OMGautos

Chris Heisey

2010-03-16T09:03:00.000-04:00

Who: Outfielder Chris Heisey

Team: Dayton Dragons (Reds Single A)

Card: 2007 Dayton Dragons

Acquired: TTM 1/1 3/8/2010 (10 Days)

Comments: Coming...

Micah Owings

2010-03-15T09:03:00.001-04:00

Who: Pitcher Micah Owings

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 2009 Topps 206

Acquired: TTM 1/1 3/4/2010 (19 days)

Comments: Micah was another one of my first returns from spring training mailings. He always goes out of his way to add a little extra personalization to the request and this time even had a little hand-written note suggesting I check out his performance pledge on his website. Pretty cool he takes a little time to do those things for fans.

Aaron Harang

2010-03-14T09:03:00.002-04:00

Who: Pitcher Aaron Harang

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 2009 Topps Heritage

Acquired: TTM 1/1 2/25/2010 (12 days)

Comments: Aaron has one of the best signatures in the game. Always great to get a TTM return from him. He signed one for me last year, and I sent to him again this year and he was one of the first returns I got from spring training.

I'm hoping Aaron has a great season in 2010. He's had a pair of rough years and comes into this season looking to bust out again. He's already been named the Opening Day stater for the Reds, so management thinks he's still got it. I do too.

I sent out ~50 requests this spring training. Doing pretty well so far on returns. I sent to a lot of guys that sign regularly and only took a few chances here and there. Always fun to get stuff back in the mail. More TTM posts coming soon.

Darrin Jackson

2010-03-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

Who: Outfielder Darrin Jackson

Team: San Diego Padres

Card: 1990 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Alright, this is the LAST card I am posting from a pretty loaded Soxfest haul. Darrin Jackson is currently works on White Sox radio along-side Ed Farmer. Before his radio days, Darrin was the color-man on White Sox broadcasts.

Johnny Bench

2010-03-12T22:20:00.003-05:00

Who: Hall of Fame Catcher Johnny Bench

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1972 Topps

Acquired: TTM

Comments: It's nice to add the autograph of the greatest catcher to ever play the game to the collection. One of two cards that Johnny Bench has in the 1972 set, this card keeps my '72 Topps Reds project going.

While I do prefer autographs of the free variety, reaching a little deeper to get the autograph of a Hall of Famer from my favorite team is worth it. It also helped that the autograph was a gift from my wife for my birthday. Pretty nerdy, eh? Haha... Works for me.

Regardless of you personal opinions of Bench, everyone has to agree that he has a beautiful signature.

John Danks

2010-03-08T09:03:00.002-05:00

Who: Pitcher John Danks

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 2009 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Coming...

Zack Cozart

2010-03-07T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Infielder Zack Cozart

Team: Cincinnati Reds (xx on card)

Card: 2007 Just Rookies

Acquired: In Person, Reds Caravan 2010

Comments: Coming...

Greg Walker

2010-03-06T09:03:00.002-05:00

Who: First Baseman Greg Walker

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1987 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Greg Walker is currently the batting coach for the Chicago White Sox. I got lucky with this autograph. My buddy spotted Greg walking through one of the hallways outside the ballroom at Soxfest. He stopped and signed a few autographs, and I managed to snag one.

How about that late-80s White Sox uniform. Those jerseys are now becoming classics - so many folks at Soxfest were rockin' that style.

Kevin Hickey

2010-03-04T09:03:00.002-05:00

Who: Pitcher Kevin Hickey

Team: Baltimore Orioles

Card: 1990 Fleer

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Shoot! I didn't know this before Soxfest: Kevin played an Indians pitcher in the film Major League II. Awesome!

Juan Nieves

2010-03-03T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Pitcher Juan Nieves

Team: Milwaukee Brewers

Card: 1987 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: The best part of getting this autograph was what happened before it. At the Comcast autograph booth, Juan and someone else (Kevin Hickey, maybe?) was scheduled to sign and I was there right on time. There was one guy in line and as I snaked through, I saw this guy (pretty tall dude, too) jokingly giving the other former Sox player some grief from the front of the line. As I walk up, he's says "there's someone in line! great!" or something like that, which was kinda odd. So, I smile and walk up behind the first guy in line and he turns around rally fast, sticks out his right hand and says, "Hi! I'm Juan Nieves" with this huge smile. I was like "OHHHHHH!" Haha. Since I'm not the biggest White Sox fan, I didn't recognize him. It was pretty funny. After that, Juan sat down and signed my '87 Topps for me. Couldn't have been any nicer.

