TTM This Week: Baseball In-Person and Reader Origin Stories

Last Tuesday I spent my 40th birthday at a ballgame, seeing the Frisco Roughriders take on the Amarillo Sod Poodles– AA squads for the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, respectively.

 

My good friend Mark Secheyco was in town from Boston as well. I haven’t seen him in nearly 20 years so it was great getting to catch up with him. While my friend Arron Littleton has his own “Eternal Graphing Tour” that I have often been a part of, Mark has been making many voyages of his own, visiting minor league parks, photographing old Coca-Cola signs anytime he sees them, and working on an Expos team-signed jersey for years. It now contains over 300 signatures, and I was able to see him add Termel Sledge to it before the game.

 

The Sod Poodles were excellent signers both on Tuesday and when I attended a second game on Saturday. Dylan File, Deyvison De Los Santos, Wilderd Patino, and AJ Vukovich were all willing to sign everything we had. Logan Warmoth was a three-per signer, Kristian Robinson signed two-per, and Ivan Melendez signed one each time.

 

I only stuck around for Frisco on Saturday, Dane Acker and Ryan Garcia signed everything: typical for them. Cooper Johnson, Max Acosta, and Aaron Zavala though are all one-per signers. Not good for me as I think I have ten cards on each of them– so those will probably last me the entire season and maybe even longer.

 

 

On Saturday, I also was able to venture down to the Cleburne Railroaders’ open house, part of the independent American Association. A few players were there, though unfortunately not the whole team. I did at least get former Red Sox prospect Alex Scherff on a few cards, along with former Yankee draftee Cito Culver on some as well. The team has several other players this year with major-release cards, including Brian O’Grady, Juan Hillman, and manager Pete Incaviglia.

Grapher Origin Stories
A few weeks ago I asked readers to give me their graphing origin stories– whether you were a hobby pioneer in the 1950s or just got your first successes last week, I love knowing how people got into TTMing and even in-person graphing. Some great stories have been shared on TTMCast in the past, and I wrote a while back on my first time venturing out in-person in 2003.

California collector Anthony Mejia said “I started TTM in 1989; it was a hidden gem until Covid!”

I’d agree with Anthony. Many collectors seemed to rediscover the hobby in that time, many who left returned to it, and even some players who stopped signing started picking up a pen once again and got caught up on backlogged requests as we all sat at home in 2020 and 2021. Sure, some players’ mailboxes got overfilled, and some stopped signing again in the aftermath, but it was a time when a lot of people came back to it or even discovered it in the first place.

My story begins in 1992. I had gotten a few autographs in-person here and there in 1991 at some card shows, Cleveland Browns training camp where some kid named Belichick was making his head coaching debut, and even at the ballpark during some Cleveland Indians games at the old Stadium on the lakefront. But it was an article in Sports Illustrated for Kids somewhere in those years that got me interested in possibly trying to send mail off to get my cards signed.

I aimed high to start off: I picked a card each of Mark McGwire, Jim Abbott, and Sandy Alomar Jr., and sent them off with letters that I typed out on the family typewriter. A 29-cent stamp on the outgoing envelope and on my neatly-typed SASE was enough to cover the trips out and back. I had no idea what the addresses were: we didn’t have the internet to look it up easily. So I remember at least with Alomar, I addressed it to Alomar c/o Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, OH, and called the local post office to get the zip code.

All three got to their targets, and I got responses from all three. But I learned quickly that McGwire and Abbott’s signed photos were pre-printed. But Alomar did at least sign his 1991 Donruss card #51 which I still have today.

So how did you start on your collecting journey? Let’s open the floor to comments…

In early 1998, I was 15 and just starting to catch the autograph bug. My dad subscribed to Sports Collectors Digest and I subscribed to Tuff Stuff, and I was fascinated reading Ryan Semanko’s columns in both publications. I started sending cards out in March 1998, and my first few successes were John Elway (a possible autopen, but I didn’t care), Steve Kerr, Rod Beck, Darryl Strawberry and Sandy Alomar. I had no concept of who might sign and who wouldn’t: I just wrote to people I liked and hoped for the best. Needless to say, my percentage was a lot worse back then than it is now!

