Category: Autographs

Yermin Mercedes Private Signing

Last week BM Authentics had a private signing with the Yerminator himself, Yermin Mercedes. I ordered one of their 16x20s with inscriptions, and I sent in two cards.

It has been a lot of fun rooting for Yermin this year. He seems so lovable. I love all of the Terminator stuff they’re doing with him in marketing. He obviously isn’t as good as he’s been so far this season, but I think he is a legit MLB hitter. It wouldn’t shock me at all to see him at something like .310/.350/.500 with 25 home runs a year for the next 2-3 years.

These Topps Now cards arrived just in time to send in for the signing. And then the stupid post office messed up my tracking. I checked the tracking on the day of the signing, and it said my items were delayed and would be delivered later. So I had missed the signing. But I contacted BM and they said they were pretty sure they had my cards. So I had no idea what was going on. Well, the original tracking number still shows they haven’t been delivered to BM, but I’ve received the return package already. The Post Office really, really sucks.

Here are the items I got signed. I love how they turned out!

   

Jermaine Dye Private Signing

Five Tool Signings had a private signing with Jermaine Dye the last week of April. This may have been Dye’s first signing since retirement. When the signing was announced, I bought a bunch of cool refractors and whatnot to get signing. Of course, they didn’t arrive in time for the signing. So I sent the remaining set cards I needed him on, a couple of multi-player cards, some cool A&G minis, and a couple of nicer items. I’m very happy with how everything turned out! Hopefully they’ll have Dye again and I get the cards I ordered signed.

          

     

          

     

Kerry Wood Private Signing

The folks at Waukesha Sportscards had a private signing with Kerry Wood recently. Wood never played for the Sox, and I’m not a fan of his or anything. But, he shares a pretty cool card with Frank Thomas. I thought it would be pretty sweet when completed. Unfortunately Kerry signed a bit larger than I would have liked, which doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for Frank.

I have another card from this insert set already completed. It’s a favorite of mine, even if it brings back bad memories.

Scott Podsednik Private Signing

Lou Ragone recently held a private signing with Scott Podsednik. Scotty Pods was never the most fan-friendly player, and that was reflected in the price of the signing. Had the signing been a bit more affordable, I likely would have sent in 10 or so items. I ended up sending in 4 cards. 3 set cards, and 1 card that I thought would look really cool signed. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite sign it in the right spot, though he was close. I still need him on one more set card, but it was away at a different signing, which I also received this week. Hopefully I’ll have another chance to get it signed in the near future.

Steve Trout Private Signing

There was recently a Steve Trout private signing posted on Facebook. I don’t really need Trout on anything, but it was very affordable, so I sent a couple of cards.

Fun fact. Steve Trout once serenaded my wife. For the life of me I can’t remember the song. He was signing at a Sports Card Show in Chicago, and we were first in his line when he came out. He made some kind of comment about how lovely my wife was. Then he proceeded to sing her a love song. She was so embarrassed!

Oddly enough, that isn’t the only time a player sang to my wife in Chicago. We were at Picnic in the Park one year, and we were getting Brian Anderson’s autograph. She commented that he looked a lot like Michael Buble. All of the sudden he starts singing her a Michael Buble song!

Anyway, back to Trout. In retrospect, I should have included an 81 Topps for the signing, since I’m considering doing that team set. Oh well, next time!

Charlie Sheen Private Signing

Chris Rifon recently conducted a private signing with Charlie Sheen. The signing was pretty pricey, and I am no fan of Charlie Sheen, but I just couldn’t resist getting one of his Eight Men Out cards signed.

I would love to get John Cusack, D.B. Sweeney, David Strathairn and other cast members on their cards in the set. I found out that I missed a Sweeney signing, which bums me out. Hopefully there will be another!

Sases for Sox: Cliff Politte

Cliff Politte was one of the most underrated members of the 2005 World Series champs. You’d probably be shocked to find out that he had a higher bWAR (Baseball Reference Wins Above Replacement) than Jermaine Dye, A.J. Pierzynski, and Juan Uribe. He was the highest rated relief pitcher on the team, and the fifth highest in the American League.

Cliff has always been a great mail signer, so I don’t know why it took me this long to send to him. In any case, I’m super happy to knock these two cards off of my Upper Deck and 05 Topps World Series project wantlists. Thanks Mr. Politte!

Send Date: 2/8/21
Receive Date: 5/1/21
Total Days: 82
Items Sent: 2 cards
Items Received: 2 cards
Pen Used: Blue Sharpie

     

Atlee Hammaker Private Signing

Oh, what could have been. Atlee Hammaker had a phenomenal season in 1983 at the age of 25. He led the NL in ERA, ERA+, FIP, and WHIP. He was just as good in limited time in 1984. Unfortunately, the rest of his career was wrecked by injuries, and he never came close to reaching those heights again.

Hammaker pitched 7.2 innings over the 1994 and 1995 seasons for the Sox. Those were the last innings of his Major League career.

ER21 on SCN recently held a private signing with Hammaker. He doesn’t have any Major League cards in a White Sox uniform, so I sent in a minor league team set card.

250