Ozzie Newsome

Sent: 11/20/10
Received: 11/30/10
Time: 10 Days
Address: c/o Baltimore Ravens
Item Sent: 1984 Topps, 1989 Score, 1991 Pro Set Legends
Item Received: 1984 Topps, 1989 Score, 1991 Pro Set Legends.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Few Hall of Fame players in any sport have had the kind of post-career front office success of Ozzie Newsome.  He retired from the Cleveland Browns as the owner of just about every career tight end receiving record.  He moved with the team to Baltimore, built a Super Bowl champion, and continues to design competitive teams year after year. 

Jeff Siemon

Sent: 7/17/10
Received: 11/26/10
Time: 132 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1978 Topps
Item Received: 1978 Topps, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
The Vikings' first round draft pick in 1972, Siemon was the middle linebacker behind the Purple People Eaters.  One of the most valuable players on one of the NFL's great defenses, his legacy often seems lost in the shadows of the great defensive line.  He is one of the great Vikings, though, and this is a very cool addition to my collection.  He added a note apologizing for the long wait.  Thanks, Mr. Siemon.

Tom Hirsch

Sent: 11/19/10
Received: 11/24/10
Time: 5 Days
Address: Work
Item Sent: 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee
Item Received: 1984-85 O-Pee-Chee, signed in black ballpoint.

Notes:
With better luck, Tom Hirsch very well could have been one of the great homegrown North Stars.  A star with the Gophers, he joined the Stars in the spring of 1984 after representing Team USA at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics.  During the following season, he suffered a major shoulder injury that would keep him sidelined for two and a half seasons.  He attempted a comeback during the 1987-88 season, but was only able to play one game before retiring at 25.

I noticed Mr. Hirsch had no previous TTM successes reported on SportsCollectors.net, but I sent him a letter anyway, care of his contracting company.  He responded in five days, also signing my letter and adding "Only because you're a Minneapolis kid!"  Very cool.  Thanks, Tom!

Rick Wise

Sent: 11/12/10
Received: 11/18/10
Time: 6 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1965 Topps, $5 cash
Item Received: 1965 Topps, signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Rick Wise is best known for being on the short end of one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history when the Phillies sent him to St. Louis for Steve Carlton.  He deserves a better legacy.  Wise was a damn good pitcher.  He pitched 18 big league seasons, winning 188 games.  He went to two All Star Games.  He was the winning pitcher in game six of the 1975 World Series for the Red Sox (the Fisk home run game).  And in 1971, he had one of the great all-around games ever for a pitcher when he tossed a no-hitter and hit two home runs.  Mr. Wise generously signs through the mail for a donation of $5 per signature, which he passes on to his grandchildren.

Craig Ludwig

Sent: 11/10/10
Received: 11/17/10
Time: 7 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 1, 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 2, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded
Item Received: 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 1, 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 2, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Ludwig was one of the premier shot-blocking defensemen of his era.  He won two college national championships at North Dakota and a Stanley Cup with the 1986 Montreal Canadiens.  He signed with the North Stars in 1991 and spent two seasons in Bloomington before moving to Dallas with the franchise.  He finished his career in 1999 with his second Stanley Cup title.

Brian Hayward

Sent: 11/8/10
Received: 11/16/10
Time: 8 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 1, 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 2, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded
Item Received: 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 1, 1991-92 Score Canadian Series 2, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Brian Hayward was Jon Casey's backup during the Minnesota North Stars run to the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.  Left unprotected in the San Jose Sharks dispersal draft that offseason, he ended up netting the first win in Sharks history.  He has been a broadcaster for the Anaheim Ducks for the past several seasons.

Al MacAdam

Sent: 10/22/10
Received: 11/15/10
Time: 24 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee, 1979-80 Topps, 1984-85 Topps 
Item Received: 1979-80 Topps, 1984-85 Topps.  Both signed in black Sharpie.  (1977-78 O-Pee-Chee returned unsigned.)

Notes:
Upon discovering the North Stars, I instantly gravitated toward Al MacAdam.  He was a tough S.O.B.  He would throw down with anyone, then put the puck in the net on his next shift.  Plus, he had that mustache.  Best 'stache in North Stars history and, with apologies to Carl Pavano, still the best 'stache in Minnesota sports history.  I'm really excited about this return from one of my all-time favorites!

Doug Jarvis

Sent: 10/29/10
Received: 11/15/10
Time: 17 Days
Address: c/o Boston Bruins
Item Sent: 1979-80 Topps, 1984-85 Topps, 1990-91 Pro Set Minnesota North Stars Logo
Item Received: 1979-80 Topps, 1984-85 Topps, 1990-91 Pro Set Minnesota North Stars Logo.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
The NHL's Cal Ripken, Doug Jarvis played a record 964 consecutive games from 1975 to 1987.  During the streak, he won four Stanley Cups and the Selke and Masterton Trophies.  He joined the North Stars as an assistant coach in 1988 and remained with them after the move to Dallas, eventually winning his fifth Cup (and first as a coach) in 1999 with the Stars.  He is now in his first season as an assistant for the Bruins.

