Providence Bruins Meet the Team Night & Catching Up

Tonight was Meet the Team night at Dunkin Donuts Center for the Providence Bruins. The majority of the roster was in attendance signing autographs.  The two noticeable exceptions I picked up were Chris Breen and Cameron Hughes.  Hughes we heard was ill and stayed home. Not sure why Breen wasn't there.

We arrived fairly late for session two, but the event was pretty well organized.  Players were sitting two or three to a table around the concourse, and big thumbs up for having not just the team store, but also the Dunkin' in the building be open to sell not just gimmicks, but coffee for the coffee drinkers.

I won't bore you with the details.  But I was able to zip through the autograph lines pretty quickly.  The team also did a very good job of having a pretty big paper stock poster for people to get signed.  The only person on the poster not available to get an autograph from was Hughes, which isn't bad.

So, going in, the plan was to get the team to sign the pennant.  Really nice of the boys to keep their signatures small (and also number tag), so that I could get everybody.  But I also picked up a logo puck with a lot of white space to get Peter Cehlarik's auto.  His signature was small enough that I was also able to get Trent Fredric and Max Legace on there, too. 

So, I've added my first autographs to my Providence Bruins collection.

In the last few weeks I've also had some TTM and fanpack returns.  I'm going to get back on posting more often, but I don't have pics to go with the post, so we'll just tag them in here.

Gene Garber and Dick Groat returned some custom cards that I sent out a while ago.  And fan packs came back from the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders and just today the Jacksonville Jaguars (BORTLES!).

I am also less than 100 days away from going to Ireland.  We are missing a chance to see an EIHL game just a day or two.  But I am hoping to see SSE Arena Belfast, home of the Belfast Giants while we're there (and will be getting a puck for the collection, because count it).

TTM Success #32 & 33 - The Voice of Bonnie Swanson, Jennifer TIlley, and former Phillie Bill Campbell

Sorry, but no photos.  As I mentioned on Sunday, my current computer is slowly going the way of the buffalo.  So instead of trying to wrestle any sort of performance out of this thing, I'm just going to report very simply that I did receive two TTM returns today.

I also now have about 80% of the parts I need for my new computer.  But of course I'm waiting for the most important parts (you know, useless stuff, like a motherboard, memory kit, hard drive and power supply).

Regardless.  Today's returns came back from voice actress and poker player Jennifer Tilley as well a former Phillies pitcher Bill Campbell.

Campbell had a 57 game shot with the Phillies in 1984, the beginning of the tail end of what had been a workhorse bullpen career.  Campbell twice lead his league in games or games finished and in 1977 lead the American League in saves (31) grabbing his only All-Star Game nod as well as some MVP and Cy Young votes.  Impressive feat for the 70's when relievers were the punters of the the sport.  In 1983 Campbell pitched in exactly half the regular season games the Chicago Cubs played.  But his ERA ballooned to four and a half, and after the '83 season he began a 4 team in 4 season tour that would lead into the end of his career.  His only post season glory came as a rostered pitcher for Whitey Herzog's Cardinals in 1985, striking out 5 in 4 innings against the Kansas City Royals.

Campbell returned 2 Phillies TTM Frankenset customs in 15 days (give or take, since I think my partner left the envelopes in her handbag for a few days...)

Jennifer Tilley first shot into my consciousness about 20 years ago.  I was (am?) a massive fan of the first Matrix movie, and was told that the Wachovski Brothers had made a move called Bound as a demo tape to Warner Brothers before the studio would trust them with a very large boat load of money to make the greatest cyberpunk film ever.

Bound was a very different movie, and was a three-hander starring Tilley and Gina Gershon as the protagonists and Joe Pantaliano as Tilley's gangster husband bad guy.  Tilley's character falls for Gershon (and I mean, who wouldn't), and pulls Gershon's character - fresh out of a 5 year bid - into a Tarantino meets Thelma and Louise spiral.

The movie is incredibly well done.  There are hints at the pioneering cinematography that we would see in the Matrix series, but the handling of a very small story as well as a really unique take on a love triangle make Bound a great stand alone watch. 

After Bound, Tilley stayed in my ear as a voice actress, handling the microphone as Bonnie Swanson, the perma-pregnant wife of Joe in Family Guy.  More recently, Tilley found herself in a relationship with poker's Unabomber, Irish player Phil Laak.  Laak introduced her to the game, and she found a fantastically lucrative second career in card rooms.  She is one of a handful of women to win bracelets at the World Series of Poker and for the last few years has been a mainstay at the top of "Best Female Players" lists.

