When I was 12 years old, I traded a couple 1991 Nolan Ryan cards to a friend for a 1969 Brooks Robinson.  It was a fair trade at the time, before everyone realized that baseball cards from the late 80′s and early 90′s were overproduced and practically worthless.  So the trade worked out in my favor and now almost 20 years later the 1969 Brooks Robinson is one of the cornerstones of my collection.

Since the card has some sentimental value and Brooks Robinson is still alive and well, I decided to send it to him to autograph it.  To my dismay, Brooks came and went and I never got my card back and the check I sent with it was never cashed.  After several months with no response back, I bought a replacement card because I was so used to seeing it in my collection (I know, in hindsight, I should have called the card shop to ask about it, but I didn’t think they even received it because they didn’t cash the check).

Last week I got a surprise in the mail:

After almost a year, I got the card back signed by Brooks Robinson!

Now this is something I can pass on to my children when I die.  Brooks Robinson is a Hall of Famer, which means he will be remembered as long as baseball is played in America.  I hope Brooks is still around in a few years so I can bring my kids to meet him in person.

If you want your own Brooks Robinson autograph, check out his website over at BrooksRobinson.com

I got this Travis Snider back yesterday through-the-mail from the spring training address in Florida.  Kinda suspicious since he’s been playing far away from Florida since the beginning of the month, but compared with his certified autographs, it looks legit.  Baseball players work in mysterious ways…

Travis has had a slow start with the Toronto Blue Jays so far this season, hitting .118 while striking out in a third of his At-Bats.  However, he’s only 22 and is still finding his swing at the Major League level.  I’m sure he’ll come around soon.

Brandon Allen – 1B

AAA Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks)

Brandon Allen is the power-hitting, positive-thinking first-baseman of the future for the Arizona Diamondbacks.  After acquiring him in a trade with the White Sox last season, the Diamondbacks put him to work at the triple-A level in Reno, where he batted .324 and smacked 12 homers in 145 at-bats.  At the Diamondbacks’ Spring Training camp this season, he batted .344 with 2 home runs in 32 at-bats.

However, the Diamondbacks weren’t entirely comfortable starting a rookie at first base for 2010, so they signed free agent veteran Adam LaRoche and sent Brandon Allen back to Reno for more development.  Expect to see more of Brandon Allen later this season.  Since Adam LaRoche was only signed to a one-year contract, that leaves Brandon Allen as a possibility for the full-time first base position next year.

I got a very awesome looking autograph in the mail today from Florida Marlins future star Cameron Maybin.  I really like how his uniform number is displayed prominently on the card, and he also incorporated it into his autograph.  I hope he’ll have the opportunity to play a full season this year.

Dustin Ackley – 2B

AA West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx (Seattle Mariners)

Dustin was the quickest to return my through-the-mail autograph request, so he has the honor of being my March 2010 Prospect of the Month.

Dustin was the second pick overall in the 2009 MLB draft.  He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of North Carolina, whose baseball team he led to a second College Baseball World Series.  In fact, he holds the record for most Hits in the College Baseball World Series.

While he was a superb outfielder in college, the Mariners are transitioning him into second base.  He will start the 2010 baseball season playing for the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx.

Some players prefer to sign all their TTM autographs in the off-season.  I got this surprise autograph from Gio Gonzalez a couple weeks ago.  I had sent the request last May to the minor league Sacramento River Cats where he was playing.  Nice autograph.  Thanks Gio!

Gio Gonzalez started 17 games for the Oakland Athletics in 2009, striking out 109 batters in just under 100 innings pitched.

I have 35 more cards that are in my archives, but not in my collection database.  These are rookie cards and TTM autographs that I have of various prospects.  I’m going to show them off in 7 groups this week, 5 at a time:

2006 Topps #311 Joe Saunders (Rookie) (TTM)

2004 Bowman Heritage #245 Gio Gonzalez (Rookie)

2005 Bowman Draft #81 Clay Buchholz (Rookie) (First Year)

2008 Topps Update #UH303 Taylor Teagarden (Rookie)

2008 Upper Deck #309 Adam Jones (TTM)

Daniel Moskos is a left-handed pitcher who was drafted as the 4th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.  Since then, he has been working his way up the Pittsburgh Pirates’ farm system while trying to find his groove.

Daniel is currently a starting pitcher for the AA Altoona Curve.  He is 5-7 with a 4.04 ERA.

I received his autograph in the mail exactly a month after I mailed out a request.