big mac ttm attack!

i was out of town over the holidays, and so i returned to a fairly large stack of mail.  included in that stack were a couple of self-addressed stamped envelopes that i recognized as ttm returns, including one that was at least a couple years old due to the envelope that i was using back then.  it was postmarked out of santa ana, which immediately made me think it was a dodger - davey lopes or tom lasorda perhaps?  i was sort of right - it was this card, a 2001 topps golden moments subset card, signed by current dodger hitting coach mark mcgwire.

i had sent this card to big mac in 2011 when he returned to baseball as a coach for the cardinals.  i was among those heading to the ballpark early to watch mcgwire take bp in 1998 (i went to a couple games in saint louis, and one in minneapolis to see big mac that year) and it was pretty impressive.  the only other time i had seen mcgwire in person was the 1988 world series when he was much younger and obviously smaller.  he could still rake, though.  i'm not an apologist for mcgwire or jose canseco, but i was/am a fan of them both.  i was really happy to see this card come through.  i actually sent him a couple more cards after he joined the dodger staff - maybe those will make their way to me in a couple more years.  thank goodness for forever stamps!

the other ttm return was a 1978 topps card of leo foster

i was equally pleased to receive another card from the 1978 set, especially after my assumption that i wouldn't be seeing any more of these.  foster returned the card after several months, so maybe there is hope for a few more making their way back to me.

thanks to both guys for signing and returning the cards!