Tigsfan's 2010 TTM Return Project Corner

[tigsfan]

10/2

Elvis Andrus
1/2 - returned other
51 days

Mr. T's Comment: I'm not sure how good his singing is, but his signature looks really cool. Looks like they might be playing a game four since they lost to Tampa tonight, who I consider the better playoff team!

Brian Schnieder
3/4 - kept second copy I sent of 08 Topps
51 days

Mr. T's Comment: Brian is one of the original Nationals players, but has become a backup to Ruiz in Philly. Will he get a WS ring this year?

10/6

Ramon Hernandez
3/3
137 days

Mr. T's Comment: Ramon is a good defensive catcher, but his offense is not where it was back in his Oakland/Baltimore days. I think he could still be an elite catcher in the NL if he regains the power stroke.

Mike Leake
0/2, 1/0
92 days

Mr. T's Comment: He kept my stuff and sent his own made custom. This custom I believe was made by JBSouthFan of SSG (or however you abbv. it), so he has been keeping everybody's cards, not Mike.

Joey Votto
1/4 - returned others
137 days

Mr. T's Comment: The future MVP, and third Reds player, at least signed something. I'm hoping he signed the one particular card I wanted.

Jake Westbrook
2/2
207 days

Mr. T's Comment: I got worried about this after he got traded, especially since I sent this during ST to Cleveland, and it came back after he finished the year in St. Louis. Nice to have them again!

10/8

A.J. Pierzynski
1/2 - returned other
94 days

Mr. T's Comment: A.J. is not a bad player, but it seems like it is time for him to retire and hand the team to Flowers. Plus, I've hated the guy during his Twins years, and now the White Sox years too.

10/9

Chris Volstad
2/2
95 days

Mr. T's Comment: Most people forget about Volstad since he sits in a rotation with Andrew Miller, Anibal Sanchez, and that Josh Johnson guy. Don't overlook this guy, he will be a great middle of rotation starter!

 

[tigsfan]

10/15

Carl Pavano
2/3
101 days

Mr. T's Comment: Pavano is a main reason that the Tigers didn't make the playoffs last year as he gave the Twins a big boost. He pitched his last game with Cleveland against Detroit, and then his first game with the Twins was also against Detroit (which I think he won both of those games).

10/20

Tim Belcher
1/2
56 days

Mr. T's Comment: Another Tigers player in my collection now, Belcher is catching up on his mail now that the Indians season is over. I find it a little weird that he dates the card, but I guess he can do whatever he wants to it.

 

[tigsfan]

10/26

Matt Williams
4/4
290 days

Mr. T's Comment: I was expecting this back after the other reported returns from him, but I guess his job with the Diamondbacks backed up his mail a lot. You can argue that he was towards the top of the 3B playing during the mid-90s.

 

[tigsfan]

11/4:

Clayton Kershaw
1/2 - kept one (sent to LA, return from Dallas)
121 days

Mr. T's Comment: Kershaw was part of the first team the Great Lakes Loons had in 2007, and he has been a stud since. Look for Kershaw to develop into a solid #2 or #3 starter, but that means the Dodgers need to get an ace type pitcher to help them out in 2011.

Also, the other former Great Lakes Loons to make it into MLB:

C Carlos Santana (now with Indians via trade for Casey Blake)
3B Josh Bell (now with Orioles via trade for George Sherrill)
P Victor Garate (now with Nationals via trade for Ronnie Belliard)
P Kenley Jansen

11/5:

James Loney
1/1
122 days

Mr. T's Comment: After a slow October (as expected since nothing has gone out for almost 3 months as of today), November has already done fairly well. Loney is finally catching up on his mail like the Kershaw I got yesterday, and usually he does sign in bunches. I'm starting to build the young core of LAD by TTM now.

 

[tigsfan]

11/23

Chan Ho Park
1/3 - kept others
140 days

Mr. T's Comment: The first Korean player in MLB history came through, even after being DFA'ed by the Yankees, picked up by the Pirates, and then becoming a FA this offseason. I had given up on this one, but glad to see he came through.


