matthewbschultz83's official Ballpark and TTM's Autos *Couple of Legends*

matthewbschultz83

With everyone starting an "official" thread to show off their autograph quests, I thought I'd join along. I am fortunate enough to live close enough to Arlington to make several Ranger games a year and be able to make it early enough to get autographs in person at batting practice. I also subscribed to startiger.com and have sent out a bunch of cards that way as well. I wasn't able to make it early enough for batting practice this weekend, (the rain on Saturday didn't help), but Mark McLemore hosts the Rangers TV postgame show. So I waited it out and was able to Mac to sign a trio of cards for me.



If anyone has any suggestions, certainly would be open to them. Do you always right a letter kissing up? I've seen some guys just include a index card saying they're are a collector of autographs and a fan, please sign and it works. I have 100 security #10 envelopes and 100 security smaller #6 3/4 envelopes. Should I send a padded mailer, how do you do return postage on stuff like that? Is there another website other than startiger.com thats better, easier to use, etc.? Do you send the card in a top loader, card pro, loose? I do know don't send anything you don't mind losing which is why only dupes are going. Should I also send a $5? Any other tricks of the trade would be appreciated.

nightcrawler

Good luck on your quest.

csmtampa

www.sportscollectors.net

I suggest signing up to be a premium member....Tons of feautures, and a forum full of EVERYTHING you can think of! There are members here that are also members there.

matthewbschultz83

With the Rangers having an off day, I was not expecting to be getting any autographs today.....

Boy was I wrong. Sitting in my cube crunching out a couple of tax returns I heard this on the radio. So I ran home and grabbed my backpack that I take to Ranger games and this is what I came away with......

matthewbschultz83

The only thing I was disappointed about after rubbing down the Feldman chrome with an eraser and then my thumb. I didn't even think to do it to minor league Feldman....and you see the results.....

Dboneesq

Very nice day! Keep it up!

Bottom9th

Very Nice. I like that Young 1972 Topps version. Is that a retro set or something?

matthewbschultz83

It was part of the 2008 Topps insert card set "Trading Card History." They used a bunch different card set designs for the 100 card set. If I remember correctly it was a combo deal 50 cards were inserted in 08 Topps packs, 50 in were card shop give aways. Young's just happened to be 72 design. They used basically every Topps and Bowman design as well as several designs from the Turn of the Century to pre World War II. Many of those I had never seen before.

Edited: For Grammer

WinPitcher

Mathew

Nice! keep us posted as you go along.

Good luck!

Steve

thenavarro

Matthew,

Very nice day. I used to chase Rangers autographs all the time at the Ballpark but I stopped after AROD's first year. Increasing work responsibilities led to a serious decline of free time to do that and my personal disgust with some of Hicks' actions sapped my desire to make time to do that. Hope you had a blast at that event. You got some nice successes. Congrats.

Mike

matthewbschultz83

Went to the Rangers-Angels game today (as well as Friday and again on Sunday)...

It was rainy and I wasn't expecting much. I was able to get 5 different guys to sign, which I thought was really good on any day. The only problem was the rain was making my sharpie not stick to the cards very good. So the Heritage and 80s Topps cards don't look as good as I had hoped. The two Angels team cards actually look the best.




The two guys on the team card are Shane Loux and Justin Speier. I realize the Loux wasn't on the team in 06 or 07 and Speier wasn't in 06, but they were the only "generic" Angel cards I had.

nightcrawler

<< <i>The only thing I was disappointed about after rubbing down the Feldman chrome with an eraser and then my thumb. I didn't even think to do it to minor league Feldman....and you see the results..... >>






Sorry, what the hell??? Was the Feldman a... what was wrong with it?

matthewbschultz83

The second Feldman, the one of him in the Rough Riders uniform dipping down sidearm, had a lot of UV gloss and if you don't rub it down the autograph won't "stick." Notice how it fades, especially on the "l" in Feldman. Its just not as crisp as the others, was all I was saying.

Ahmanfan

did youforget to rub/powder that mathis or did the rain get ya?
John

matthewbschultz83

That was definately a rain issue. I think my sharpie got wet. In between getting the finding the right cards, cards rubbed down, the rain, I didn't bother to check my sharpie. If you notice the Weaver's had issues too even though those Heritage cards don't have a shread of gloss on them.

matthewbschultz83

So I'm down in Houston for the Lone Star Series. I got Elvis Andrus, Darren O'Day, and Jackie Moore Friday night. About to walk to the stadium for today's game. Hopefully I'll get some more. Scans when I get home tomorrow (and when I get a new scanner...)!

matthewbschultz83

Saturday was a banner day. I got 18 signatures, a personal record! From stars like Ian Kinsler to coaches Dave Anderson and Andy Hawkins and a bunch of guys in between. Can't wait to scan them tomorrow evening!

zep33

I like those Dr. Pepper cards. Is there a Josh Hamilton in the set?

matthewbschultz83

I'm sure, but I don't have one. The Rangers make them and when they have promoted autograph signings they give them out if you don't have something for the player to sign (not really a problem with Josh). If I can get a couple, I'll try and send them your way.

zep33

cool, thanks man

matthewbschultz83

I've heard before 'anything without scans is worthless'....

