TTM Return: Luke Montz

• Luke Montz 1/1- Minor league catcher Luke Montz signed his rookie card from the 09 Topps set.  He started out in the Nationals organization, but now plays for the Marlins at the AA level in his home state of Louisiana.  Sent 5/19 (94 days)

Marlins @ Red Sox, 6/19: HanRam & Jose

Tuesday night started out slow, but ended up being one of my best nights of the season so far.  After having no luck whatsoever during batting practice, I decided to check out which Red Sox alumni was signing autographs at the team store.  Fortunately, it was Sam Horn, and I happened to have a Red Sox team set of 88 Topps on me.  I had him sign the card, as well as a promotional giveaway black & white photo.

When I returned inside the stadium, I noticed a young girl with a big homemade "#1 Fan" sign for Hanley Ramirez, so I planted myself next to her.  Within a minute of entering the dugout, Hanley noticed, and came over to take a picture with her.  I suggested he sign her #1 Fan sign, and then he signed a card for me and a handful of others before retreating back to the dugout. 

With a signed Hanley card and a sense of satisfaction, I moved strategically down the line towards a guy wearing a Mets jersey with Reyes' name and number on the back.  Sure enough, Reyes came straight to that guy during warmups, having a conversation in Spanish and taking a picture with him before signing for a few people that were close by.  I was especially excited to meet Reyes, because he's my grandmother's favorite player.  Since she's a Mets fan, she was devastated when he left New York, but I was excited to tell her that I had met him. 

I also got Omar Infante on a set card, plus I had Logan Morrison sign a combo card that I'm hoping to complete by the end of the season.  For the $12 upper bleacher price of admission, it was a great night, and the Sox won, too!

• Sam Horn- 88 Topps, promo photo
• Logan Morrison- 11 Topps Heritage Rookie Parade (2 down, 3 to go)
• Omar Infante- 09 Topps
• Hanley Ramirez- 09 Topps
• Jose Reyes- 09 Topps

2 Spring Training Returns: Vance Worley & Gaby Sanchez

• Vance Worley 1/1- The young Phillies starter personalized his 12 Topps card in blue sharpie. Sent 3/2 (31 days)

• Gaby Sanchez 1/1- I already had Gaby sign his 09 Topps rookie card, but for some reason he had one in the Updates & Highlights set as well. It's almost identical to the picture used in the base card, which you can see here. I received the U&H card back signed from Marlins camp exactly one year after I got the base card signed. Sent 3/1 (32 days)
  

2 TTM Returns: Tony LaRussa & Fredi Gonzalez

Today I received 2 managerial returns that I sent out on the same day:

• Tony LaRussa 1/1- The longtime Cardinals skipper signed a 2009 Topps U&H that was previously signed by Jim Leyland, completing the card. Sent 4/20 (12 days)

• Fredi Gonzalez 1/1- The new manager of the Braves signed his 09 Topps card. I got Fredi's autograph back when he was the Braves' AAA manager about a decade ago, so it's nice to see him taking over the major league role for Bobby Cox this year. Sent 4/20 (12 days)

Just for comparison's sake, let's see how the three managers on these cards stack up:

Jim Leyland: 2011: 12-16, 2010: 81-81, Career: 1505-1534 (.495)
Tony LaRussa: 2011: 16-12, 2010: 86-76, Career: 2654-2305 (.535)
Fredi Gonzalez: 2011: 14-15, 2010: 34-36, Career: 290-294 (.497)

I was surprised to find out that as talented as Leyland is as a manager, his lifetime win percentage is less than .500 and slightly less than that of Fredi Gonzalez.

2 Spring Training Returns: Javier Vazquez & Gaby Sanchez

Two returns from the Fish in the mail today, after a miserable Opening Weekend from the Sox...

• Gaby Sanchez 1/3- The Marlins first basemen signed his 09 Topps rookie card and returned the other two cards I sent him unsigned. Gaby was nice enough to personalize the one card that he did sign. Sent 2/16 (47 days)

• Javier Vazquez 2/2- Vazquez signed 09 Topps and U&H cards from Florida. Now that he's returned to the National League, hopefully he will have a much better season than he did last year with the Yankees. Sent 3/4 (31 days)