More Luis Salazar...

Well, as I figured would happen, my weekend turned out much too busy to make the big semi-annual local card show. I helped someone move on Friday. All day Saturday was taken up by my sons' Little League Opening Day parade and a game for each of them. Both won their games and each had a clutch hit. Nice!

The Cubs were beating the Braves but I got home just in time to watch the bullpen unravel and the Upton brothers destroy our closer on WGN. Not nice!

Sunday was the day I thought I'd be able to sneak away for a bit and snag some good deals from dealers who didn't want to lug as much stuff home with them but it was not meant to be. We had some out of town company over (not that it wasn't great to see them, it was) and they weren't the type to hang out at a card show. Later in the afternoon though, I did manage to catch the tail end of Potomac National/Lynchburg Hillcats game. The Nationals were leading but gave up 7 late inning runs to fall 11-6.

Some of you may have been following this blog long enough to remember, I had pretty good success getting some autographs from former Cub Luis Salazar since he has been the manager of the Hillcats. For those who haven't, I recapped it some here and here.

Since I missed the beginning of the game, my older son and I decided to wait after the game. It was a getaway day so all the players filed out of the locker room and into the awaiting bus. Of course, the manager was the last one out but he signed a quick one each and then he and we were on our separate ways.

The first card was one of my new ATCRCS/A&G hybrids. I had found a nice color picture to use a while back (but after I had already gotten the regular ATCRCS card signed) so I put it to use. I haven't whipped up a back for it yet but will soon.

The second card was a 1987 Topps Traded. The guy who has been helping me at the Sun Times shows in Chicago is working on getting the entire 1987 Topps and Topps Traded set signed so I thought it was time to repay the favor. I checked his list and this Salazar card was on it.

I do need to add Salazar to the Boys of Zimmer poster I just showed off but I didn't have time to get it printed yet. Hopefully next time he's in town!

Signature Saturday - Luis Salazar

Earlier this week I was excited about having success with former Cub utility player Luis Salazar signing my ATCRCS card and Desert Shield set card. But truth be told, he has been more than generous in the few times I've seen him come through town as manager of the visiting Lynchburg Hillcats this year and last.

I didn't start out with the intention of getting him to sign every Cubs card he's on, but seeing him a couple times a year and knocking out a couple each time...I'll run out of cards sooner rather than later!

A few of these cards I already had in my collection and were done last year. A couple were sent to me in trades since I started my blog (thanks!!) while others were just acquired at the card show last weekend. If my checklists are correct, this should complete his Cubs appearances with Topps:

 Stadium Club:

and Upper Deck:

 I'm pretty sure I have unsigned versions of his Fleer, Score and Donruss cards too. Will have to check the Hillcats schedule and a calendar...

Another Day at the Ballpark

Last Monday I did a write up on our day at the ballpark. Last night we decided to hit another game because Mondays are $1 tickets and $1 hot dogs. Can't feed and entertain the family for much less than that these days, right?

Armed with a Lynchburg Hillcats team set and Carolina League Top Prospects set we had just picked up on Sunday at the card show, we did pretty well. But to be honest, my son did most of the work with those as I had a mission of my own. Here's his haul, mostly pregame with a couple in-game from pitchers who were charting pitches in the stands behind home plate.

Top Prospects Set:

Nick Ahmed, Cody Martin, Edward Salcedo, David Freitas

 A couple more P-Nats we didn't get last week:

Shane McCatty, Neil Holland, David Freitas, Robbie Ray x2, Adam Olrychowski

 Lynchburg Hillcats (Single-A affiliate of the Braves)

Nick Ahmed, Caleb Brewer, Matt Chaffee, Dimasther Delgado, Chris Garcia, Juan Jaime

Cody Martin, David Rohm, Edward Salcedo, Braeden Schlehuber, Gus Schlosser, Blaine Sims

Matt Weaver, Luis Salazar, Derek Botelho, Ty Cobbs, Bobby Moore, Jason Curry

I wish more Major Leaguers signed autographs as much as their Minor League counterparts did but I think I did pretty well with my own mission. Last week, I said I didn't have enough time to process my ATCRCS card of Xavier Nady to bring to the game with me. Surprisingly, he was still with the team rehabbing so I came prepared this time. Nady has had a goatee and mustache every time I've seen him before so when he came out clean shaven, I wasn't sure it was him right away. I confirmed his number and called him over. He took a good look at the card but didn't say anything as he signed it.

My first in-person signed ATCRCS card

Not only did he sign the card, but I forgot to mention last week that my older son also caught a foul all off the bat of Nady. So we brought that with us this week and asked him to sign that too.

My mission did not end there though because across the diamond managing the Hillcats was another former Cub, Luis Salazar. You might have noticed above that my son got his team set card signed. Well, I walked away with a signed ATCRCS card and a 1991 Topps Desert Shield card for my collections so as far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished!

My 2nd in-person ATCRCS card and 25th overall!

1991 Topps Desert Shield Luis Salazar

That brings my signed collection of 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards to....drumroll.....two. Oh well, slow and steady wins the race, right?

Mailday Monday

Today is the first installment of Mailday Monday. It was a bit of a slow week but I'm real pleased with my pickups. The first two were separate eBay purchases but will help get the ball rolling on completing the set. There is nothing wrong with the fronts of the cards themselves but apparently my scanner likes to pick up each pixel. The corners and centering are pretty good on both although the border on the Luis Salazar is a little thinner on the top.

Mitch Williams was only with the Cubs for 2 seasons but he falls into that Boys of Zimmer category that I mentioned the other day with Jerome Walton. Luis Salazar is currently the manager of the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Braves low Single A affiliate. They play my local minor league team, the Potomac Nationals, several times a season so I picked this card up in anticipation of going to a game to get it signed.

My third item was actually a card I've had for over 20 years. There was listing over on Sportscollectors.net for a Cecil Fielder signing and this card came to mind instantly. No, Fielder was never a Cub, but since he is on a card with my favorite one ever, it was a no brainer to send in for the signing. I hope to finish it off by adding Sandberg's signature soon. Maybe it's just me, but Cecil seems a lot slimmer than I remember as a kid.

Today's ATCRCS card of the day: Former Cub, current Washington National, Mark DeRosa