New York Yankees Sweet Spot Signatures

Some of my very favorite autographs to collect were the Upper Deck Sweet Spot Signatures. One of the very best ideas Upper Deck ever had was to take a baseball, have it signed by a ballplayer, cut out the signature and put it on a card. Very collectable and looks great displayed. Unfortunately, Upper Deck, in the end of it's run, got greedy and made Sweet Spot a high end product and cut costs on the manufacturing for the Signature cards by using a synthetic baseball which didn't hold the autographs well. As a result, you see a lot of these cards with faded signatures. Because of that, I had stopped trying to collect the Yankees in this set. But I recently got hit with the bug again and I'm trying to get as many Yankees as I can again. I am working on a Yankees only set that Upper Deck put out back in 2003, which I will show at another time. Here are the ones I currently have in my collection.

Jose Contreras. Yankees out bid the Red Sox for him, which may or may not have resulted in Theo Epstein trashing his hotel furnature in a fit of anger. Contreras never panned out for the Yankees as he was very inconsitant during his time in New York. However, his signing with the Yankees gave them a new nickname courtisy of Red Sox President, Larry Lucchino; "The Evil Empire"

One of my favorite Sweet Spot Signature cards is this one of Yankees Hall of Famer, Whitey Ford. Played with the Yankees from 1950-1967. Won 236 games and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Holds the Yankees all time record for wins as a Yankee.

"The Big Unit" Randy Johnson didn't have many signed cards as a Yankee, but had this Sweet Spot Signature card. I bought a lot of Yankee cards and this one was in the lot. Johnson pitched 2 seasons in the Bronx, winning 17 games in both years. While not a dissipointment, he wasn't the fireballing pitcher Yankee fans expected when he came over due to his back injuries.

Former Yankee Captain and current Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Donnie Baseball has a few highly sought after Sweet Spot Signatures and after Derek Jeter, is probably the most popular Yankee. His Sweet Spot Signature cards often command a good price. I was lucky to get this at a steal for my PC. I am rooting for Mattingly to do a great job in Los Angeles.

Mike Mussina. One of the best Yankee free agent signings, Mussina has one Yankee Sweet Spot Signature card that I was able to grab for under 7.00 off ebay. Moose is a borderline hall of famer and I was surprised that I was able to get this card for so low. Mussina had a terrific Yankee career, retiring at the height of his career, winning 20 games in 2008. I think if he was a Yankee his entire career, he would have broken Ford's all time Yankees wins record.

Sorry about the picture on this one. This is a Sweet Spot Signature of former Yankees second baseman, Bobby Richardson. Richardson played on those great Yankee teams of the 50's and 60's. He won 5 gold glove awards, was an 8 time all star and won 3 world championships in 1958, 1961 and 1962. Always great to get the older players into the collection.

Finally, theres Javier Vasquez. This is one I have shown before. In two diffrent stints with the Yankees, Javier really didn't perform up to his capabilites. I feel he's better off in a smaller market where there isnt a lot of pressure to put up numbers. That's not a knock against Vasquez. He has shown that he can pitch and put up great numbers, just not in New York. Some people can play here, others can't.

After gazing over this collection over the weekend, I think I'm going to try and get the other Yankees that Sweet Spot made signatre cards of, if I can afford them. Then again, shopping for deals is my specialty.

Yankee IP Auto-Graig Nettles

I was able to get Graig Nettles to sign this card at a Long Island card show at Hofstra University a few years back. I was very excited to meet Nettles because, growing up, he was my favorite Yankee. Unfortunately, he was the prime example of how disapointing it can be to meet your idols.

Graig Nettles was traded to the Yankees from the Cleveland Indians before the 1973 season. He was a main clog in those 1970 Yankee teams, appearing in the World Series 3 times and winning 2. He was considered one of the best defensive third baseman at that time. He also set an American League record for career home runs by a third baseman. His best season was in 1977 when he had 37 home runs, 107 RBI's, won the Gold Glove and won the World Series. He was traded to San Diego and appeared in one more World Series in 1984, losing to the Detriot Tigers. He retired in 1988 as a member of the Montreal Expos.

As a kid, his diving stops on ground balls thrilled me. Whenever I played baseball, I would always man third, my number was 9 and I would dive for ground balls, even if they were routine grounders. I remember being so upset when he was traded and rooted for San Diego in the World Series. I always wanted to meet him and when I found out he was appearing on Long Island, I jumped at the chance. My girl friend at the time lived in Brooklyn, so driving from her apt to Hofstra was not a problem.

