Way more than I expected to get this month including a few very good ones plus a few semi-stragglers.
First return of the month is Dana Kiecker in 10 days. Kiecker is another one of those names from my peak childhood collecting years. He was only in the league for a couple seasons but they were the right two seasons.
This was a fun one. I sent to Mike Stenhouse last year but didn’t realize his dad also signed. In my defense I didn’t think I had a card of Dave until I saw that there was a Father & Son card in 1985 Topps so I didn’t think of him as a possible subject. I sent out the 1985 card and it came back in 11 days signed by both of them. This is my first double-signed baseball card and it’s pretty cool.
And this return makes the entire month. Evan Longoria signs a few every winter. I tried him once before to no avail but figured that getting in early with a nice “thank you for being a Giant it’s been fun rooting for you” letter was worth trying again. I’m going to miss him next year and there’s absolutely something satisfying about writing a real thank you note to a player leaving your team. I didn’t expect to get this back at all and was very surprised and pleased to receive it in 14 days.
Scott Eyre was another 14-day return. He only pitched for the Giants for a few seasons and, for a guy who did as well as he did, did not get many baseball cards as a Giant. Thankfully Topps Total existed during this time and makes for a vey nice autograph card.
A the beginning of summer I sent out a bunch of 1987 duplicates. I haven’t gotten one back in a while and was a bit surprised to find this pair from Bruce Bochte after 175 days. It’s always fun to get a pair of cards that are over a decade apart. Besides the comparison it’s an indication of having put together a decent MLB career from being good enough to stick around that long. In this case it’s nice to get another 1976 Topps card back too. I really like that set.
That area under a year but over 100 days is semi-straggler territory and I got another such return with a 303-day return from Dave Schmidt. I don’t even remember going through my 1990 Upper Deck duplicates but I apparently did. Schmidt played in the majors for 12 years in the bigs and has one of hose clear before/after splits. The first 8 seasons? Positive WAR and an ERA+ ranging from 104 to 162. The last 4? All negative WAR and an ERA+ high of 84.
A sent out a decent batch mid-month to keep the hopper full. I did not expect any back until 2023 though and was surprised to find three in my mailbox on Christmas Eve. he firs of these was Bob Priddy in 11 days. Priddy’s 1965 and 1966 Giants cards are high numbers which I didn’t feel comfortable sending out TTM so I ended up sending a 1967 where he’s technically listed as a Senator on the back.
I don’t love the autograph on facsimile thing but it is what it is. Priddy had a respectable pair of years coming out of the bullpen for the Giants but bounced around with 6 different teams over his 9-season career.
Charlie Hough was one of the first TTM requests I made. At the time I was sad I didn’t have a Marlins card to send to him. I’m happy to have rctifid that now plus adding another 1991 Studio to the binder. These also came back in 11 days.
When I was a kid, Jack McKeon was the manager of the Padres. I had no idea he’d been managing since before I was born. It’s very cool to get a signed pair of cards that are 15 years apart. He sent these back in 10 days.
I got a 13-day return from Pat Combs after mail started up again after Christmas. Combs had a brief 4-year career with the Phillies but his 1989 was very cool because he played in each level of professional baseball—6 games in single A, 19 in AA, 3 in AAA, and finally 6 in the Majors. His 1989 stats were great (171 ERA+ over 6 starts) and definitely merited him being a Rated Rookie but unfortunately he wasn’t able to maintain that level.
Combs included a business card for his book. The whole Manhood Journey site and framing gives me hives but I thoroughly agree with focusing on how youth sports can foster a growth mindset and that focusing on winning is a poisonous mindset.
I got a nice spring raining return from Tommy La Stella. Not a straggler but at 292 days definitely one I wasn’t expecting to get back. La Stella was a key part of that 2021 team which won 107 games but had disappointing 2022. Always fun to get another custom and this is also my first signed 2021 Topps card as well.
One of the fun things I keep track of on the autograph tracking site is my eighteen oldest signed cards. Why 18? Because that’s what I have the page set to load in a single batch.* But it’s also a nice round number representing two binder pages. Anyway it’s always a good day when I add another card to that list since it represents an area of the hobby that I’m still amazed to be collecting in now.
*It’s actually 16 right now due to having more than two signed 1964 Topps cards so the list gets cut off after 1963.
A 16-day return from Eddie Fisher made it onto the list. Fisher was a knuckleballer who is more notable for his time with the White Sox (during which he worked out of the bullpen with Hoyt Wilhelm) and being a member of the 1965 Champion Orioles. I did find myself wondering how Candlestick’s winds would’ve worked with his knuckler. I also found the back of his card to be amusing because knuckleballs and pinpoint control do not typically go hand-in-hand.
Over on my page where I keep track of which Giants players from 1989 whose autographs I have, Terry Kennedy was the only starter and prominent player whose autograph I didn’t have on a Giants card. I’m very happy to have fixed that with this 15 day return which brought another signed Mother’s Cookies card to the collection.
That flurry of late returns means my hopper is emptier than I expected it to be and means that next month may be lighter than I was expecting. I do however have a ton of customs to send out now so hopefully things will pick up in the new year.