Tilley returned in about 3 weeks via an email request sent to an address that is widely available.  If you can't find it, feel free to leave a comment below, and I'll dig through my outbox to accommodate.

New computer is being built tomorrow night.  Thursday, fingers crossed, I will be doing some NHL 20 streaming on twitch.tv/revdonkbonkers.  And then from there, it should be back to a more consistent posting schedule.

Hope your mailboxes are full of autographs and light on bills.

TTM Return # 31 - Former Phillies' Outfielder & Coach, Milt Thompson || Fan Pack Return #19 Da Bears

Player: Milt Thompson
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 9/21/19 (77 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Cincinnati Reds' Stadium listed on SCF.


Team: Chicago Bears
Sent: 9/13/19
Return: 9/21/19 (8 days)
Items: 2 stickers, 2 2019 pocket schedules
Address Source: email from SCF.
See all Fan Pack Returns Here

Nice way to end the week, getting two returns in a day.  That's pretty uncommon here, considering the low volume of requests I actually send out.  But it was nice to get Milt Thompson back after almost two months (77 days).  And an 8 day turn around to get a couple of Chicago Bears schedules is really good, too.

TTM Success #30: Fourth Phillies' Manager Return - Pat Corrales

Player: Pat Corrales 
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 9/7/19 (63 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Atlanta, GA address listed on SCF.

Most of us have probably moved into fantasy football mode (I'm currently up 92-74 with an 83% win probability).  So I'll keep this short.

TTM Success #29: 1963 Gold Glove Winner Bobby Wine

Player: Bobby Wine
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 8/2/19 (44 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Norristown, PA address listed on SCF.

This is the longest I've waited for a return at 111 days. But for an 80 year old, Bobby Wine is still returning autographs for fans and still has a great, fluid, sharp signature.

TTM Success #28: Dale Sveum & New SCF.com Site Seems to Be Rolling Out

Player: Dale Sveum
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 8/2/19 (44 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Scottsdale, AZ address listed on SCF.

Dale Sveum is definitely a first ballot Baseball Name Hall of Fame entry.  Sveum played for the Phillies in 1992.  Philly was the first stop on a seven team tour that started after he spent the first six years of his career in Milwaukee (way back when that meant playing in the American League.

TTM Success #27: Gary Varsho

Player: Gary Varsho
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 8/2/19 (27 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Chilli, WI address listed on SCF.

Gary Varsho had a short Major League career, spending his 8 years as corners outfielder playing mostly off the bench, and only twice playing in more than half a season's games twice.  He finished out his career with the Phillies in '95, he retired after the season.

TTM Success #26: Ron Roenicke

Player: Ron Roenicke
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 8/1/19 (26 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Fenway Park, listed on SCF.

Ron Roenicke made an impression on me as a member of the first Phillies team I was functionally aware of as a utility piece of the '86 & '87 teams.  I was eight and nine for those teams and that was when I was truly becoming aware as a sentient  person.  It was not a great time to be "coming of age" as a baseball fan in Philadelphia. 

The '86 Phils finished 2nd in the East a mere 21 some games out of the pennant, and the '87 team finished 2 games under .500 before the bottom fell out of the whole operation in '88.  But I can still name some of those cardboard legends that patrolled the thinly covered concrete of The Vet.  That era of the Phillies is a real "Who's Who?"

TTM Success #25: Philadelphia Athletics' Art Ditmar

Player: Art Ditmar
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/27/19 (21 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Myrtle Beach, SC address listed on SCF.

Between Art Ditmar and Bobby Shantz, I've managed to get two of the few remaining men who played for the Philadelphia Athletics.  I think it's vitally important to keep the memory of that team alive.  With the history the behind the team since the club moved to Oakland, it's easy to forget that the team not only had a stop over in Kansas City, but was there right at the beginning, in 1901 when the Western League moved east and decided to go toe-to-toe with the National League.  Connie Mack and Ben Shibe launched the Athletics to compete with the Phillies.  That team went on to stomp all over the newly minted American League, winning six pennants and three World Series titles in 15 years. 

TTM Success #24: Denny Doyle

Player: Denny Doyle
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/26/19 (20 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Oakland, FL address listed on SCF.

