After 10 seasons Joe Nathan of the Minnesota Twins has emerged as one of the best and most consistent closers in baseball. He’s posted sub-2 ERAs in three of the past four years (2.10 in 2009) and four of the last six. He has amassed 247 saves and 4 All-Star game appearances, yet he rarely gets the credit he really deserves. (more…)
Eric Lands a White Whale
I won my first “true” 1/1 on eBay yesterday. The card is a 2008 Topps Triple Threads Josh Anderson with an autograph, 2 games used jersey swatches and a patch piece. Serial numbered 1/1 of course. I just recently started my Josh Anderson PC and it has been growing pretty quickly. I haven’t found a lot of competition and was surprised that I was forced to pay $32 for this card. (more…)
Why We TTM
TTM means through the mail. I along with thousands of other collectors write athletes in an attempt to acquire their autograph. It’s an inconsistent hobby, but I find it to be very rewarding. The autograph aside, sometimes there are things that come from these requests that make the experience extra rewarding. Maybe it’s a handwritten letter from the player or a special inscription or something else entirely. Gregg Zaun provided me with one of those moments Saturday.
(more…)
Steiner Buzzes The Collecting Community
Message boards centered around sports memorabilia came alive on Saturday. Steiner Sports had a promo code (YANK909) which allowed purchasers to get $50 off any order with no minimum to buy. So if you could find something for $49.99 then you only had to pay shipping and the item was yours. Virtually free. To good to be true? Probably. Collectors were suspicious but it did appear to be working. I did it myself and after placing my order I got an email which contained this… (more…)
Thank You Art Pennington
I just got something very unexpected in the mail. An envelope from Art Pennington with two autographed post cards and a hand signed letter. He must have gotten when I made a donation on pay pal, but I’ll be honest it was such a small donation that I do not feel like I deserve him taking the time or using the resources to send me what he did. However, that fact also make me appreciate it that much more. (more…)
How can an online store like this even exist?
Let me introduce you to http://www.stungunking.net . Apparently someone wanted to sell stun guns and other gizmos like that and they decided to sell autographs of famous sports athletes on top of everything else. I have no idea how legitimate the electronics side of the business, but get this. They are selling autographed cards of Barry Sanders, Jerome Bettis, Albert Pujols, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and Mark McGwire for only $5.00. An Eli Manning signed card is only $7.00. $2.00 will get you a signed card of David Wright and for a dollar you could get an autographed card of Paul Konerko, Luis Matos, Paul Sorrento, David Robinson, Ryan Leaf… The list goes on.
(more…)
The Places I Have Come To Love The Most
Since graduating and moving home I have not had much of anything going on. The Internet has given me something to keep my mind off the mind numbing boring routine that has become my life, and in addition to that, I got a gym membership and I go job hunting from time to time. But let’s face it. These days if you walk into a place and inquire about a job they tell you “You need to apply online.” No one wants human to human interaction anymore if it can possibly be avoided. So basically I’m on the Internet when I’m job hunting as well as when I’m sitting around doing nothing. All that to say, I’m always on the Internet and I’m going to share with you the sites that I frequent most often.
(more…)
