ChiSox Collector - 8x10s

Picnic in the Park 2010

Doug — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 03:27:58 GMT

We just got back to the hotel. Picnic in the Park was MUCH different from last year. The impetus for the change? Rain, and lots of it. This year, the autograph session was held in the lower level concourse on the first base side of the stadium, and the actual picnic was held in the Patio area.

I had more success at this year's autograph session. The only drawback to having it in the concourse was that there was no room to move around. I think I said "Excuse me" more today than I had in my entire life prior to today.

Nonetheless, the results were quite good. Surprisingly enough, I got just about every big name on the team. Unfortunately, I got almost none of the lesser names.

Enough small talk, here is the tally!

Gordon Beckham x4 (Card, 8x10, 16x20, Mini Helmet)
Mark Buehrle x4 (Card, Sports Illustrated, 16x20, Gold Glove Baseball)
Ramon Castro x4 (Card x3, 8x10)
John Danks x4 (Card x3, 16x20)
Freddy Garcia x6 (Card x5, World Series Baseball)
Ozzie Guillen x4 (Card x3, Jersey)
Bobby Jenks x4 (Card x4)
Andruw Jones x4 (Card, 16x20 x2, Gold Glove Baseball)
Paul Konerko x4 (Card x4)
Jayson Nix x4 (Card x3, 8x10)
Jake Peavy x4 (Card x3, 16x20)
Juan Pierre x4 (Card x3, 8x10)
A.J. Pierzynski x4 (Card x4)
J.J. Putz x3 (8x10 x3)
Carlos Quentin x4 (Card x3, 10x20)
Alexei Ramirez x4 (Card x3, 8x10)
Alex Rios x4 (Card x3, 16x20)
Sergio Santos x4 (Card x3, 8x10)
Omar Vizquel x4 (Card x2, 16x20, Gold Glove Baseball)

I got 14 rookie cards signed for my rookie card project. They were Beckham, Danks, Garcia x2, Guillen, Jenks, Konerko, Peavy, Pierre, Pierzynski, Quentin, Ramirez, Santos, & Vizquel. I also got a total of 20 Upper Deck cards signed for my All-Time Upper Deck project.

I have posted images of everything except for the 8x10s and magazines. Lots of good stuff, take a look!

3/1/10 - Braves Full Workout

Doug — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:11:11 GMT

Decided to hit up the Braves for their last workout before the games start. My main objectives were Chipper Jones and Bobby Cox.

Chipper Jones - 1/2
Bobby Cox - 2/2
Bobby Valentine - 1/1 (OMLB)
Matt Diaz - 2/2
Troy Glaus - 1/2
Jason Heyward - 2/2, 1/1 (8x10)
Brian McCann - 1/2
Nate McClouth - 1/1
Terry Pendleton - 2/2
Takashi Saito - 1/1 (OMLB signing in English and Japanese)

Not a bad day in terms of quality, though a terrible one in terms of quantity.

Bobby Valentine was in the stands scouting. I decided to get him on an OMLB, as I think he is one of the best managers of my lifetime.

Matt Diaz seems to be a great guy. When he saw my two cards, he said "I don't sign the yellow one, I look too ugly!". Then he said "I'll sign it across my face, just for you."

Nate McClouth has also become a personal favorite because of his personality. Somebody shouted to him "I saw you throwing the football around, you have a great arm! You could always fall back on that career." Nate replied "I know, if only I was taller!"

I had to run around the entire stadium to get Chipper. I was in the grassy area beyond left field, and I saw him heading towards the little graphing area near the back fields. I took off running. It was probably the furthest I have run since high school. When I got there, Chipper was just finishing signing for the crowd. I barely had any breath to ask him to sign!

2/24/10 - Astros Full Workout

Doug — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:56:40 GMT

I went to Kissimmee today for the Houston Astros Full Workout. I got there really early to graph the parking lot... which was a mistake as nobody at all signed. To make matters worse, it started pouring at around 8am. I decided to head to Denny's for some breakfast, and debated calling it a day. Once I finished breakfast, the rain had stopped, so I headed back to the Astros facility. I got there just before they opened the gates to the public. I'm glad I went back, as it ended up being a pretty good day.

Carlos Lee - 1/2
Lance Berkman - 1/2
Roy Oswalt - 1/2
Hunter Pence - 1/2
Pedro Feliz - 2/2
Jason Castro - 2/2
Matt Lindstrom - 2/2
Sean Berry - 2/2
Brian Bogusevic - 2/2
Chris Johnson - 3/3
Jeff Keppinger - 3/4
Brandon Lyon - 1/2
Tommy Manzella - 1/1
Edwin Maysonet - 1/1
Bobby Meacham - 3/3
Oswaldo Navarro - 2/2
Al Pedrique - 3/3
Chris Sampson - 2/4
Wladimir Sutil - 1/1
J.R. Towles - 1/1
Jose Valdez - 3/3

Not bad at all. I was disappointed that I didn't get any of the former White Sox that were there, with the exception of El Caballo. Hopefully I'll be able to get Britt Burns, Jason Bourgeois, Geoff Blum, and Gary Majewski tomorrow.

