Scripture Sunday: Randy Tomlin 1991 Fleer

Its been a few days since my last post as I have been very busy with work.  I thought today was a good day to show off this TTM as I reflect on the day.

Today's 1991 Fleer TTM brings us closer to completing the 1991 Fleer TTM

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters

1991 Fleer IP/TTM Update: AVS

Andy Van Slyke is one of my favorite players ever.

When I saw a chance to grab this IP auto I couldn't resist. With this addition, I am down to needing only one big name player to complete the 1991 Fleer Pirates team set in autograph form. Unfortunately, that player is Barry Bonds who hardly ever signs.

Throwback Thursday: Romans 5:8

It seems fitting to have Bible Verse on today and I just so happen to have this Sid Bream inscribed Romans 5:8 card from 1991 Fleer.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Let's celebrate the birth of Jesus today and remember all the great things that God has given us including his only Son on this Holy Day.  

God Bless You All and Merry Christmas!!!!

PiratesFest Recap AUTOGRAPHS, PHOTOS, AND SO MUCH MORE!!!!

Last weekend I attended PiratesFest for the first time since 2010.  I normally can't attend because I work in retail and trying to get time off a few days before Christmas on a weekend, well....for those of you that work retail you know what that is like.  Fortunately for me, my store had inventory last week and I had to change my normal days off around and just happened to get Saturday and Sunday off.  It worked out great because me and the lil lady went to Pittsburgh and had an absolute blast.

We got into Pittsburgh around 7am Saturday morning and went to the hotel for early checkin.  The hotel thankfully graciously handed us two keys and we passed out around 7:15.  The doors for Saturday opened at noon, but fans could get in line before that and a select few autograph sessions previously sold out online would be available at 11am before the doors opened.  I got to the ticket booth right at 11 and grabbed a session with Starling Marte, Al Oliver, and Jack Wilson.

Before the signing began, I went to the photo opp booth to get my picture taken with a familiar face to the Pirates organization, AJ Burnett.

AJ is one of my favorite personalities in the Pirates clubhouse in recent years.  Since the lady friend is a Phillies fan she was excited to meet AJ also (even though he didn't have a great season with them last year).

I've gotten so many things signed by Starling signed in the past that I really just wanted an autographed card with him and to have my picture taken with him.

Mission accomplished.

Next up was getting an autographed ball (and postcard) signed by a man that could be in the conversation for the Hall of Fame, Mr. Al Oliver.  Al was very friendly to the fans all weekend long including signing his book in the Majestic store.  I tried to get my picture taken with him in the photoline, but it didn't come out very well.

This man needs no introduction if you followed the Pirates during their terrible stretch in the early 2000s.  Seeing Jack Wilson on ESPN webgems was a nightly occurence as he chased down and dove for any ball in the infield before he ultimately got traded to Seattle in 2009.

I was able to get 3 cards signed by the former shortstop.

I also purchased an autograph session with Gregory Polanco, John Smiley, and Jeff Locke.  Funny story about Jeff was that I got to ride in the eleveator with him for 22 floors before the FanFest started and he was incredibly nice and friendly to me making small chat about the weather, who I was excited to see, the Pirates postseason goals for 2014, and finally wishing me a safe trip back to New Jersey.  With a former All-Star (Jeff Locke) and a super talented 5 tool prospect (Gregory Polanco) at the autograph session, it was actually John Smiley who I was most excited to meet.  Like Marte, I've met Polanco and Locke a handful of times when they were playing minor league ball.  However, I never had the chance to meet John Smiley and since I'm trying to complete the 1991 Fleer team set autographs I felt that this would be one of my best chances.

I got a ball signed by Polanco,

2 cards signed by Locke and the 1991 Fleer and 1989 Upper Deck signed by Smiley.

Oh and I took a selfie with Polanco.

