holy schmidt! that's a nice ttm success!

not a bad way to perk up a monday - finding a ttm return from a hall of famer in the mailbox.  yes, mike schmidt signed and returned my 1978 topps card in about a week!

i had noticed a spate of successes with schmidt recently, so i figured i would try my luck.  i sent the card c/o the national baseball hall of fame in cooperstown, and it came back to me postmarked from philly.  very very nice.  

while schmidt was never my favorite third baseman, i did respect his talent.  besides, his was one of the first baseball cards i ever saw, and the very first baseball glove my dad bought for me was a michael jack schmidt model.  so what if it was as stiff (and thin) as cardboard?  

we all know who my favorite third baseman was, right?  he was a contemporary of schmidt's, and he suited up for the team of my youth.  he also signs stuff through the mail.

i am afraid that i have taken advantage of ron cey's ttm generosity over the last few years, having sent many cards to him many times.  here are a few i have not yet shared on the blog.

three of the penguin's cards from 2004 upper deck legends timeless teams

and a 2001 fleer greats of the game

so there, with the '78 topps schmidt, you have three of my favorite sets to get autographed.  i have an '01 fleer gog out to steve garvey as we speak - probably one of the last ttm requests i will ever send out.

here are a few more penguins - a 1987 topps traded card

and a couple of customs that i made to bookend his career - a 1971 topps style card

of which he also signed the back

and a 1988 topps card

both cards that definitely should have been.

thanks mike and ron for signing my cards, and for being a big part of my early fandom!