11/8???
Carlos Carrasco
1/1
125 days

Mr. T's Comment: I was wondering what happened to Carlos, especially when I saw other returns much shorter than mine. It sneaked its way into my to sort/scan pile unnoticed, so the date is estimated here.


From trades/etc.
Wil Rhymes (which I got not thinking about the one I had him sign for me)
Jeff Frazier
all of these are badly bubbled/smeared (which I knew about of course):
Aubrey Huff - the only one I want, so everything else is to whoever it helps out I guess
Jim Burt (Mets 04 DP)
Richard Lewis (Braves 01 DP)
Jim Begrych (Pirates 06 DP)
Joseph Mahoney (Orioles 07 DP)
Graham Hicks (Nationals 08 DP)
Brad Komminsk (Braves 79 #1 DP)
Xavier Avery (Orioles 08 DP)

From a 50/50
Kyle Davies
Kyle Farnsworth x4
Brian Bannister
Gil Meche x2
Brayan Pena x2
Billy Butler
Anthony Lerew
John Gibbons
Willie Bloomquist
Robinson Tejeda
Chris Getz
Alex Gordon
Bob McClure
Luke Hochevar
Jason Kendall

 

[tigsfan]

12/4
Brandon Allen
1/1
114 days

Mr. T's Comment: Part of the Diamondbacks big future plan, Brandon was catching up on his mail for awhile and finally got to mine. I always try sending to rookies in hope that they work out, and I think he has a good shot!

12/9
Javy Lopez
4/4 + brochure
119 days

Mr. T's Comment: That past Braves star had been signing this year, and I pounced on the opportunity. I suspect they are ghost signed/auto penned after a quick observation, but I am not an expert on that. His brochure is about his bat company he started in 2009. Good try Javier, but I'm not made of money.

12/10
Max Scherzer
0/1 - but was 1/2 with him on 9/28 (this will matter!)
Failure - kind of

Mr. T's Explanation: The Detroit Tigers, not Scherzer, returned that other card I sent to him this year w/ a letter. To keep it simple, Max is only allowed to sign one card per some policy. I personally think he never even saw both cards, and the Tigers are cracking down on this stuff. You be the judge.

 

[scittlz]

Great looking list Tig! Looks like a very successful year.

 

[tigsfan]

12/17
Johnny Damon - got a similar letter like the Scherzer I told you about. From the Detroit Tigers, it said that Mr. Damon didn't get to his mail during the season and it is now being returned now that he is a FA. (Sad thing is that I already got mine back: 1/2 kept one). My other card was returned unsigned.

From a trade:
90 Fleer Alan Trammell
90 Fleer Fred McGriff
07 Topps Heritage Placido Polanco

 

[tigsfan]

12/20

Josh Hamilton - Rangers address
1/2 - returned other
130 days

Mr. T's Comment: Hamilton did sign the 07 Turkey Red and not the 07 Masterpieces, probably due to the rooms full of mail he probably has by now. I conducted an experiment with the Hambone: I sent to the Rangers and his home (NC) on the same day to see which would come back first. I have my answer!

I now have a Hamilton available from a trade I made with somebody months ago. Picture is available under the "For Trade" section of the TTM collection.

50/50 return:

Rafael Betancourt 06 Topps
Rafael Betancourt 08 UD 1st Edition
Matt Joyce 06 Bowman Prospects
Jack Wilson 09 Topps

 

[tigsfan]

I'm still stunned after this one.

Frank Tanana
5/7 + religious card signed - returned others
4 days!!!

Mr. T's Comment: Yeah, that is no typo folks: this is a new Mr. T record for quickest return ever. Being in the same state helps, but it could have been three if Sunday wasn't in the middle of it all. Anyways, I guess I found out the former Tigers limit is 5. Frank has always been a gracious signer for those who haven't sent to him.

