Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2013

Do Angels Sign Autographs? Sometimes…

by

Autographs can appear when
you least expect them!
 

they aren’t the LA of Anaheim variety!

The late Grady Hatton’s devotion to autographs brings up a good point.

Tug McGraw shouted, “You Gotta Believe!” When someone gets a signature, the postmark may just confuse things. These doubts arise occasionally on www.sportscollectors.net with a “How could he have signed that? He died last week!”

It’s possible to receive an autograph from someone deceased. Sometimes, next of kin will find unmailed responses. Collectors don’t always get notes of explanation with their bonuses.

Don’t assume you have a forgery, just because you’ve read the signer’s obituary.

GHOST-signed?

After Boston: One Hobbyist’s Suggestion

by

My heart is with the people of Boston as I write.

Expect Major League Baseball and other pro sports to be wary of any fan mail for the near future.

With recent headlines, I foresee some fan letters getting RTS (return to sender) treatment, especially any oversize envelopes. Or, there could be a drastic slowdown in any replies.

That’s another reason to concentrate on contacting retirees right now.

Meanwhile, for anyone trying to write current players?

Patience.

Grady Hatton Dies at 90…Ending Mystery?

by

Cancer claimed Grady Hatton Thursday at age 90.


A crisp sig, until the end!

Hatton was a sure-thing signer. He added “1952 All-Star” on request.

Questions were questionable, however.

All I got was a crisp autograph when I wrote. The questions were ignored.

Reviewing the archives of www.sportscollectors.net, I saw that I wasn’t alone.

In 2004, Hatton wrote to one collector that he’d get in trouble with players if he answered questions.

I met Hank Bauer at a 1980s card show. A bubbly Boog Powell loved chatting with him at an after-hours reception for card dealers.

Powell would tell anyone anything. Bauer was more careful.

“We had a sign on the clubhouse wall,” Bauer said. ‘What happens here stays here.'”

Before the Las Vegas rules. You know, what happens in Vegas…

No more worries about keeping confidences, Grady. Thanks for the signature.

Pat Neshek Still Shines As Hobbyist

by

Give this collector an “A’s” for effort!

 
The New York Times offered an awesome tribute to hobby ambassador Pat Neshek last week.
 
Tyler Kepner is one of my favorite baseball journalists. However, he didn’t address two questions:

1. How many players would send a clubhouse attendant to ask for someone else’s autograph?

2. How many current players wouldn’t confess to collecting autographs?

I hope everyone reads the whole feature. In the final paragraph awaits a surprise.

One autograph reply could have changed Neshek’s career!

In college, he wrote Virgil Trucks. All Pat got in return was a FOUR-PAGE letter offering advice to a young pitcher. It seems that “Fire” was a double inspiration…on the mound, and as someone who demonstrated how to sign autographs with style and grace.

Thanks, Bobby Thomson! Why My Request Letters Include My Hobby Goals

by

He liked knowing where his
signature would wind up.

Another baseball season is here. Hurray!

Here’s one tip for any level of collector:

Say WHY you want a response, be it an autograph or an answer to your question.

Current and former players know how goals work. After all, how have they succeeded in baseball?

Your letter stands apart if the recipient knows that you’re working toward a signed set or an autograph from every member of that pennant-winning team.

Also, it helps quiet the paranoia that we’re all getting rich on eBay peddling all these signatures.

Seriously, a few decades ago, Bobby Thomson was the first of many retirees to add a “Good luck with your collection!” sentiment. Try revealing a bit of your hobby game plan in your next letters. It works!