, but was recently popped with a ampetamine suspension.  It is really unfortunate, because I like Andino, and he was having a decent year at Norfolk.

Gerard also hooked me up with this nice Chris Davis from 2016 Panini Diamond Kings.  I don't think I had this card yet, so it will be a nice addition to the PC.

Thanks so much for the care package, Gerard!

Partial Christmas Gift From Max

I have made a lot of friends in this hobby, from the day in October 2006 when I started helping out at the former card shop in Winston-Salem, to when I started this blog in November 2008 to when I joined the Instagram card community in November of 2013.  One of the friends that count among the best of the best is my good friend, Max.  He and I have been trading for a long time now, and hung out at the National this past summer.  We text and skype almost every day.  He is an amazing person, whom I can't imagine being without.

Max sent me what he says was half of my Christmas gift.  The above Fergie Jenkis ball was something he picked up in person about a month ago for me, so I used it as an opportunity to upgrade the ball that I had.  Mine was one of my original TTM successes, but was on a China ball with a bad pen, so it has faded quite a bit.

This one looks so much better and is on an OMLB ball.  Definitely an upgrade!

Max knew someone who was doing some "graphing" recently, and was able to take every Bob Milacki card that I could find and turned them into autos.  Max and I 50/50'ed the cards and here are a few of the notable ones.

I love 1989 Topps's design, so I had to show this one.  It looks really cool signed.  I need to get myself into more TTMs on cards, because I feel like TTM autos give some of the 80s-90s cards new life, so to speak.

Speaking of 80s-90s cards, here is a nice signed 1989 Donruss, followed by the below 1990 Donruss.

In all, Max sent me 9 Milacki signed cards.  Not bad at all!  I'm really happy with them, and they will go into my TTM binder.

Max also included some signed cards by other former Orioles.  This 2012 Robert Andino is a nice one.

I was surprised last year to see that Adam Loewen popped back up in the majors in the Phillies pitching staff.  I guess his left arm is feeling better now after taking a few years off from pitching and playing as a position player.

Finally, this really cool Xavier Avery auto on a 2012 Topps.  Avery is back with the Orioles as a minor league signing.  He will try to break camp with the O's in Spring Training.  I feel like he is outfield depth at AAA, but not a bad deal on a milb contract.

So, thank you so much for the awesome package, Max.  As always, I appreciate it!

Orioles Fan Fest - Final Autograph Station

We immediately went from our previous autograph station to our next one, the 4:40 meeting with Robert Andino, Nick Markakis and Brady Anderson after hitting the restroom and meeting up with Ryan, of course.  Ryan was in this line with us, so it made the wait so much more enjoyable having someone to chat with.

 The first player in line was Robert Andino.  I have gained so much respect for Andino following this season, firstly because he was always so awesome whenever I met him (this was the third time I have met him in person) and he is always really nice to my son.  He signed the above baseball for me and the below post card for Chris.

Chris slapped five with Andino, knocking his hand onto the table.  Ryan and I both told Chris "Don't HURT him!"  Andino laughed and signed our stuff.

 After Andino was a current Oriole whose autograph I have been coveting for a long time, Nick Markakis.  I got Markakis to sign an OMLB ball (Selig) on the sweet spot.  I have several of the Orioles' First Round Draft Picks: Roberts (supplemental round), Markakis, Brandon Snyder, Billy Rowell (should have been Tim Lincecum), Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz, Matt Hobgood and Manny Machado.

Nick was really quiet, but he did say hello to Chris.  He had abdominal surgery a couple weeks ago, so I'm sure he is still recovering from that.

 As much as I would love to say that Markakis was the highlight of this session, the reason I paid $40 for the voucher (they were all sold out, so I had to buy one off of Ebay) was so I could meet one of my childhood favorites, Brady Anderson.  I had Brady sign another OMLB (Selig) ball that I picked up before the show.

Brady also signed this post card for Chris.  Brady is remembered for his improbable run in the 1996 season where he hit 50 home runs.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on how Brady achieved that number, especially since he didn't get close to 50 before or after that season.  Your opinion is fine, but in my mind, I point to Roger Maris (39 homers in 1960, 61 homers in 1961 and 33 homers in 1962) and Davey Johnson (43 homers in 1973 and didn't hit more than 18 in any other season) among others...  Sometimes players have a great season.  Let me enjoy it.

This autograph session was definitely worth the $40.00.  I'm really glad I got all of these guys' autographs, for sure.

Stay tuned for my final Fan Fest Post on the miscellaneous stuff we got including a Negro Leaguer's signature and a Brian Matusz Bobblehead...

Orioles Fan Fest Thoughts and Photos

Over the course of the next few blog posts, I will be showing off all of the stuff my son and I picked up at the Orioles Fan Fest on January 21, 2012.

Before I do that, I would definitely like to thank Ryan from "O No Another Orioles Blog" for letting my son Chris and I tag along with him to Fan Fest.  I wouldn't have gone had he not offered to accompany us and it really made the experience that much more enjoyable.  If you haven't checked out and followed Ryan's blog yet, you really should!

My son Christopher and I at the end of Fan Fest.  Take note that Chris is wearing my younger brother Adam's little league Orioles Jersey from around 20 years ago...

Here are Chris and Orioles pitcher Jason Berken.  Berken signed a 'before they were stars' card for Chris and also gave him a signed post card.

Chris with Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz.  Matusz asked Chris who is favorite Orioles were and Chris' answer was: "Brian Roberts and Tim Lincecum."  When I told Chris that Lincecum wasn't an Oriole, Matusz told him "That's ok, he is still pretty good."