Juan's major league career was cut pretty short by an arm injury, but in that time he managed to toss a no-hitter on April 15, 1987. He's currently the bullen coach for the White Sox.

Bob Miller

2010-03-02T09:03:00.004-05:00

Who: Reds Assistant General Manager Bob Miller

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 2009 Topps Heritage Reds Team Card

Acquired: In Person, Reds Caravan 2010

Comments: Ha, this is great. Amongst the fellas signing at a Reds Caravan was the Reds VP of Baseball Operations and Assistant General Manager Bob Miller. What better card to have him sign than the Reds team card. I already have Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty on one, so might as well get the whole staff. Ha! Awesome.

I love how he stayed away from the team and signed up in the corner. He had a good laugh about it when he signed it. I wonder if he has ever signed any of these? ZOMG - it's a 1/1!!!! haha

J J. Putz

2010-03-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Pitcher J J. Putz

Team: Seattle Mariners

Card: 2008 Goudey

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Ah yes, another Goudey to add to the collection. New White Sox member J.J. Putz signed this bad-boy for me at Soxfest 2010. While signing, he joked with me and one of the White Sox staffers about how odd the illustration of him looked on the card. It made him "look like a real ginger." Ha, pretty good stuff.

This is the first card featuring a Mariner that I've had signed. Nice! Wonder how many other baseball teams I don't have at least one card from? Probably quite a few.

Ozzie Guillen

2010-03-01T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Shortstop Ozzie Guillen

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1987 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Going into Soxfest, Ozzie's autograph was the one I was most excited to get. Not only is he the charismatic manager of the White Sox, but I remember him playing when I was a kid, and even saw him play once at Comiskey park during the last season it was standing. Plus, tack on the fact that he has an '87 Topps, and we're cookin'!

Gary Peters

2010-02-28T22:22:00.004-05:00

Who: Pitcher Gary Peters

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1969 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Yep, still rollin' on the Soxfest autographs. Still have a few more to post. Hang tight.

Gary Peters was a pretty darn good pitcher for the White Sox, winning the 1963 AL Rookie of the Year award. During that season, he had a string of 11 straight wins - impressive. Equally as impressive, during the 1967 All-Star game, retired 9 consecutive batters over three innings, including striking out three future Hall of Famers - Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Ferguson Jenkins. Wow.

Pretty nicely signed card, eh? Gary laid down a nice signature on this '69 Topps - the second from that set that I had signed at Soxfest. The other was from Joe Horlen.

Ron Kittle

2010-02-27T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Designated Hitter Ron Kittle

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1990 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Coming...

Ed Farmer

2010-02-25T09:03:00.001-05:00

Who: Pitcher Ed Farmer

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1981 Donruss

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: This post goes out to Zach over at Autographed Cards - he loves these dang '81 Donruss cards. I gotta say, I like this one too. The card comes with a decent story too.

At Soxfest, one of the last autograph sessions I got to was for Ed Farmer and Darrin Jackson. I was set with cards for Darrin, but didn't have anything for Ed to sign. Even after seeing the one card dealer at the Soxfest dealer area, I still had nothing. I figured I would get in line and ask around to see if someone would be willing to trade. Luckily, there were three guys in front of me who had tons of cards and one offered a few up to me. Of the three he had, I choose this the '81 D-Russ and the rest is history. Just goes to show there are plenty of nice folks out there.

Check out the uni Ed's sportin' on this card. Those collars were insane. Too bad he's not rockin' the shorts.

Glenn Braggs

2010-02-24T09:03:00.003-05:00

Who: Outfielder Glenn Braggs

Team: Milwaukee Brewers

Card: 1987 Topps

Acquired: In Person, 2010 Reds Caravan

Comments: Glenn was just one of those guys that I figured I might never get an autograph from, but I end up getting meeting him twice within two months. Between the two cards, I've done pretty well.

As with the Brandon Phillips card i posted recently, I met Glenn at the Reds Caravan stop in Columbus last month. I got a little lucky with this one - Glenn was in a hurry to get out of the mall and to his flight and was signing for everyone he could while he was walking out. A fella I know from the Reds was cutting the line for him so he could go and did the cut right at me, making sure I was able to get Glenn's autograph. Pretty cool of him to do that.

Nice to get this '87 Topps signed too. You all know my love for the wood paneled cards of my youth, so I was torn on what cards for Glenn to sign at Redsfest. This one didn't make the cut, but found redemption at the Reds Caravan.