THIS TALL MAMMOTH SIZED GENT WAS THE MAIN REASON I WANTED TO GO TO PIRATESFEST.  It's hard to imagine a guy who's 6 foot 7 being an underdog in anything, but John's path to the big leagues is riddled with obstacles and had a happy ending when he caught on with the Pirates last season.  I got a ball signed from a game that he pitched in at Philly.

He signed it on the sweet spot and it is most certainly sweet looking!!!

Also in that bunch were Alumni members from the early 90s Buccos.  Doug Drabek and Mike Lavalliere.  I already had autographed baseballs from both and have numerous cards of Drabek signed.

To keep it simple I got a 1991 Fleer signed by Lavalliere and a 1992 Triple Play signed by Drabek.

In between some sessions I ran into Kent Tekulve and John Wehner who both signed for me as well.

I think I've talked about it in the past but when I was much much younger I used to emulate Teke's unique submarine pitching style.

Sidearm Stryker and Teke united at long last.

Teke signed a ball and Wehner signed a 1991 Fleer for me while also posing for pictures.

The final autograph session for day 1 for me was Dave Parker, Bill Virdon, and Fransisco Cervelli.  This session didn't excite me too much but for $20 charity to the Wounded Warriors project, I felt that I needed to attend.  I didn't get Cervelli to sign anything but a postcard he had at the table.  He also posed for a picture which was really nice of him.

One thing I noticed about Cervelli was that he kept playing with his phone between fans approaching him.  I hope he isn't as distracted on the diamond this year.

Bill Virdon signed an OMLB on the sweet spot for me

Dave Parker signed my 1978 Scorecard I bought at the fest for $5 along with a post card.

Day 1 was a complete success in terms of graphing and meeting the players.

Before everything closed up for the day I had been in discussions with one of the vendors who was selling a Willie Stargell autographed baseball for $80.  I went back and forth on it before I realized that the ball was a Bartlett Giamatti official baseball which made me splurge on the Hall of Famer's signature.

Being on a Giamatti ball made all the difference in the world to me between spending $80 or not dropping the money.

Day 2 started out really good too, but due to time restraints we knew that we weren't going to spend a lot of time at the fest because of our nearly 7 hour drive back home.

It started out with getting our pictures taken with Charlie Morton and Starling Marte.  In case you're wondering, the #37 jersey you see me in my pictures is a game used Charlie Morton jersey from his 2010 season.  I wore it both days at PiratesFest.

Then we went to the AJ Burnett, Dick Groat, Omar Moreno line.  I didn't have anymore OMLB to get autographed so I bought a pair of Chevy HomeRun balls for $5 that have the Chevy logo on the SweetSpot.

I got Groat and Moreno to sign the side of each of the balls and arguably my favorite thing of the whole PiratesFest was getting a chance to

throw up some metal with AJ

and have him personalize my photo from the day before.  The lady friend didn't like her smile in the photo she wanted to be cropped out of it before we got AJ to sign it.  Girls can be so self conscious sometimes.  LOL

After the autograph signing we headed home, but not before we stopped in Primanti Brothers and saw the Steelers beat the Falcons.  It was a great day for me.

For my girlfriend who's an Eagles fan, not so much.  LOL!

Smiley, Cervelli, Marte

Here's a recap of the free postcards signed by some of the players who were gracious enough to slip one as you walked by them.

Parker, Moreno, Oliver, Groat

The scan cut off the players names, but I wasn't about ready to rescan it because I am lazy today...

I also bought an 8x10 signed by Francisco Liriano for $25 also.

Throwback Thursday: 1991 Fleer Bob Kipper TTM Auto

One of my 2013 Collecting Goals was to add more of the 1991 Fleer Pirates team set IP/TTM autos to my collection.  I only managed to get Jay Bell and Don Slaught as returns.

I recently got a chance to get Bob Kipper's autograph at a Portland Sea Dogs game.  Kipper is currently the Sea Dogs pitching coach.  During his 8 year career, he played 7 in Pittsburgh as a relief pitcher and spot starter.  His career ended with a 27-37 record with a 4.34 ERA.