I remember waiting on line, being real nervous too. I finally got to the front of the line and handed him my card. I told him how big a fan I was and how much he meant to my childhood. He looked at me and said, "Great, kid." and looked back down at the card. Signed it and passed it back to me and I was hurried away by the attendent sitting next to him.

Great, kid? That was all he could say to me? What a rip! I was so upset by it. My girl friend tried to cheer me up, but it was no use. I got the brush off from my favorite childhood ball player. Not even my favorite cheeseburger could cheer me up. Since then, I have soured on Nettles. I have met him twice after at diffrent functions and he was always the same crabby guy each time. Kinda stinks when you expect a person to be one way and you get something totally diffrent. I never heard any horror stories regarding Nettles, so it was a huge surprise to me. I had met a lot of players before him and they were all nice to me, so having your first bad experiance at a signing and getting it from your childhood idol really sucked.

Needless to say, I won't be going out of my way for Nettles anymore.

2008-09 Black Diamond Martin Brodeur Quad Jersey

With yesterdays 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins, it seems like the Devils quest to make the postseason is pretty much dead. Unfortunately, the Devils horrific start was too much to over come. It's not that they're mathmatically eliminated just yet, but with about 9 games left and the Devils being 9 games behind Buffalo for the 8 playoff spot, they would have to win out right and hope for a lot of help from those in front of them to get in. It's going to take a miracle I think.

Broduer, dispite missing games due to injury, is having a solid season yet again. He is 21-23 with a 2.46 GAA and a save percentage of .902. He also has 5 shutout wins. In December, I was sure this would be his final season, but it looks like he will be back in net next year. That is good because he looks like he can play another year or two.

I managed to add this beauty to my Brodeur pc on Monday. It's an ebay win. Not numbered, but it looks great nonetheless. My Brodeur game used collection is growing and I look forward to add more to it soon.

What Should I Do?

I gotta be honest with you all, I'm not a huge fan of how this blog looks. To me, it's pretty plain and not exciting. When I read some of the awesome blogs here, I see some of the best pages around. Pages like Wrigley Wax, Vin Scully Is My Home Boy, Dodgerbobble, Hoopography, just to name a few, all have these colorful, eye pleasing pages with some awesome banners topping their pages.

So, I ask you, how do you all do that? I'm not the most computer literate person in the world. I'm lucky I know where the power button is on most of these things. Plus I see some bloggers actually have lists of what's in there collections and what they are looking for. I wanna get in on that.

One of my "blogging goals" is to tighten up my page, make it look a lot better than the it does now. Maybe I offer a contest and give a nice prize to whom ever helps me give this page a much needed make over? Do I just go out and pay someone to do this?

What do you guys think? Any help would be much appreciated from everyone.

Thanks.

New Add to Yankees Auto Collection:Enos Slaughter

I was finally able to add this HOF'er to my Yankees autograph collection, Enos Slaughter. Slaughter played 19 years in the majors, from 1938 to 1959. Although he spent the majority of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, he had 2 stints with the Yankees from 1954 to 1955 and from 1956-1959. He also played with the Kansas City A's and finished up with the Milwaukee Braves.

Slaughter was a 10 time All Star and won 4 World Series championships, winning 2 with the Cardinals and 2 with the Yankees. He is best known for his "Mad Dash", scoring from first on Harry Walker's single during the 1946 World Series against the Red Sox. It turned out to be the winning run of the World Series that year. For his career, he batted .300, with 2,383 hits; 169 Home Runs and 1,304 RBI's. He might have gotten to 3,000 hits had he not missed 3 years due to his military obligations during World War II. His number 9 has been retired by the St. Louis Cardinals and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985 via the Veteran's Committee.

I checked this auto against other Slaughter autographs I seen on ebay, including some cuts and it looks like the real mccoy. I got this for under 5.00 dlvd. Very pleased to be able to cross off another Yankee off the autograph list.

Another new addition

Well, It's been a while since I've been able to add 2 boobleheads to the collection in a weeks time, but thats what I was able to do this past week. First the Derek Jeter Bobble arrived, then I got this gem in the mail.This is a Woody booblehead doll, customized to him wearing Yankee colors. Anyone who collects bobbles knows that Disney released Woody and Buzz Lightyear bobbleheads wearing the colors of various baseball teams. Off the top of my head, I know that the San Fransisco Giants and the Chicago White Sox had Toy Story Bobbleheads released. I'm pretty sure the New York Mets had them as well. Not sure who else. I do know of one team that did not have them and that was the New York Yankees and I wanted to rectify that.