Some guys that seemed especially nice: Bobby Meacham, Hunter Pence, Matt Lindstrom, Tommy Manzella. When I asked Manzella if he would sign, his response was "of course". I liked that!

Someone that didn't seem very nice: Roy Oswalt. He did line everybody up and sign 1 per for the whole line, so I can't complain too much. But he never responded to anybody's thank you's or praise. He could definitely have been a lot more personable.

The Astros big names all seemed to do the same thing. Line everybody up and do one per. From what I hear, Oswalt and Berkman are pretty tough, so I was glad to get both in the same day. We'll see if I'm so lucky tomorrow.

2010 Spring Training Totals - 49 cards, 1 8x10

Holiday Happenings

Doug — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:58:35 GMT

Hello again! I'm sorry about the lengthy delay since the last post, but I've been on Holiday! We (the wife and I) spent some time in Las Vegas and Southern California. I got a few nice returns during my sabbatical, of both the eBay and TTM variety. Lets start with the eBay purchases:

Albert Belle 1998 Bowman's Best Autographs
Bill Goodman 3x5 (one step closer to completing the 59 team!)
Smead Jolley 3x5
Duane Josephson 3x5 (only need a few more all-stars!)
Willie Kamm 3x5
Cecil Upshaw 3x5

Now for the mail returns:

Greg Bollo - 3/3
Mike Cameron - 2/2
Sammy Ellis - 3/3
Tito Francona - 2/2
Ted Gray - 2/2
Jim Landis - 10/10
Don Larsen - 2/2
Eddie Robinson - 2/2
Gene Stephens - 2/2
Kevin Tapani - 2/2
Rich Wortham - 3/3

Very nice 8x10 success

Doug — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:19:20 GMT

I forgot to mention something in my last post. In addition to all of the card successes I posted, I also received a couple of 8x10s:

Dustin Hermanson - 2/2 8x10s

Dustin has been a class act his entire career, and he has maintained his beautiful autograph the entire time. He was even nice enough to add a great inscription to the World Series photo. Thanks Dustin!

More 50/50 returns!

Doug — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:35:01 GMT

I have received the results of a few more of my 2009 50/50 trades. I received 133 autographs in all, here they are:

Brandon Allen - 2 cards
Cole Armstrong - 2 cards
Wilson Betemit - 1 8x10
Jason Bourgeois - 3 cards
Chris Carter - 1 card
Javier Castillo - 5 cards
Javier Colina - 1 card
Richard Dotson - 12 cards, 1 8x10
Jack Egbert - 5 cards
John Ely - 2 cards
Tyler Flowers - 1 card
Archie Gilbert - 2 cards
Keith Ginter - 3 cards
Matt Ginter - 2 cards
Lucas Harrell - 1 card
Daniel Hudson - 1 card
Ron Jackson - 2 cards
Kelvin Jimenez - 7 cards
Mike Johnston - 2 cards
Ron Karkovice - 1 card
Ray Liotta - 6 cards
Boone Logan - 2 cards
Matt Long - 2 cards
Donny Lucy - 1 card
Jeff Marquez - 2 cards, 1 8x10
Kyle McCulloch - 2 cards
Gustavo Molina - 3 cards
Russ Morman - 10 cards
Brian Myrow - 1 card
Brian Omogrosso - 2 cards
Pablo Ozuna - 1 card
Ken Patterson - 2 cards
Aaron Poreda - 2 cards
Danny Richar - 2 cards
Royce Ring - 2 cards
Derek Rodriguez - 6 cards
Adam Russell - 1 card
Sal Sanchez - 6 cards
Rich Sauveur - 6 cards
Ray Searage - 1 card
John Shelby Jr. - 2 cards
Chris Tremie - 1 card
Wilson Valdez - 2 cards
Ehren Wassermann - 2 cards
Wes Whisler - 7 cards
Randy Williams - 1 8x10

Taking Photofile orders!

Doug — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:38:58 GMT

Hello Sox fans, I will be placing an order for some White Sox 8x10s next week, including the three new Mark Buehrle Perfect Game shots. I am taking orders now! I will be ordering the following photos regardless of interest:

1.     2.

3.     4.

5.     6.

7.     8.

9.

If there is enough interest, I may also get images of A.J. Pierzynski, Jim Thome, Bobby Jenks, Jermaine Dye, Chris Getz, and Gordon Beckham, as well as an additional shot of Alexei Ramirez. Here are those shots:

10. 11.

