Doug Drabek TTM Success

No TTM today, but I feel like doing a write up so here’s one from my blogging siesta...

Sent: 3/11/2019 | Received: 4/11/2020 | 397 days
3/3: 1987 Topps [Base], 1987 Topps Traded [Base], 1988 Topps Big [Base]
Address: Home (Magnolia, TX) from SportsCollectors.Net

At 397 days, this one’s up there among the longest returns I’ve had. Admittedly though, I haven’t been doing this for as long as others in the hobby.

Drabek’s best years were with the Pirates. He won the Cy Young Award and led the N.L. in wins for his 1990 season. He went 22-6 that year with a 2.76 ERA. He pitched six years in Pittsburgh and eclipsed 200 innings in all but one of them.

Drabek was drafted by the White Sox and traded to the Yankees as a minor leaguer. He played the 1985 season for my hometown Albany-Colonie Yankees. I didn’t see him pitch; I was two. He would debut with New York a year later.

Following the 1986 season he was traded to the Pirates. There were others involved but the principals were Drabek for Rick Rhoden. The Yankees felt they were a starting pitcher short of a playoff berth, and Rhoden was supposed to fill that role. The Yanks did not make the playoffs with him around, and Drabek went on to be a very good pitcher for the next eight years.

Drabek signed with the Houston Astros before the 1993 season, and earned his only All-Star nod in 1994. He’d wrap his career with ineffective years with the White Sox (1997) and Orioles (1998).

Breaking Gypsy Queen 3-Pack Retail Hanger (Big Hit)

Had to run to Target today to do some “essentials” shopping. So of course, I was going to swing by the card aisle. Picked up a 3-pack hanger of Gypsy Queen. It was between that, Heritage and Series 1. I’ve opened plenty of the latter two, so I opted for GQ.

Even though I’ve had a bit of success with retail packs lately (I pulled a Mike Clevenger auto out of a Series 1 blaster), I keep my expectations low. Hopefully I’ll net a rookie. Hope to pull some Yankees or Red Sox for the boys’ collections.

So imagine my surprise when I tear into pack one...

Mike Trout, Francisco Mejia, Jesus Luzardo (R)… upside-down redemption!

I am due to receive an autographed, Gypsy Queen logo swap parallel of Luis Robert!

This is one of the biggest, and least expected, hits that I’ve ever pulled. And yes, I am aware that Luis Robert is yet to even appear in the majors.

That didn’t stop the White Sox from inking Robert to a six-year, $50 million contract this January.

Robert is a 22-year-old outfielder, the #2 prospect in the game (according to Baseball America), and part of the White Sox bright future. He was number one across the minor leagues last season in hits (165) and number two in runs (108).

I couldn’t have asked for a better start to pack one, and frankly, didn’t really register what else I got until much later as I sat down to write this.

So… what else? Mauricio Dubon (R) and Max Kepler rounded out pack one.

Pack two: Michael Lorenzen, Jose Ramirez, Brendan Rodgers, David Price, Sean Murphy (R), and Stephen Stasburg.

Pack three: Yolmer Sanchez, Christian Yelich, David Fletcher, Jean Segura, Mitch Garver, and Trea Turner.

Finally, the three green parallels: Miguel Cabrera, Lorenzo Cain, and Emmanuel Clase (R).

Very pleased with my pick up. =)

Charlie Culberson TTM Success

I had pretty much written this one off…

Sent: 6/18/2019 | Received: 4/25/2020 | 312 days
1/1: 2018 Topps Update Series [Gold]
Address: Sun Trust Park (now Truist Park), Atlanta, GA

What a great card. Happy it made its way home.

I am not as talented as others at identifying the exact moment a card image is from, but this one’s fairly easy. On May 28th, 2018, Culberson clubbed a pinch-hit, two-run walk-off homer off Seth Lugo of the Mets in the 9th. Notice the Memorial Day uniforms.

He repeated the feat on June 3rd against the Nationals, earning him the nickname “Charlie Clutch.” Amusing to me, that Baseball-Reference lists his primary position as pinch hitter.

Charlie Clutch is well travelled having suited up for the Giants, Rockies, Dodgers, and Braves over his seven years in the bigs. He’s slashed .249/.295/.392 over that time.

Jim “Mudcat” Grant TTM Success

Another return today, this one from the first African-American twenty-game winner in the American League (Twins, 1965) and the first African-American to win a World Series game for the American League: Mr. Jim Grant.

Sent: 4/16/2020 | Received: 4/24/2020 | 8 days
2/2: 1969 Topps, 1972 Topps
Address: Home (Los Angeles, CA) from SportsCollectors.Net

Grant was erroneously endowed the moniker “Mudcat” during a tryout for the Cleveland Indians. “[A guy] saw me, decided I was from Mississippi and called me ‘Mudcat.’” Grant was a three-sport star from Florida, but the nickname stuck.

Mudcat Grant debuted for the Indians as a 22-year-old in 1958. He was an All-Star in 1963. In June 1964, Grant was traded to the Twins.

The following season, Grant led the AL in wins (21) pitching the Twins to the pennant. He went 2-1 in the World Series (winning games one and six), but Minnesota was eventually bested by the Koufax-led Dodgers in seven.

Mudcat would go on to pitch for the Dodgers (1968), Expos (1969), Cardinals (1969), A’s (1970), Pirates (1970-1971), and A’s again (1971).

