Sending cards 2012 - Round Four

Mark Teixeira

Mark Teixeira is not a player I follow, but it is hard to not know who he is. Now with the New York Yankees, he has put time it with the: Rangers, Braves, and Angels. He and his wife started The Mark Teixeira Charitable Fund, through which he has done a lot of good things to help the community. Yearly Scholarships,  helped build "a permanent home for the DREAM Charter School." (facebook page), and helped the Harlem RBI organization with funding.

Tim Lincecum

I believe I have sent to Timmy before, but it doesn't hurt to try again. Lincecum hasn't been the same frightening pitcher in the last couple years, and despite being a Diamondback fan with my eggs in another basket, I hope he can make his adjustments to get back to form. Tim has always struck me as a "David" in a "David and Goliath" situation. He looks so young and casual, almost an opposite to the one-time teammate Randy Johnson. When he started slumping, I was surprised to find myself really pulling for the guy. Get well soon, "freak".

Ian Kinsler

Mr. Kinsler has played with the Rangers for his entire career (6 years). I did enjoy hearing about his strong Jewish faith, and how difficult a decision he may have in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. The Haaretz has an article where he was quoted in regard to possibly playing for Israel, "I would be happy to play for Team Israel," but he followed it up with, "The truth is that if a proposal comes from team USA to play for them, I will have a very difficult decision to make." This stood out for two reasons. One, I love seeing someone who is living a life of faith with honesty no matter what religion it is or if I personally believe that way myself. Secondly, I love seeing patriotism in others. This hit both. Good luck to you sir.

Brian McCann

Brian McCann is another single team player, putting in seven years with the Braves. Brian and his wife are actively supporting The Rally Foundation and the Rally Kids. His personally story is on his website. The Rally Kids are children who are facing and fighting childhood cancer. They give faces and stories behind the numbers. McCann directs his charitable work to these kids and the organization, as well as visits the children in the hospital when he can.

 

Rick Ankiel

Wow, Rick has been someone that I "pop" in on every so often to see how he is doing. By that I mean I keep tabs on him in box scores, stories and game recaps. Not so much home visits or phone calls. It is fascinating to me that he went from pitching at the highest level, to reinventing himself to become a position player back at the "show". To me, it is not only the position change, but to be good at both positions that you can make a valuable contribution to a team at a major league level. He is like a one sport "Bo Jackson". By itself that last sentence sounds really stupid (and I am cutting myself a break by adding the "by itself" qualifier)

Sending cards 2012 - Round Three

Jack Cust

Jack Cust was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2001, but spent most of his time with the Oakland A's. Jack's father founded Jack Cust Baseball Academy which is under the Diamond Nation parent company umbrella along with Jennie Finch's Softball Academy. 

Jim Thome

The one thing that stands out to me about Jim Thome, is the stories about how great a person he is. In a letter,  Pat Neshek named Thome as one of the better guys he has had experienced with. ESPN did a story on his character, and I have seen it pop up on yahoo sports as well.

Sending cards 2012 - Round Two

Sent another two attempts out today. My son helped write one of the letters, which is a first. We will see how long he stays interested (waiting months for a return is not a 6 year old's idea of a good time), but as of right now he is looking at the signed cards every night.

J.J. Putz

J.J. Putz, the closer for the Diamondbacks. Last year he helped bring stability to a team that could lose a game after leading 10 - 0 in the 7th inning. This year he has not been as solid, but hopefully he can turn around. My son helped me write to Mr. Putz.

Juan Pierre

I attempted Mr. Pierre earlier, thought I would try again. My 3yr old was also interested recently, so I thought I would try to start a 2010 Ginter set for him. I found that I had a 2008 and 2010 card for Juan Pierre so I sent him another attempt.

Sending cards 2012 - Round One

Sending out my first cards since 2010. One of the individuals in this attempt, I have sent out before. The other is a shot in the dark, but is the new home town star.