I agree and here goes. Day 1 5/22/2009. Got to see the Rangers #2 Pitching Prospect make his first major league start. Everything was going great until he left a 3-1 slider up to Lance Berkman with 2 guys on with 2 outs in the 6th. He left with a 5-3 lead, but the bullpen couldn't hold it. The Rangers eventually won it in 10, 6-5 on Nellie Cruz's first of three homers in the series. Before the game I got Darren O'Day, Jackie Moore, and Elvis Andrus to sign. I didn't have time/think to rub the cards down so the autos didn't stick that great.

matthewbschultz83

Day 2: 5/23/09

This day I went by myself and got a pretty nice seat 2 rows behind the photo well next to the visiting (Rangers) dugout. I got some pretty sweet pictures of all the Rangers in the On Deck Circle. Another well pitched game by the Rangers and they won 6-3. I was about 13 seats away from Nolan Ryan, who was directly behind home plate where you see former President Bush sit when he attends games. I was blocked off from getting to him (or an autograph) but I did take a couple pictures. Before the game as I mentioned earlier I got 18 autographs, which is a record for me!

Elvis and Saltalamacchia only signed one each. Which I can totally understand given the elaborateness of Elvis and the length of Salty's.



I'm pretty sure Gary Pettis signed the card upside down, so turn your monitors over if you want to read it right side up, HA!

matthewbschultz83

Day 3: 5/24/09

BRING OUT THE BROOMS!! Brandon McCarthy scattered 9 hits in a complete game shutout over Houston in what was the crispest, fastest game of the 3. I was with an old college buddy who lives in Houston he got to see his new favorite player Josh hit a solo shot to the Crawford Boxes in the first. Ian Kinsler broke out of a slump with a HR of his own and the Rangers cruised 5-0. If you missed the first 4 innings you missed all the scoring as McCarthy only seemed to get better and Russ Ortiz only gave up 3 hits in 4 innings. Pregame I was able to 6 autographs, although 4 of them where from people I had already gotten the day before:

matthewbschultz83

A couple of tips if anyone is interested or cares....

I take a 5" x 8" index card and stick two cards of the same player on it using clear photo corners on opposite corners. I have everyone on the Rangers and do my best to dig through my collection for the visiting team. I two hole punch the index cards and secure them with a pair of loose binder rings. I then put a rubber band around the whold apparatus. Often times players are in dugouts and difficult to throw a loose card without severly dinging it up. So if Ian Kinsler is signing in the dugout I flip to Ian's index card put the rubber band around the outside of the index card with him on top and toss him the whole thing with a blue sharpie clipped to the rubber band. I bring a visiting team roster since I have a hard time identifying some of the spare relievers. I find its always easier to get the visiting team, since most stadiums open 1 1/2 hours before game time which is about the time the home team is concluding batting practice. That was definately the case in Houston this past weekend as I only saw Cecil Cooper sign from the Astros. I spent 100% of my time hanging out behind the Rangers dugout.

Whew...after a long trip I am beat. Lucky for me I get to do it again tomorrow. The Rangers are home for a 1 pm first pitch against the Yankees and the Rangers are opening the gates early at 10 AM! Better believe I'll be there. Hopefully more scans tomorrow. Happy Memorial Day to everyone. Hope everyone enjoys their day off, some baseball, and remembers why we have the day off -- definately the most important part.

Ahmanfan

hey, I have RC's of Hamilton, Kinsler, and Young. Would you be interested in either getting them signed for me, or buying/trading for any/all of them?
John

nightcrawler

A formidable collection less than a month old.



Careful Matt, not to exceed our expectations I mean.

matthewbschultz83

So after returning from Houston the Rangers had three with New York, a day off, and then four with Oakland in three days. Monday was the only day I could get out early during the week and it was a mad house with all the bandwagon Yankee fans there it was impossible to get any autographs. Friday was the doubleheader and I didn't make it out until the second game so no autographs. Saturday and Sunday I got out to Arlington late and there wasn't really anyone signing. So I thought I'd struck out for the week, but I decided to go the players tunnel and see if anyone would stop on their way out....Well I got these dandy's:

Padilla's Lambo

matthewbschultz83

Oh yeah this guy too, maybe you've heard of him.....

