RBI (214) Paul Goldschmidt...

I went down to San Diego to see the Padres play against the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was a reasonably successful trip with me getting a handful of autographs for my 2014 Topps Heritage set and the highlight of the trip was America's first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

He was an unassuming pick taking by the Diamondbacks in the 8th round of the 2009 MLB draft. The under the radar star had a massive breakout 2013 campaign and is productively repeating the success. He's already been an All Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner and lead the National League in RBI's in 2013 while being tied for the Home Run lead.

Paul Goldschmidt autographed my 2014 Topps Heritage card for the complete set I'm slowly trying to assemble. It's a big one to cross of the list as I think he'll stay productive and popular for years.

Big League Moment (8) Ian Kennedy

During the 2012 season the Angels played the Diamondbacks as part of inter-league play. Diamondbacks ace Ian Kennedy was kind enough to share a little bit about TTM while he signed a few autographs on his way into the stadium.

I said thank you for signing on his way into the stadium and Ian said no problem, so I mentioned that I was happy to get his autograph since I had mailed him a request last year at the stadium. He laughed kind of sheepishly and said "Not everything gets to me and I don't really sign during the season, but I try to get some in the off season. My wife has a big stack of it at home for me so I don't lose it. You know who does sign his mail though...but don't tell him I told you or I'll get in trouble."

I thought it was pretty awesome of Ian to be honest about his TTM signing habits and I really appreciated him passing along a tip for another player he knew who did sign TTM during the season. I can't share the player here since Kennedy asked me not, but the whole experience was cool. There have been a few readers who weren't too thrilled I didn't spill the beans on who Kennedy tipped out as a reliable signer but I've got to respect what was asked of me.

RBI (92) A 365 Return Rolls in...

It's been a while since I received a successful 365 challenge return and I've been working on a batch right now, so I thought I'd share the success. It was a quick and very surprising return by a great signer, Arizona Diamondback's starting pitcher Daniel Hudson.

Hudson was a 5th round pick in the 2008 MLB draft, taken by the Chicago White Sox. He flew through the minors and reached the White Sox in September 2009 for a taste of the bigs. He returned to the minors but then was called up in 2010 to replace Jake Peavy following Peavy's injury. Hudson was suitably impressive in his time in the rotation that when the White Sox decided to make a playoff run and wanted veteran innings eater Edwin Jackson, the Diamondbacks took Hudson and a minor leaguer for Jackson.

Hudson was dynamic in the 2011 season, helping ace Ian Kennedy push the Diamondbacks into an unexpected divisional title. He also collected a little piece of hardware for himself in his first year in the National League, being awarded the 2011 Silver Slugger award for a pitcher.

Daniel Hudson was nice enough to personalize and autograph this 2012 Topps Heritage for me c/o the Arizona Diamondbacks after only 12 Days. I'm very happy to have Hudson's reply as I think he's going to be a good solid ace potential pitcher despite his recent injury troubles that will require Tommy John surgery.

On a side note, one of the things that inspired me to write this one was a recent run in with D'backs ace Ian Kennedy. Kennedy informed me he doesn't get to this TTM during the season...but he knew one guy who does...