SDre31's TTM Success Thread

[SDre31]

I've got 2 in-person autographs to show today. I realize this is a TTM thread, but I figure no one will mind.

Every so often, the Mets hold free autograph sessions at Citibanks around NYC as part of their deal with Citi. They're usually of former Mets, and this afternoon Ron Swoboda (part of the '69 World Series team) and Mookie Wilson (part of the '86 World Series team) were signing near Grand Central Station. They were both very friendly and chatted with everyone. Citibank provided these awesome 8x10's, and I also got a picture standing between both of them. As a Met fan, today was a good day!

Ron Swoboda



Mookie Wilson

[GoWarrior]

Really cool Swoboda and Wilson IPs. How do you find out about those signings... do they list them somewhere?

[SDre31]

Really cool Swoboda and Wilson IPs. How do you find out about those signings... do they list them somewhere?

Thanks, GoWarrior! You've got really awesome stuff too in your thread. Anyway, I found out about the signing the day before through this blog: http://randombaseballstuff.com/. He's really good about posting Mets signings, both free and paid. It was also posted on the Mets official facebook page, but there wasn't much notice since it was only posted on the morning of the signing.

[SDre31]

Received a Spring Training success today from R.A. Dickey exactly three months after I sent it. He has achieved success late in his career after turning to the knuckleball. I offered him a card to keep and hoped he would sign the Gypsy Queen, but he signed and returned both.

R.A. Dickey
c/o Mets Spring Training
Sent: 2/17/12
Received: 5/17/12

[SDre31]

Two returns today from requests sent earlier this month. Not the best day to get mail because it poured all morning. All of my mail was wet, including these two cards.

The first is from current Nationals pitcher and former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang. This one was worse for wear from the rain. The envelope was wet exactly where the card was, and I'm pretty sure it caused the smear. Still a nice return and I'll resend soon.

Chien-Ming Wang
c/o Washington Nationals
Sent: 5/9/12
Received: 5/21/12





The second return is for my Brooklyn Cyclones autograph project. It's Josh Satin, who played in 45 games for the Cyclones in 2008. He was a September 2011 call-up for the Mets, and he is currently in Triple A with the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets affiliate. This card was damp only on the left side, so it was able to survive the rain.

Josh Satin
c/o Buffalo Bisons
Sent: 5/3/12
Received: 5/21/12




Update: In 2015, I sent a TTM request to Josh again since Topps featured him on his own card. Luckily, he kindly signed for me once again.

Josh Satin
c/o Reds Spring Training
Sent: 2/14/15
Received: 8/21/15



Cyclones Career
Year: 2008
Games: 45
Batting Line (AVG, HR, RBI): .280, 4, 13

[SDre31]

Today I received another return for my Brooklyn Cyclones autograph project. It's Eddie Kunz, who pitched in 12 games for the Cyclones in 2007, the same year that he was drafted 42nd overall by the Mets. He was thought to be the Mets closer of the future after helping to lead Oregon State to 2 College World Series Championships. He was rushed to the major leagues in 2008 as the Mets bullpen imploded in September. He stuggled in 4 games and has not pitched in the major leagues since then. He was traded to the Padres in 2011 for a minor leaguer, and is currently playing for their Double A affiliate, the San Antonio Missions. I actually sent this card to their Triple A affiliate, the Tucson Padres, where he was pitching at the time. He was demoted after I sent this, but apparently he took his mail with him because it was postmarked from San Antonio.

Eddie Kunz
c/o Tucson Padres
Sent: 5/7/12
Received: 5/29/12



Cyclones Career
Year: 2007
Games: 12
Pitching Line (W-L, ERA, SV): 0-1, 6.75, 5

[SDre31]

Today I received a return from Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning, who was also a member of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. I bought this card from Sportlots as part of my first purchase from that site, knowing that it would look great signed. I'm definitely happy with how it turned out! He even included the HOF inscription as requested.

Jim Bunning
Address: See TTM Database
Sent: 5/25/12
Received: 6/7/12

[SDre31]

It's been awhile since I've posted. I haven't gotten too many returns lately, but the main reason I haven't posted is because I've had trouble with the SCF Albums since the site change-over. For some reason, the total capacity for all the albums combined is now set at 73kb, which it never was before. With the scans I already have in my albums, I'm well over capacity and so can't upload new ones. It looks to be an error, but I haven't gotten much help on this issue. I finally decided to post the scans elsewhere so that I can share my TTMs again. Now it's time to play catch up!

The oldest TTM that I haven't posted is part of my Brooklyn Cyclones autograph project. It's from Tobi Stoner, who pitched in 14 games for the Cyclones in 2006. He had 2 cups of coffee with the Mets in 2009 and 2010, pitching in a total of 5 games. The Mets released him this past Spring Training and he signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League, which is where I sent this card. They released him right after I sent the card, but he still signed it for me. He then signed with the Somerset Patriots and appears to be on their inactive list.

Tobi Stoner
c/o Bridgeport Bluefish
Sent: 6/13/12
Received: 7/5/12



Cyclones Career
Year: 2006
Games: 14
Pitching Line (W-L, ERA): 6-2, 2.15

[SDre31]

Here's a July return from former Mets pitcher, John Maine. I had a few of his cards laying around and decided to send them out when I saw that he signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. I liked him a lot when he was on the Mets and he was a member of my favorite Mets team, the 2006 one. Unfortunately, he was injury prone and that led to the end of his time with the team and pretty much the big leagues.

I waited a little to send these out because I wanted to see which team he'd be assigned to. Everything I saw said he was still in extended spring training, so I just sent them there. A couple of days after I sent them, I read an article saying he had pitched for their Triple A team the day after I sent the request. I thought these were gone, but he must've had his mail forwarded to him. I offered him a card to keep, but he signed both.

John Maine
c/o Yankees Extended Spring Training
Sent: 6/11/12
Received: 7/21/12

[SDre31]

Here's a return from earlier this month. It's from David Robertson, Yankees setup man and 2011 All-Star.

David Robertson
c/o New York Yankees
Sent: 5/7/12
Received: 8/2/12