12. 13.

14. 15.

16.

Shipping using the method of my choice is included in the cost. You must purchase 2 or more photos. Pricing will be as follows:

2 - 4 photos: $4 each
5 - 10 photos: $3.50 each
11+ photos: $3 each

If you are interested, just email me using the address on the left side of this page. Make sure to reference each image by the number next to it, and include the quantity for each image. I will be placing the order on or around July 30. Your payment must be received prior to order date. I accept Paypal for payment.

Photos will be shipped no later than the Saturday after I receive them from Photofile.

I'm baaaaaaaack! (Fan's Edge show & Picnic in the Park!)

Doug — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:29:41 GMT

First, let me apologize for the lengthy period of time between posts. Basically, for the last month I have had ZERO free time. A combination of being crazy busy travelling for my job, visiting my ailing father in California, and a vacation in Chicago has taken up every bit of my time.

But I'm back, and should be posting regularly again from this point forward. To make up for my absence, this will be the longest post ever. I have a lot to show you!

First off, I received a bunch of autographs from two Chicago collectors that have been helping me out this season. I've been sending them items (mostly photos), and they've been getting them signed for me. In exchange, I send extra photos to get signed for themselves. I met up with them for the first time last week at the Fan's Edge Sports Spectacular in Rosemont, IL. Here is what I received:

Harold Baines - 16x20
Gordon Beckham - 16x20, Card x2
D.J. Carrasco - 8x10
Jose Contreras - 16x20
John Danks - 16x20 x3
Josh Fields - 8x10
Gavin Floyd - 16x20 x2
Chris Getz - 8x10
Ozzie Guillen - 16x20
A.J. Pierzynski - 16x20
Aaron Poreda - Card x2
Clayton Richard - 8x10 x2
Aaron Rowand - 16x20
Jim Thome - 8x10, 16x20 x2 (one with Jonathan Toews)
Matt Thornton - 8x10
Dewayne Wise - 8x10

Here are some of the highlights:

Speaking of the show in Rosemont, I got some great autographs there. The show itself was pretty weak, but the autograph lineup was quite nice. I got the following from the show's autograph guests (all were free except for Aparicio and Fisk):

Luis Aparicio - 16x20 x3, baseball, Gold Glove baseball, mini helmet, jersey, bat, card
Dick Butkus - 8x10
Bob Feller - 8x10 x2, baseball
Carlton Fisk - 16x20, mini helmet, 12x18, card
Jim Morrissey - 8 cards
Billy Pierce - 8x10, 16x20 x2, card x2, mini helmet
Mel Renfro - 8x10, card
Pete Rose - 8x10
Mike Squires - 8x10 x2, Gold Glove baseball, 6 cards
Ken Stabler - 8x10

Carlton Fisk was very interested in the photo showing him and Tom Seaver posing on the dugout steps. I got his mailing information, and promised to send him a copy.

I also promised to send Billy Pierce a copy of the 1959 reunion photo, as he said he only has a very small one. Billy was a class act as always. When I told him that I would send him that photo, I said "It's the least I can do after all of the things you have signed for me through the mail." He replied "I sure do sign a lot of it!"

Luis Aparicio obviously did not want to be there. He tried refusing to put inscriptions that people had paid for (just HOF and ROY and whatnot, nothing strange), and from what I hear he just got up and left with people still in his line.

Mike Squires was extremely friendly. The photo that the official merchandise booth was selling showed Mike with an obvious black eye. He said that photo was taken after he was hit in the face by a groundball, and that it was the only time that had ever happened. While he was signing mine, I asked him to inscribe it "1983 White Sox, Winning Ugly". I said to him that it would be a fitting inscription, with the black eye and all. He and his "handler" both starting cracking up.

Some highlights:

Last, but certainly not least, I attended Picnic in the Park for the first time. For those that don't know, Picnic in the Park is a yearly event held at U.S. Cellular Field. Admission includes a 1 hour autograph signing with just about the entire team, including coaches, an on-field picnic with the players and their families, and a fireworks show. There is also a silent auction where you can bid on game used items, and other great collectibles.

Other than a confrontation with an idiot trying to cut in line, I had an absolute blast! The weather was absolutely perfect for the event. Almost all of the players were very friendly. As usual, Jermaine Dye wasn't very friendly, and Gavin Floyd seemed to be in a bad mood as well. When I put the 16x20 down in front of Aaron Poreda, he said "Whoooooooaaaaah, that's a nice photo!". Chris Getz said something similar when I showed him the triple exposure photo.