The things people get Josh to sign....

Another one of Josh

Dboneesq

Now the JOSH'S make it all worthwhile!

Great autos!

Keep 'em coming!

Ahmanfan

coulda had this Hamilton rc with ya!

matthewbschultz83

I realized I've slacked...failing to post since the May 31st Game....

Well I finally got out to a Rangers game on 6/10 against Toronto and I wasn't expecting any autographs since I have 30 minute drive through downtown Dallas to Arlington. I don't like to stay late at the players tunnel on weekdays either since I have about 40 minute drive home late at night with work the next day....

However that game was rained out so I figured I try my luck. This is what I got:
CJ Wilson, Brandon McCarthy, and recent Ranger waiver claim Jason Grilli

matthewbschultz83

The next game I had was Friday 6/12 against the Dodgers. Again couldn't get out there early, because of work commitments, but I would stay after the game. After another strong outing from Vicente Padilla and Jason Jennings I was able to get these guys to stop outside the players tunnel.
Every-Other-Day Eddie Guardado and thats Jason Grilli that signed across the top left, Doug Mathis in the middle, and renaissance man CJ Wilson on the far right that actually signed "himself" on the team card.

CJ also got out of the car and would talked about anything with the fans for about 10-15 minutes. Anything from Halo 2 on XBox live to the racing track he built on his land out near Granbury to race his really fast cars (he was driving a Porche that looked like the Batmobile) to basebell. Really nice guy.

grote15

Great stuff, thanks for sharing!

Ahmanfan, it's fairly obvious that if he were interested in your cards, he'd have said so...

matthewbschultz83

Saturday might have been my best day ever. It topped the 18 day I had in Houston by 10. That day I got up fairly early for myself on a weekend and decided I would get to the tunnel as the players were driving in, about 12:30. This is what I was able to secure pre-game:
Jason Jennings, Derek Holland, and CJ Wilson

Ron Washington, Matt Harrison, and David Murphy

A Rehabing Dustin Nippert, Coach Jackie Moore, Elvis Andrus, and even Dodger Juan Pierre who popped out to say hi to some family from Louisiana

The only I was disappointed about was the fact that Derek Holland's signature didn't stick to well to that card. I rubbed that thing down for about 5 minutes it seems before he signed it. Baby Powder only next time....

matthewbschultz83

Then I got these once I was in the stadium before the game:
Dave Anderson, Jason Jennings (again), Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and Brandon Boggs

Little known fact..I only need a 1987 and 1988 Topps card signed by Dave Anderson and I will have every Dave Anderson Topps Base card autographed....
Got a pair of Dodgers, Juan Castro and Mark Loretta


An hour and 40 minute rain delay killed any chance of getting autographs at the tunnel afterwards as I played the game "how many beers can I have before last call."

matthewbschultz83

Final game of the Rangers-Dodgers series ended bitterly with a Ranger loss but I got a pair of guys to stop and sign after the game at the players' tunnel.
Vicente Padilla and closer Frank Francisco

matthewbschultz83

<< <i>coulda had this Hamilton rc with ya! >>



Sorry Ahmanfan. I didn't mean to ignore you. I might be interested in them. I typically prefer Topps/Heritage/Bowman brands to get signed since I think the autograph sticks to the card better than Upper Deck products with their ultra glossy cards. I still have that Missouri patch Autograph from 09 Bowman Football. What do you have. I'm sure we could definately work something out since I just bought the 09 Bowman Football Box for Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree cards. Shoot me a PM and let me know what you have. Hey I'll be around this weekend! The Rangers are on the road and I don't have to head into the office. Thanks.

matthewbschultz83

The Rangers hosted their annual season ticket holder picnic yesterday (the 27th) and as a 40 game holder I am invited. They hosted several events in the morning, including 3 chalk talks where you could talk to Nolan Ryan, GM Jon Daniels, Ron Washington, pitching coach Mike Maddux, hitting coach Rudy Jaramillio and ask them any questions you want. They also had a barbeque, free ballpark and Museum tours, etc. The big thing I was interested in however was the autographs. When I RSVPed 2 weeks ago you had to specify a time. From that they break you into 4 groups. So you are basically divided into 8 groups where you get 7 or 8 autographs (3 of which are alumni). So the chances that you're going to get a really good player like Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler are 1 in 8. I understand why they do it, but its still frustrating, lets see how I did:
I got Mike Maddux at the chalk talk and Dave Anderson and Andy Hawkins where both in my autograph group

A couple of the players in my group, Darren O'Day and Willie Eyre

My three alumni guys where Frank Lucchesi, Dave Hostetler, and Mike Simms

Here are some of the Dr. Pepper oversized cards they give away.

