jschris

BHF has it right. While BHF's screen namesake is less than 40%, Dave Bush is likely the best signer TTM on the team at a cool 85% on scn. Brian Shouse is a stone cold lock--100%--but his sample size is slight (17). Looks like Hardy catches up on fanmail in the offseason and comes in at 67%. I highly recommend sportscollectors.net for TTM fans, as you can probably tell. For $15 per year or so, it can pay for itself in saved stamps pretty quickly. I know there's another similar board out there, too, but so far scn has been enough for me.

Yo is 41% though the mail, but has only a handful of reported successes since he joined the Brewers (4 out of 33ish by quick count). He was very good while in Nashville.

Parra signed for me in Spring 07 TTM. He's running at about an 85% success rate on sportscollectors. Hart is at 75% but takes a long time to return. Hardy is at 67% but hasn't had a reported success since 2007.

You can find them at the big places like Sears and WalMart. Actually I think the card itself links to a site that shows local dealers. In Western Wisconsin, at least, they tend to sell out the day they arrive, according to a little informal survey of electronics department folks. We actually found out when the truck came in and then got there that afternoon. I don't recall the model number, but we've had mixed results so far.

Awesome--thanks Bernie and Menotti!

After turbo is taken care of, I could use one or two as well. I would like one and so does the guy in my avatar.

Up until about two minutes ago I used to think I could throw some pretty wicked whiffle pitches. Ehh, not so much.

I like the concept of the books and I hope they do it again sometime. I had the same idea as FTJ so I picked up a few extra sets from Kruk Cards on eBay for I think $10 for the four books. Just got my Lance "You Don't Mess With The" Rautzhan signed last month, as a matter of fact.

Going to the minors for these: *Ten Million (has a c. 1910 baseball card that is valuable, but not worth his name) *Wonderful Terrific Monds

I'll take the Burba jersey. PM sent

Do I get a bonus point for knowing that was from the quite rare '69 Topps Super set? This is my first GWSY win, I think! My only chance is if the picture was on a baseball card!

Don Mincher?

Thanks to TBone, I'm thinkin' RBs.

Can I jump on the bandwagon and see if there are any extra Brauns available for sale? I don't have a lot of extra bobbles to trade, but I'm sure something could be worked out with cash and other stuff. One unique item I have duplicates of is the promotional "baseball card" of Bernie Mac as Mr. 3000. Looks good with the Mr. 3000 bobblehead! Anyway, please shoot me a message if you have a Braun available. Thanks!

I was wondering what the weather was going to be like in line for that promo. Thanks for the recap. The weather was the deciding factor in the wife and I not going. Please check your messages--I would like to trade for one of those.

Tickets for the Saints aren't nearly as difficult to get as they used to be. There were a ton of General Admission and even some single reserved tickets as of yesterday morning for a very popular giveaway. Speaking of that, PM sent--very interested.

For our trip to Hawaii in August, we are considering one of those Flip cameras (theflip.com) that have been getting pretty decent reviews. Extremely easy to use, cheap, small, and you are able to capture still images from the video. Of course, you lose some of the simplicity when you have to do the image capture from a computer (no big deal for you and I, maybe an issue for your mom?). A friend of mine bought one and uploaded a short video to youtube in minutes. He said the zoom is practically non-existent and the recording time is only an hour before you need to upload it (and no expandable memory), but overall he really enjoys it.

Marketing Research for a Credit Union

I'm catching, too. It gets annoying to fast forward to your next play (fast being a relative term) and realize it's going to be a pop up. Since it doesn't seem to matter much, I try to swipe bases as much as possible. I've added a little speed, but I'm still only about 20 for 35. Worst case I get thrown out and don't have to wait around for the next hitter or hitters.

I've been a SABR member since 1999, I think. It has been an absolutely wonderful experience and I highly encourage anyone who is contemplating it to give it a shot. Whether you are a stat guy or just in it for the stories, you have a place in SABR as long as baseball is in your blood. Judging by the quality contributions that you guys and a bunch of other people make here at brewerfan, I would guess you would consider it money well spent. Although I don't see Tom Flaherty on the Member Directory, the connections you make as a member of SABR are simply amazing. Authors, former players, executives, common folks. I lurked on SABR for a couple of years before first deciding to write something. SABR had their national convention in Milwaukee and there was a call out for papers on Wisconsin baseball history. I submitted an article on Henry Aaron in Eau Claire. It was rejected for publication in the official convention program (too long), but Bob Buege (Eddie Mathews biographer, Milwaukee Braves historian) offered to edit the article for me so it could make it in "The National Pastime", one of the two annual publications that go out to all members. So a guy who had written several books simply volunteered to help out a newbie who hadn't had anything published since the high school newspaper. The article was published in TNP, an editor liked what he saw and offered me my own book deal, and a dream of mine was realized. By no means is Bob an exception. Members are always willing to help out. If you have any questions at all, please ask away here or PM me. And yes, the Milwaukee chapter is alive and well. I'm putting together an article about Bert Thiel's 1951 no hitter for their Borchert Field project. (Oh, and pending editorial approval if you join now you'll see my second article in this year's National Pastime. How much more incentive do you need?)

Not knowing when the welcome is worn out. Birthday party for my daughter started at noon. It's 6:15--the inlaws are still here. I retreated to my man cave two hours ago.

Manty (and FTJ) -did you go VIP? If so, what's in the promo bags these days?

According to baseball-reference's play index, this would be the 90th time a pitcher got a win on one pitch since 1956. I don't have a subscription so I can't verify if this is true or if they are just missing some data. If you put less than or equal to 1 pitch in the query, you come up with something like 239 matches--but it's obvious that many of those are the result of incomplete data. Dean Stone got credit for the win in an all-star game when he picked off a guy trying to steal home.

Usually with a VIP pass you can get a certain amount of free autographs. Not usually huge names anymore, though. In St. Louis we got a bunch of lesser name autograph tickets included in our VIP package (I had Curt Flood, Jay Johnstone, Jackie Smith, etc.) and one bigger name. My wife and I ended up with Feller and Spahn for our bigger names. There was also a "bullpen" area that was used to trade autograph tickets since the tickets you received were random and you only knew who you had when you got in the door. You also have the option to buy an autograph ticket in advance for any player there. Honestly, though, unless you REALLY want that Jay Johnstone card signed I wouldn't really focus on the "free" autographs. It almost always was a minimum of 30 minutes in line that could have been spent rummaging through the dealer tables or going up to the card company booths for free stuff. Some dealers or companies even have unannounced autograph guests in their booth. That said, the VIP package is pretty nice if you plan on going a couple of days because you can get some great stuff in the promo bag and you can avoid lines getting in.

I went to the one in St. Louis in 1995 and it was absolutely awesome. I literally got tired looking at all the stuff and had to just chill out for a while each day to give my eyes a break. Overwhelming. If you go, do a "first pass" without buying much of anything and take lots of notes. Of course, there are just some things that you know are a great deal but just when you think that you'll find something else you can't live without around the corner. I'll never forget I was standing in line for Bob Feller's autograph when an older fellow, making his way through the hallway, politely ambled through the line in front of me. It was Warren Spahn. I couldn't get over how short he was. I envisioned him to be much taller.