Eric Weinrich

Sent: 11/4/10
Received: 11/15/10
Time: 11 Days
Address: c/o Portland Pirates
Item Sent: 1990-91 Pro Set, 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1991-92 Score Canadian All-Rookie Team, 1999-00 Upper Deck
Item Received: 1990-91 Pro Set, 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1991-92 Score Canadian All-Rookie Team, 1999-00 Upper Deck.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
I was a huge Eric Weinrich fan in the early '90s.  You're all probably asking the same question.  "Why?"  Well, something you might need to understand about me is that, even in my youth... hell, especially in my youth, I kind of had a thing for seeking out obscure favorite players.  Like all my friends, I loved the local stars.  But there was a whole group of random athletes from out-of-town teams that I professed as favorites.  In basketball, Danny Ainge was my guy.  In baseball, it was Matt Nokes and Greg Maddux (before Maddux was a superstar, mind you).  I could never settle on a favorite non-North Star in hockey.  Trevor Linden, Pat Verbeek, and anonymous young Quebec Nordiques center Joe Sakic were in the mix, along with Weinrich.  He wasn't a bad player by any means.  After all, he spent 17 seasons in the NHL.  Just an odd choice for a kid from suburban Minneapolis.

Pat Falloon

Sent: 9/23/10
Received: 11/9/10
Time: 47 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1991-92 Pro Set, 1991-92 Score Canadian Memorial Cup Champs, 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded
Item Received: 1991-92 Pro Set, 1991-92 Score Canadian Memorial Cup Champs, 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1991-92 Score Rookie & Traded.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Poor Pat Falloon had huge expectations as the second overall pick of the 1991 draft, and the first draft pick in San Jose Sharks history.  That was the Eric Lindros draft.  Falloon was deemed the next-best prospect available, and he did produce a fine rookie season in 1991-92 (25 goals, 34 assists).  Unfortunately, that was the best season of his professional career.  Four teams later, he was out of the league at age 27.  Still, I'll always remember the frenzy of Lindros rookie cards thrusting hockey into the card-collecting mainstream of the early nineties, and Falloon picking up some big residual interest.  Ah, the early nineties!

Andrew Prater

Sent: 11/1/10
Received: 11/8/10
Time: 7 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1994 Classic Kane County Cougars
Item Received: 1994 Classic Kane County Cougars, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
I enjoy collecting autographs of former Twins minor league players, and this one is as obscure as it gets.  Prater was a 10th round draft pick of the Twins in 1990.  He played one game for the GCL Twins that year.  His pro record is blank from then until two years later, when he began a four year stint in the Marlins organization.  After receiving my letter, he responded with an e-mail where he explained that after he signed with the Twins out of high school, he realized he had made a mistake, so he returned his signing money and enrolled in junior college.  He now runs a company in Austin, Texas called Baseball Solutions, which sponsors select summer and fall teams for high school players.  One of his alumni is White Sox star John Danks. (Grrr...)

Basil Meyer

Sent: 4/22/10
Received: 11/8/10
Time: 200 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays
Item Received: 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Basil Meyer was an undrafted free agent who spent four years in the Twins system from 1987-1990.  The back of this card had him residing in Nevis, Minnesota (a small town on the outskirts of the Chippewa National Forest), so naturally I mentioned that I'm especially fond of collecting signatures of Minnesota natives.  He added a note to my letter, mentioning that he was actually born in Kansas, therefore wasn't sure if he met my criteria, but was happy to sign anyway.  (He does meet it, of course.)

Fernando Arroyo

Sent: 4/19/10
Received: 11/6/10
Time: 201 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1981 Topps, 1982 Fleer, 1982 Topps
Item Received: 1981 Topps, 1982 Fleer, 1982 Topps.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Ring the bells!  Fernando Arroyo is my first member of the 200-day club!  Only a week after Steve Shields came up one day short of the milestone, Fernando has passed it by a day.  The former Twins pitcher has a very nice looking signature... definitely worth the wait!

Andre Boudrias

Sent: 10/23/10
Received: 11/5/10
Time: 13 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1968-69 Topps
Item Received: 1968-69 Topps, signed in thin black Sharpie.  1999-00 Molson Export Montreal Canadiens, signed in black marker.  2004-05 In the Game Franchises, signed in blue ballpoint.

Notes:
Well, this is by far the widest variety in writing utensils used on a single return.  Andre Boudrias was an original North Star, acquired from Montreal during the 1967 expansion draft.  He only spent a year and a half in green and gold, but was second on the team in scoring during that inaugural 1967-68 season.  After very short stints with the Blackhawks and Blues, he finally became a star for the Vancouver Canucks in the early '70s.  As for the cards received here, I'm assuming he had the cards he generously added to my request just sitting around, already signed.  I don't know how else to explain the use of different pens on each.  Of course, I am very grateful.  Thanks, Mr. Boudrias!