The above Kipper auto is my 10th autograph of the team set.  I still need a lot more including the nearly impossible to get signed Homerun king Barry Bonds.

TTM Success: Jay Bell

And another 1991 Fleer TTM success
34 days

LOTS OF NEW CARDS: It's like a Petting Zoo in the PTR

When I laid out these cards to get scanned in, I had to laugh because all the players had animal nicknames during their playing career. Today's post will feature a bull, dog, cobra, goose, slug, kitten, and even a tiger.  While I don't have enough to fill Noah's Ark, I am happy to add these single cards to my collection.

Let's start with the only player still on the active roster.

El Toro

Pedro Alvarez 2012 Triple Play
Pedro "El Toro" Alvarez has had his ups and downs since being drafted #2 overall in the 2008 draft.  He's shown signs of brilliance at the plate and in the field, but other times has looked completely lost.  Last year was hopefully a breakout year for the 25 year old.  He managed to hit 30 HR, drive in 85 runs, and finish with a .244 average.  He also managed to commit 27 errors at the hot corner, most in the league and had 180 strikeouts (2nd most in league).  If the Pirates are going to be a contender for years to come, El Toro must cut down on his strikeouts and not throw the ball away so often.    



Mad Dog and The Cobra
Two of the key players to the 1979 World Series Champions Pittsburgh Pirates were Bill "Mad Dog" Madlock and Dave "The Cobra" Parker.  Both had very successful careers that will probably never be HOF worthy, but collectively these PTR Heroes have 6 Batting Titles, 2 All-Star Game MVPs, 1 NL MVP, 10 All Star Game selections, 3 World Series rings, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, and 1 HR Derby Championship.  Both players were featured in last year's Panini Golden Age Museum inserts.  I was fortunate to snag a jersey relic of each.



Bill Madlock 2012 Panini Museum Age Jersey Relic

I managed to pick this sweet Bill Madlock Museum Jersey Patch card for a measly $8.59. This is only my 2nd patch of Mad Dog and will look nice in a One Touch displayed.  

Dave Parker 2012 Panini Museum Age Jersey Relic
I was shocked to see this card sell for only $3.13 shipped (combined shipping with another item).  Sure it's not a patch like the Mad Dog above, but it is a nice swatch of yellow.  I think that yellow jersey swatches are actually my favorite to collect.  I really wish that Panini could get a license for MLB products. They've been producing some nice stuff over the past couple years. 

Goose

Goose Gossage 1977 Hostess Trading Card 
Rich "Goose" Gossage appeared in a Pirates uniform for only 1 season in 1977. I was trying to find a card of Goose in a Bucs uniform but Topps didn't picture him in their 1977 or 1978 uniform wearing a Bucs uniform.  To the best of my knowledge the only card featuring him in a Pirates uniform is from Hostess Baking Company.  His only season with the Bucs gave him an 11-9 record with 26 saves in 72 games.  He had a 1.62 ERA that season while pitching 133 innings.  The Goose would enter many games in the 6th or 7th inning and finish them out and helped to evolve what the current closer role is today.  I picked up this Hostess card in hopes of getting it signed by the Goose through his website.  Just a matter of waiting now.



Slug

Don Slaught 1991 Fleer TTM

Don "Slug" Slaught was a member of the early 90s NL East division teams that twice almost went to the World Series.  His career lasted 16 years and he finished with a .283 batting average.  He was an offensive minded catcher and below average defender behind the plate.  His caught stealing percentage early in his Pittsburgh was around league average, but by the team his tenure in the Steel City was over he was only throwing out 15% of baserunners attempting to run against him.  

Tiger & The Kitten

Don Hoak and Harvey Haddix 1962 Topps
These guys are obviously before my time, but I was in need to add to my Pirates 1962 team set.  I picked them both up for $4 shipped.


A little research on these guys and I found out that they both share feline nicknames.  Not to mention that both of them are connected in one of the most famous non perfect games of all time.  