My graphing philosophy– to get pretty much everybody, either IP or TTM– stemmed from a reader who submitted a letter to the Sig Stuff column in about 1999 or 2000. He said “If you want to build a big collection, remember the unremembered guy.” That stuck with me, and after that I was excited to add just about any autograph to my collection, whether they were a HOFer or a generic single-A reliever, or even from another sport entirely.
– Steve D’Arms, New York

I’m a huge Tampa Bay Lightning fan. In the 2004 Cup run year, my friend figured out the way to get hockey teams autos before and after practices and games here in New Jersey. He asked one day if I was interested in going with him to get the Lightning when they were in town. So I bought a black, blue, and silver goalie stick and went to Continental Airlines Arena with him for morning skate. The guys came out of the bus and signed my stick, and then whoever I missed signed it after the skate. It’s my grail!
– Andy Vos, New Jersey

In 1980, while working as a paperboy in Kenosha, I had a regular customer who dealt in sports memorabilia. One day, we got to talking about his hobby, and he told me about a card show in Chicago where Mickey Mantle would be signing autographs the following weekend. He mentioned that if I was interested that I could join him at the show. The cost of the autograph was $5.00, which was exactly the amount I made in a week as a paperboy. I decided to go for it and traveled with him to the show to get the autograph.

A few weeks later, he told me that Satchel Paige would also be appearing at the next show, and the cost of his autograph was $6.00. Once again, I traveled with my customer to the show and got the autograph.

After that, I started writing to Hall of Famers and asking for autographs. I received many responses, including a memorable one from Jocko Conlan, who was upset that I had sent two pictures to be signed.

Getting autographs from old-timers was easier back then, as it wasn’t as much of a business as it is today. Nevertheless, I became addicted to the hobby and have collected thousands of autographs, primarily through the mail.
– Craig Simpkins, Wisconsin

I got started in 1978 when I found a monthly magazine that featured a small section with player addresses. I was 10 at the time and only had my $5 weekly allowance to work with, so I had to be very careful about what I sent out and how much I spent on postage. My very first return came that year from Brooks Robinson, who signed his 1973 Topps card for me. I remember running up the driveway and yelling to my mom that Brooks Robinson signed for me! She had no idea who he was, but I remember her being at least mildly interested.

In 2014, I had a chance to meet the Human Vacuum Cleaner at the National in Chicago, so I took that autograph with me. When I handed him the card I wanted to have signed, I also placed the 1973 Topps card he signed for me back in 1978 on the table and thanked him for his kindness all those years ago. I think he was actually moved by the story. He said no one had ever done that before and thanked me for making his day. He probably didn’t know it, but that return in 1978 helped turn a 10-year-old kid into a lifelong fan.

Even though I stopped collecting for many years after college while getting my career and family going, coming across that card again in 2009 when I was thinking about selling off my collection is what got me back into graphing, a hobby that is my passion today.
– Rick Kughen, Indiana

I was 9 years old at a Dodgers game with my dad, uncle, and cousin. Sitting a few rows up from us was Steve Garvey. My uncle showed me a picture of him in the game program. He told me about how good he was and that he was the Eric Karros of his generation– my favorite player.

My uncle gave me a pen that he had in his pocket and told me and my cousin to go down and ask for his autograph. Garvey was so kind. He gave us high fives, asked us who our favorite players were, and asked us about how good we were.

That thrill of getting the autograph has never left me. That was the moment that started it all and I will never forget it!
– Peter Black, Missouri

I had horrible handwriting growing up, but loved getting autographs. My dad had me start writing letters to hockey players that weren’t coming to Binghamton to finish some sets we were working on, with the idea that I’d have to write better or the cards wouldn’t come back!
– Ian McCann, New York