Another week in the books and we are set for another great weekend and get some signings of the free variety. Thanks to signingshotline.com for the listings.  Make sure you due your homework before going to the event and ensure that the player is signing and that the time is right.  Good Luck!

Friday 9/3/10

A.J. Allmendinger
Auto Racing
9/3/2010 7:00
through
9:00
Best Buy
128 Pavillion Parkway
Fayetteville,
Georgia
Unknown FREE? Unconfirmed!
Brad Keselowski
Auto Racing
9/3/2010 4:00
through
5:30
Discount Tire
2801 Highway 54
Peachtree City,
Georgia
Unknown FREE!
Tommy Davis
Baseball
9/3/2010 TBA Dodger Stadium
1000 Elysian Park Avenue
Los Angeles,
California
Unknown FREE with admission. Autograph Alley. LA Dodgers game.
Tony Oliva
Baseball
9/3/2010 11:00 AM Minnesota State Fair
1265 Snelling Avenue North
St. Paul,
Minnesota
(651) 642-2214
Unknown FREE with admission. State Fair

Saturday 9/4/10

Aaron Yates
Motorcycle Racing
9/4/2010 12:00
through
12:45
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Al Downing
Baseball
9/4/2010 TBA Dodger Stadium
1000 Elysian Park Avenue
Los Angeles,
California
Unknown FREE with admission. Autograph Alley. LA Dodgers game.
Allen Johnson
Auto Racing
9/4/2010 1:00
through
1:30
O’Reilly Raceway Park
10267 US 136
Indianapolis,
Indiana
(317) 291-4090
Unknown FREE with admission.
Ben Bostrom
Motorcycle Racing
9/4/2010 12:00
through
12:45
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Bert Jones
Football
9/4/2010 4:00
through
5:00
Georgia World Congress Center
285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW
Atlanta,
Georgia
AT&T
(908) 251-4911
Email
FREE
Brad Bergesen
Baseball
9/4/2010 12:00
through
1:00
Wendy’s
3620 Washington Blvd
Elkridge,
Maryland
Unknown FREE!
Carlos Marmol
Baseball
9/4/2010 6:00
through
8:00
Sports Authority
155 East Townline Rd
Vernon Hills,
Illinois
(847) 549-9700
Unknown FREE! Unconfirmed!
Danny Noonan
Football
9/4/2010 3:00
through
5:00
Univ of Nebraska Bookstore
1820 R St
Lincoln,
Nebraska
(402) 472-7300
Unknown FREE? Call to confirm.  Tell them you saw it on SigningsHotline.com!
Don McCauley
Football
9/4/2010 2:30
through
3:30
Georgia World Congress Center
285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW
Atlanta,
Georgia
AT&T
(908) 251-4911
Email
FREE
Elena Myers
Motorcycle Racing
9/4/2010 12:00
through
12:45
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Floyd Little
Football
9/4/2010 5:00
through
5:45
InfoCision Stadium
Akron,
Ohio
Unknown FREE with admission. Southeast gate. U of Akron game.
Geovany Soto
Baseball
9/4/2010 6:00
through
8:00
Sports Authority
620 N Lasalle St
Chicago,
Illinois
(312) 337-6151
Unknown FREE! Unconfirmed!
John Castino
Baseball
9/4/2010 11:00 AM Minnesota State Fair
1265 Snelling Avenue North
St. Paul,
Minnesota
(651) 642-2214
Unknown FREE with admission. State Fair
Josh Hayes
Motorcycle Racing
9/4/2010 12:00
through
12:45
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Logan Morrison
Baseball
9/4/2010 11:00
through
12:00
Dunkin’ Donuts
5401 N Military Trail
Riviera Beach,
Florida
(561) 616-1993
Unknown FREE? Call to confirm.  Tell them you saw it on SigningsHotline.com!
Mike Stanton (F Marlins)
Baseball
9/4/2010 11:00
through
12:00
Dunkin’ Donuts
5401 N Military Trail
Riviera Beach,
Florida
(561) 616-1993
Unknown FREE? Call to confirm.  Tell them you saw it on SigningsHotline.com!
Ryan Madson
Baseball
9/4/2010 1:00
through
2:30
Gerhard’s Appliances
290 N Keswick Ave
Glenside,
Pennsylvania
(215) 884-8650
Unknown FREE! Call to confirm.  Tell them you saw it on SigningsHotline.com!
Sean Marshall
Baseball
9/4/2010 6:00
through
8:00
Sports Authority
211 West Rand Rd
Mt. Prospect,
Illinois
(847) 797-1190
Unknown FREE! Unconfirmed!
Stephen Cooper
Football
9/4/2010 3:30
through
5:00
Clearwave Wireless
1580 S Melrose Dr
Vista,
California
(760) 727-2299
CJ’s Sports Cards & Memorabilia
(858) 748-2505
Email
FREE!
Thomas Brown
Football
9/4/2010 TBA Sanford Stadium
College Station Rd.
Athens,
Georgia
Unknown FREE? UGA game
Tommy Hayden
Motorcycle Racing
9/4/2010 12:00
through
12:45
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.