Greg Smith

Sent: 10/23/10
Received: 11/4/10
Time: 12 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee, 1979-80 Topps, 1981-82 Topps
Item Received: 1977-78 O-Pee-Chee, 1979-80 Topps, 1981-82 Topps.  All signed in black marker.

Notes:
Greg Smith came to the North Stars in their 1978 merger with the Cleveland Barons.  He spent three seasons at the Met Center as a physical stay-at-home defenseman before being dealt to the Red Wings following the Stars' 1981 Stanley Cup runner-up season.

Tom Edens

Sent: 7/13/10
Received: 11/4/10
Time: 114 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1988 ProCards Tidewater Tides, 1989 ProCards Tidewater Tides, 1991 Line Drive AAA, 1992 Score
Item Received: 1988 ProCards Tidewater Tides, 1989 ProCards Tidewater Tides, 1991 Line Drive AAA, 1992 Score.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Tom Edens had the finest season of his journeyman career as a member of the 1992 Twins.  He appeared in 52 games that year, going 6-3 with three saves and a sparkling 2.83 ERA.  Left unprotected in the 1993 expansion draft, he was claimed by the Florida Marlins, who flipped him to the Houston Astros.  He had another solid year for Houston, but was out of the majors two years later.

Tom Brunansky

Sent: 10/22/10
Received: 11/1/10
Time: 10 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 Donruss Diamond Kings, 1986 Topps, 1987 Donruss Opening Day, 1987 Fleer
Item Received: 1986 Donruss Diamond Kings, 1986 Topps, 1987 Donruss Opening Day, 1987 Fleer.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
I'm so excited about Bruno!  He was one of my all-time favorite Twins.  The biggest non-playoff disappointment of my life as a Twins fan is still Andy MacPhail's April 1988 trade of Brunansky to the Cardinals for Tommy Herr.  The Twins officially brought Brunansky back to the organization this year as a coach for the Gulf Coast League Twins.  He seemed to be everywhere this summer.  At Target Field for the Opening Day festivities in April, here for the Hall of Fame and 50th Anniversary Weekend in August, in the booth with Dick & Bert in Tampa...  one of my favorite things that the Twins did with the opening season of Target Field was to bring back so many names from the past.  I don't know if Bruno will be a great coach, but I love that they're giving him a chance.

Dan Dobbek

Sent: 10/15/10
Received: 11/1/10
Time: 17 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1961 Topps
Item Received: 1961 Topps, Washington Senators black & white postcard, Minnesota Twins black & white postcard.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Quick!  Who hit the first grand slam in Minnesota Twins history?  It wasn't Harmon Killebrew or Bob Allison.  Dan Dobbek was supposed to join those two in the middle of the Twins lineup for years to come.  Prospects don't always work out.  That grannie was one of just four home runs for Dobbek in the Twins inaugural season.  That season, in which he struggled to a .168 batting average, would be his last in the majors.

Pete Peeters

Sent: 10/15/10
Received: 11/1/10
Time: 17 Days
Address: c/o Anaheim Ducks
Item Sent: 1984-85 Topps, 1991-92 Score Canadian
Item Received: 1984-85 Topps, 1991-92 Score Canadian.  Both signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
I always loved the name Pete Peeters.  The 1983 Vezina Trophy winner was one of the best goalies of the '80s.  He ended his career with 246 wins and a 3.08 Goals Against Average (pedestrian in today's NHL, but downright dominating for his high-scoring era).  He is now the goaltending coach for the Ducks.

Michael Restovich

Sent: 4/20/10
Received: 11/1/10
Time: 195 Days
Address: c/o Albuquerque Isotopes
Item Sent: 1999 Bowman
Item Received: 1999 Bowman, signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Before Joe Mauer, Michael Restovich was supposed to be Kent Hrbek's heir apparent as the Twins' resident homegrown superstar.  Drafted in the second round of the 1997 draft out of Rochester Mayo High School, the hulking 6'6" slugger profiled as a future cleanup hitter.  He appeared well on his way through his first couple minor league seasons, too.  In his first pro season in 1998, he hit .369/.489/.613 (average/on-base/slugging) while spending most of the season at Elizabethton and 11 games up at Fort Wayne.  He was named Appalachian League MVP.  In 1999 at low-A Quad Cities, he posted a .925 OPS with 19 homers and 107 RBI.  Despite posting 20+ home run seasons with regularity, he appeared in only 61 games for the Twins from 2002 through 2004 and hit only three bombs.

Out of options after spring training in 2005, he was claimed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and his new nomadic baseball life was underway.  He never played for Tampa.  They ended up waiving him, too, and he was picked up seven days later by the Colorado Rockies.   One month later, he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The next year was split between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals.  2008 was spent in Japan.  He has spent the last two seasons playing for the AAA teams in the White Sox and Dodgers organizations.  Through the end of the 2010 season, he has 211 career minor league home runs, but he has not had a chance to his big league total of six since 2007.