At the end of the line was this guy, the "star" of the group


So I guess I did pretty good on the luck factor. Zep33 look what I got for ya. PM me your address and I'll send it right away.


Here's what I was able to get at batting practice during the afternoon. The Rangers didn't hit (imagine that it was only 102 at 4:30) so all I got was a couple of pitchers, but I think I did ok on some of the Padres.
Kevin Millwood and Doug Mathis

Chris Young, who has great penmanship; Kevin Kouzmanoff, who does not

Coach Glenn Hoffman and Josh Banks


All in all, a pretty good day and I had a blast getting them, which is all that matters I guess!

matthewbschultz83

I'll be out of pocket for a week. Going to Lubbock for this event. I'll have some pretty cool stories and hopefully some autographs.... The only bad thing is I will miss a pair of Rangers series.

therebelas

Great stuff. Glad to see Dave Anderson landed back in the big leagues. He was the head coach at Memphis a few years but couldn't recruit enough local guys away from the SEC schools to keep his job.

matthewbschultz83

I'm baaaaacccckkkk......

Armed with a new 3 in one scanner. I have some scanning and uploading to do....

It seemed work or heading to Lubbock for Tech games got in the way of my hobby as I neglected just about all aspects of my collection and collecting. I was able to attend a Ranger event last Thursday. I'll have scans later, but there is someone on these boards who's interested in one thing from that event....

BunchOBull

Matt, I can't thank you enough bud. That's absolutely perfect. I know he'll be more than thrilled; it looks awesome.

Again, thank you for remembering all these months and cheers to you for your willingness to help this young man. I'll pm you this evening when I'm on a computer and off of this phone.

matthewbschultz83

I haven't updated this in a while and I've gotten some autographs since December 2009..... Not many Rangers since the All-Star Break 2010 as they have all but stopped signing pre and post games. I got bit with the Through the Mail bug, signed up for Star Tiger, and sent out about 15 starting on January 3rd. Let's see if I can keep this bad boy updated. Rangers FanFest starts tomorrow. I have a fast pass (went in halfsies with a buddy) which guarantees me everyone's autograph that will be at the event and I am working on a new autograph project that I think I can get 2/3 of the way done this weekend. Here's what the mailman brought today.

Jon Matlack


Pat Neshek


Jason Wong

Dboneesq

Welcome back. Guess we will see your next post in this thread in February 2014. LOL Good luck with your TTMs.

matthewbschultz83

Rangers Fanfest started this weekend. I was able to procure one of 50 fast passes that guarantees me one of every player signing. There were 7 guys signing today: Michael Young, Frank Howard, Rusty Greer, Colby Lewis, Mike Napoli, Derek Holland, and Ron Washington.

Michael Young (I had the Ian and Josh signatures on the card already) & Frank Howard


Baseballs of Washington, Holland, and Napoli


Rangers Yearbook (Rogers, Hough, and Sundberg were already on it)


I was able to get two of Michael Young and I am working on a piece that I will show off at the end of the weekend when it gets a little more filled out.

matthewbschultz83

This came in the mail on Saturday...

matthewbschultz83

But that Sievers wasn't the highlight of the day or the weekend....This was Fanfest Day 2.

Mike Adams


Steve Busby


Bert Campaneris


Cody Eppley


Craig Gentry


Jose Guzman


Josh Hamilton


Kevin Mench


Justin Miller


Mitch Moreland


Joe Nathan


Pete O'Brien


Jurickson Profar


Robbie Ross


Jeff Russell


Jim Sundberg


And the Highlight of the day...a pair of Hall of Famers...


I'll scan Sunday sometime on Monday and include the pretty cool project I'm 3 signatures away from completing.

thenavarro

Cool stuff. Go Rangers! I thought about going to FanFest this year but decided not to mess with the hassle of the crowd. Ready for the season to start!

matthewbschultz83

Thanks Mike. The only way I'm ever going as long as they're good and the attractive team in D/FW is if I continue to buy that fast pass. Otherwise I wouldn't even have bothered with it at all.

matthewbschultz83

Two more TTMs showed up today.

Jim Mason (card had been previously autographed by Bill Fahey)


Dennis Leonard (who sent his own as well)

Dboneesq

Very nice autos. Sounds like you had a GREAT time.