Albert Pujols

Albert is the new star in town, and finally got the Home Run monkey off his back recently. I hope to take the family to see a Diamondbacks vs Angels soon, maybe get a peek at the home run swing. It will be fun to see him play in person

Orlando Hudson

I attempted Mr. Hudson earlier, actually I think it was even my first TTM attempt. I thought I would try again. I love Hudson's personality, especially when he is on a mic.

Sending Cards 2010 round 5

Here we go again. I got back a TTM success yesterday. It was non-baseball, you can see it here. Here are four more out going. Hopefully all of these attempts will make for a good month down the road.

Ben Sheets

I think this is my first attempt with a horizontal card. There is not a lot of successes posted online about Mr. Sheets, but there are some.

Clay Buccholz

Buccholz is another guy that is hard to get a handle on in terms of TTM success. There are a lot of mixed reviews as to if he signs. There are some claiming no response, others with successes.

Prince Fielder

This one is a shot in the dark. More often than not, Fielder is said to not sign TTM. There are some claimed success but they are older.

Steve Holm

Steve currently plays in for the Giants minor league in Modesto. Holm has a good TTM record. I look forward to his return, if he would be so kind

Sending Cards 2010 round 4

I have been on a kick lately sending out cards. Yesterday I sent out a request to both Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. I had sent to Mr. Clark before but I have yet to hear back. This time I am using the address from the book I just bought.

Last Friday I sent some cards but I didn't post them because I didn't want a blog full of "sending card" posts. I can probably get away with one now.

Last Friday I sent out:

Clayton Kershaw

I sent an attempt to Mr. Kershaw in spring training, but still no response. The overall success on the web shows that he is a quick signer, so I am going to try again.

Juan Pierre

Juan Pierre would be a great addition, not that they all are not. He fun to watch, and seems to be a pretty good guy.

Paul Konerko

Mr. Konerko also seems to be a good TTM signer. The response time varies, but always remains very reasonable.

Tomorrow I will try to get these cards printed and sent out.

The first one is another Blogger Edition card.

Night Owl

The famed Night Owl! This will be a great return. Being a nocturnal creature, in-person signings are said to be rare. I hope to be the first to receive a TTM success from this legendary blogger. Wish me luck. I will be using a Giants, and Yankees free envelope so that should help.

The last card I was going to send to a biographer, but I had a better idea.

Albert Einstein

The better idea that I had was to send this attempt to Jim Parsons, the actor who brilliantly brings Dr. Sheldon Cooper to life on The Big Bang Theory. Being the huge nerd/geek that I am, this show was made for me. I often catch myself wishing I could hang with the guys on that show. I then realize that even if they were real, I would not be smart enough.

I did realize too, that if I were lucky enough to get a response from Mr. Parsons, that I should get more than just an Einstein card signed. As AWESOME as that would be, I would have to explain why I don't have a Sheldon Cooper item signed instead. So I will also be sending the following custom card.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper

Sending Cards 2010, and New Blog Design (Please Vote)

Most of the office has been out of town this week due to a Vegas fashion show, and it got really quiet. This caused my mind to wander, leading me to spend most of the day tweaking the blogs design. I added a poll on the sidebar, please vote and let me know how you feel about the new look.

I also have been reading a lot of TTM Message boards in my week of bliss. Mark Buehrle's name keeps coming up as a great TTM signer. Most successes are reporting under 10 days. Also, Ty Wigginton is showing some success of recent days as well. So out those two go.

Mark Buehrle

I think the best thing to say about Mr. Buehrle is that he is one of a select few to have ever pitched a perfect game. On the 23rd of July, 2009 Mark took the mound and pitched the 18th Perfect game in Major League history. It took him 116 pitches, and the Tampa Bay Rays lost 5 - 0 thanks to Josh Fields' grand slam, an RBI double by Alexei Ramírez.

Ty Wigginton

Mr Wigginton has bounced around 5 different teams in his time in the big leagues. Currently he is with the Baltimore Orioles. 2010 was an all-star year for Mr. Wigginton, like the Diamondback's Chris Young, this was Ty's first All-Star nod.

