Patrick Corbin and Paul Goldschmidt 2013 All-Star Game Autographed Photo

After getting Patrick Corbin to sign this picture on Wednesday, I was able to get Paul Goldschmidt to sign it tonight. I think it turned out amazing!

I didn't think it was going to happen tonight because we used a babysitter for our youngest and when we do that we usually don't leave early enough to get autographs. We got to the ballpark about 6:25 pm for a 6:40 pm start. Our seats were in the upper level, so when the usher asked to see our tickets I asked if we could just go down to try to get autographs. I was somewhat surprised that he said okay since it was so close to game time. When we got there the players were just finishing stretching and then they had the National Anthem. Only one player came over to sign autographs and it was Goldschmidt. He signed for probably about 20 people and gave me a great signature (it's more than his normal signature)!

We stayed until the top of the 8th. The D-Backs ended up losing to the Giants 1 -0, but I couldn't be happier about getting Goldschmidt to sign the picture!

Explain Yourself!

The name of my blog is, It's like having my own Card Shop. Let me explain why.

I've collected baseball cards since I was 8 years old. I've seen lots of Card Shops come and go. There was a time when there were 5 different card shops within 10 minutes of my house when I was growing up. I could walk to two of them. I've had a co-op case at two different Card Shops over the years. I used to spend hours every Saturday at the Card Shop; opening 3 or 4 boxes (this was when boxes were $30 - $50), having pack wars, watching games on tv, attending auctions, watching other guys open packs and boxes, and just hanging out with other collectors.

Then things changed. My life changed. The hobby changed.

I never really stopped collecting, but my financial priorities changed as I got married, bought a house, worked on a Bachelors and then a Master's degree, started having children, etc. and so buying cards became less and less frequent. Back in 2009 my wife and all her friends were really into blogging and so I wondered if there were any blogs about baseball cards. There were. It was great! Looking at others collections, pack and box breaks, trade packages, etc. was like being at the Card Shop for a hours on a Saturday again. So I started my own blog.

At that time there were only three Card Shops that I knew of that were still open. The closest about 35 minutes away with the others being about an hour away. I choose to call my blog "It's like having my own Card Shop" because 1) I've always wanted to own my own Card Shop (it's on my bucket list) and 2) I wanted it to be a place where I could share a passion for a hobby with others that appreciate it as well. I wanted to be able to trade cards, open and watch others open packs and boxes, and just hang out with other collectors.

Now, explain yourself!

Leave a comment as to why you named your blog what you did or if you have a post explaining why leave a link below. I know some blog titles might seem self explanatory but I still want to hear from you. To increase participation I'll randomize all those that explain themselves and provide them with a "small" prize.

Get it? "Small prize"? It's a bunch of Allen & Ginter mini cards. Anyways if you promote this on your own blog and let me know, I'll give you two spots. I'll give everyone a week to respond and randomize the minis next Saturday, September 7th.

Cards from The Angels in Order

The title says "Cards from" and not "Trade with" The Angels in Order because I haven't sent Tom any cards yet, but they're coming soon. Tom sent me a nice stack of D-Backs cards. Thanks Tom!

He sent me some cards for my Topps Diamondbacks project!

He sent me two cards new Brandon Webb cards. I'm really excited about the All-Star card because if I remember correctly, these were a tough pull.

Here is an in-person signed Lyle Overbay card.

He sent a couple of nice D-Backs rookie cards.

Tom also sent a smattering of great D-Backs cards from players past, which is fitting because Saturday is Throwback Night and the Alumni Game.

Meet and greet with Patrick Corbin and Kevin Towers

As I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon I was listening to the Burns and Gambo show on Sports 620 KTAR. They were broadcasting from Sanderson Ford and were doing a promotion where the first 10 people to stop by and take a picture of themselves with the Big Red Rig (brand new Ford Truck covered in Arizona Cardinals logos) and then tweet the picture to Gambo would win two tickets to the D-Backs game and a meet and greet with Patrick Corbin and D-Backs General Manager Kevin Towers that night.

Sanderson Ford wasn't exactly on my way home, but it wasn't too far out of the way so I decided to give it a shot. I'll spare you the details on how my phone almost died on me, but I was able to get the picture and tweet it to win the tickets.