Sunday 9/5/10

Aaron Yates
Motorcycle Racing
9/5/2010 11:15
through
12:00
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Ben Bostrom
Motorcycle Racing
9/5/2010 11:15
through
12:00
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Bobby Castillo
Baseball
9/5/2010 TBA Dodger Stadium
1000 Elysian Park Avenue
Los Angeles,
California
Unknown FREE with admission. Autograph Alley. LA Dodgers game.
Elena Myers
Motorcycle Racing
9/5/2010 11:15
through
12:00
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Josh Hayes
Motorcycle Racing
9/5/2010 11:15
through
12:00
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.
Rey Mysterio
Wrestling
9/5/2010 6:00
through
7:00
Osceola Heritage Park
1875 Silver Spur Lane
Kissimmee,
Florida
(321) 697-3333
WWE
Email
FREE!
Tommy Hayden
Motorcycle Racing
9/5/2010 11:15
through
12:00
New Jersey Motorsports Park
8000 Dividing Creek Rd
Millville,
New Jersey
Unknown FREE with admission.

As always if I screwed something up, show me up by posting a comment.  Also if you know a free signing that isn’t listed, don’t be a Joe Collector and keep it to yourself, spread the information!

Dream Achieved!

Posted: September 2, 2010 by chemgod in Awesomely Bad Views, Baseball News
Tags:

So what were you doing in 1997?  Max St. Pierre was just 17 and entered into the Detroit farm system.  Yesterday Max got the call up to the majors after 14 long seasons in the minors.  Although he may never get too much playing time catching for the Tigers, he can finally say, that if you don’t give up and follow your dreams you can achieve your dream.

September is usually the time where we get to see the next generation of super stars.  It’s also the time when players like Max,  who have toiled in the  minors forever, get their one cup of coffee.  Max’s rookie card was from the 1997 Royale set, it contained an autograph.  Although I have seen it  online, I have not seen it on eBay.  He also has some minor league cards from various Erie team sets.

I really just wanted to wish Max the best  of luck with this call up.  He has earned it, that’s for sure.  Even if he never makes it back to the majors, he can actually be referred to as a major leaguer.  It’s never too old to be a rookie (30 this year).

High School Sports Cards

Posted: September 1, 2010 by chemgod in Awesomely Bad Views
Tags:

On Monday I was talking about the Leaf company rising from the ashes, one of the new products they will be boasting is their US Army All American Football set.  It is scheduled to launch in Spring 2011. Prospecting has always been a big part of the hobby.  However with the advent of the Team USA baseball sets and now the All American football set, are we taking this too far?

