TTM AKA The Tigsfan Mailbox - 2011 edition

[tigsfan]

I finally figured out that The Tigsfan Mailbox spells out TTM! How did I not notice this at all last year? Anyways, here is the 2010 numbers in review (as of 12/31/10):

http://www.sportscardfreaks.com/for...-tigsfans-2010-ttm-return-project-corner.html

Those numbers will be updated below as those from 2010 come back in 2011. I will have the updated numbers HERE, but the player list will stay THERE. So if you want to know who still has not sent back to me, check there.

Updated: 2/12/11

Players Returned: 169/302 (55.96%)
Cards Returned Signed: 416/828 (50.24%)
Cards Unsigned and Returned: 30 (3.62%)
Cards MIA: 60 (7.25%)
Cards RTS: 35 (4.23%) - Garret Anderson (returned in my SASE), Ernie Banks, Royce Clayton, Marquis Grissom, Paul Konerko, John Lackey, Barry Larkin, Al Leiter, Kaz Matsui*, Craig Paquette, Reggie Sanders*, Ed Sprague (mail stolen, and my cards too), Alan Trammell, Gregg Zaun
Quickest return: 4 days (Frank Tanana)
Longest return: 333 days (Dusty Baker)

Blue sharpie: 243 (58.41%)
Black sharpie: 155 (37.26%)
Silver/Red/Green/other sharpie: 1 (0.24%)
Pen: 6 (1.44%)
Unknown: 11 (2.64%)
Religious Cards (not counted in any statistics): 1

(Scans will come whenever I can, usually around holidays)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
And now the 2011 numbers!!!

~300 to be sent out this year too

Players Returned: 0/11 (0%)
Cards Returned Signed: 0/23 (0%)
Cards Unsigned and Returned: 0 (0%)
Cards MIA: (0%)
Cards RTS: 0 (0%)
Quickest return:
Longest return:

 

[tigsfan]

2/17/11 - early ST send outs

Axford, John
Bell, Heath
Billingsley, Chad
Dempster, Ryan
Garland, Jon
Gregg, Kevin
Laird, Gerald
Pierre, Juan
Santana, Carlos
Trammell, Alan
Wang, Chien-Ming

 

[tigsfan]

1/3

Floyd Bannister
4/4
17 days

Mr. T's Comment: Royals fans might remember his son (who played for them more recently ), but the father was the better of the two thus far. I caution you to send cards w/ dark backgrounds as he likes to sign in thin black all the time, as well as signs all the time.

Greg Olson
3/3
17 days

Mr. T's Comment: I got back Gregg Olson last week, but they were both in the 1990 ASG. Greg had a short lived career, but fans don't forget him and his high TTM return rates.

David Segui
3/4 - kept one
17 days

Mr. T's Comment: This time father might know best, but the son wasn't half bad either. David was also one to start and end his career with one team, but there were a lot of other teams along the way. Also, despite his lack of statistical evidence, Segui admitted he used steroids while w/ the Mets. He has given back to those who forgive, and has put on each card "MATT 16:26", which reads:

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

Well said David, well said.


1/5

Matt Mieske
4/4
19 days

Mr. T's Comment: Many of you are probably wondering who is this guy? Well don't check wikipedia, as it tells you almost nothing on him.

Matt was a guy struggling to stay in the majors from 93-00, going through 5 teams in that time. Retirement at 28 was for him, and now he is back home in Midland, MI as a certified financial planner. He also did the color commentary for the MWL ASG '08 in Midland (home of the Loons) and I thought he did well for no real previous experience. So go ahead, send to him, he is never too busy to sign his mail!

 

[tigsfan]

1/6

Todd Greene
3/3
20 days

Mr. T's Comment: The former Angels C/OF, among other teams, came through in just under three weeks for me. A fun fact for you is that in 1997 Wade Boggs (pitching at the time) struck him out! Who knew that a 39 year old HOF 3B had an arm like that? (HINT: If you are reading Wade, return my request soon )

Luis Gonzalez
4/4
229 days

Mr. T's Comment: Geese Luis! I had been leaning towards these being gone after seeing much quicker returns over the past couple of months. Luis was traded from the Tigers on 12/28/98 to the newer franchise named the Arizona Diamondbacks for OF Karim Garcia. Tigers fans try to forget that trade, just like I thought Luis forgot about my mail!

