TTM This Week: Music and Baseball, Haul of Hall of Fame Autographs

This week’s show featured the convergence of music, baseball and collecting. Steve Wynn from The Baseball Project stopped by to talk about the release of his band’s 4th album Grand Salami Time which is due out June 30. Wynn and his bandmates are huge baseball fans and collectors. They incorporate their love of baseball in all their songs.

Steve sent along two new singles off their new CD which you can listen to on this week’s show. We are also raffling off two copies of their new CD. Send an email to [email protected] along with your mailing address to win a CD.

Les Wolff joins me to review his recent trip to the Boxing Hall of Fame Inductions and also provided his opinions on collectibles recently sent in by listeners including baseballs from the 1959 Yankees and ’69 World Series champion Mets.

You can listen to all our podcasts at ttmcast.podbean.com.

On this Wednesday’s TTMCast 1-on-1 show, CSG Vice President and Senior Grading Finalizer Andy Broome joins me to talk about a new announcement they’re making this week.

Andy and I also discuss some of the trends in grading, CSG’s plans for The National and some cards they’ve recently authenticated.

TTM Successes this Week

This week saw some returns from the first batch of requests sent to baseball Hall of Famers at the beginning of the month. I also saw one basketball and one hockey return that have been out for a while and finally found their way home.

I was busy sending out a bunch of requests this week including 30 1973 Topps football requests and an additional 12 baseball requests that were mailed on Monday.

Several TTM web sites including, SportsCardForum.com and SportsCollectors.net offer player addresses and details on what you need to do to acquire autographs.

Carlton Fisk

Some players just don’t look right in certain uniforms. That is the case with Carlton Fisk in a White Sox uniform for me (Chisox fans may disagree). The Hall of Famer played 14 seasons and 1,421 games in Chicago (more than Boston) yet for some reason he looks odd in a White Sox uniform to me.

Fisk is a fantastic signer through the mail and did not disappoint this time around signing his 1988 Topps card and 2019 Topps Archives card in less than 10 days.

Fisk does require $50 per autograph—not a bad price for such an accomplished Hall of Famer with a great signature.

Andre Dawson

“The Hawk” started his Hall of Fame career in Montreal in 1976 went on to play for the Cubs, Red Sox and Marlins retiring in 1996. Dawson was an eight time All-Star and won NL MVP in 1987. He also won 8 Gold Gloves and was NL Rookie of the Year in 1977. He clubbed 438 home runs and knocked in 1,591 runs during his career.

Dawson has been a consistent signer through the mail over the years. He signed his 1990 and 1980 Topps cards in about 10 days. Dawson requests $10 per autograph—a pretty great deal.

Steve Garvey

Garvey played first base for the Dodgers and Padres from 1969-1987. He was a 10x All-Star, 4x Gold Glove winner, 2x NLCS MVP and 1974 NL MVP. Some could argue he deserves more consideration for the Hall. He finished his career with a .294 average hitting 272 home runs and 1,308 RBI. He played in a NL record 1,207 consecutive games.

Garvey, too, is an outstanding TTMer. He signed his 1985 Topps card and 1981 Donruss card in about 10 days.

Fergie Jenkins

Jenkins is a very good signer through the mail and requires a $40 donation per autograph but he is also a regular signer at major and minor league ball parks across Texas and that is how I got his 1966 Topps rookie card signed. A big thank you goes out to my podcast co-host Drew Pelto for helping get this one signed by Fergie in person. Unfortuatly Bill Sorrell who share this card with Jenkins passed away in 2008.

Ron Guidry

In 1978 there was no better pitcher on the planet than “Gator” Ron Guidry. Guidry played his entire career from 1975-1988 with the Yankees. He was a 4x All-Star, 5x Gold Glove Winner and a CY Young winner in 1978. He won 170 games and struck out 1,778 batters during his career. The Yankees retired his number 49 in 2003.

Guidry signed his 1987 Topps card in about three months.

Jim Barnett

Barnett was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 1966 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics out of Oregon. Nicknamed “Crazy Horse,” Barnett played for the Celtics, Rockets, Blazers, Warriors, Jazz, Knicks and 76ers from 1966-1977. He scored 8,536 points and grabbed 2,259 rebounds during his career. He later went on to become a popular color analyst for Warriors broadcasts.

Barnett signed his 1974-75 Topps card in about three months.

Hartland Monahan

Monahan played right wing for California, Rangers, Washington, Pittsburgh, Los Angles and St. Louis from 1971-81. He was selected by three different teams in three different Expansion drafts. Monahan played in 334 NHL games scoring 61 goals and added 80 assists during his career. His two most productive seasons were with Washington in 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons when he scored 17 and 23 goals.

He signed his 1977-78 Topps card in about three months.