Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2015

An open letter to Kurt Bevacqua

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Bevacqua2
Found at author Dan Epstein’s BIG HAIR AND PLASTIC GRASS site. He wrote the ultimate tribute to 1970s baseball. Check him out!

Dear Mr. B —

I just saw your latest TTM autograph price list form letter. (By the way, I  freelance edit. The letter is riddled with problems.)

Do you really have worries about “ensuring the authenticity” of your autograph? The price list says so. I guess last year’s rate of $7 per autograph didn’t provide enough security against autograph forgers? Does the autograph broker provide a certificate of authenticity with each signature?

Back to 1984: I wish you would include photos of what the $500 World Series baseball inscribed with “Padres MVP” looks like. This fee astounds me. I just saw on eBay a ball signed by the whole Padres team (from 1984, when you must have felt differently about autographs, for $395).

Once, I appreciated your championship bubble-blowing talents, sir. Now, I worry if you’ve simply blown it. 

Sincerely,

Tom O.

 

 

 

 

 

Negro Leaguer collects collector letters

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In words, in his own artwork, in two languages, Kohei Nirengi loves baseball!
In words, in his own artwork, in two languages, Kohei Nirengi loves baseball!

I am a Nick Diunte fan.

I read his great interviews and fantastic features at BaseballHappenings.net and examiner.com. Nick’s love for the game and his attention to detail set him apart from other writers.

His fact-finding talent resurfaced during a recent discovery he made online.

He found amazing footage in the documentary Extra Innings: Preserving the History of the Negro Leagues. (Please, take a look at the Youtube clip.) There’s former Kansas City Monarch Bill McCrary with a binder. He’s proud to show a letter he preserved from a fan in Japan.

That’s no ordinary fan. That’s blog reader and friend Kohei Nirengi.

Yes, so many retirees read our letters.

Many are thrilled more than you’ll ever know.

And this is the tricky part. I believe Mr. McCrary wasn’t stunned by a letter from another country. He was impressed seeing that someone made a special effort to learn his story and contact him with a personal letter.

Your postmark doesn’t matter. Your sincerity and dedication do.

Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Kohei!

Remembering Seattle Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez

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From 2013. (Courtesy Lynn Cripps)
From 2013. (Courtesy Lynn Cripps)

The Seattle Mariners lost a pitching prospect in 20-year-old Victor Sanchez. Autograph collectors lost the opportunity to get one of tomorrow’s major leaguers to sign today.

Meanwhile, my friend lost a friend.

Lynn “Chipper” Cripps, clubhouse manager of the class A Clinton Lumber Kings in 2013, had this memory on his Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness and a very heavy heart that l have learned that my friend and former Mariner player Victor David Sanchez Rodriguez has passed away due to his injuries he suffered in the boating accident. He was a Godly young man who treated everyone with respect and kindness. I will miss him very much as he was one of my boys.. RIP Big Vic.”

Lynn saw the heart of a competitor in 2013, noting that he was a witness to the hurler’s no-hitter.

As you look at the signatures of baseball’s bygone names, remember you have more than a rare signature. You have the chance to remember how someone lived, not how they died.

 

Grand Rapids Chick Inez Voyce dispels AAGPBL movie glamor

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I found this 1947 candid of Voyce, courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum website!
I found this 1947 candid of Voyce, courtesy of the Grand Rapids Public Museum website!

I’m on a mission.

After co-writing a new book about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, I’ve wanted to reach as many of these surviving players as possible.

I’m pleased to say 90-year-old Inez “Lefty” Voyce (a U.S. Navy veteran!) replied in just three weeks. Yes, she included her nickname in the signature.

The best part of her letter?

Q: What do you remember about your 1946 tryout in Mississippi?

A: Lots of bugs.

On second thought, a creepy-crawly scene like that might be great for a movie about the league, or the highly-publicized new AAGPBL musical!

My favorite March Madness BASEBALL reply

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Sorry about that bracket…

From the archives…

I hope you’ll check out the last line of what Herb Plews wrote me a few years ago.

Don’t assume the former baseball player follows only baseball. Write of their birthplace, hometown, college connection…whatever it takes. For me, my return address brought an inspiring aside about the Northern Iowa Panthers.