This eBay purchase arrived today.  It has instantly become one of my very favorite certified autographs. 

Today I received the results of my second AZFL 50/50.  This time I was working with tully420 from SG.  The quantity wasn't quite as good in this batch as in the previous one, but I'm still very happy with the results.

Charlie Leesman - 4 cards
Jared Mitchell - 5 cards

Here are some of the Mitchells:

The second package I received yesterday was the results from my AZFL 50/50 with my friend Josh.  He lives in TN, but attends the Arizona Fall League every year.  Here is what he was able to get signed for me this year.

Rich Dotson - 12 cards
Eduardo Escobar - 1 8x10
Charlie Leesman - 6 cards, 1 8x10
Henry Mabee - 2 cards
Jared Mitchell - 4 cards, 2 8x10s

I had a couple of packages waiting for me when we got home from our little Disney getaway.  The first package I opened contained this outstanding lot of signed cards.  In 1981, TCMA produced a set of 45 cards commemorating the 1959 "Go-Go" White Sox.  Thanks to Ric4ky on SCN, I now have 20 of these cards signed.  Included in this lot were:

Luis Aparicio
Ray Berres
Ray Boone
Larry Doby
Sam Esposito
Don Gutteridge
Ron Jackson
Jim Landis
Barry Latman
Turk Lown
J.C. Martin
Jim McAnany
Ken McBride
Gary Peters
Billy Pierce
Jim Rivera
Bob Shaw
Lou Skizas
Al Smith
Jerry Staley

Here are a few of the highlights:

This is a rookie card that I've wanted signed for quite a while, but I wasn't willing to pay $79 to get it signed.  A member on SCN (88harrison88) got a couple of rookies signed at a grocery store signing earlier this year, and he gave me a very reasonable price on this one.

Today's "Project Rookie Card" entry is former South Side Hitmen slugger Oscar Gamble.  This autograph is courtesy of Chris Allen's (flautosonline on SCN) private signing with Mr. Gamble.

Here are a few odds and ends that I have picked up over the last week or two.

Here are the cards I promised you in yesterday's post. 

Today's mail brought with it the latest package from eBay.  In addition to the usual cards, there were 21 signed 8x10 photos.  I already have 8x10s from several of these players, but the lot was too good a deal to pass up.  My winning bid for this lot was under $60!  I'll start with the photos today.  I'll post the 5 cards I received from the same seller tomorrow.

Jeserone from SCN recently held a private signing with former Sox speedster Rudy Law.  I was very happy for the chance to get this rookie card signed.   Rudy still holds the single-season Sox record for stolen bases, with 77 in 1983. 

Project Rookie Card keeps on rolling today with this Tommy John 1964 Topps.  I obtained this autograph in person at a Montreal Expos spring training workout.  Tommy was never happy to sign, but did oblige on most occasions. 

Today I received the latest batch of signed cards from one of my favorite eBay sellers, the-dutch.  This time, they are from 1963 Topps.

Some of these guys are great TTM signers.  Normally I wouldn't purchase autographs of Jim Landis, Ray Herbert, Gary Peters, or J.C. Martin.  But their 1963 Topps cards are shortprinted, and it would have cost at least as much to purchase unsigned copies.  So it was a no-brainer!

Here are some of my favorite from the lot:

I have completed scanning in all White Sox base Upper Deck and Allen & Ginter cards.  They have been added to the individual checklists.  I have also created one giant all-time Upper Deck or Allen & Ginter checklist, complete with scans.  You can view those checklists here:

All-Time Upper Deck Checklist

All-Time Allen & Ginter Checklist

On those pages, you will also notice links to a comma delimited version of the checklist.  This should be helpful if you would like to copy the checklist into your favorite spreadsheet program.

I figure these enhanced checklists will be helpful in a number of ways.  They can help you complete your collections.  They can also help you decide which cards would potentially look good autographed.  It can be very annoying ordering cards sight unseen to get autographed, and when they arrive they are so dark that the autograph won't show up at all.

I can't promise that I'll do enhanced checklists for all sets, as the scanning takes a LOT of time.  However, I will be updating the checklists for some of my favorite sets in this fashion.

Enjoy!

I've been going through my Upper Deck collection, scanning everything in for the enhanced checklists I've been posting.  While doing so, I was reminded of a question I have always had.  Why does Jaime Navarro have two different 1999 Upper Deck cards?  Both cards picture him in a White Sox uniform.  It has to be a mistake, right?  I mean, were people at the time clamoring for more Jaime Navarro cards?  Upper Deck has been known to have multiple base cards of star-quality players.  For example, in 2009 Upper Deck there were two base cards each of Jim Thome, Carlos Quentin, and Alexei Ramirez.  Thome and Quentin even had a third "subset" card.  But Jaime Navarro?  Seriously?

Today's entry into Project Rookie Card is a quartet of Richard Dotson rookies.  Dotson had a good run for the mid-80s White Sox.  His 1983 season was especially impressive.  LaMarr Hoyt may have gotten all of the publicity (and hardware) that year, but Dotson was even better.  He posted a 130 ERA+ over 240 innings, good for 4.9 WAR (wins above replacement).  Compare that to Hoyt's 115 ERA+ over 260.2 innings, which was worth 3.7 WAR.

Richard Dotson has been a great signer during his time as pitching coach for the Charlotte Knights, so these signed rookies weren't hard to acquire with a bit of help from my friends that graph the International League.

After years of longing, I finally have a signed '90 Leaf Frank Thomas.  I'd still love to pick one up with his old school, full name signature... but I'll take what I can get!  This is from Tommy Jackley's signing.

I received my Frank Thomas and Kenny Lofton cards from Tommy Jackley's private signing.  The 1993 Upper Deck Frank Thomas checklist was a re-send, after Tommy had it signed on the back last time.  After a bit of a struggle, he agreed to get another one signed. 

Mike Baker (darnfloor on SCN) recently held his second private signing with Sox legend Carlos May.  This signing was handled just as well as the first, which is no surprise.  I got quite a few things signed last time, but I was happy to have the opportunity to send in four more items for this signing.

Here is the other rookie card that mentioned in yesterday's post.  This is one that I've been wanting for a while.

I recently won a lot of signed vintage cards from one of my favorite eBay sellers, the-dutch.  I previously won some nice autographed 1950s Topps cards from him, and couldn't have been happier with what I received.  This time, I purchased 6 1962 Topps autographs.  Included among those 6 are the beautiful signed rookie you see here: