He played there? Hockey Edition: Part 1

Is everyone ready for this one? I know I am! I went through Baseball, which I completed in 4 parts. For the NHL, I think I could probably do this in 4 parts too, but we'll see. The first player I stumbled upon accidentally. When I placed a COMC order, I had added a Violet Pixels parallel of Drake Batherson. This also happened to be a Rookie for Drake, so it did cost me a little over $3, but the card I received was not Drake Batherson. This fumble by COMC only gave me my store credit back, and I got to keep the card I didn't order which was of... Marian Gaborik. Gaborik was a sensational player. I loved watching him play. He would put the Minnesota Wild on his back and was a point per game player every season he played there. However, he caught the injury bug. Then there were the contract issues with Minnesota. He then signed a huge 5-year deal with the Rangers then was traded 4 years later and then was traded a few times after that landing with Columbus, Los Angeles and then to Ottawa. Marian would only suit up for 16 games with the Senators and due to a herniated disk in his back, those 16 games would be his last in the NHL. In 1,035 NHL Games, Gaborik amassed 407 goals, 408 assists for 815 points and had a stellar career that included 3 All-Star Game appearances, an All-Star Game MVP trophy and a Stanley Cup Championship with the Los Angeles Kings in 2014 where he played a huge role in their Stanley Cup win by contributing 22 points in 26 games! Looking back, I vaguely remember Gaborik in Ottawa and maybe that is because he was a shell of himself due to his back injury. There aren't very many cards of him depicted in a Sens uni, and with a 16-game stint, rightfully so. 

How was he acquired? On February 13, 2018, the Los Angeles Kings traded Marian Gaborik and Nick Shore to the Ottawa Senators for Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson.

2018/19 OPC Platinum Marian Gaborik Violet Pixels #69

Blaine Stoughton probably isn't a name that anyone who reads my blog would know. Selected 7th overall back in the 1973 NHL Draft by my hometown Pittsburgh Penguins. Stoughton would play a half a season with the Pens before he was traded (along with a 1st round pick) in 1977 to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Rick Kehoe! After 2 years with Toronto, he then signed to play in the WHA for the Cincinnati Stingers. In his first full WHA season, Stoughton put up 52 goals and 52 assists! After the WHA had folded, Stoughton moved on to play for the Hartford Whalers where he became a goal scoring threat. In the 1979/80 season, he put up 56 goals (leading the NHL), then 43 a year later. His goal scoring continued in 1981/82 where he scored over 50 goals again by potting 52 goals. The next season, he missed 8 games, or he maybe would have put up 50 goals again. He scored 45 goals in '82/83. In a head scratching move, Stoughton was traded from the Whalers to the New York Rangers. Stoughton's Rangers career was less than stellar as he played with them for 14 games and only putting up 5 goals and 2 assists. This would be the last year of Stoughton's NHL career. The Rangers exposed Stoughton in the 1984 NHL Waiver Draft where he would go unclaimed. 

How was he acquired? On February 27, 1984, the Hartford Whalers traded Blaine Stoughton to the New York Rangers for Defenseman Scot Kleinendorst. 

1984/85 OPC Blaine Stoughton #154

Everyone loves a good airbrush card, and the next one is just that. I acquired this card in 2013 at a card show for 10 cents. Why? Well, 1, because it's an awesome airbrush job and 2, because it's freaking Guy Chouinard. It's in pretty darn good shape to boot! When I was young, I bought Chouinard's rookie card at a card show for $1. I really didn't know much about him, but it was an old hockey card and I was intrigued. Little did I know that he was an Atlanta/Calgary Flames legend. "Gramps" as he was called was the first Flames player to score 50 goals! After 8 seasons in Atlanta/Calgary, Chouinard was traded to the Blues. With St. Louis, Chouinard wasn't terrible, but he wasn't exactly the player he had been previously. After the 1981/82 season, Guy's production had dipped and in his final year in the NHL in '83/84, he only posted 46 points in 64 games. 

How was he acquired? On September 6, 1983, the Calgary Flames traded Guy Chouinard to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations. I have scoured the internet to find out what the future considerations were, but no site really had anything to add. 

1983/84 OPC Guy Chouinard #78

When I think of Dave Andreychuk, I think: Hall of Famer (2017), 2nd most Power Play Goals in NHL history with 274 and Stanley Cup Champion (2004 with the Lightning). I also think of him playing for the Sabres, Leafs, Devils or Lightning. However, he also suited up for 3/4 of a season with the Bruins and then spent the last 14 games of that season (1999/00) with the Colorado Avalanche. Now, I vaguely remember him getting traded, but when I dug deeper, I realized that he was part of the trade that brought Ray Bourque to the Avalanche! I also remember that was my senior year of High School and I was working a lot, was in a pop punk band and also had a girlfriend in college who I would go visit a lot at Pitt (before breaking up with her before my graduation - sorry Miranda). I wasn't watching too much hockey that season because I was trying to have the time of my life. So, the fact Andreychuk played for the Avs was really a blur to me. One night when I was packing up some eBay sales, I was adding in some base cards to a package, and I looked through the hockey cards I was putting in a team bag as "extra packing material" and I noticed an Andreychuk Topps card I almost sent away. I sat down in my computer chair and thought, "Holy crap! This would be a good one to put on the blog!" That Andreychuk card never made it in as packing material. It ended up in my blogging box that I keep. Dave wasn't exactly stellar for the Colorado Avalanche. In his 14-game stint, he only added 1 goal and 2 assists. He also wasn't very effective in the playoffs as he only contributed 5 points in 17 games, but he definitely played for them and below is proof in photo form.

How was he acquired? On March 6, 2000, the Boston Bruins traded Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk to the Colorado Avalanche for Martin Grenier, Samuel Pahlsson, Brian Rolston and a 2000 1st Round Draft Pick.

2000/01 Topps Dave Andreychuk #157

On to another Hall of Famer. While I do remember Jari Kurri as a New York Ranger (even though he had his shortest stint of his career with 14 games played). I remember him as an Anaheim Mighty Duck a little less. In the lockout shortened season in 1994/95, Kurri played in the Finnish Elite League (SM-liiga) for Jokerit. While playing on this team, he was on a line with Teemu Selanne. After the lockout ended, Kurri was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the New York Rangers. After that short stop, he signed with the Ducks. Hoping to play on a line with Selanne and Paul Kariya, but he was shifted to the 2nd Line instead. After that lone season in 1996/97, Kurri bolted from the Ducks to sign with the Avalanche where he would finish his NHL career in 1997/98. 

How was he acquired? On August 14, 1996, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks signed Jari Kurri.

1996/97 Fleer Ultra Gold Medallion Jari Kurri #G-3

If you know hockey, you definitely know who Jacques Plante is. Plante is a goaltending legend. A Hall of Famer, 6-time Stanley Cup Champion, 8-time All-Star, 7-time Vezina Trophy Winner and also a rare feat of winning a Hart Trophy as a goalie. You probably remember him as a Montreal Canadien, like we all do. However, he played for the New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs and....Boston Bruins? Yep, you heard that correctly. Plante played the last half of his last NHL season (1972/73) with the Bruins. He would suit up for 8 games with the Bruins going 7-1 with a 2.00 GAA and a .927 Save %. However, his time in the playoffs that season for them was pretty brutal. He only got into 2 games but was 0-2 with a 5.00 GAA and a Save % of .841. After that season, Jacques accepted a $1 million, 10-year contract to become the coach and GM of the Quebec Nordiques (who at the time in 1973 were in the WHA). After Plante became upset with his team, he resigned at the end of that season and signed with the Edmonton Oilers in the WHA and played 31 games for them. In training camp the next season, he would retire after his youngest son had passed away. 

How was he acquired? On March 3, 1973, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded Jacques Plante to the Boston Bruins for a 1st Round Pick in 1973 (used on Ian Turnbull) and future considerations (Eddie Johnston). 

2023/24 Upper Deck Boston Bruins Centennial Jacques Plante #71

This next one is a personal favorite of mine and also an airbrush job on the card. Wilf Paiement is the player. Paiement is usually most noted for his lengthy suspension back in 1978 when Dennis Polonich was talking trash to Wilf and Paiement struck Polonich across the face with his stick. This resulted in severe facial lacerations, smashed nose and reconstructive surgery and a concussion. Paiement was suspended for 15 games for the incident and also had to pay Polonich $850,000 due to an injury settlement after he sued Paiement. However, Paiement was actually a pretty decent player. Drafted by the Kansas City Scouts 2nd overall in 1974, Paiement had a 14-year NHL career of 946 games and 814 points. He also amassed 1,757 PIM's. I remember him when he played for the Penguins his last season in the NHL. He fought someone that year (for the life of me I don't remember who it was, but I remember my dad and his buddies being impressed). From then on, I always knew who Wilf Paiement was. Sadly, his last year in the NHL and his second shortest stint with a team was with my hometown Penguins in 1987/88 where he would play in 23 games (he played 9 games with the Rangers in '85/86 and I couldn't locate a card from him with the Rags). After his retirement, he was the last active player who had played for the Kansas City Scouts. 

How was he acquired? September 10, 1987, the Pittsburgh Penguins claimed Wilf Paiement off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres.

1987/88 OPC Wilf Paiement #180

The next player up is another Hall of Famer. This player never won a Stanley Cup, never sniffed the Cup Finals, never won an NHL Award. Even with all of that, he still scored 708 goals during his career. Give up? It's Mike Gartner. I always liked Mike Gartner and felt it was always hard to root against a guy who was such a great player and smooth skater. Does anyone remember what teams he played for? Capitals, yes, Rangers, yes, Leafs, yes, Coyotes, yes, Minnesota North Stars....uhhh....yes. When I was thinking about guys to put on this blog, to be honest, Gartner was not one of them. When I stumbled across this card in a repack, I got from the Dollar Tree, I knew I had to add this. I couldn't remember Gartner's time with the North Stars. If you would have put a gun to my head with multiple choice answers, I would have gotten this wrong. Gartner played the last half of the '88/89 season with the North Stars and 3/4 of the '89/90 season with them for a total of 80 games. 

How was he acquired? On March 7, 1989, the Washington Capitals traded Larry Murphy and Mike Gartner to the Minnesota North Stars for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse.

1990/91 Bowman Hat Tricks Mike Gartner #8

Selected in the 9th Round in 1994, this next player was selected 2 picks after the Quebec Nordiques drafted Tim Thomas - yes, that Tim Thomas. Give up? Evgeni Nabokov. Nabokov was a terrific netminder who won 40 + games 3 years in a row for the San Jose Sharks. He even won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year back in 2001. He finished his career with 353 Wins which is good for 24th all-time in the NHL. Not bad for a 9th rounder. Most will remember Nabokov for his time with the Sharks and also his 3 seasons with the New York Islanders. Did you know, Nabokov finished his career with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2014/15? I sort of remember this, but it's vague. He wasn't exactly himself while suiting up with the Lightning. In his last 11 games in the NHL in Tampa Bay, he had a record of 3-6-2 with a GAA of 3.15 and a Save % below .900 of .882. Looks like Evgeni knew when to hang them up. He is currently the goaltending coach for the San Jose Sharks. Good for Mr. Nabokov!

How was he acquired? On July 1, 2014, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed Evgeni Nabokov to a 1 year deal worth $1.55 million.

2014/15 Upper Deck Evgeni Nabokov #420

Steve Thomas never reached 1,000 points. He almost got there during his 20-year NHL career. With 1,235 career games under his belt, he potted 933 points (421 goals, 512 assists). Thomas ended his career with a 44-game season with the Detroit Red Wings in 2003/04. In those 20 years he played, Thomas wore 6 NHL sweaters. Leafs, Blackhawks, Islanders, Devils, Red Wings and Mighty Ducks. Yup, Thomas was a Mighty Duck back in 2002/03. He played 12 games for them and was a point-per-game player with 13 points! This card depicting Thomas in his Mighty Ducks sweater was found in the same re-pack as the Gartner above. 

How was he acquired? On March 11, 2003, the Chicago Blackhawks traded Steve Thomas to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for a 2003 5th Round Draft Pick. 

2003/04 Pacific Steve Thomas #11

Wendel Clark was tough as nails. Drafted 1st overall in the 1985 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, he was beloved in every city he played in. Just like Steve Thomas, Clark played for 6 different teams during his career. Injuries however, played a part in Clark's retirement and overall play during the final seasons of his career. He had 2 stints with teams for less than 15 games in the final 2 years of his NHL career. I heard an interview on a podcast several years ago from a former Islanders player saying after games Clark would have bags of ice on every joint on his body. He was clearly taking a beating and just showing up night after night and giving it his all. That's why everyone loves him. He was a competitor. You can't really say anything bad about him. One day I went down a rabbit hole and did a deep dive on Wendel Clark's career and had no idea he even played for the Chicago Blackhawks or the Detroit Red Wings. I saw he played 1 more game for the Blackhawks (13), so I decided to make Wendel's "He played there" for the Detroit Red Wings because, I clearly don't even remember this. He had 1 or 2 Red Wings cards made that year and one was an autograph, so I found a cheaper option to show you Clark in a Wings uniform. I was talking to my friend Nick on X one night and asked if he had a Wendel Clark card in a Red Wings uniform he said, "No, but I know a guy who sells on Sportlots, here's his username, look to see if he has one and let me know." Sure enough the guy had one. Fast forward to the huge card show I just went to in August, and I got the Wendel Clark card from Nick's friend for free. Thank you, Clint. I appreciate the card. I know you'll probably never read this, but if you do, here is another huge thanks from me.

How was he acquired? On March 23, 1999, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded Wendel Clark and a 1999 6th Round Draft Pick to the Detroit Red Wings for Goaltender Kevin Hodson and a 1999 2nd Round Draft Pick (Sheldon Keefe).

1999/00 Pacific Wendel Clark #136

We will end with another goalie. "The Beezer" John Vanbiesbrouck. Yes, he made a racial slur against Trevor Daley and is pretty much a jerk, but he is an NHL legend. He won 374 games in his career which puts him at 19th on the NHL All-Time Goalie Wins Leaders. Beezer was known mostly for his time with the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Florida Panthers (Rat Pack years). He also suited up shortly for the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. I really wanted to show you a Beezer card on this blog from his time with the Devils, but I couldn't find one that was affordable (COMC has one for $10, but I'm not made of money - sorry), so for this blog, you will have to settle for a John Vanbiesbrouck card from his time with the Islanders.

How was he acquired? June 25, 2000 the Philadelphia Flyers trade John Vanbiesbrouck to the New York Islanders for a 2001 4th Round Pick (Jordin Tootoo).

2000/01 Topps Stars John Vanbiesbrouck #94

As always, thanks for reading.

Last of the TTM Requests...for now

Well, I finally ran out of stamps. With my last 8 stamps, I decided to send out these 4 requests:

1978 Topps Floyd Bannister RC
1974 Topps Ed Bane RC
1973 Topps Walt Patulski RC
1974 Topps Greg Pruitt RC

So, I did the same thing as my previous requests, and I asked each one to answer a set of questions. This batch of requests was sent out more recently in May. I erased my white board in my office, and I didn't write any dates down like I did previously, so this is all from my memory, but I believe I sent all of these requests out on 5/14/2025. Within 5 days I received a response! I noticed that the return stamp was from Cleveland, so I knew it was from Greg Pruitt. The Pruitt card was one of my dad's cards from when he was a teenager. I was pumped to see that Greg answered the questions I asked! Thanks Greg! For the next return, I had to wait a little while. 2 months to be exact. It came from Ed Bane! I remember pulling this card out of a 50-cent box and seeing his awesome glasses and I was sold! So pumped to get this card signed by him. If you would have told me back then that I would have this card autographed I would have laughed at you. Bane also answered the questions I asked him which was super cool! Thanks Ed! As for the Bannister and Patulski, nothing as of yet. I am holding out hope that they come back though. We will see. 

For my job, sometimes I send out paper marketing materials out to companies to put in their break rooms, offices, storefronts, etc. You never know who may need mental health help these days in FL, PA and OH. One day when I was mailing out some of these, I decided to do a separate order, and I bought 6 stamps. I figured I'd try to send out 3 more TTM requests. For these requests, I tried out sending to a hockey player. Here's the card/player I sent to, and this was on 7/18/2025 (these are still up on my whiteboard):

1977 Topps Richard Todd RC
1989 Donruss Rated Rookie Cameron Drew RC
1995/96 Pinnacle Zenith Jason Bonsignore

On the 31st of July, Jason Bonsignore sent me a return! However, he did not answer the questions I sent him which I was really looking forward to reading. Bummer, but I'm happy with the return. Thanks Jason! The next return was a few days later on 8/4/2025 and the envelope looked pretty beat up. I was really worried when I opened the envelope. When I finally dug the card out, it had shifted out of the Card Saver, I sent it in, but it was autographed. This return I am told is a tough one to get. It came from Cameron Drew. Drew did not respond to my questions either though, so I was a bit bummed out by that. However, to get a response from a tough TTM request, is pretty cool. He must have liked my kind words. I did butter him up pretty darn good in my letter. I still have hope that Richard Todd will sign that card I sent him. Please Mr. Todd, sign my card! Ok, anyways, let's get to the meat and potatoes here. The autographs!

Greg Pruitt:

Pruitt's Letter:

Pruitt noted that his favorite game time meal consisted of oatmeal, over-medium eggs and bacon. That sounds good right about now! His favorite teammate was his backup RB Cleo Miller. Pruitt says he hated to play again Tom Jackson. Pretty cool!

Ed Bane:

Those glasses...awesome!

Ed Bane's Letter:

Unfortunately, Ed never answered what his favorite game time meal was or who his first strikeout victim was. Upsetting. 

Jason Bonsignore:

Love the blue sig on the blue pants and socks. Sweetness! Thanks Jason!

Finally...Cameron Drew:

Thanks for reading.

TTM Requests - continued

Like I said in my previous post, I have a bunch of these. After my oldest son's birthday in January, I decided to gather up some more cards to send. This time, I also included a few football cards I had laying around. In this bunch I sent the following cards:

1989 Score Aundray Bruce RC
1994 Topps Finest Dave Staton 
1974 Topps Jerry Tagge RC
1980 Topps Steve Pisarkiewicz RC
1969 Topps High # Ted Sizemore/Bill Sudakis RC
1974 Topps Barry Foote/Tom Lundstedt/Charlie Moore/Sergio Robles RC
1975 Topps Steve Swisher RC

Out of all of these players, the only ones I am still waiting on (or have no hopes for) are Aundray Bruce and Dave Staton. The rest all signed stuff for me. So, this batch of cards were sent out on 1/17/2025. After 10 days, I saw a return in my mailbox. It was from Barry Foote! Mr. Foote also answered the questions I had for him. Thanks Barry! Then, a few days later, I received an envelope back stating that I had the wrong address. When I opened the envelope, I noticed that it was for Ted Sizemore. So, I did a little bit of internet research and realize that Mr. Sizemore had relocated a few years ago. Looks like the autograph book that I was using is a little bit outdated. So, I repacked another envelope and shot Ted Sizemore's request back out on 1/29/2025. On 2/10/2025, my wife came in my office and threw and envelope at me and said, "Looks like this one is yours." It was a little bit thick, so I opened it and noted that not only had Steve Pisarkiewicz signed the card I sent him, but he also wrote me a handwritten letter back! This was by far the coolest return I have received to date! The next return came from Teddy Sizemore. After I had researched his new address, he sent the thing back really fast! Sizemore's return came on 2/12/2025. However, he would not respond to any of the questions I asked him. He only signed the card I sent him...bummer. On Valentines Day, there was a bunch of junk mail, and I was about to throw it out when I felt something a little bit stiff in the mail pile. There was a return! This one was from Steve Swisher. Swisher however, only signed the card I sent. He did not answer any of my questions. It's ok though, I got over it pretty fast. The last return came from Jerry Tagge on 3/24/2025. This Jerry Tagge card was given to me for free in one of the Sportlots packages I received. It was used as filler because it had the letters "VX" written in blue pen on the back. I think I repurposed it well. Mr. Tagge also responded to the questions I asked him. All in all, a good batch of returns. Let's check them out below!

Barry Foote:

Mr. Foote has a pretty awesome signature. I may research the rest of the guys on the card to see if I can get them all to sign it. That sounds like a cool idea. I've seen people do it, but can I do it? That is the question.

Foote's Letter:

I thought it was pretty cool that Foote watched some Canadiens games when he was playing with the Expos. Also, stellar game day meal of Eggplant Parm. I like this guy. Thanks Barry!

Steve Pisarkiewicz:

His penmanship is unmatched to me. I may write to him again, we'll see.

Pisarkiewicz's handwritten note:

Pisarkiewicz played in cold weather in his days in the CFL. He also noted that dark chocolate was his favorite pre-game snack and that he flew to NYC on his draft day. His favorite teammate was WR Pat Tilley during his time with the Cardinals. Pretty neat! Thank you so much Steve!

Ted Sizemore:

Ted Sizemore has a decent signature. I'm happy with how it came out - even if it cost me an extra stamp.

Steve Swisher:

Looks like Swisher's autograph has changed a little bit since 1975, eh?

Finally...

Jerry Tagge:

Tagge's Letter:

So, a little bit about question 5: How many apartment buildings did you sell? Jerry said 6. The reason I asked this particular question is when I researched Tagge, it was noted that when he moved to St. Louis, he sold apartment buildings. This was after he had retired from football in 1979 due to a knee injury. After his career in real estate, he eventually settled down to start his own financial service in Omaha, NE. Pretty cool!

I still have 1 more post because I did buy 2 books of stamps and they needed to be used. I hope you enjoyed checking out my returns!

Thanks for reading!

TTM Requests

I hadn't sent out any through the mail requests in a while, so last August I bought a few books of stamps and went wild. I opened up my binder and grabbed a plethora of cards out that I thought would gain some successes and also typed out some letters (because my handwriting is atrocious). Each player was given a few questions in each letter that were asked by me and my 7-year-old son because he thought it would be cool. Here are the players/cards that I sent out and the date each was sent:

Request Sent: 8/24/2024

1973 Topps Dave Roberts RC
1965 Topps Rick Reichardt/Bill Kelso RC
1972 Topps Chris Chambliss RC

The first return in the bunch was from Rick Reichardt. Rick was nice enough to send his signed card back right away! Sadly, I wasn't able to get the full card signed as Bill Kelso passed away in 2009. Reichardt signed this card, answered my questions and sent it back by 9/3/2024 for a turnaround time of 10 days! Dave Roberts followed a few weeks after that and he signed my card and also answered questions for me. His return arrived on 9/27/2024 for a turnaround time of 34 days! Also, not shabby!

Reichardt's letter

What blew me away with Reichardt's letter was his answer to Question #5, which was: When you were drafted into the NFL, how were you notified? Telephone? I have always wondered about this.

Reichardt replied with: John Unitas called

WOW! Could you even imagine?

Dave Roberts (I bought this card because of the Rookie Cup and also his uni):

Roberts' Letter:

Mr. Roberts says Don Zimmer was his favorite manager to play for and he enjoys a good steak as his favorite pre-game meal!

As for Chris Chambliss, I think it's pretty safe to say I'll never see that card again which is upsetting because it was one of my dad's from when he was a kid. Definitely not cool Chris Chambliss!

After these returns, I did a few more because well, I had the stamps, why not? 

So, on 11/16/2024 I was at it again. I dug into my vintage box once again and dug out a few goodies. Most of these cards I sent were rookie cards I purchased a while back at card shows in 50 cent boxes, so I guess I repurposed them into something cool. Let's check the next batch:

1972 Topps Toby Harrah RC

1971 Topps Dick Mills/Mike Garman RC
1973 Topps John Felske RC
1977 Topps Pete Vuckovich RC (Clu Haywood from the movie Major League)

1972 Topps Buzz Capra/Leroy Stanton/Jon Matlack RC
1983 Fleer Ken Smith RC
1971 Topps Steve Dunning RC

Surprisingly, Vuckovich (former Cy Young Award winner and actor) signed first! The crazy part of sending something to Vuckovich is I know exactly where his house is! He lives on a road on the way to my grandparents' house. When I looked at the address I had to do a double take. I thought, "Holy crap! I know that street!" Pretty wild. Vuckovich signed in 8 days but did not answer the questions in my letter. I received his response on 11/24/2024. The next day, I remember talking to my mailman and he asked if I had sent something to Toby Harrah the baseball player and I said, "Yeah. I asked him for an autograph." He laughed and handed me some envelopes and Toby Harrah actually put his return address on the envelope to me. Stupid me tossed it though. Toby signed the card I sent him and also made me laugh with a response to one of the questions I asked him. Super cool guy that Toby Harrah is! His return came 11/25/2024 with a turnaround time of 9 days. A week had gone by, and I hadn't received another letter then out of the blue came another letter on 12/3/2024. This return was from Mike Garman with a turnaround time of 17 days. However, like Vuckovich, Garman did not answer my questions. I'm guessing they didn't read the letter I wrote which sucks. On New Year's Eve, I checked my mailbox and there was 1 letter in there with familiar handwriting. Yep, that's definitely a return. This one came from Jon Matlack. Matlack did sign my card and also answered the questions I had for him. Matlack's turnaround time was 45 days. A little bit after the new year, I did receive my card back from John Felske with a note from his son stating his father had passed away. I have to admit, I felt pretty awful that I sent him something because I always made sure to check the internet to see if any of the players on the vintage cards had passed and I didn't remember seeing anything about Felske passing. So, I checked the internet again and I saw that Felske had passed away on 11/30/2024, which was 2 weeks after I sent the card to him. RIP Mr. John Felske. As for Ken Smith, dude, remember I'm the guy who wanted to play catch with you in my post: Cards that bothered me as a kid  I thought we were cool, Ken. To Steve Dunning, c'mon man. I've seen he's hard to get to sign, but I tried. I really wrote him a heartfelt letter too. The card I sent him was one of my dad's, so I was a bit upset.

Pete Vuckovich:

Toby Harrah:

Harrah's Letter:

Harrah didn't care for Ted Williams as a manager as his response to my 1st question: What team did you have the most fun playing on? "Didn't care for Washington also because of Ted Williams." YIKES!

I also asked if Jim Leyland was a nice guy and Harrah's response made me laugh: Smoked too much!

Classic.

Mike Garman:

Garman's signature is really nice!

Jon Matlack:

Personally, not a fan of the marker Matlack used her, but what can ya do?

Matlack's letter:

Not super exciting with his responses here, but at least the guy took the time. Thank you, Mr. Matlack!

I have more of these coming...literally a years' worth of them, so be on the lookout for more. As always, thanks for reading.

To the card show I go!

There was a massive card show about 45 minutes away from me this past weekend. They were estimating 600-650 tables of vendors. I kicked around going and not going on Friday. My wife and my oldest son were going to be out of town that day visiting her college roommate and her daughter who is right around my son's age, so I was going to be left at home to work...alone. Well, I decided to let my boss know that I'd be taking a half day to go do something "nerdy". She laughed and said, "Have a blast, you earned it!" So, that morning I dropped my youngest off at daycare and threw on my audiobook and drove. My buddy Nick who I have known for about 25 years said that he would meet me there and also, he knew a guy setting up inside that said we could come earlier than the opening time of 12pm, so I made sure to get there by 10am. 

When I got there, I waited out front for a few mins before I met Nick and we went inside. Surprisingly, a lot of vendors were already set up and ready to rock and roll. This is what it looked like inside (I took this photo at around 12:30PM). 

When we were first inside, we found Nick's friend and I bought a nice bunch of cards from him and also the vendor that was right in front of him. Below are the goodies I grabbed:

The Cossa and Zadina were from Nick. I had told him I would buy that Cossa from him and he said he had a Filip Zadina Future Watch Autograph that he didn't want, and I told him I'd give him $5 jokingly, but it turned out we just did the deal. I gave him $13 for the 2. The Dubois, Turco and Drury were from Nick's friend and the last 2 OPC Platinum's were from the vendor in front of Nick's friend. 

We then walked around a bit and found this guy from Cleveland who was set up and he had a few boxes of 25 cent cards. I dug out a few treasures there and also some from another guy from the Cleveland area a little way away from that vendor and found more 25 cent treasures. I had grabbed 7 from each, but they refused $1.75 and insisted I pay $1. Works for me! Nothing too outlandish in the bunch below.

After walking around for a bit, it got hot...and smelly, but we pushed on. I found another guy who had a huge box of refractors, and he also had a smaller box of rookies. Each was .25. I dug into 3 rows and pulled out some decent ones. Was shocked to find 2 of the Silver Nunn's and a Pink Nunn in that box (not pictured). Also, a Kwame Brown Refractor Rookie? Really? Only 25 cents...crazy. A buddy of mine bought a Silver Nunn and also the Pink almost immediately after I got home, so they were already packed and shipped out before I even got to this post. I do still have the 1 Silver Nunn though. Is that card a short print or something? I saw some insane prices for it on eBay. Anyways, here are some more 25 cent Silvers, Refractors and a Donruss Rated Rookie.

Eventually we went back to Nick's friends table because he had a fan, and it felt good when it blew on you. My goodness the heat. I also spent more money there and at the table across from him. Found the Olave and Brown while digging at the place diagonal from Nick's friend along with the Jordan and Harry Auto. The Benson was at the table right across from Nick's friend (I'd name the guy, but I never asked his permission to use his name on the blog). The McMann in the 2nd picture was $1 from that same vendor and the rest were either 50 cents or $1 from Nick's friend. 

Then we decided to take a stroll to the far end of the show. This mall is pretty big, so it took us a while to get there. We made it to this one vendor's table who had a lot of hockey binders and some newer hockey cards. We stopped to look a little bit, but the prices were pretty astronomical. I really wanted a Sebastian Cossa Future Watch Autograph he had, but he quoted me $140 for it. That's when I knew it wasn't a place I wanted to spend my money. Although that might have been a fair price by eBay standards, it wasn't for me. We kept moving along. Nick was ahead of me about 10 feet because I stopped to look through a Rubbermaid bin of 1988 Topps Grocery Packs another vendor was selling for $3 a piece. It took me about 30 seconds to find the one I wanted. It had the Hawk, Ron Darling and a Tom Glavine Rookie on the front. SCORE! I'll pay $3 for this thing all day long.

After this purchase, we found someone else selling a bunch of cheap hockey cards. 50 cents each! We both dug into the stacks of cards. I found some nice 1997/98 Pacific Revolution Ice Blue parallels and a In The Game Expired Draft Redemption card (Marek Zidlicky) and a cool acetate insert of Zach Bolduc and what should have cost me $2.50, only cost me $2. The guy didn't want to deal with coins, so I guess one of the cards below was free. The Leetch Rookie Card came from Nick's friend who sold it to me for 50 cents. So, this picture is my 50 centers. 

Then, we walked around basically making sure we hit every table. We stopped by one more time to chat with Nick's buddy because he sold him a bunch of stuff and then we decided to leave. While moving toward the door a card caught my eye. I jerked my head back and made my way back to it. The vendor instantly knew what I was looking at. He said, "The Brett, eh?" "Oh YEAH!" I said back. He had a BEAUTIFUL George Brett rookie. It was priced at $95. He told me he priced it to move. I checked my cash, and I only had $51 left. I told him this and he mentioned the ATM around the corner. At this point, I text my wife and said, "Is it cool if I take out $50 more for a George Brett Rookie?" My wife realizing how much I love George Brett said, "Of course! Buy that thing!" So, I told the vendor I was going to grab some more cash. I went back 5 minutes later, and he says, "Instead of $95, let's make it $85." His wife who was sitting down next to him was all smiles. I had told them how I sold my Brett Rookie when my wife and I were building the house we were in. It was one of the cards I was meaning to buy again, but if I did, I wanted one in better condition. Well, mission accomplished! This thing is a beauty!

So, I guess the show was decent. The Brett certainly made up for a bit of a bust (for me personally). It was so dang hot, there were a ton of Pokémon cards, a lot of people smelled bad, but I went. Cards haven't really been the main focus of my attention lately and maybe I was trying to find a spark to keep my interest going, but it's been a struggle lately. So, I decided to take up skateboarding. You heard that correctly. I have been riding for a little bit this past week. I'm going to try to blog about it as much as I can (until winter comes). At first, I was going to make a blog about the old History Channel Show Down East Dickering, but I scratched that for this idea. If you want to check that out, it's located right... HERE. 

As usual......Thanks for reading!

A tub full of Ghostbusters and my 50th Sportlots order

Work, work, and more work. Lately, my wife and I have had differing schedules. I work usually from 8am-4pm and my wife will work sporadically throughout the day and most nights until 8pm. It's the life of a therapist, I guess. So, it's my duty to be with the kids when she can't be. Some nights we have a blast, but others, well, it's a struggle. My youngest son is usually the one to make things difficult. He hates to get in the bathtub. This duty falls on me because I'm the only parent around every night. I have been using my old Ghostbusters toys minus my broken Winston - he was my favorite as a kid, his arms and legs are ready to fall off, so I don't let him take him in the bath. So, with the toys in there with him, he's ok with getting a bath. Usually after I'm done washing him, he wants to play with the toys in the water, and I let him do his thing while I get trapped in thought because I can't shut my mind off - ever.

Peter, Egon and Ray getting soaked.

During a bath last week, I was wondering how many Sportlots orders I have actually had over the years. When I checked on my phone while my son was splashing around, I saw that I was at 49. So, I decided that night to change things. While my wife was typing up her notes from her sessions with clients, I was on my laptop looking at all the shiny things that were flying into my Sportlots cart. Now, sometimes I have had some decent luck with Sportlots, but other instances, like my 50th, I had some issues. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Sportlots order, but as most of you know, there are times where things don't go slightly as planned. After about 6 days, a few envelopes came my way. One in particular was supposed to contain 4 Billy Beane 1986 Donruss Rookies. When I opened the package, only 1 card was in the envelope. I looked at the packing slip to make sure I didn't make a mistake, but no, there were definitely 4 cards ordered. So, I had to click the old wrench icon and submit an issue. After a week or so, the seller finally responded and said he was on vacation, and he'd make it right. Yesterday, I received the 3 missing Billy Beane cards. WHEW. 

(4) 1986 Donruss Billy Beane RC's

I always end up grabbing so many parallels and refractors when I'm on Sportlots. Order #50 was no different. I paid no more than $.27 for any of the following parallels and refractors below. Insanity!

Refractors...

Refractors...

More Refractors...

1996 Select Eddie Kennison, Alex Van Dyke and Stephen Davis Artist's Proof RC's


Also, I can't leave Sportlots without looking to see if there are any Collector's Choice Gold Signature cards or Platinum Player's Club cards. Of course, there was a seller that had 14 Platinum Player's Club cards at $.20. I did pay $.35 for the "Big Flabby" Dan Wilkinson card though, which is quite alright with me. The Gold Signatures I found were baseball and they cost me roughly $.50 each. I did get a Jeff Blauser Gold Signature, but someone bought it at my garage sale I had a few weeks back, so I never got to scan the thing. Here is the haul:

(14) 1995 UD Collector's Choice Platinum Players Club

1994 UD Collector's Choice Gold Signature Mo Vaughn & 1995 UD Collector's Choice Gold Signature Tom Glavine

I was also searching in the inventory of the guy who I bought the Mo Vaughn and Tom Glavine from for a few more cards since his $1.50 shipping price was for up to 5 cards. I decided to upgrade a few vintage cards I had since he advised his cards were in Nrmt condition. When they showed up, they weren't too shabby at all! So, here are my upgrades:

1978 Topps Tony Peters RC & 1973 Topps Rick Reuschel RC

The 5th card I added was a refractor of a former Pittsburgh Pirate. It cost me $.62 and I'm pretty happy with it:

1996 Topps Finest Refractor Bobby Bonilla

The next card I purchased was a card I had been wanting for a while now. This player is not to be confused with the player with the same name who happens to be Patrick Roy's brother. Stephane Roy was a QMJHL #1 overall selection back in 1993 by Val-d'Or Foreurs. His junior career was stellar which saw him rack up 239 points in 202 games played. He was even awarded the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year award in 1993-94. He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the 3rd round back in 1994 at 68th overall but would never make the NHL. I remember when I was a huge Blues fan, I wondered if I would ever see him suit up for them and it never happened. Due to trades, Roy was the Blues first pick in that draft, and I figured maybe at some point he'd make it. Since I found out he had an autograph that was numbered I had been on the lookout for one cheap. This one was the cheapest I have found at $.40. The shipping for this card ran me $.70, so all in all I'm in $1.10 on this card. Not bad.

1995 Signature Rookies Stephane Roy Auto RC 657/7750

The next 3 cards came from the same seller. If you have been reading, you noticed I bought some Billy Beane rookies from a seller. Well, I finally got around to reading the book Moneyball. My wife, kids and I went on a beach vacation this summer out to the Outer Banks. My parents have a house out there and asked if we wanted to spend a week out there with them. So, we all piled in my wife's new SUV and left at midnight on a Friday night at the end of June. When the kids and my wife fell asleep, I put on the audiobook of Moneyball. When it got to the 2002 MLB Draft, I chuckled quite a few times and basically really enjoyed the book as a whole. After I finished the book (which took me almost the whole week), I was on Sportlots looking up some of the names I had heard from the book. I ended up grabbing 3 Jason Isringhausen rookies from a seller (one came completely damaged) and also grabbed an Eric Davis Rookie Card to maximize my shipping cost of $1.40.

1985 Fleer Eric Davis RC & (2) 1994 Bowman Jason Isringhausen RC's

When I said I was looking on Sportlots for Moneyball names, I wasn't kidding. I really wanted a Jeremy Brown card, but the card that I wanted was a bit pricey. The seller wanted $20 for the card that I wanted. I have only used the Best Offer option a few times on that site, which means I don't usually buy higher priced cards on there. This particular Jeremy Brown card did have a Best Offer option, so I decided to send an offer of $9 (yeah, I'm cheap, so what). I also added in the text box that I was going to add another card he had for sale that was $2 if my offer was accepted. I waited about 7 hours and later that night I checked Sportlots to see that I had the envelope icon at the top of the screen. When I clicked, it showed that the seller had accepted my $9 offer! WOWZA! So, being a man of my word, I added the other $2 refractor that I said I would buy if my offer was accepted. After I received this Brown card, I even bought another on eBay, so now I have 2! Here is my Moneyball haul from Sportlots:

2002 Bowman Chrome John McCurdy Refractor RC /300 & 2002 Bowman Chrome Jeremy Brown Gold Refractor RC /50

I have found great deals on Sportlots, some have been ridiculous. This may fall into the ridiculous category. I was looking for a nice Simeon Rice rookie. There were a few nice ones, but there was a Bowman's Best Refractor RC that seemed too good to be true. Was this thing really only $1.25? Had to be a typo or something, right? Maybe the seller was selling just the base version and passing it off as the Refractor? I had no idea but figured I would add it to my cart along with a $.20 card and see if it really is the Refractor. Well, it showed up and it was the Refractor!

1996 Bowman's Best Refractor Simeon Rice RC

The other card that I had added from this same seller was a card that was a big deal back in 1993. I remember when I first saw one. My cousin Amy had come in town to visit with a few of her friends. She brought over some of her hockey cards, and she let me have a nice stack of them, but one she didn't let me have was a Fleer Ultra Brett Lindros card. At the time, his brother was a big deal, and most scouts figured his brother Brett would be a huge deal as well. Sadly, his career didn't really turn out the way most figured it would. After being the 9th overall selection by the New York Islanders in the 1994 NHL Draft, Lindros would have a hard time putting pucks in the net. He also dealt with concussion issues. Lindros played an enforcer role and frequently landed on the 4th line and never really showed any offensive touch. In 1996, after only playing in 51 NHL games and 2 goals to show for it, Lindros hung up his skates and retired due to post-concussion syndrome. Maybe that's why this card only cost me a mere $.20. At one point in time, I had seen this card sell for $5 at a card show back in 1993. Crazy.

1993/94 Fleer Ultra Brett Lindros RC

Staying with draft disappointments, there was a seller who had both of these cards available for sale. I paid $8.02 for both of the cards, which in my opinion is a complete steal. The 1998 Upper Deck Bronze cards still hold value. Even if the player is garbage. I have always been able to sell these, and currently I own a bunch of them and every so often I will put them up on eBay for sale. Sometimes they sell, sometimes they sit. I still think these older parallels are super cool.

1998 UD Encore Gold Ryan Leaf RC /125 & 1998 Upper Deck Bronze Curtis Enis RC /100

In my last post, I shared something personal. My mom was diagnosed with cancer. I'm proud to say that after having a double mastectomy surgery and testing out the wazoo, that my mom is currently cancer free! At first, she was having a rough time with not looking the same as she did pre-surgery, but she's taking things day by day. She was fit for prosthetics about 2 weeks ago and has been trying that route, but she is thankful that they caught her cancer early. It certainly was tough on all of us and my kids kept asking why they couldn't see grandma for weeks after her surgery (due to having tubes draining constantly from both sides of her) but she made it through. Thank you to everyone who had such nice things to say to me on my post. It really meant a lot. You guys rule! 

While I was visiting my mom one day after her surgery, we had gone through some photos of our family, and I noticed a photo of my brother and I gathering up school supplies and I noticed a green notebook and I shouted, "Mom, do you remember this?" Of course, my mom had no clue what I was talking about. I had to tell her that the green notebook is the one I used in 3rd grade, and I put a Bart Simpson sticker on it, and she flipped out on me for it. She vaguely remembered what I was talking about, so I reminded her that she bought my brother and I a few packs of Simpsons cards while we were back to school shopping since they were on clearance for like $.25 each pack and I got a sticker of Bart in Army fatigues saying, "War is hell, man." Well, I stuck that bad boy right on the front of my green notebook. This would be the notebook I would be using every day in my 3rd grade classroom. My mom eventually saw my notebook before school started and used a pen to chang the sticker to say, "War is hello man." This sticker would cause a big stink in our household that year. The last card I bought from Sportlots for my 50th order was that stupid Simpson's sticker that caused quite the commotion back in 1991. This one's for you mom!

1990 Topps The Simpsons Bart Simpson "War is hell, man" Sticker

Thanks for reading.