 

[tigsfan]

12/24

Ricky Jordan
4/4
7 days

Mr. T's Comment: Jordan was a good pinch hitter in his short career, but that doesn't mean he has been forgotten. He was the 83 1st round pick for the Phillies, so that is cool too. Too bad he didn't do too well, but that draft wasn't good for anybody (except for the #19 Boston had )

Jack McKeon
2/2
7 days

Mr. T's Comment: I guess Jack is nimble, and for sure he is quick! One of my cards (06 Topps) bubbled to the point I should just throw it away. Luckily my 89 Topps worked out, so I'm not SOL on him. If anybody wants the 06 Topps just say so, I won't charge anything except a SASE, but its just horrible beyond words.

Jeff Montgomery
4/4
7 days

Mr. T's Comment: The former Royal and still a holder of the KC zip code, made a big save to my collection just like he did in KC. This guy was a monster in the 90s, I just think that a few other players overshadowed his ability.

Lance Parrish
5/5
7 days

Mr. T's Comment: Another 84 WS Tigers player in for me (as a little unintentional project I've been doing)! Here's your fun fact for today: Lance was the first manager of Mr. T's local area Great Lakes Loons about 5 years ago. I expect this guy to get another coaching job, but in the meantime this was a great player back in the day for Detroit.

 

[tigsfan]

12/27

All in 10 days too (who would've guessed, 10 in 10)

Sal Butera 2/2
Jeremy Giambi 3/3
Geoff Jenkins 2/5 - kept the rest, which all would have turned out better than the two he signed. Both badly bubbled and will trade for an upgrade
Doug Jennings 2/2
Tom Kelly 1/1
Les Lancaster 3/3
Gregg Olson 3/3 + note on website
Danny Patterson 2/2
Jeff Reardon 1/2 - kept other
Mark Schlereth (Dan's father and ESPN NFL analysis) 1/1

RTS:
Royce Clayton
Craig Paquette (used the old address, oops!)

Mr. T's Comment: Mr. T is taking today off because of how much typing it would be today. He would just like to thank these people for taking the time during the holiday season to sign his mail, and quickly.

 

[tigsfan]

12/29 - "The Grinch is out there" failure

Yeah, you heard me. I got one badly beat up SASE back, which I sent out on 12/17, from Stockton, CA. I think what was inside explains the rest. On the bottom of my letter, stained and torn, it says:

"Zack -

Unfortunately our mail was stolen & the neighbor found this in an empty... no cards...

So sorry for the inconvenience,
Michele Sprague"

All I got to say is that I've never heard of this before, but apparently some low life wanted a few of ED SPRAGUE's base cards and I suspect right before CHRISTmas. I guess that even the holiday spirit doesn't change some people. Be warned of that neighborhood, because Mr. T might to go there and teach a fool a lesson.

 

[tigsfan]

Chris Hammond
3/4 - kept the other, which was the one I sent to copies of
13 days

Mr. T's Comment: I think he is the only guy to have an ERA below 1 AFTER retiring once. He did struggle early in his career, but didn't struggle to open my mail for him. He is a journeyman pitcher, so a lot of you might need him and will hopefully sign quickly like he did for Mr. T!

Also had a RTS UTF from Al Leiter, the address I used last had a return 1 year ago so I'm not shocked.

 

[tigsfan]

Dustin Hermanson
3/4 - kept one
14 days

Mr. T's Comment: Dustin never really had a stable job, except for his pretty bad one in the late 90s with Montreal. Do not fear, he was a solid middle rotation started, and signs w/ basically a few big loops.

Jimmy Key
1/2 - kept one
14 days

Mr. T's Comment: Time to lock the door, and throw away the KEY (but not this one!). Jimmy was another solid SP, but had found a good home in Toronto before moving on to New York and Baltimore. Look up his '87 and '93 numbers, you may be surprised if you don't remember him!

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And with this 2010 is now closed, but look for 2011 to be coming soon!