Enter my new friend Paul. He, like I am, is a member of a great bobblehead forum over at bobbleheaddolls51565.yuku.com/forum. If your a bobblehead collector like I am, I strongly urge you to join up (and tell them yankeesjetsfan sent you). He had originally made a Giants Woddy bobblehead. I let him know how good it came out and he dropped me a line letting me know he would be willing to make one for me, wearing Yankee colors. We negoiated a price and my Wody arrived yesterday.

I think Paul did a fantastic job with it. Lets take a closer look.

As you can see from the first picture, Woody is decked out in the Yankee road grays. Here's a picture of him from the back. Woody has his name on the back of the uni and is wearing a number 04. He also has a pull string, which helps him talk. Then again, if you've seen any of Toy Story Movies, you know that Woody really didn't need the pull string to talk.

Here's a view of Woody's cap, sporting the world famous interlocking NY of the New York Yankees

And finally, a view of the block on the base of the bobble, also sporting the interlocking NY.

I think Paul did a fantastic job of this customization and I'm very happy to add it to my Yankees bobblehead collection. Customizing bobbleheads are starting to become a hobby that a lot of collectors are trying their hand at. If you on youtube and run a search for slideball and SamuelYLam, you will see videos of some amazing work. I've been wanting to try my hand at converting the Peanuts bobbleheads that were given out by the Giants, Pirates and Angels, but it seems Samuel beat me to it. You can also check the bobble boards for some pics of other work as well.

I have been wanting to add more variety to my bobblehead collection. Although Disney has made Mickey, Goofy and Daffy Yankee bobbleheads, of yet I have been able to snag any of, they did not make any Toy Story, nor were there any Peanuts Yankee bobbleheads produced. As a fan of both, being able to customize these bobbles will be a fun way to add to the growing collection. Hopefully, my efforts will turn out as nice as Paul's Woody.

Thanks Paul.

New Bobblehead Addition

I haven't been able to add a new bobblehead to the collection for a long time. Money's been tied up in other stuff and the little I do have is usually spent on cards.

While surfing through ebay, I came across this gem. I looked at the starting bid and it was pretty low. I bid on it and won it. for the price I paid, it was a deal.

This is a 2001 Derek Jeter bobblehead given away by the Staten Island Yankees. I usually see the bobble on the bay for about 35.00 and up. I was able to get this one for under 15.00 dlvd. That's because, and I'm guessing here, it didn't have the original box or ticket stub from the game. That stuff doesn't really matter to me as I dont ever intend on selling my bobblehead collection, which now stands at 51 diffrent pieces. Plus, I really don't have the room to keep the boxes, so I toss them.

I have another on it's way. I will post a blog once it's received.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Wishing you and yours a very Happy and Safe St. Patrick's Day.

If your headed out to celebrate, please make sure you don't drink and drive. Have a designated driver handy. As James Dean once said, The life you save may be mine.

New Adds To Marty Brodeur Collection

I recently made a few trades on Sports Card Forum for two Martin Brodeur cards to add to the growing PC. Didn't take much to add these beauties and I'm very happy to have them.

First up, is a In The Game game used Brodeur jersey card. It's my first In The Game game used card. In The Game is pretty hard to come by in the states, at least in NYC it is, so I have never busted this product. I could never understand why the cards come incased in the plastic loader. I'm gonna have to figure a way to store this in the box with the other Brodeurs.

Then I was able to trade for this 2010-11 SPx Winning Combos dual game used jersey card of Brodeur and Roberto Luongo. The card is not numbered, but it's still a pretty nice card. I had originally bid on this card on ebay and lost out at the last second, so to be able to trade for it was pretty cool.

As you can tell, I finally figured out how to use the focus on my Samsung Epic, so this pic is a lot clearer than the other. I might actually go back and re-shoot the pic of the ITG jersey card.

I have more Brodeurs coming in the upcoming days. If anyone has any Brodeurs they're looking to trade, drop me an email at yankeesjetsfan@gmail.com. Thanks.