 

[tigsfan]

1/8

Randy Velarde
2/4
22 days

Mr. T's Comment: I think it is just a coincidence, but Randy signed both the Yankees cards I sent and neither of the Athletics cards. I think Velarde had a better A's career w/ the unassisted triple play, lead league in singles and what not, but maybe somebody else would argue that fact.

 

[tigsfan]

All of these were between 1/10 and 1/14, no exact dates as of right now.

Jeff Cirillo
1/4

Mr. T's Comment: Jeff was a decent 3B in his career, but also strikeout #4,000 for Randy Johnson. He finished his career with a .296 average, and I feel was accurately rated during his career. Send to him with quick expectations.

Erik Hanson
4/4

Mr. T's Comment: He is not the 4th, long lost brother of Hanson, but he was a good pitcher in his day. I think you might have forgot about his 18 W season or his 95 ASG appearance, but hopefully you haven't forgot about him altogether.

Mike Heath
6/6

Mr. T's Comment: Heath, who was traded to the A's for Righetti, was a good catcher - but had played every position and DH, besides pitcher. He also has 1 Yankees WS ring and caught a no-hitter in '83, but I sent him all Tigers cards. He signs alot, and quickly, so don't be afraid to send to him too.

 

[tigsfan]

1/18:

Brent Mayne
3/3 + business card
32 days

Mr. T's Comment: Mayne was a catcher who I think played for too long, but KC needed somebody in the early 00s I guess. He sent a business card on "The Art Of Catching" which sounds like he is a coach in the making.

Failure Ernie Banks - address blacked out and RTS written in black sharpie. It was then stamped as undeliverable, a month later...

1/22

Jeff Suppan
4/4
163 days

Mr. T's Comment: Suppan signed a minor league contract a day or two after I got these, and that is because he is a good, experienced pitcher. I had seen quicker returns from him, but glad to see these back.

 

[tigsfan]

TigerFest 2011 In Person

So I bought the Early Entry passes (for season ticket holders, gets you in 1 hour before general public) and was at Detroit in line at 8 AM. 2 hours in the what felt like 0 degree weather and I think it went OK - better than the past few years anyways. The results:

Alex Avila - 10 Topps
Duane Below - mini bat
Joaquin Benoit - 08 Upper Deck
Tom Brookens - 89 Donruss
Charlie Furbush - ball w/ Turner
Carlos Guillen - 09 Topps CC w/ Cabrera (I need to get him now!)
Brandon Inge - 07 Upper Deck
Austin Jackson x2 - 10 Topps, 10 Bowman
Andy Oliver - 10 Topps U&H badly bubbled
Rick Porcello - 10 Topps A&G
Will Rhymes - 08 Bowman Draft
Jacob Turner - ball w/ Furbush
Casper Wells - blank IC (didn't enforce the no blanks rule on me)
Joel Zumaya x2 - 04 Topps Total, 05 Topps Turkey Red

The ball was a cheap $8 ball they were selling and had the D on it. The SS was taken up by a copyright, so each guy signed on opposite panels. That being said, the ball isn't holding the sigs very well even though they signed in pen.

Then I ventured into the Foundation fire sale:

8x10 Photo Grab Bag $20/each (MLB certified autos):
#1 Dontrelle Willis + Matt Treanor
#2 Willie Horton
#3 Justin Verlander

 

[scittlz]

Nice returns for lats year and not looking too shabby for the beginning of 2011. Are you keeping financial records too for all the stamps and envelopes? LOL.

 

[tigsfan]

Nice returns for lats year and not looking too shabby for the beginning of 2011. Are you keeping financial records too for all the stamps and envelopes? LOL.

