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  #1  
Old 12-06-2006, 07:19 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: T206Collector

http://www.slate.com/id/2154698/?GT1=8900

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Old 12-06-2006, 09:37 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: Paul

Nice story. I enjoyed it.

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Old 12-06-2006, 09:55 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: Rhys

I bet I sent over a thousand requests like that from about 1989-1992 for autographs through the mail. I would save my allowance for stamps and spent hours plotting who I was going to mail cards to. Everyday when I came home from school it was exciting to see if I got any responses. The Hockey players almost all responded with the lone exception of Brett Hull. I received Gretzky, Lemieux etc. The basketball players were the worst, and I only received Michael Jordan (of all people) through the mail and the other 20-30 I mailed items to never responded. Baseball was hit or miss but I still remember the excitement of receiving my 1990 Score John Olerud cards back with signatures.

Thanks for the article.

Rhys Yeakley

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Old 12-06-2006, 10:10 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: DJ

That was a neat story. I also spent a great deal of time writing to athletes as a child and even into my twenties. My longest was Glen Hubbard. It took six years for some reason. The first one I ever got back was Sandy Koufax and that got the ball rolling to continue writing to everyone under the sun and in the late 1970's, my rate of success was around 90% and even befriended many athletes who wasn't used to getting much mail.

DJ

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Old 12-06-2006, 01:31 PM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: jay behrens

I got a list of living Negro Leaguers from Leon Day back around 1985. I began writing to everyone on the list, enclosing a $5 check along with my request. A few wrote back, but almost everyone signed the check This was back in the day when the bank still returned your cancelled checks to you. It was a sure fire way to get a sig.

I got nice note from Double Duty Radcliff, who almost never signed his whole name. The card and photo he signed were "Double Duty", but he signed the check with his proper name.

The best response I got from Mahlon Duckett. He not only returned the card and photo I sent, but also sent along photocopies of newspaper clippings from his playing days.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Old 12-06-2006, 01:59 PM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: Dan Bretta

Back in the 80's I sent out tons of requests to ballplayers...all of them addressed to the stadiums. My favorite team was the Red Sox and I NEVER got one single card back signed or unsigned from them. I sent most of my requests to the stars of the day and most came back obviously autopenned. Darryl Strawberry signed on the back of the card, but it's a legitimate signature and it was in ballpoint pen. Pete Rose sent back the card signed (auto) and an order form for his new book he was coming out with. My favorite player was Pete O'Brien and I sent all three of his 84 rookie cards for him to sign and he only signed one of them and put the others back in unsigned...I guess he thought I was going to sell the other two for big bucks or something

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Old 12-08-2006, 05:27 PM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

The story reflects very favorably on Don Carmen. Most of us probably would have said, "these letters are way old...the kids probably don't even live at the same address anymore." After that, the letters would go in the trash.

I wonder if modern day players would be so thoughtful.

Peter

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Old 12-08-2006, 05:42 PM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: Lee

I have sent out a few requests for auto's in the past. My favorite auto I got was of Tim Couch, who at the time was the quarterback of my favorite NFL team, the Browns. Tim signed my notecard flawlessly in sharpie (the auto is not worth anything monitarily now, but I had it slabbed anyway, it was authentic).

Lee

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Old 12-08-2006, 10:25 PM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: mikemmichaels

I'm trying to say pretty much what everyone else has said. This is my story: I had buddies with older brothers who had Clemente autographs and whatnot. I was always the goofup on the team, the guy who'd get a couple of hits early and then strike out in the ninth. So when I was about 13 in 1981 and Ray Burris of the Expos got within an out or two of a nono, I wrote him a letter telling him how sorry I was that he got so close and didn't get it.

I was home visiting my folks a couple of months ago and found a box of crap. Ray's letter and signed photo was in it. The cute part was that the stationary said "From the desk of Raymond Burris". Not worth a million dollars, but how much more authentic can you get?

I don't think I asked for a signed photo, or a million dollars, or a game used bat, but Ray sent me what he had, which was a photo and a note. It didn't make me rich, but as a guy who came within an out or two of a legimate LL victory 4 or 5 times with nothing to show for it, it meant more than anything else.

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Old 12-09-2006, 05:27 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: howard

When I was very young in 1978 I went to a Yankees/Royals game at the Stadium and after the game my friends and I went autograph seeking in and outside of the Yankees parking lot (back then it was pretty easy to sneak in the lot through the chain link fence). I had a Yankees yearbook and had already got the signatures of Mickey Rivers, Ron Guidry, Reggie and some lesser players when one of my friends pointed out Ed Figueroa. We approached him but I was not convinced it was Ed. Anyway the guy grabbed my yearbook and signed it. It turned out to be Buck Martinez and he signed right across Rivers' name. I was so pissed when I got home that my mother bought me a new yearbook and had me send it to the Yankees complete with an explanatory letter and an SASE. The article posted here gives me renewed hope that one day my yearbook will be returned to me.

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Old 12-09-2006, 09:15 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: warshawlaw

I actually had my best success with basketball players via mail. I went after coaches and broadcasters especially and got Wes Unseld, Rick Adelman, Stu Lantz, Gary Grant, Karl Malone, Buck Williams, Don Nelson and I few others I can't recall. I was surprised to get Malone; the card came back with a note that said Karl would not be signing through the mail after the current batch of autographs due to overwhelming volume.

I also did ok with requests when they had that old farts grapefruit league in FL. Got Fergie Jenkins and Graig Nettles that way.

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Old 12-09-2006, 09:33 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I used to run an independent record label. When Jack McDowell signed with the Yankees, I had heard he was in a band, and into punk and alternative music, so I sent him some CDs and a little "welcome" note.

During the following winter, I received a package with a "better late than never" note, a copy of his band's CD, and an invite to see them at a show in Hoboken (I didn't go).

I thought that was pretty cool.

-Al

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Old 12-09-2006, 09:40 AM
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Default OT: A Touching Story About Requesting Autographs By Mail

Posted By: davidcycleback

When I was a kid I got a few autographs via mail, sending the requests to the team addresses I found in a magazine. No expensive signers, my favorite being an Earl Campbell signed 1979 Topps card I sent him (he also incuded a signed 8x10 with no request). I learned to be careful sending though precious cards, as Walter Payton never returned his 1979 Topps. Looking back, what I notice is that the unsigned cards had minimal financial value at best (what was a 1979 Walter Payton worth in 1979?) but how dissapointed I lost the card. I just new how many packs I went through to get the Payton. The other thing I notice is that I didn't have discerning taste, as I was as likely to send an autograph to request to Ken Singleton an I was to Walter Payton-- though I got an autograph from Kenny.

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