I took my oldest son with me. We had to be there at 4:30 pm (game started at 6:40 pm). They took the group into the room where all the D-Backs press conferences are held and we waited about 10 minutes before Jeff Munn, D-Backs radio announcer who does the pre and post game radio shows, came in and started working the crowd. A short while later Patrick Corbin came in and a few minutes later Kevin Towers came in. We had an opportunity to ask them questions. My son asked Patrick Corbin who his best friend on the team was. Patrick said that he has a lot of great teammates but he is probably closest to A.J. Polluck since they came up through the minors together and they are Fanatasy Football teammates for this upcoming season as well. My son asked Kevin Towers what is his favorite part of his job. He said it was being around the players. He said that being a former player himself, he loves being around the players and seeing all the hard work and dedication that they put in. he said that they average fan has no idea how much work the players actually put in. I asked a question to them both about any superstitions or routines that they might have. Patrick said that he didn't really have any superstitions but that on days that he pitches he likes to sleep in a little later and have a nice breakfast before heading to the park. Kevin Towers said that he never watches the 9th inning. He explained that he leaves his seat and will watch the 9th inning on in one of the offices inside the stadium. He said that in all his years with the Padres (1995 - 2009) he never saw Trevor Hoffman pitch in person, in a game.

Kevin mentioned a few things that might be interesting to people. He said that it was not public knowledge yet but that Chris Owings would be named the PCL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year within a few days and that the D-Backs would likely reward him with a September call-up. KT was asked about highly touted pitcher Archie Bradley and if the D-Backs would call him up as well and he said that he had just heard back from someone he sent out to watch him pitch and that he is just not ready for the big leagues yet.

After the questions were done we were able to get an item signed by each of them. if you didn't have an item then they had pictures available.

I had Patrick sign this photo, which I hope to get Goldschmidt to sign soon.

My son got one of the pictures signed. 

Then we each got Kevin Towers to sign a photo.

After the meet and greet session we went to the field to try to get autographs. While we were waiting a security guard came over and asked my son if he would like to be the Security Kid for the game. As such he would sit just out of play in between the visitors dugout and home plate and got out on the field with the security guard whenever the teams switched. I got to sit close by. I was actually sitting below field level in a padded folding chair for a few innings and then they moved my to the first row of actual seats for the rest of the game. My son ended up getting three baseballs. One was from the Padres catcher Nick Hundley, one was from the Padres bat boy, and they other was from the home plate umpire as they left the field after the game. 

Here are a few pictures.

TTM Success: Jerry Mumphrey - First Night Game at Wrigley Field

I sent out a large stack of ttm's on 8/16 and I got my third one back from that group today from Jerry Mumphrey. Jerry signed a 1988 Fleer card and the 1989 Score card commemorating the first night game at Wrigley Field. I wonder if Jerry thought I was going to try to have the entire team sign one card and that's why he signed it so small. I also think it's somewhat strange that he and Mike Bielecki and Mark Grace all signed it in roughly the same spot.

First Night Game at Wrigley Field Autograph Project

My goal is to get every Cubs player that played in the first night game at Wrigley Field on 8/9/88 to sign one of the 1989 Score cards commemorating the event. So far I have 15 out of the 16.

Shawon Dunston (TTM - sent 7/14/13 and received 10/26/13)

Ryne Sandberg (ttm sent 1/4/15, 6/1/15, and 11/16/15 and received 11/21/15)

Mark Grace (Obtained in person at an AZ Rookie League D-Backs game on 8/23/13)

Andre Dawson (TTM - sent 1/6/15 and received 1/21/15)

Vance Law (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 8/24/13)

Mitch Webster (TTM - sent 2/26/18 and received 3/12/18)

Rafael Palmeiro (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 1/23/14)

Damon Berryhill (sent request on 6/1/15 and 2/26/18) got back from someone on Twitter who got him in person at a Gwinnett Stripers team event on 8/27/18

Mike Bielecki (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 8/22/13)

Manny Trillo (TTM sent 9/23/16 and received 10/28/16)

Frank DiPino (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 8/31/13)

Jody Davis (sent request on 6/1/15 and received 6/12/15)

Darrin Jackson (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and 6/1/15 and received 2/20/18)

Pat Perry (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 9/11/13)

Jerry Mumphrey (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 8/27/13)

Goose Goosage (TTM - sent 8/16/13 and received 9/19/13)

 

TTM Success: Vance Law

I sent to Vance Law earlier this year, but then I learned that he was on the Cubs team that played the first night game at Wrigley Field and so I needed to have him sign the 1989 Score card commemorating the event, so I sent him a few other cards as well and got back another quick return.

