Gary Pressy is a musical all-star for the Cubs.
After all, who could sing and accompany himself for Take Me Out to the Ballgame?
He sent a kind response to my letter back in 2011.
I was thrilled to see Pressy get national attention for performing his 2,400 consecutive game at Wrigley Field.
To the press, I’d say:
Imagine piles of confetti everywhere in the White Sox clubhouse.
Wait. Those are tiny, slivered baseball cards. And bits of sliced-up envelopes.
First, the throwback jerseys came under attack.
What if a volatile hurler protests all the fan mail, too? It could happen, so hide the scissors!
At last count, the always-amazing www.sportscollectors.net success scoreboard showed 49 recorded by-mail successes from Chris Sale out of 163 tries. However, the last recorded response came in 2015.
If you hear from the pitcher this year, hope that your autograph comes back in one piece.
I watch the All-Star Game yearly.
The first Mid-Season Classic I remember was from 1970.
That’s why I was delighted that Jim Hickman and Claude Osteen each shared their moments with me.
These two letters are worth an encore.
I enjoyed reporting on the all-star accomplishment of player-turned author Jim Campanis Jr., sharing all the reasons his Born into Baseball (Summer Game Books) memoir is a winner.
Seeing how he’s hit the road with dad Jim Campanis Sr. (whose major league career stretched from 1966-74), I wanted to ask Jim the game plan for his book tour. Following his appearances at minor league games in Walla Walla, Everett and Bellingham, here’s his reply:
Q: What’s your schedule on the road?
A:” I’m having fun and selling books. The schedule is locked through mid-July. Jakes Pizza in Saratoga CA @5p on 7/8 and the San Jose Elks Lodge @10a on 7/9. More tentative dates are ready to confirm but I need to be sure I have enough books!!!”
Q: Snooty bookstores sometimes add to their author signing ads with “the celeb author will only be signing copies of his latest book (so don’t you dare bring anything else to get autographed).” That’s the intent, at least.
If someone comes to buy a book, are you willing to sign cards, photos and etc. for them, too?
A: “Of course! My dad and I enjoy interacting with the people we meet and sharing our story. It’s been a blast and we’ve signed many items besides books.”
Q: No cost to talk baseball with you and your dad?
A: “As I mentioned–my dad and I enjoy interacting with people and many decide to buy the book after hearing a story or two. To our surprise, many moms and grandmas are buying the book due to some of the inspirational stories. That’s been quite a cool thing knowing I can help inspire young people to love baseball a little bit more.”
To learn more about the Campanis and Campanis 2016 Book Tour, find Jim on Facebook or visit the official book page.
A standing O for Rich Mueller, editor of SportsCollectorsDaily.com.
With Sports Collectors Daily, he’s giving proof that “baseball by the letters” can build a one-of-a-kind collection.
Hand-written questionnaires from baseball legends. What could be better?
Consider what the profits from the All-Star game auction will get used for.
Hunt Auctions promises that 100 percent of the net proceeds will go towards the digitization of the questionnaires. The San Diego Baseball Research Center housed at the San Diego Public Library will host the collection of nearly 125,000 questionnaires assembled by historian Bill Weiss in seven decades. Imagine being able to view all of these online, for free. Sigh…
Meanwhile, each of us can only dream of full mailboxes with even a fraction of Weiss’s successes. Keep sending those baseball letters, and swing for the fences!