Moose Skowron

2010-02-23T09:03:00.002-05:00

Who: First Baseman Moose Skowron

Team: New York Yankees

Card: 1958 Topps All-Star

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Another vintage card I was able to get signed at Soxfest this year. Moose signed this beat-up, but great looking All-Star card of his, making a nice addition to the vintage end of my autographed card collection.

Juan Pierre

2010-02-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Outfielder Juan Pierre

Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

Card: 2009 Topps 206

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: This is the second card that Juan signed for me at Soxfest. The White Sox were pretty strict on "one per person" (I don't mind at all) so I was able to get this autograph on a different day than the first. Upon seeing this card, Juan mentioned that he hadn't see this one before. Kinda cool, I guess.

This is the first 2009 Topps 206 that I've had signed. They handle themselves pretty well for autographs.

Bill Melton

2010-02-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Third Baseman Bill Melton

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1972 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Coming...

Freddy Garcia

2010-02-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

Who: Pitcher Freddy Garcia

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 2006 Fleer

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: I can't say that I was too familar with Freddy Garcia's body of work before Soxfest. My boys were excited to get his autograph the first night, so I figured I might as well be excited too. Freddy was nice and corgial and the whole thing was good. I really didn't think that Freddy would have all all that big of an impact on my memory of that weekend, then we witnessed this in the hotel lobby on that Saturday night. HAHAHAAHAHA. We even got our picture with Freddy about 5 minutes before all this happened. It was the only photo I got with a Sox player that weekend... and you know exactly why. LOL

Ron Kittle

2010-02-15T21:43:00.004-05:00

Who: Designated Hitter Ron Kittle

Team: Cleveland Indians

Card: 1989 Score

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: After getting a pair of signed cards from Mr. Kittle last year, I was able to actually meet the man himself and get an autograph in person. How about this '89 Score? So cheap, so generic, but actually a pretty nice looking card.

Brandon Phillips

2010-02-14T09:03:00.001-05:00

Who: Second Baseman Brandon Phillips

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 2007 Topps Heritage

Acquired: In Person, Reds Caravan 2010

Comments: It was a really, really last minute thing that I hit up one of the Reds Caravan stops recently. My wife and I were headed to Columbus for the day and right before we left I saw a Tweet from someone that was at the Reds Caravan stop in C-bus that day. The stop was at the same place we were going, and figuring with the drive time, we were able to make the last 20 minutes or so of the scheduled stop. So, I grabbed some cards for the guys on the stop and we headed up.

We got there in time, but the line was still kinda long and I was told that I was not likely to get an autograph due to the Reds having to keep their schedule. I stuck it out anyways, and got lucky. In Brandon's case, he hopped down from the stage where he and the other guys where signing and came through the line to sign and take photos with everyone that was there. It was pretty cool. Brandon signed my card and got in a photo with me as well. Kinda nerdy, but pretty fun.

I've had this card of Brandon for a while, but other cards keep trumping it when I am able to get his autograph.

I've got a couple of other cards from the Columbus Caravan stop coming up.

Bill Melton

2010-02-13T09:03:00.003-05:00

Who: Third Baseman Bill Melton

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1972 Topps In Action

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Beltin' Bill Melton signed this and his other '72 Topps card for me at the bar of the Palmer House Hilton during Soxfest. Since I don't have the ability to recognize most retired White Sox players, my buddy pointed him out for me when we were walking through the bar. Being prepared with your cards in tow is always a good idea.

Between a sweet horizontal In Action card and Melton's smooth sig, this card came out pretty well.

Minnie Miñoso

2010-02-12T09:03:00.002-05:00

Who: Outfielder Minnie Miñoso

Team: Chicago White Sox

Card: 1957 Topps

Acquired: In Person, Soxfest 2010

Comments: Ah, this was one card I was really looking forward to getting signed. White Sox great Minnie Minoso, the first black player to where their uniform, has made a habit out of getting into uniform well past his prime in the 1950s. He is the only baseball player to play professionally in seven different decades. More about he professional appearances here.

Saturnino Orestes Armas Miñoso Arrieta, aka, Minnie Minoso has been a part of baseball history for quite a long time.

When I met Mr. Minoso, he autographed my card in a very interesting way. He took a piece of paper or note card and lined it up diagonally across my card and used it as a guide as he put his signature on it. That's how he was able to get the extremely straight autograph you see above. I've never seen that before! He did it for everyone too. I'm sure if you've gotten his autograph you have a similar story.