Autographed Baseball:David Cone

I love to meet sports stars. I love it even more if it's a free signing. Such was the case 2 years ago when former Yankees pitcher, David Cone made an appearance at a Home Depot in the South Bronx, not too far away from Yankee Stadium.

I had got there a little later than I wanted to. Of course, I over slept, so I rushed out of my apt and took the 4 train to 149th St and walked to the new Gateway Mall that just opened up right off the Major Deegan Highway. When I got there, the line was already out the door and inot the parking lot. My heart dropped and I was cursing my sleeping habbits. I still decided to get to the back of the line and try my luck anyway. Lucky for me, the line was moving, even though David hadn't arrived just yet.

Once I was in the store, I could see they had a table set up right next to the entrance, which meant the line wasnt as long as I originally thought it would be. Coney arrived not too long after and began to greet the fans and sign. As I got closer, store employees were handing out free baseballs with the Home Depot logo on the. When I got mine, I saw that the rawhide was a synthetic material and a signature would not hold up well over time. Luckly, I bought a Yankee Stadium Commeritive baseball I wanted Cone to sign for the Yankee Signed Wall I want to have for the future mancave. I glanced up and noticed I was next.

When I got to Cone, he greeted me with a smile and shook my hand. Most athletes are not the most gracious at these store events, but David was an exception. He went out of his way to make small talk with me and laughed when I told him he was the only Met I ever liked. I asked if he would sign the ball with his perfect game inscription and was more than happy to do so and asked if I wanted the free ball signed as well. Sure, why not. My cousin is a huge Yankees fan and would love the auto, so I got him to sign the ball, which I took to Seattle later that year and gave to him. David took a quick pic with me using my blackberry and I left with my new addition to the Yankees PC.

Looking at the ball on the train ride home, I was quite pleased at how it came out. Cone has a great signature and fit the inscription on the ball perfectly. My heart dropped when I looked at the picture, however. The store employee didnt use the auto focus I asked her to use and the pic came out fuzzy. The morale of the story, never let a store employee take a picture for you.

TTM Success 3/8/2011-Mike Emrick

Yesterday, I got another TTM success back. This time, it was from New Jersey Devils announcer, Mike Emrick. "Doc", is also NBC's number one hockey announcer, working their national games as well as the Winter Classic and Stanley Cup Finals. He also works games for Versus.

Emrick has been the Devils announcer twice. He was their first announcer back in the 1982-83 season, leaving soon after and returning to New Jersey after the 92-93 season. He has been an announcer for Fox, ESPN, TNT, CBS, as well as the Flyers and has worked the Olympics. He has won the National Cable Ace Award, has won local Emmy's, the Lester Patrick Throphy and was honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame with the Forster Hewitt Memorial Award back in 2008.

"Doc" signed my two customs in 2 weeks time, sent care of the New Jersey Devils in Red ink. Very pleased with the success. Emrick is so good at what he does, that I can't watch a hockey game and enjoy it unless he's calling the game. That's as good as a complement I can give any announcer.

IP Autograph: Jesse Barfield

One of the things I'd like to start showing off in this blog are some of my autographs and tell the stories behind how I aquired them. I love autographs and one of my goals is to try and get as many autos of players who played for the Yankees, Devils, Knicks and Jets. One of the main requirements I do have is that the player must be pictured in the uniform of the team I collect. I do realize it might be hard to do that as the player might have played only a handful of games and not had a card made in that particular uni. Thankfully, I can find a pic on the internet, use photoshop and make a quick custom. Good way to build the collection.

Today, I have this auto from Jesse Barfield to show off. When Barfield came to the Yankees, his offensive skills were diminishing. His best season as a Yankee was in 1990 when, after being traded for Al Leiter (a trade that still doesn't sit well with me), hit 25 home runs.

To me, what defined his brief Yankee career (he retired in 1992), was a play he made against the Indians that summer. I was at the game, sitting on the 3rd base side when the Indians hitter, who's name escapes me, hit a screamer past a diving Mattingly toward rf, geting an easy double. The hitter, feeling a bit froggy decided to go for three, especially after seeing Barfield slip and fall on the grass. Barfield, from his knees, gunned the ball to 3rd and got the runner out by a mile. His bat might have slowed, but the arm still had a few bullets left.