Harvey Haddix was pitching a perfect game into the 13th inning on May 26, 1959 against the Milwaukee Braves.  Don Hoak then committed a fielding error in the bottom of the 13th allowing Felix Mantilla to reach safely.  Mantilla would be sacrificed to 2B on a bunt and Hank Aaron would be intentionally walked.  The next batter Joe Adcock hit a ball over the fence to end the game.  But in the confusion of celebration Aaron was passed by Adcock for the second out of the inning.  Later it was ruled that Adcock would receive a double thus making the final score 1-0 Braves.  Haddix took the loss on his one hit near 12 inning perfect game.


Don Hoak was actually the runner up for MVP in 1960 behind his Pirates team mate Dick Groat.  Not exactly a stellar year by today's standards he hit .282 with 16 homeruns, drove in 79 runs, and scored 97 runs while playing his worse year at the hot corner committing 25 errors.  I'm really curious how he was able to get so many votes for his performance that year because his numbers certainly don't back up MVP numbers.

Harvey Haddix was nicknamed "the kitten" because he shared a resemblance to Harry Breechan whose nickname was "the cat".  Haddix was a 3 time All-Star while with the St. Louis Cardinals before coming to the Pirates in 1959.  Haddix was the winning pitcher in game 5 of the 1960 World Series against the Yankees and was the winning pitcher of game 7 when Bill Mazeroski hit his famous walk off homerun to win the series for the Bucs.  Haddix was also a coach of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

TTM SUCCESS & 2011 Draft

I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to post today.  Then it hit me, I've never done a TTM success post.  I don't send out a lot of cards through the mail to get autographed.  They're mostly players of yesteryear that are just happy to hear from their fans.  I've managed to obtain quite a bit of in person autos of current players through events and games.  Here's some of my TTM successes I've had over the years.  Of all the players I think Bobby Bonilla responds the quickest.   

I wasn't even in double digits age wise when these cards came out, but I remember rooting for the Bucs despite being from NJ and the peer pressure of Phillies, Mets, and Yankees.  Bobby Bonilla was one of my favorite players back then.  The "Killer Bs" (Bonds and Bonilla) were putting up All Star MVP numbers and Doug Drabek had just come off from winning the Cy Young.  I would love to get the complete team set autographed one day as I think the Yellow/Black design Fleer used in 1991 works very well with the Pirates.  I know that Van Slyke and Bonds will be basically impossible though since they don't sign through the mail anymore.

So with that being said, if anyone from the 1991 Pirates team is doing a signing anywhere please let me know about it. PLEASE!!!!!!

So far I have Zane Smith, Sid Bream, Rafael Belliard, Bill Landrum, Ted Power, Bobby Bonilla, Doug Drabek.

I still need:
-Barry Bonds
-Andy Van Slyke
-Jay Bell
-John Smiley
-Don Slaught
-Jose Lind
-Neal Heaton
-Mike LaValliere
-Bob Walk
-Carlos Garcia
-Bob Kipper
-Jeff King

*******On another note********

Tomorrow at midnight is the deadline to sign anyone drafted from the 2011 MLB Draft.  The Pirates 1st round pick and #1 overall selection Gerrit Cole still hasn't signed.  That's to be expected as the #1 overall pick never signs before minutes approaching the deadline.  Cole really doesn't have much leverage in the situation as he can't go any higher than #1 next year and there may be hard slotting for next years draft to prevent teams going overslot.  I guarantee Cole will sign with a major league deal, but he's nuts if he's looking for Stephen Strasburg money.  I think Cole will be a filthy pitcher, but he's not a phenom like Strasburg.

The Pirates also have to still try to convince highly touted power hitting switch hitting highschool outfielder Josh Bell that he shouldn't go to college.  I think there's a 75/25 chance that Josh will sign for something well over slot.  It will most likely break any 2nd round draft bonus ever if it does happen.  I will provide an update on Tuesday regarding the 2011 Draft Class.