Maybe I am being too cynical, but at what point did we care to start chasing prospects while they are in high school?  I know a lot of you are thinking, hey wait a minute, didn’t you go get Bryce Harper’s autograph when he was a sophomore in high school?  Yes I did. I got caught up in this craziness, but I have since stopped.  The hobby has revolved around the rookie card for so long, we don’t even know what a rookie card is anymore.

Is it the first card of a player (Razor, Just Minors, TRIStar)? Is it the player’s first major league card (Bowman, Bowman Chrome, or DPP)? Or is it when he cracks a major league roster and gets a card in the regular issue set with the neat little RC on the side of the card?  I have no idea anymore.  I have spoken about this so many times in the past.

Why is a Tim Tebow rookie autograph more than a John Elway autograph?  It’s not like there is a shortage of either.  Elway is a Hall of Famer, Tebow may never even start.  This is a terrible injustice in my mind.  It doesn’t even make sense.  Why is a Strasburg autograph worth more than Nolan Ryan’s, Pedro Martinez’s, Bob Feller’s, Johan Santana’s, and even a Cy Young cut autograph put together?  It doesn’t make sense.

In fact if I were holding two envelopes and envelope A contained a guaranteed Hall of Fame player’s autograph and envelope B contained an autograph of a minor league player of the year.  I would think most people would take envelope A.  So why do the cards in envelope B seem to be worth more?  It just makes no sense at all.  In fact let’s take a poll:

To get back to my original point though, high school football cards, might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.  I just don’t understand the direction this hobby is taking.  Instead of celebrating players who have made it.  They glorified players who have done nothing.  From Topp’s and Upper Deck’s perspective I can understand spending less money for players who aren’t in the majors.  However from a collector’s perspective, when did we stop collecting the giants of the game and start shelling out huge money for unproven players?

Breaks my heart sometimes to even think about it.

In this corner, putting up an average of 0.313, with 2555 career hits and 554 home runs is Manny Ramirez:

and in this corner hitting a career 0.301 with 2468 hits and 521 home runs is Frank Thomas:

I’m a Big Hurt guy myself, the fact he was never caught juicing is what seals it for me.  Had Manny not tested positive for PEDs, I would go with him, but I think a lot of us suspected he was using.  Thomas (barring any surprise PED scandal) should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  As for Manny, I’m thinking it might take a long time for him to get in.  He falls under the same category as Mark McGwire.  Very good number, but a cloud over them.

Who would you rather won?  Both cards are running about $30.

Weekend Ponderings . . . .

Posted: August 30, 2010 by chemgod in Awesomely Bad Views
Tags:
  • Is it just me, or is it time for Fernando Martinez to show us what he has? <link>
  • Don’t look now, the most promising farm system in the majors has to be the Royals.  At some point Alex Gordon is going to hit in the pros, then you have Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas killling the ball in the minors.  Toss in 4 of the best lefties in the minors and they are going to mushroom in two years.
  • Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller is being treated for leukemia.  You couldn’t meet a better guy, this is a terrible story. <link>
  • I still can’t believe yesterday was Frank Thomas day, he is a first ballot Hall of Famer.  It’s just not right that he finished his career between Toronto and Oakland. <link>
  • If Vinnie Jackson sits out the entire season, will it even matter.  The guy has never even had a 70 catch season.  He is not a WR1 so he shouldn’t get WR1 money.  The Chargers should unload him, but hopefully not to the Seahawks. <link>
  • Don’t you just hate making an 8 million dollar mistake? How is Bryant even worth $8 million?<link>
  • Leaf cards is back and headed by former Razor chief Brian Gray.  My question is why revive the Leaf name to only produce Razor products? <link>
  • There are some event worn memorabilia worth serious cash <link>
  • Is anyone totally psyched about the latest poker card release? Me neither! <link>
  • Will Topps ever go back to different designs for baseball and football in a given year?  I wish the card industry would stop being so lazy.
  • If Topps put out an archive product that was a reprint of say 1966 Topps baseball.  But would have all those autos, chrome inserts, uniforms, etc., I think it would be product gold don’t you?

Just a few random thoughts from a random weekend.