Here is a picture of me in front of Billy Pierce's outfield wall display, taken by my friend Mike, whom I met up with there:

Here is my bounty from PitP:

Brian Anderson - 2 cards, 8x10
Harold Baines - 8x10, 12x18
Mark Buehrle - 16x20, 2005 ASG Ball
D.J. Carrasco - 2 cards
Jose Contreras - 16x20, card
John Danks - 16x20, 10x20
Jermaine Dye - 16x20, 2 cards, 2 8x10s
Gavin Floyd - 10x20, 2008 Yankee Stadium Final Game ball
Chris Getz - 16x20, 8x10
Ozzie Guillen - 16x20, 12x18
Kevin Hickey - 2 cards
Paul Konerko - Bat, 16x20
Minnie Minoso - Card, mini helmet
A.J. Pierzynski - 2 16x20s
Scott Podsednik - 2 16x20s
Aaron Poreda - 2 cards, 16x20
Jim Thome - 16x20, card
Matt Thornton - 2 cards, 2 8x10s
Greg Walker - 2 8x10s

Once again, the highlights:

I forgot to mention, I also took part in a private signing that PCM Sports did with Alexei Ramirez backstage at the Fan's Edge show Thursday night. I got ten large photos signed by Alexei (9 16x20s, 1 12x18). It was crazy behind the curtain, lol. Here are a few of the Alexei's:

Great mail day!

Doug — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:37:54 GMT

I got two returns today. One that was sent to spring training, and one from one of my all-time favorite players!

Willie Harris - 2/2
Steve Sax - 2/2

A few more returns

Doug — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:28:59 GMT

The mailman has brought me the following over the last 4 days:

Cisco Carlos 2/3
Brandon McCarthy 1/1
Rich Morales 3/3
Bob Shaw 4/3 (He included his own 8x10, and paid for postage himself, returning my SASE. Look up class act in the dictionary, and you'll see a picture of Mr. Shaw.)

Full details can be found in the mailbag!

Recent successes

Doug — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:20:34 GMT

I apologize for the lack of updates over the last 2 weeks. I have been having serious issues with my hosting company. Things are still pretty bad, so I may be leaving godaddy soon.

Anyway, here is what I have gotten back in the last 2 weeks. Scans of ALL items can be found in the mailbag:

Gerry Arrigo 2/2
Alan Bannister 3/3
Bobby Bonilla 1/1 (16x20, really nice signature... thanks Bobby!)
Phil Cavaretta 2/2
Tim Cullen 1/1
Sammy Esposito 3/3
Ted Gray 1/1
Johnny Groth 2/2 (with fee)
Ed Herrmann 3/3
Bruce Howard 3/3
Bob James 3/3
Howie Judson 2/2
Steve Kemp 3/3
Bobby Knoop 3/3
Turk Lown 1/1 (with fee)
Ken McBride 3/3
Don Mueller 3/1
Phil Niekro 1/1 (with fee)
Juan Pizarro 2/2
Ron Santo 1/1 (with fee)
Roy Sievers 2/2 (1 card, 1 8x10)
Lou Skizas 1/1
Kevin Tapani 2/2
Dick Tidrow 2/2
Virgil Trucks 3/1

More mail

Doug — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:26:43 GMT

Had a few nice returns this week.

Ken Berry 2/2
Buddy Bradford 2/2
Richard Dotson 3/3
Clayton Richard 2/2
Jim Thome 1/1

Another good mail day

Doug — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 16:49:49 GMT

I got two things in the mail today, one TTM success and one purchase. We'll start with the purchase:

Rocky has been at the top of my wantlist for a long time, so I am thrilled to finally have him! I could have gotten a nice Colavito any time I wanted, but I was determined to get a Sox item... and the only Sox item available of Rocky (to the best of my knowledge) is this Topps card. I've seen this card signed before, but usually with a faint, ball point signature. Not only is this signature bold, but he add his career HR total! I am completely stoked!

I also got a TTM success from Brian Anderson. He signed 2 8x10 photos for me, though one of them is smeared a bit. He didn't add the inscription I asked for, but I guess you can't have everything!

Couple of awesome TTM successes this week

Doug — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 23:17:54 GMT

I got 4 TTM successes this week, 2 of which are particularly excellent. I got a signed 2005 World Series ball from Mark Buehrle:

I also got an 8x10 from "The Cuban Missile", Alexei Ramirez!

I also got 2/2 from Cole Armstrong (in ball point, ugh) and Chris Stewart.

A plethora of 8x10s!

Doug — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:02:55 GMT

Here are the recent additions to my 8x10 collection. In particular, I really like the McDowell, with the Cy Young inscription.

Three new 8x10s

Doug — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 05:56:59 GMT

I added these three 8x10 photos this week. I already had two Cotts 8x10s, but this one is from the World Series, so I couldn't resist.