Tigsfan's 2010 TTM Return Project Corner

[tigsfan]

good stuff where do you get your addresses???

That is a great question new member.arty3:

Some addresses I just send to the team they are currently with, if it is a major league, minor league, independent, or whatever league it may be. The retired players I have used various databases, some are free while others I've paid for. In combining all of those reports, that is where I decide if I should to a certain player.

 

[tigsfan]

8/25

Delwyn Young
3/3
13 days

Mr. T's Comment: A couple smeared, especially my 08 Upper Deck (it looks just plain bad). Dodgers probably shouldn't have let him go, as they could use a nice young INF right now. It seems Pittsburgh has one bright spot in their lineup for the next few years...

 

[Stlcardsfan]

That is a great question new member.arty3:

Some addresses I just send to the team they are currently with, if it is a major league, minor league, independent, or whatever league it may be. The retired players I have used various databases, some are free while others I've paid for. In combining all of those reports, that is where I decide if I should to a certain player.

Thanks so much im going to need all the advice i can get

 

[tigsfan]

8/27

Don Baylor
2/2
15 days

Mr. T's Comment: He has done a great job as a hitting coach, but he wasn't as productive when he was a manager. Baylor has been overlooked despite be a very great hitter in the 70s and 80s, and is worth adding to your collection!

 

[tigsfan]

8/28

Lance Parrish - TRADE

Rather then trying to get him w/ the spotty TTM returns, thought I'd just get this '84 Tigers out of the way via other means.

Buddy Groom
3/3
16 days

Mr. T's Comment: At least another Tigers player came. He ended his career rougher than when he started his career, not being one of "Joe's Boys". Very reliable signer for those who may need him.

Juan Pierre
1/2 - kept 1
98 days!

Mr. T's Comment: He tied Matt Stairs for third on my longest wait list (Jeff Francis second, Mike Lieberthal is in first w/ a comfortable lead), but maybe he sped right through my letter. Pierre has 50 SB's this year (and 509 career), which is most in the majors this year. If you don't mind a wait, send to him.

RTS - Gregg Zaun c/o Brewers (I knew he was retiring after the injury early this season. Thought I'd try him anyways.

 

[tigsfan]

9/1

Todd Hollandsworth
4?/4 - still needs clarification
20 days

Mr. T's Comment: The former Rockies OF (among other teams) was an underrated hitter behind Bichette, Helton, and Walker. He was also a WS champion (2003) and NL ROY (1996), so those looking at starting either of those projects will be happy to see him signing quickly.

Pat Neshek
2/2
20 days

Mr. T's Comment: A collector himself, Neshek takes care of his mail at a good pace. For those starting out, Neshek would be someone to at least think about sending to.

Kevin Slowey
1/2
20 days

Mr. T's Comment: Another Twins player, Slowey has been a decent signer this year. I've seen much longer waits on him, so I must have got lucky with him.

TRADE:
Anderson, Garret 2005 Topps U&H #UH120 - tried him TTM this year and came back unsigned
Aguasviva, Geison 2008 Donruss Elite#36 - former Loons
Delmonico, Tony 2008 Donruss Elite #73 - former Loons
Gallagher, Austin 2008 Donruss Elite #2 - former Loons
Kuo, Hong-Chin 2006 Topps #310
Redding, Jon Michael 2010 Topps Debut #206 - former Loons
Padilla, Vicente 2006 Topps #186
Russell, Kyle 2008 Donruss Elite #65 - former Loons

 

[tigsfan]

9/2

Phil Hughes
2/2
8 days

Mr. T's Comment: I sent this a couple days before I left for school after seeing the recent slew of returns from him. I'm a little surprised it came back so quickly though! Hughes is also a card collector, and has an extremely valuable and "pretty" collection for those who haven't seen it (which I complemented him on). Don't, I repeat don't, wait another day to send to him, as this may be your only chance to get him signing TTM!

 

[tigsfan]

9/4

Rheal Cormier
4/4
10 days

Mr. T's Comment: After my stupidity used the old address (in the database) and not the new one I knew about, the real Cormier hopefully signed these and not some impostor.

Drew Stubbs
1/1
60 days

Mr. T's Comment: He finally got around to mine, which for the past week or so Mr. T got worried about. It did come back at least, a quality rookie who might sign a few years from now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
We had some rain that came through, mostly pre-game, so the graphing was not favorable. A few players that I needed did stop, so it worked out for me. A lot were also bundled up because of the cold weather, so it was hard to identify some guys.