In Person Autograph Recap: Shea Hillenbrand and Augie Ojeda

The Arizona Diamondbacks are hosting their second annual Throwback Night next Saturday, August 31st. They will be wearing retro jersey's (Yes, I said "retro" in relation to a franchise that has only been around since 1998.) and there will be an Alumni Game afterwards featuring former D-Backs players.

In connection with the Throwback Night, Sanderson Ford hosted an event yesterday which featured two D-Backs alumni; Shea Hillenbrand and Augie Ojeda. I was made aware of the event by fellow blogger, Moe, of My 2008 Topps Set Blog. Thanks again Moe!

For some reason I thought the event was next Saturday, probably because the game is next Saturday, and so I almost missed out. I was going to plan out the next Saturday and so I pulled up Moe's email and clicked on the link to find out what time it was and then saw that it said it was on the 24th. I had a half hour to get myself and three kids ready and drive to the event. We got there a few minutes after it started and there were less than 10 people ahead of us in line. I fell really bad because I told Joe, of the blog Catching Rays, about the event, but I told him the wrong date. Sorry Joe! I've got some stuff for you to hopefully make up for it.

We meet Shea first and he was awesome. They had photos there and so he started talking to my two older boys, asking them what their names were so he could personalize the photos. He told them that he played for the Diamondbacks when they wore purple. He said he felt like Barney the dinosaur every time he had to put on the purple batting helmet. He was really nice and signed everything we brought for him.

Here is the photo that they supplied.

I also had an 8 x 10 photo of him that I bought back in 2004 or 2005 that I was able to have him sign as well.

We also had him sign a "few" cards for us. I know he played for multiple teams, but I only brought cards of him as a Diamondback.

Augie Ojeda was really nice as well although he didn't really say much to us. Here is the photo that they provided. 

I only had one card of him.

We did have him sign his bobblehead. Here's the front. 

Here's the back with the signature. 

8/23/13 - Arizona Rookie League Game - Reds vs. D-Backs - Autograph Recap

I've been waiting for the D-Backs to play either the Reds or the Indians in the Arizona Rookie League so that I could try to get Mark Grace's autograph. Grace is a coach with the Diamondbacks AZ Rookie League team. I already have several autographs of Mark Grace, but I had one particular card that I really wanted him to sign.

The Arizona Rookie League teams are made up mostly of players that were just drafted and other young players that are from outside the country (probably most notably the Dominican Republic). Sometime major league players will do rehab stints with the Rookie League on occasion.

I went early to the game to try and get Grace before the game started because it was just me and my one and a half year old son and I knew there was no way he'd make it through the whole game. I got my chance and had Grace sign this card.

I posted earlier today about a TTM success from Mike Bielecki where I had him sign this card as well. In fact, my goal is to have all the Cubs players who played in the First Night Game at Wrigley Field to sign this card. Bielecki and Grace are my first two!

I noticed right away that Eric Chavez and Willie Bloomquist were there as well. I didn't know they were going to be there so I didn't have anything for them to sign. Miguel Montero was there as well. Again. I didn't have anything for him to sign.

We left in the second inning because my son was getting restless. I took him home and put him to bed and then waited for to pick up my other two boys from a back to school party that they were at and then we went back to the game. I brought some cards and a couple of balls, but realized that I didn't have any ball point pens so we decided to focus on cards. It turned out though that Chavez and Bloomquist had already left by the time we returned in the 8th inning. The D-Backs ended up tying the game in the 9th and winning it in the 10th so it was a late night, but we did get another autograph from Mark Grace and we each got Miguel Montero to sign a card for us after the game.

I know Montero has been injured and struggling a lot this season, but he's still one of our favorite players!