Chris is getting a baseball signed by former Negro Leaguer Jimmy Bland.  He was really nice.  He asked Chris if he could keep the ball and of course Chris told him no.

Chris is now telling Chris Davis that they have the same name.  My son is 6 and still doesn't mind 'mining for gold' in public, so he turns around with his finger in his nose and I quietly whisper to him "Chris, quit picking your nose..." to which Davis responds "Oh, I didn't think anyone saw that... oh you meant your son, sorry."  Was pretty funny, for sure.

We got to meet Jim Palmer in person, which was one of the big highlights of the event.  I would love to say that I had a conversation with him, but I was too nervous to get a coherent sentence out and Tommy Hunter (seated beside Palmer) was busy telling Palmer about the virtues of his new Twitter account (follow him @TommyGoesBoom).

Chris had met Robert Andino back when we visited Durham Bulls Athletic Park for a game between the Durham Bulls and the Norfolk Tides.  He is seen here telling Andino "What's up!" which is a message Andino gave me to tell Chris when I talked to him in Norfolk a few months after our initial meeting.  Andino might be the most misunderstood Orioles player right now, but he has quickly become one of my favorites.  I think, given increased playing time, he will have a pretty solid career.

Another player that I was really excited to meet was Nick Markakis.  He was probably the most prominent current Orioles who I hadn't had a signed baseball of.  I got that taken care of at Fan Fest!

Speaking of Orioles autographs that I have been looking for, I finally got the chance to meet one of my childhood heroes, Brady Anderson.  I have been wanting an Anderson signed baseball for a long time and finally got it.

 Here is most of the stuff Chris brought home from Fan Fest.  I'll have to work with him on taking care of all of it.  Some of the stuff he had signed, he gave to me (without me asking him for it by the way).  One of the signed post cards we got went to Ryan for letting us stay with him and to help him with his Orioles autograph project.

Here is what I consider my haul from Fan Fest.  A few of the post cards and one of the balls were given to me by Chris.  He will probably get some of them back over time once he can show that he knows how to take care of all of them.  If you study the picture closely, you'll see two items that look familiar, but are different from what you might be thinking...

That being said, piece by piece (sort of), I will be posting all of the balls, etc, that I brought home.  I have enough stuff to keep me busy on this humble blog for some time to come, haha.  Also, having said that, I have a trade post with Kirk from Eutaw Street Cardboard that I will squeeze in somewhere along the way as well as any TTMs that come in...

So, you guys (hopefully) have a lot to look forward to on here.  I hope you all enjoy.

I'm Going to Fan Fest!

With a special thanks to Ryan from O No Another Oriole Blog, I will be attending Orioles Fan Fest in Baltimore in two weeks!

I will be taking my son as well.  I bought autograph vouchers to meet: Brian Roberts, Jason Berken and Ryan Adams at the 11:20 signing, Oliver Drake, Dana Eveland, Tommy Hunter and JIM PALMER at the 3:20 signing and Brady Anderson, Robert Andino and NICK MARKAKIS at the 4:40 signing.

I'm so excited to meet Anderson, Palmer and Markakis.  I really can't wait.  I appreciate Ryan wanting to hang out with me again, I guess I didn't annoy him too bad by talking too much at the card show!

What a productive weekend...

You know it's going to be a good time at the card shop when you bring along your son, younger brother and best friend to spend the day with you. Christopher (my son), Andy (my younger brother) and of course Max (best friend and star of: http://maxscards.blogspot.com/) all accompanied me to the shop for my Saturday of work. While selling Yu Gi Oh and what not to the kids, Max and I spent some time straightening the shop up and pricing out vintage cards. During this process, Max found these cards:The Orioles backup shortstop Robert Andino. He has really been clutch lately and has filled in admirably for Cesar Izturis while he has been out with appendicitis.

The longest tenured current Oriole, Melvin Mora. While I sometimes question his work ethic, you can't deny that this is a sharp looking card. It looks like he is speed skating... Awesome.

I was really happy to discover this card of Nick THE STICK Markakis. I enjoy the spectrum cards. I don't have nearly as many Markakis cards as I do of Brian Roberts (can't even compare any of them to my massive Ripken collection though) but I am getting more and more.

Speaking of my Ripken collection, I am able to add this because I bought a few cards from this guy Jeremy who comes in the shop regularly. He brought in this Ripken as well as a few other cards. I was able to get an Upper Deck X Brian Roberts GU Jersey from Jeremy because Max traded a John Smoltz GU Jersey from SP Legendary Cuts to him for the card, then flipped it back to me. Thanks Max!!!

I also purchased from Jeremy the Nick Markakis/ Vlad Guerrero Dual Jersey card at the top of the page. Very nice...

Max and I busted a box of 2009 Topps Heritage as well, hoping to knock a few cards off his list for his set. Max, knowing I have become a fan of Tim Lincecum, as well as being a fan himself, gave me a Lincecum New Age Performer. Pretty sharp card...

Sorry, blog posting is getting a little cluttered, haha.

After we finished up at the shop, we went back to my brother John's house to drop off some supplies for him. Now, I don't want to reveal the circumstances surrounding the collapse of his collection, but at one point in time, his card collection dwarfed mine substantially. Of course, he didn't have some heavy hitters like I do with my Clemente RC, Koufax RC, etc, but the sheer size of his collection was HUGE. Anyway, we dropped off some supplies to John and we wheeled and dealed and I was able to get these three cards from him:

Finally, not to be left out, I received this card via mail from Mike at: http://jdswildcardz.blogspot.com/ this is a really nice Roberts, which I didn't have in my collection. Thanks Mike!

All in all, this was a very good weekend. I'm lucky to be able to spend time with my friends and family and be able to have a few of them enjoy cards as much as I do.