Jaime Ortiz 3/3 - 1 for a guy on another site
Nick Buss 2/2 - for my CA friends' sets
Blake Smith 1/1 (OLB3)
Josh Wall 0/3 - SP for the game, didn't even think about signing tonight. I'm 0/3 with him this season!

Other signers I recognized: Angelo Songco, Brian Ruggiano, J.B. Paxson, Gorman Erickson

 

[tigsfan]

9/7

First the mail (no Mr. T's to save the room today)

Ricky Nolasco 2/2, 26 days
Lonnie Smith 4/5, 13 days

Today just down the road from Dow Diamond was the "playoff party", where Loons players were there for 1 hour (after their dinner) to sign autographs and talk with fans before boarding the bus to Fort Wayne. I guess I'll just skip right to the good stuff...

Michael Boughton 1/1 - program page
Juan Bustabad 2/2 - team cards
Brian Cavazos-Galvez 2/2 - ROMLB's (part of 50/50 w/ NattyBoo)
Edwin Contreras 1/1 - program page
Chuck Crim 1/1 - team card (he didn't say anything to me, a good sign that he has forgot about last time)
Gorman Erickson 1/1 - program page
Nick Gaudi 1/1 - team card
Zachary Hoffman 2/2 - team cards (TRAINER)
Christian Lara 1/1 - team card
Lou E. Loon 1/1 - team card (MASCOT)
Matt Magill 1/1 - program page
Jaime Ortiz 1/1 - program page
J.B. Paxson 1/1 - program page
Jordan Roberts 1/1 - program page
Brian Ruggiano 1/1 - ROMLB
Blake Smith 1/1 - ROMLB
Steve Smith 1/1 - team card
Andy Suiter 1/1 - program page
Luis Vasquez 1/1 - program page
Josh Wall 3/3 - team card + 2 05 Bowman Prospects Gold (part of 50/50)
Allen Webster 2/2 - team card + ROMLB
J.T. Wise 1/1 - program page
Eric Wood 1/1 - team card (TRAINER)
Rafael Ynoa 1/1 - program page

NOTE: Angelo Songco's birthday is Thursday and did not appear tonight as I heard he was celebrating at home (series will be 9/8 - 9/10 if they play all three). He is a great signer at the park, so I wasn't worried.

 

[tigsfan]

9/9

Austin Jackson
1/1
65 days

Mr. T's Comment: Mr. T is very happy to get Austin back, another Tigers player. I sent him a Tigers 2010 Bowman card, so I have a Tristar Obak Yankees card of his available now.

Casey Kotchman
3/3
28 days

Mr. T's Comment: Kotchman has been a consistent signer so new TTMers may like to send to him as they are starting out. I sent this before my 04 Topps Jenks/Kotchman RC came back, so I'll be sending to him again next year.

Ross Ohlendorf
1/1
65 days

Mr. T's Comment: The former Yankees pitcher (and now Pirates) signed my 2010 Topps. He is an average pitcher to watch in Pittsburgh for the next couple of years.

9/10

Adam LaRoche
1/2
111 days

Mr. T's Comment: Adam has made my top 5 longest wait list, but has beat his brother in returning my card. He did keep one and I hope it wasn't the RC.

9/11

Danny Darwin
5/6
30 days

Mr. T's Comment: Danny is a pitching coach in the Dodgers organization and is a very nice guy. I hadn't dug out my cards of him until he got promoted, so I sent them his way. He did keep one of them.

Kevin Tapani
5/6
17 days

Mr. T's Comment: Tapani was a great mentor in his last years for pitchers like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, but he didn't teach them how to sign TTM. He was an average pitcher and would recommend sending to him.

 

[tigsfan]

9/14

David Aardsma
3/3
70 days

Mr. T's Comment: The D.A. hasn't been doing that good this year. He has 5 blown saves and a 0-6 record for Seattle, both career worsts. He did sign my Mariners card and both Red Sox cards, so at least he is taking time to sign now that the season is a wash.

Rich "Goose" Gossage
1/1 w/ fee
20 days

Mr. T's Comment: As requested, Goose inscribed HOF 2008 on my card. This is one of the few HOFers I've sent to, and the first I've paid for. I'm very satisfied with the $10 I spent on this.