Denny Doyle came from the generation of Phillies that immediately preceded me.  He is also one of a dwindling number of players who spent part of their career at Connie Mack Stadium.  I feel drawn to that era and that stadium.  I've probably mentioned it before, but I'm obsessed with the idea of the Philadelphia Athletics.  What would the city's sports culture, and what would my sports fandom be like if the Athletics had never left for Kansas City?  How would my appreciation of baseball been different had the A's stayed in town and played in Connie Mack through the 80's and 90's?  It's likely that as a natural contrarist, and a traveler of the road not taken, that I would have been an A's fan.  Mostly because my grandfather was a Phillies' guy through and through, and being an A's fan probably would have gone right up his ass.

TTM Success #23: Former Phillies Pitcher and Current Color Commentary Guy Larry Anderson

Player: Larry Anderson
Sent: 4/19/19
Return: 7/27/19 (97 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Citizens Bank Park listed on SCF.

Larry Anderson was a mediocre relief pitcher with one of the legendary senses of humor in the history of the game.  If there is a Mount Rushmore of utility player/middle relievers with hall of fame senses of humor, I believe that Larry Anderson and former Phillies' coconspirator Jay Johnstone occupy two of those giant, bouldery heads. 

TTM Successes #21 & 22: Utility Player Extraordinaire Greg Gross and Manager With a Mouth Lee Elia

Player: Greg Gross
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/20/19 (14 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Reno Aces stadium listed on SCF.

Player: Lee Elia
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/20/19 (14 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Odessa, FL address listed on SCF.

TTM Success #20: Ron Gant Via Fox 5 Atlanta

Player: Ron Gant
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/19/19 (13 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Fox 4 Atlanta Studio listed on SCF.

Biggest Mail Day Yet With TTM Success #19 Tom Qualters Plus Pocket Schedules and Adds to Mike Schmidt PC

Player: Tom Qualters
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/18/19 (12 days)
Ratio: 4/2
Address Source: Somerset, PA address listed on SCF.

Let's start at the top. Three packages in on mail day.  (Well, 4, the Kindle HD 10 that I picked up on Amazon Crash Prime Day came in as well.)  Two of my recent eBay wins cams in as well as a return from Tom Qualters towards my Phillies TTM Frankenset.  Mr. Qualters, who is 84 years old, signed two custom cards beautifully with a black pen and included 2 copies of his '54 Topps (which I guess is a '94 Archives set?). 

TTM Success #18: 1988 US Olympic Team Member Mickey Morandini

Player: Mickey Morandini
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/17/19 (11 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Citizens Bank Park listed on SCF.

Mickey Morandini holds a special place in my Phillies' fandom.  He was a solid hand in the middle of the infield.  But Mickey was a talented glove at second base with a great bottom of the order bat.  But, if you remember Mickey playing for the Phillies, you remember the epic, drawn out, goosebump inducing fashion in which Harry Kalas would announce "Mick-key Moh-ran-dee-nee".  I've never seen (or heard) any announcer make such a delicious meal so regularly out of any player's name.

TTM Success #16 & 17: Phillies' Pitchers Grant Jackson & Dan Plesac (with a cameo by the Phanatic)

Player: Grant Jackson
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/15/19 (9 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Upper Saint Clair, PA address listed on SCF.

Player: Dan Plesac
Sent: 7/6/19
Return: 7/15/19 (9 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: MLB Network office listed on SCF.

TTM Success #15: Gold Glove Award Winner Jim "Kitty" Kaat

Player: Jim Kaat
Sent: 5/12/19
Return: 6/7/19 (26 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Stuart, FL address listed on SCF.

TTM Successes #13 & 14: Bill Almon and "The Bull" Greg Luzinski

Player: Bill Almon
Sent: 5/12/19
Return: 6/6/19 (25 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Warwick, RI address listed on SCF.

Player: Greg Luzinski
Sent: 5/12/19
Return: 6/6/19 (25 days)
Ratio: 2/2
Address Source: Bonita Springs, FL address listed on SCF.

TTM Success #12 & Fanpack #12 Arrive on the Same Day: Cookie Rojas & St. Louis Cardinals Mail Day

Player: Cookie Rojas
Sent: 5/12/19
Return: 6/1/19 (20 days)
Ratio: 1/2 Item: 2 custom cards sent, returned 1 signed.
Address Source: Naples, FL address listed at SCF. 

Team: St. Louis Cardinals
Sent: 3/11/19
Return: 6/1/19 (82 days)
Items: 3 cards, 2 jumbo cards, 1 logo sticker, 1 schedule magnet, 1 pocket schedule
Address Source: email from SCF.

TTM Success #11: Phil Bradley

Player: Phil Bradley
Sent: 5/12/19
Return: 5/31/19 (19 days)
Ratio: 2/2 Item: 2 custom cards
Address Source: Sarasota, FL address listed at SCF.