My First IP Auto of 2012: Sean Casey

I was riding home from work yesterday on the T and remembered that tickets for most Red Sox games went on sale this past Saturday, so I stopped by the stadium to get tickets for the Marlins, Braves, and Angels series. When I was walking from Fenway to Kenmore, I saw Sean Casey coming up the street with a few other guys. I didn't realize the Hot Stove Cool Music fundraiser was that night, so I wasn't sure if it was even him.

Fortunately, I had been using an index card as a bookmark in the book I was reading, but I had no writing utensil. I ran down to the bank in Kenmore Square where my friend works, and I interrupted him to grab a sharpie off his desk. I raced back up the street and caught Sean in front of Cask & Flagon. He was his usual friendly and talkative self, explaining that he was in town for Theo's charity event.

It was a great surprise to run into one of the nicest (former) players in the game, and I really wish I still had MLB Network so I could see him on a nightly basis. Good first IP auto of the year!

Spring Training TTM: Brett Anderson

• Brett Anderson 1/1- Almost one year after I sent this one out, I received Brett's rookie card from the 09 Topps set sigjned in blue sharpie. Sent 2/12 (332 days)

Year-End Totals for 2011

Here are my final totals for 2011:

• 103 TTM Returns

• 273 Signed Cards

• 307 Autographs

I'll be breaking out my cards soon in preparation for Spring Training, only 36 days until pitchers and catchers report!

Spring Training TTM: Adam Lind

• Adam Lind 1/1- My first TTM of the new year came in last week, as Adam signed a 2009 Topps that I sent out last year during Spring Training. The card came back in a folded piece of flower stationary with a smiley face snowflake on the envelope, which makes me wonder if it was actually signed by him. Sent 3/9 (297 days)
  

The Last Auto of 2011: Dicky Barrett (Mighty Mighty Bosstones)

It's been quite a slow time for autographs in this neck of the woods, but I got to meet a big personality in the ska/punk music world last week at a meet-and-greet in downtown Boston. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones have a series of "Hometown Throwdown" shows each year around Christmas time, but I still haven't had the chance to see them live. I decided to swing by McGreevy's (a bar owned by fellow Boston rockers the Dropkick Murphys) after work last Friday, and arrived to a packed bar with what vaguely resembled a line inching towards the back of the room. I waited in "line" for over 45 minutes, and it didn't seem like there was any sort of movement or progress. Some of the band members had already left for the venue for the show that night by the time I got to the front, but I still managed to get frontman Dicky Barrett on the CD cover of their newest album. I was hoping he'd sign the front of the album in blue sharpie, but he used his own black marker and signed it on the inside cover. My camera was dead so I didn't get a picture with him, but he didn't seem all that friendly anyways. A graph's a graph, I guess.

Here's to hoping for a year filled with autographs in 2012!