Grant tallied 145 wins, 119 losses, and 54 saves over a 14-year career. He had a 3.63 ERA over 2,442 innings.

In 2007, Grant penned The Black Aces, Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners. That exclusive club includes: Grant, Vida Blue, Al Downing, Bob Gibson, Dwight Gooden, Ferguson Jenkins, Sam Jones, Don Newcombe, Mike Norris, David Price, J. R. Richard, CC Sabathia, Dave Stewart, Dontrelle Willis, and Earl Wilson.

Phil Niekro TTM Success

Another success in my 1981 Fleer Star Sticker project, and a Hall of Famer, to boot.

“Wait’ll it stops rolling, then go pick it up.” 

“Niekro stuck out a hitter once and I never touched the bal. It hit me in the shinguard, bounced to Clete Boyer at third base and he threw out the runner at first. Talk about a weird assist: 2-5-3 on a strikeout.” 

Bob Uecker

Sent: 4/15/2020 | Received: 4/23/2020 | 8 days
1/1: 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: Home (Flowery Branch, GA) from SportsCollectors.Net

Surely there’s some irony to be found in the game’s most notorious knuckleballer also being one of the most consistently speedy TTM returns.

Niekro won 318 games (16th on MLB’s all-time wins list) over a 24-year career in the bigs. Yet crazily he only had six wins and on MLB start by the time he was 28 years old. Of course, the knuckleball lent itself to incredible longevity (he’d pitch into his age-48 season). He won 121 games after he turned 40, the most by anyone over that age in baseball history

He was a five-time All Star and Gold Glover. He led the NL in wins twice (1974, 1979). He was the MLB leader in ERA in 1967 (1.87) and led the NL in strikeouts in 1977 (262).

On August 5, 1973, he pitched a no-hitter against the Padres.

He and the late Joe Niekro are the all-time leaders in wins by brothers (539), besting Jim and Gaylord Perry (529).

***
1981 Fleer Star Sticker Set Progress: 36 of 125 (28.8%)

Catching Up (1981 Fleer Star Sticker Progress)

It’s been a while. Sorry. I don’t need to tell you life is crazy these days.

Everyone is affected. Personally, my wife and I are both in the work-from-home/homeschooling-our-children bucket. Let me tell you: it’s not easy to balance two work schedules, entirely too many conference calls, a third grader, a kindergartner, and a toddler. It doesn’t leave much time for things like blogging.

Of course, my wife and I are extremely fortunate to be working, so don’t interpret the above as complaining.

Anyways, I needed a little cardboard therapy so I figured I’d write up an update on my 1981 Fleer Star Sticker autograph project. Haven’t posted since December, so have some catching up to do. I’ll forego the write ups and stick to the pics/facts…

Goose Gossage (TTM)

Sent: 12/16/2019 | Received: 1/6/2020 | 21 days
2/2: 1986 Topps - [Base], 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: Home (Colorado Springs, CO) from SportsCollectors.Net

Larry Parrish (TTM)

Sent: 12/7/2019 | Received: 1/6/2020 | 30 days
1/1: 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: Home (Ft. Gaines, GA) through PastPros.com

Mike Norris (TTM)

Sent: 12/7/2019 | Received: 1/16/2020 | 40 days
1/1: 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: Home (Oakland) through PastPros.com

Paul Molitor (TTM)

Sent: 1/16/2020 | Received: 2/18/2020 | 23 days
3/3: 1981 Fleer Star Sticker, 1994 Stadium Club (w/ Olerud & Alomar)
Address: Home (E. Hopkins, MN) from SportsCollectors.Net

Steve Rogers (TTM)

Sent: 8/24/2019 | Received: 2/27/2020 | 187 days
3/3: 1978 Topps [Base], 1981 Fleer Star Sticker
Address: c/o MLBPA

 *** Progress: These five returns plus a Fergie Jenkins (card #84) purchase brings me to 35 of 125 (28%).

Chris Chambliss TTM Success

It’s been too long blog. Sorry about that.

Got a TTM return today that encouraged me to return to this space. Technically, it was a pair of returns. Apparently, I had sent once to Chris Chambliss before I started tracking my sends/returns (2018, maybe?) in Excel. For my purposes below, I'll treat it as a single return.

“If you’re not having fun, you miss the point of everything.”

Sent: 5/14/2019 | Received: 4/20/2020 | 342 days
3/3: 1978 Topps - [Base], 1979 Topps - [Base], 2001 Upper Deck Legends of New York
Address: Home (Alpharetta, GA) from SportsCollectors.Net

Chambliss is best known for his 1976 ALCS Game 5 walk-off homer, for bulldozing a half dozen fans while rounding the bases, and for never actually touching the plate. Mobbed, he did not make an attempt and opted for the safety of the clubhouse. He was later escorted back onto the field to touch home, but by then the plate had been stolen.

Chambliss broke into the majors with Cleveland, winning the AL Rookie of the Year award in 1971. He was traded to the Yankees early in the 1974 season. He spent five seasons in New York, earned an All-Star nod in 1976, a Gold Glove in 1978, and won two World Series rings (1977 & 1978).

He moved onto Atlanta from 1980 through 1986. He would later serve as coach for the Yankees (he’d win four more World Series titles as hitting coach in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000), Cardinals, Mets, Reds, and Mariners.