Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2012

What’s RIGHT With the Autograph Hobby?

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Cherish every great
signer!

The list seems to grow every year. I’m sure I’ve added on complaints. The highlights (or LOWlights) include:

Players who charge for autographs.

Players who don’t respond.

Players who scribble their names.
It’s time to make a new list. One that details what’s RIGHT with the hobby.

I believe that current and former players out there still love baseball as much as I do. It’s a common language we speak. Because of this bond, they’ll respond to my letters. I’m not going to count the misses, only the hits.

Dwell on what might not happen, and your fate is sealed. I remember a quote from Rich Gossage, saying that he’d get revved up when he could see the fear on the face of an opposing batter. Don’t be that batter — or that collector.

Believe that this hobby is dying and your letters will suffer for it.

Coming Monday: Memories of Roger Maris autographs from his #1 fan.

Bobby Thomson HR Ball Set For TV

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As my Dad used to say, “Get the TV set warmed up!”

A program is coming. Here’s the word from Velocity, an offshoot of the Discovery Channel, about Sept. 29 and Oct. 3 listings.

Wait…isn’t Oct. 3 the date of Bobby Thomson’s 1951 “Shot Heard Round the World” homer?

Ever wonder what happened to that famous baseball?

Ah! Here’s the details…

“MIRACLE BALL, documents one man’s journey to search for sports history’s biggest treasure, on a quest that takes him back through time. Follow director Brian Biegel on his exploration to differentiate myth from fact and legend from truth.

After his father, Jack, finds a baseball at a thrift store with clues dating back to 1951, he believes it could possibly be the most coveted artifact in sports history. Biegel becomes a man with a mission to prove its authenticity. Working with NYPD detectives, scientists, journalists, baseball historians and actual fans present at the game, no stone is left unturned in this ultimate hunt in the quest for the truth. Implementing forensic science, photographic evidence, and eyewitness accounts, the world will finally learn who walked out of the stadium with the legendary baseball and where it has been hiding for over six decades.”

A sports memorabilia auction house grabbed headlines by offering a million dollar bounty for anyone who could produce the authentic baseball. Brian’s father tried to submit the baseball, but got a rude brush-off. The experience sparked a book, followed by the documentary.

I’ll tune in. I hope you will, too.

A Mantle & Maris Message For TTM?

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Ebay is swimming with
memorabilia from the movie.
I’d love to correspond with
surviving actors, to see
how surprised they are
about this film’s revival.

Each baseball season begins and ends with cable channels having endless showings of Safe At Home.

No, this isn’t another snarky review of the movie. (Even though I thought Fred Mertz would have made a better coach than actor William Frawley was…)

Instead, I took to heart the message of stars Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.

While they told the boy that lying is wrong, I’d add, in the case of letter-writing collectors:

You don’t have to.

I’m thinking of collectors who’ve been tempted to concoct a tale that would melt the heart of the toughest non-signer.

(I remember the tale of a reporter (no, not me) who wanted to test how celebrities responded to letters from kids. He considered publishing a book. The problem was that Senator Edward Kennedy was so moved by this “kid” correspondent that his staff invited the non-existent child to Washington, D.C.

Instead, I see a better, more honest way.

Look at the list of guys you’re writing to. How do they relate to your own locale?

1. Do they (or did they) play near where you live? What about their minor league time?

2. Did they grow up (or retire) near you? Did they attend a nearby college?

I get frequent questions in replies from retirees about my Iowa town. Don’t leave money (or opportunity) on the table. It’s not just a business saying. Take full advantage of every chance you see. Your collection will thank you.

Coming Wednesday: Tune in for a tale of Bobby Thomson, CSI style.

New Gil Hodges Book Defies The Odds

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I wouldn’t have tried such a feat, but I’m glad they did.

A tip of the collector cap to authors Tom Clavin and Danny Peary, the brave souls behind Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, The Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend (New American Library/Penguin Books, $26.95).

The authors interviewed 130 people to reconstruct the biography of Hodges, who wasn’t the most talkative man of his baseball generation. While Clavin and Peary quote from published work, they discovered quickly that reporters couldn’t count on Hodges for Casey Stengel-like quips or fiery criticisms of players.

Nevertheless, the book is a winner in showing Hodges as baseball’s heroic “Quiet Man.”

One fan, a 1950s teen, told the authors of the “John Wayne aura” that Hodges radiated, while saluting the Brooklyn first sacker for signing autographs and chatting with fans after games.

A seven-year-girl in the midst of a six-month stay in the hospital’s local polio ward remembered Hodges. When the kids sang Take Me Out to the Ballgame when the Dodgers came to visit, he scooped up the girl and danced with her when she shouted “Dodgers!” during the song. “Sixty years later, I remember that. I needed the hug Gil gave me when we danced.”

Teammate Carl Erskine talked about how Hodges would blow kisses to his wife after home runs. It seems she coached him out of a 1950 batting slump. Amazingly, Erskine mentions a few pages later that the first baseman’s savvy side — how he would rub up the game ball with a bit of pine tar during games to give his fellow Indiana native an advantage on the hill.

Credit Joan Hodges for sharing lots of personal memories of the spouse who died in 1972 on the golf course, just shy of his 48th birthday. Die-hard fans may have inklings of all Hodges did as a Dodger, Senator and Met. However, knowing him as a husband and father help paint a complete picture of this admirable individual.

Meanwhile, authors Clavin and Peary are impressive in their sincere pitch to get Hodges another look with Hall of Fame voters. Give their book a look, and you may agree.

Coming Monday: The place-based advantage most TTM collectors overlook.

Return Address Labels Matter!

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Found at 500labels.com,
tiny investments like
these can bring big,
unexpected payoffs!
 

Here’s a tip I hope that’ll help you in the future…

In the mail, I thought the worst. Had my envelope gotten mauled? All that was left was the return address label?

Nope. This was much better.

An elderly retired player had saved my return address label along with my letter. Weeks later, after his first response, he chose to send me some added comments.

To save time and energy (at his age), he taped the return address label to a new envelope.

Some other collectors have told me that they’ve gotten responses this way. They believed that their SASEs got lost by the signer.

A good return address label greets the potential autographer. The label convinces the person to open your envelope. Your APPEAL. Most of all, you’re leaving a lifeline, a way that signer can get in touch with you quickly in the future. Don’t overlook this tiny but important detail.

Coming Friday: Reviewing a new Gil Hodges biography!