I was able to get this card signed by Barfield outside Yankee Stadium in Sept of '90, I think. Could have been '91, not too sure. The card was given out by the Yankees in a set made by Score. Barfield was a real nice guy and still is. I recently saw him at a card show in Westchester. He was passing me by and I put up my hand and he gave me a high five. Still has some strength cause it hurt like hell as well.

Nice to see some players still appreciate their fans.

First Spring Training TTM Recieved

I finally got back a spring training ttm the other day and it was from Yankees center fielder, Curtis Granderson. I had originally sent him a 2010 Topps Heritage and a custom Yankee Stadium card and they were returned, unsigned. But he did send this card of his own, signed in black sharpie. After consulting with other ttm hounds on sportscardforum.com, it was deemed that this is a legit auto.

The total days it took to recieve back was 10 days. Thanks Curtis for allowing me to add your autograph to my growing Yankees autograph collection.

Post Number 100, A Ruthian Achievement

This post marks my 100th post here. It took me a bit longer than I thought it would, but nonetheless, here I am. I'd like to take this time to thank those who read, comment and follow this blog. As much as I enjoy blogging, its you guy who inspire me to continue with this blog through your own terrific blogs and encouraging comments. I have been blessed to have gotten some positive feedback from some very talented writers here and I can only hope that the next 100 posts here will keep you all coming back to read it.

So, for my 100th post, I wanted to share an autograph that is the centerpiece of my autograph collection. For this story, I have to take you back a few years to 2007. I went to the Westchester Card Show. I had gotten a pretty good return on my taxes and was looking to spend. I believe that day, Mike Myers (the pitcher, not the actor or serial killer) and Scott Proctor were signing. I needed both for my Yankee baseball collection, so I decided to get them. While perusing the tables, I noticed a dealer selling 2005 Upper Deck Baseball tins for 25.00 a piece. I bought two, hoping for some Yankee legends to add to the PC. I walked to the back of the line and waited for the signing to begin. While there, I decided to open the tins. Now, when I go to a card show and buy any boxes, I usually wait till I get home in case of a huge pull. I wouldn't want to lose it during the day.

I open the first tin and lo and behold, I get a Yogi Berra autographed card. Sweet! Always nice to get a Yogi auto. I also pulled a Brooks Robinson auto, which was weird as I thought it was one hit per tin. The second tin produced nothing. Nice Babe Ruth insert though, me being the insert loving SOB that I am. Oh well, I thought. I hit with two autos on the first tin, I guess I can't complain. I glanced over the cards from the second tin again, passing the Ruth insert again when it it me. Why is there a facsmile auto on it? I went back and looked closer at it and realized something. This was no insert. It dawned on me that I just hit the pull of a lifetime. A 1/1 Babe Ruth cut autograph. Normally, I like to think I do act with a bit of decorum, but I allowed myself a loud HOLY S#!t!!! People looked at me like I was a weirdo. Then someone glanced over my shoulder and yelled out "this guy just pulled a Ruth auto!" People on the line offered their congradulations and went about their business.

As side from letting a father and son look and hold the card, I jumped off the line and bought a magnetic protector and put the card away. This baby was going to be kept in the most prestine condition I could keep it in. As soon as I got home, I took a picture of it and put it away in the family safe deposit box where it still resides.

I have had offers for the card, but I declined all of them. Some of my friends have told me to sell as it would help me financially, but no. As a Yankee collector, I know I would never be able to afford another at a later date and plus my Yankees collection looks really awesome with it in there. I guess I would sell it later if I need the money for retirement or if I ever kids and need to put one through college. But if I had my choice, that baby will be buried with me.

So, for the curious, I show you, my prized possessionThis card rules all others that came before it. Long live the cut!

2010-11 SPx Winning Trios Devils Triple Jersey #'ed to 50

Been a while since I last posted. Been working extra hours and taking care of some personal stuff. A lot has happened since I last posted. Knicks getting Carmelo Anthony (Yey) and the baseball world losing Duke Snider (Boo). Heck, I only sent out 10 Spring Training autograph requests this year, down from the 20-30 I usually get out. It's March now and lately the only thing that's been on my mind is baseball and my beloved New York Yankees. That's why I'm showing off a hockey card.

Got this beauty in a trade on sportscardforum.com. It's a 2010-2011 SPx Winning Trios triple game used jersey card of Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias and former Devils Captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The card is numbered to 50 and I'm pleased to be able to added to my Martin Brodeur PC.

I have a few other trades hopefully coming back soon. For my 100th post, I will show off my prized possession.