9/16

Sandy Alomar Jr.
2/3 - kept one
35 days

Mr. T's Comment: Unlike his brother, I got a nice return from Sandy (I missed the boat on Roberto). He was a great catcher, but might have played a couple years too long. He signed both of my Indians cards, but kept my White Sox card.

Nelson Cruz
1/2 - kept one
35 days

Mr. T's Comment: Being a former AS and PCL MVP, we forget that Nelson was once DFA'ed and even worse, he bounced around teams before landing in Texas. He kept my Brewers RC, but signed the Rangers RC.

Shawn Wooten
2/2
22 days

Mr. T's Comment: Wooten was not a MLB player for very long, but he still has some cards! The former Angels catcher is in the Minneapolis area, and apparently has time to sign his mail in a quick time frame.

*Note - a return was missed from 9/3: Cesar Ramos, 1/1, 22 days

9/18

David Murphy
2/3 - kept one
37 days

Mr. T's Comment: Murphy kept my 04 Topps true RC, but did sign the other two. He has quietly been putting together a good season, even filling the shoes of Josh Hamilton has not gotten to him. I would send to him next season if you like you Rangers!

Joe Nathan
2/2
37 days

Mr. T's Comment: Nathan would have been an all-star closer for a first place Twins team, but he has been out for the year. Not like his replacements have jeopardized the team (Matt Capps, Jon Rauch, even a little Brian Fuentes and Pat Neshek), but they would still have liked to have him.

 

[NattyBoo]

Zack- did you send my ball yet?

 

[scittlz]

Great additions! Keep em comin!

 

[tigsfan]

9/22 - Tigers vs. Royals

pre-game @ inside
Miguel Cabrera 0/1 - was almost to him and he stopped
Johnny Damon 0/1 - same as Cabrera
Will ("Bust-a-Rhyme") Rhymes 1/1
Brandon Inge 1/1
Max St. Pierre 0/0 - didn't have anything for the longtime minors catcher

post-game @ garage
Johnny Damon 1/1 - my 05 ASG ball has finally got started, would have been Miggy too if I had got him
Jeff Jones 0/0 - that coach has cards older than my time, so of course I have none of them. No big deal
Rick Knapp 0/0 - he's the pitching coach, who cares (besides those 10 or under)
Max Scherzer 1/1
Phil Coke 1/1
Brandon Inge 1/1 + helping a friend 2/2

9/23
Gabe Kapler
2/2
124 days

Mr. T's Comment: I was wondering what happened to these! Gabe was a 99 Tigers rookie (can you name the other notable one? Answer: Jeff Weaver) and has never lived up to the power corner OF he was to be, but rather a platoon player in Tampa. Still a decent signer from what I've seen.

9/24
Will Clark
1/1
80 days

Mr. T's Comment: The Thrill took longer than I had hoped, but it came back. Clark is still working in MLB, so that is how I was able to track him down. He is indeed a very strict one per signer. That is now two Will's in a week, that's just thrilling for me!

Neftali Feliz
1/1
80 days

Mr. T's Comment: Where has he come from this year? Just look at why he is in contention for Rookie of the Year! (3-3, 37 SV, 2.91) Neftali is part of a playoff bound team, whom have also been a good overall signing team.

9/25
Joel Pineiro
1/2 - kept one
81 days

Mr. T's Comment: Pineiro has been doing OK this year for LAA (10-7, 3.96), and a decent signer as well. He kept my Mariners card and signed the Cardinals card.

 

[tigsfan]

9/28

Andy Sonnanstine
1/1
47 days

Mr. T's Comment: The son came through for me as his team prepares for the playoffs. After being made a full time RP instead of a SP, he has been a much better pitcher this year.

Max Scherzer
1/1
84 days

Mr. T's Comment: What a nice way to end his season with my return. Most of his success this year came in the second half, as he had a 2.47 ERA and 96:35 K:BB ratio after the All-Star break.

Jim Leyland
1/2 - kept one
262 days

Mr. T's Comment: Jim gave up on cigars this year, and I thought my request went with him. Very happy to get him back, as I've been chasing him for a while at Comerica Park for a while now.

9/29

Andy LaRoche
1/1
130 days

Mr. T's Comment: Behind his brother by 19 days, Andy did also sign one card for me. I might need to have a different brotherly challenge for next year now.

9/30

Ross Detwiler
2/4 - kept two
86 days

Mr. T's Comment: With an injury stricken year, Detwiler has had a 2010 to forget. Being a 07 1st round pick for Washington, they need him to really turn it around next year.