I'm not Family Guy monkey crazy :monkey2:, so I drew the line where I wanted to. My next send outs will be ~25 for ST opening day and then another 40 during ST and my Spring Break. Be looking for that to come out soon.

1/26/11

CC Sabathia:wow1:
2/3 - one bubbled badly, kept one
319 days

Mr. T's Comment: This mail made Mr. T very happy and possibly his best no fee TTM so far. I think we all know about CC's Cy Young award, All-Star appearances, big dollar contract w/ NYY, and I can just go forever. Keep up the good work CC!

 

[tigsfan]

1/29/11 - Everyone Wins Again in 4th Annual Shocks & Saves

First off here's a Reader's Digest article of what this whole thing is about.

Big crowd turns out for 4th annual Shocks and Saves game | MLive.com

During a NHL game in 2005, D Jiri Fischer collapsed during the Red Wings game after going into cardiac arrest on his team’s bench. That was the last time Jiri would ever play professional hockey again. Since then, he’s been working to raise money to support heart disease awareness. This is the one time a year that Jiri takes to the ice for the event. The Shocks and Saves game is put on by the MCVI Foundation and Fischer’s Healthy Hope foundation.

I have not heard of an official dollar total for this year, but I'm going to make the assumption that the $39,000 total from 2010 would be a good estimate for what was raised again this year. The game was very even, with the game actually ended tied at 7 all! The first time ever, so the four NHL personalities went to the shootout. Larry Murphy, the one who scored the tying goal for the Saves, was the only player to score during the shootout giving team Saves another win!

Larry Murphy 0/3 - signed before I got then and very little after that (the snowstorm Fri night/Sat morning slowed me down a little bit)
Dave Lewis 0/0 - had signed but didn't need anything from the coach/player

Joe Kocur 1/4 - was signing one per person for everybody. He was living up to his name by pulling some shenanigans during the game (mostly throwing stuff during penalty shots he caused in the first place)

Jiri Fischer 2/2 - as always he signs anything and everything during the event. I will be taking items again for him next year for a limited amount of people

 

[tigsfan]

I've got some stuff to share from last week to catch everyone up on.

Bob Boone 4/4, ~50 days
Ted Higuera 2/2, 56 days
Dusty Baker 3/3, 333 days

Mr. T's comment is simply that this is a nice lead in for those ST returns. I'm working on getting 10 out by next Friday, and a bunch more over Spring Break.

Trades:
(from another site...)
2007 Topps Dan Uggla
2009 Topps Geovany Soto

from brasbu11...
Carlos Silva - 2006 Topps
Pat Neshek - 2010 Topps
Joe Nathan - 2010 Topps
Josh Hamilton x2 - 2008 Allen Ginter, 2010 Topps
Mike Mussina - 1992 Upper Deck
Paul Molitor - 1992 Upper Deck
Tony Gwynn - 1997 Topps Gallery
Scott Sizemore - 2010 Topps
Jordan Norberto - 2010 Topps
Brandon Allen - 2010 Topps (slight smear)
Dan Runzler - 2010 Topps
Matt Carson - 2010 Topps
Kyle Phillips - 2010 Topps
Roberto Alomar - 1992 Upper Deck
Mike McCoy - 2010 Topps
Luis Durango - 2010 Topps
Daniel McCutchen - 2010 Topps
Neil Walker - 2010 Topps
Gordon Beckham - 2010 Topps WTWY
Sergio Santos - 2010 Topps
Drew Stubbs - 2010 Topps
Logan Ondrusek - 2010 Topps
Barry Larkin - 1992 Upper Deck
Pete Rose x4 - 87 Donruss, 85 Diamond Kings, 87 Topps MGR, 87 Topps
Aaron Harang - 2008 Allen & Ginter
Joey Votto - 2008 Allen & Ginter
Brandon Phillips - 2008 Allen & Ginter
Jason Kidd - 1995 Hoops
Chad Johnson - 2001 Pacific All-Rookie team