Sending cards 2010 Week 3

I recently purchased the Baseball address list by Harvey Meiselman. It came in the mail a couple days ago, I have read a lot of good things so lets see how it works. Below are the first candidates using the address provided.

Luke Scott

In 2006, Mr. Scott became the first rookie Astro to hit for the cycle. The best thing about this was that even though it was against the Diamondbacks, the Astro's still did not win the 8 - 7 extra inning contest.

Scott Rolen

I love hearing about the different athletes that have foundations set up to provide one thing or another to the community. Mr. Rolen set up the Enis Furley Foundations.

"The Enis Furley Foundation is a non-profit organization created by Scott Rolen , of the Cincinnati Reds, and named after his eldest dog Enis. In 1999 Scott had a vision to brighten the lives of children and their families who struggle with an illness, hardship, or other special needs." (from the foundation's website).

Josh Willingham

I don't know much about Mr. Willingham, but that is nothing new for this blog. I did find out through research that Josh has the bragging rights of hitting two grand slams in one game. It was last July, he hit a grand slam in consecutive innings against the Brew Crew.

Rick Ankiel

I find it amazing that Rick Ankiel was able to reinvent himself and make it back to the Bigs the way he did. It is an incredible feat to make it to the highest level of your career, but to be able to do it twice in such different capacities is such an accomplishment.

I also used the list to resend a "return to sender" failure of Craig Biggio.

Sending cards 2010 Week 2

Andre Ethier

I am not a fan of Ethier, so I feel funny about sending this. I don't dislike Andre, but in baseball terms I am not a Dodger fan, and Mr. Ethier does really well for them. It is nothing personal, he actually seems like a really good guy. I am probably going to send a lot more Dodger attempts soon, they are really close and the quick success from Garret Anderson make it very appealing.

Brian Barton

After seeing this success from the Cardboard Legends blog, I feel like Mr Barton would be a good attempt to send out.

Jack Cust

Mr. Cust was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 1997, and made his Major League debut with the Arizona in 2001. I look forward to adding this Diamondback signature to my collection.

Jeff Clement

When I was writing my letters, I looked over and noticed a pack of 2008 Ginters that I had recently bought. I decided to send one of the cards out in this batch. Mr. Clement was the card that got a free trip out of town.

The Collective Troll

I am a little worried about this attempt. After searching TTM message boards, and blogs I can not find one success for the Troll rookie card. I rubbed bacon on the envelope, I felt that it may help my chances.

Alfredo Ortega

Wicked Ortega, also has no successes recorded for TTM attempts. I have a feeling about this one though, I will get this one back.

Sending Cards (Change of address)

Dan Haren

Dan Haren moved from my favorite team, the Diamondbacks, to my home town (second favorite) team, the Angels. I figure that I would try to drop him a line again, and hope that the second time is the charm. The last time was earlier this year in spring training, so there is a good chance that this letter may be at a better time. I am also sending his National Chicle card as well.

Dan Haren

Granted it is not the best looking of the Chicle cards, but this Haren card won out over all the others. Not ever sure why. With my luck he will sign the Chicle card and not the Ginter.

Sending cards 2010 Week 1

I can't believe that my first regular season attempts will be going out in mid July, but here they are.

Garret Anderson

Mr. Anderson (not played by Keanu Reeves) was a staple for the Angels organization for a while, and was there when I started following them in 2002 (due to my moving to Los Angeles, not so much because of the WS win). This would be a nice additions, well, they all really are.

Melky Cabrera

I actually am sending this one, because I also wanted to send the following card.

Melky Cabrera

I pulled it from a National Chicle pack and thought it would look great signed.

Chris Young

Mr. Young was one of the first cards I attempted when I started this blog. I want to retry. My first attempt may have been handicapped by a could of things. First, I printed the letters from my computer, rather than handwriting them. Second, I had sent the first attempt to Mr. Young when he was demoted to the minors.

