My Autograph Collection & Blog

Just picked this bad boy up, and is surely the best item I have ever owned. I will let the pictures do the talking…

10 signatures on this ball, which is over 50 years old and is still perfectly white! 8 HOF in total, and 2 others who are still notable. The signatures are Lefty Grove (SS), Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Red Faber, Bob Feller, George Kell, Luke Appling, Frank Frisch, Don Newcombe, and Dom Dimaggio. The item comes with a full Letter of Authenticity from James Spence (JSA).

Thanks for the look!
Tom

I have secured a deal to get me a very special autographed baseball, that has 10 signers, 8 of which are HOFs. There are two big notables on the ball, and I will show pictures of the ball once I get. It include Lefty Grove, Bob Feller, Pee Wee Reese, Red Faber, Don Newcombe, George Kell, Dom Dimaggio, and none other than JACKIE ROBINSON!

My Mailday today, a BILLY MARTIN single signed baseball! This is available and will be hitting eBay tonight so that I can turn the $$ into some balls that I rather have for my collection. Ball is pretty white, except some toning around the front side opposite sweet spot, but that is expected of these balls! What a great piece!

I got a great deal from someone I dealt with on eBay and got some great pieces for the collection. The pictures can be found on the baseballs page (the Posada will be on the Yankees page)

The new ones are:

Sandy Koufax 3
Ted Williams 2
Jorge Posada (for Yanks project)
Don Drysdale
Pee Wee Reese (Special since I am related to him!)
Warren Spahn
Ernie Banks
Jim Catfish Hunter

Thanks for the look
Tom

Obviously, Damon handled his situation terribly, probably partially because of agent Scott Boras. Somehow, he may get a 2 year deal worth 14 million from the Tigers, or a one year deal from the White Sox. It is amazing that teams are allowing him to still ask for a ton of money. He already turned down the best offer from the Yankees, which was 2 years 14 million to stay with the World Champs and in the amazing stadium built for him. Instead he got greedy, thinking he could get 3 or 4 years at 13 million a year. Now he will go to a team who are worse off than the Yanks, and likely get less money. Good going Johnny. I heard his interview on the Fan with Mike Francesca, and it summed it up for me, because he really had no idea what to say. The Yankees called his bluff, and now he’s gonna lose a big paycheck. I rather have Damon, but since he left, we got Granderson, who is much better, cheaper, and younger.

I will be blogging through the year about the Yankees primarily, but also baseball.

The Yankees had quite the offseason this year, although they didn’t do it by just signing the highest paid free agents this year. They made some smart pickups to replace some key guys who left. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui were important parts to the team, and they are now gone. To replace them, the Yankees traded prospect Austin Jackson and others for Curtis Granderson. This was an excellent trade, and Granderson should translate well in the new Yankee Stadium. Nick Johnson is an OBP machine and will be the primary DH. They also traded their top pitching prospect and Melky Cabrera for Javier Vasquez, who was fourth in the CY Young voting last year. To be the #4 starter, he will do just fine in this second stint with the Yankees.

They also resigned Andy Pettite, an integral part of the championship last year. They gave him a lot more money than I thought they would, but when some guys are getting 5 to 6 million, paying 11 million isn’t terrible. They also signed Randy Winn to platoon possibly with Brett Gardner. Some may hate the move, but I like it, he is an excellent defender and has some speed. He adds to our outfield depth, which is inexistent.

The Yankees gave up prospects and borderline major leaguers for some very good upgrades. They also kept to one year deals so that next year, they will be primed to spend some money on potential free agent targets like Carl Crawford. Not to mention, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter will have to have talks about an extension, although that it practically a formality.

Overall, the Yanks had an “A” offseason, and should be poised to defend their title.

Welcome to my new website! I will update my collection as I get items in. I will also be blogging about the Yankees and other baseball happenings.

Tom