Sending cards (Pre-Spring Training v3)

Continuing on with the spring training batch, while I wait for Topps Million Card Giveaway site to feed my information in amongst the other gazillion request that site must be receiving. Nine cards have already gone out in my spring training onslaught, and here are Four more. That leaves seven remaining.

Dan Haren

Haren and Webb, our new Johnson and Schilling combo. Dan Haren was insane last year, doing what he could to salvage a season riddle with injuries and 8th innings that made men weep. I am too far away and was too busy to cross statelines to get to fan fest, so my only hope is TTM. I will love getting this back.

Evan Longoria

Not really much to say about this one, other than it would be a fabulous addition to the collection.

Joe Nathan

After seeing Donna's success with Mr. Nathan, he crept up my list of "to send to's".

Stephen Drew

The Diamondbacks, AKA the Younger Brothers' squad. Don't get me wrong, I am vary happy with out version of the older siblings. Stephen almost instantly became one of my favorite players, and I am not sure why. Oh, and I love this card by the way. I think its the image. Too bad it is a short print.

Sending cards (Pre-Spring Training v2)

I have a list of guys I want to send to this spring training. Five went out last post, and here are Four more. That leaves Twelve remaining. I figure that now is a good time to send them, so why not send more than my usual.

Josh Hamilton

Hamilton, The feel good story a little bit ago. I didn't see his home run derby, but I was listening to it on the radio. Yeah, its kinda hard to follow on the air. It sounded impressive.

Grady Sizemore

Don't know much about Sizemore (wow, I should have a hot key for that sentence). He is one of those players that I like and don't know why.

Curtis Granderson

Granderson was completely off my radar until he started blogging on Yahoo Sports. From reading those I have built up a respect for him. He seems humble and very down to earth. I love that in a player.

Troy Tulowitzki

I couldn't stand Tulo, until I started playing 08 MLB The Show. Very addictive game by the way. I created myself in the role-playing mode, and worked my way up to the starting shortstop position for the Diamondbacks. After my rookie season (called up mid season), Arizona goes out and signs Troy. So now I am competing with Stephen Drew, and Troy Tulowitzki. In typical video game fashion, I did win the position but I had to platoon with Troy for almost a full season. Strangely enough I actually started like Tulowitzki from that. It is interesting how that works. My dislike for him had no basis in reality anyway. I have no reason to dislike him personally, it was purely rivalry based. Now I like him, and again its nothing he did. It was a video game.

Sending cards (Pre-Spring Training) *Updated*

After seeing on the Diamondbacks website that already a good portion of the team is in Arizona for an initial voluntary work out, I figured it would be a good time to get some spring training TTM attempts out. Due to the total lack of postage in the house I only was able to send out 4. I had a 5th. Mr. Kershaw, but he is the odd man out when the stamps ran dry.

Roy Halladay

I actually wanted to send Mr. Halladay last year, but I wasn't sure how to make a self addresses stamped envelope (SASE) with Canadian postage. I actually haven't seen him pitch, but I would love to. I want to see what everyone is talking about.

Vladimir Guerrero

This man I have seen play. Watching Ichiro live is impressive, in person his speed is amazing. Guerrero is the same with hitting. I don't think I have ever seen someone other than this beast golf a ball from his shoe laces into the outfield seats. How do you pitch to a guy that even your bad pitches end up out of the park. I can't imagine the relief the Rangers pitchers felt when they found out he was now on their side. This guy brutalized them particularly bad.

B. J. Upton

Here is what I know about Mr. Upton in a nutshell. He is the elder brother of a phenom on the Diamondbacks squad. That is messed up I know, but its the truth. Sorry B.J. I will try to correct this problem in the near future.

Justin Upton

Oh hey look, I know this Upton. The future of the franchise. The most well known of our youth movement. Him and his other youthful cohorts are looking good. I look forward to the 2010 season. Of course I had the same eagerness last year.

*Update*

Clayton Kershaw

Hey I found some stamps. Mr. Kershaw's request is going out today. Yes, he is a Dodger, but he is still young he may grow out of it. I am sorry, I had say it.