Header - Baseball by the Letters

Washington Nationals: the latest ‘poor us’ fan mail autograph tale

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Stephen Strasburg (shown from 2014) makes some claims about fan mail that many collectors might dispute. (Photo credit: Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
Stephen Strasburg (shown from 2014) makes some claims about fan mail that many collectors might dispute. (Photo credit: Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

Want to collect something new?

Try assembling a team-by-team set of “fan mail exhausts us!”

The Washington Nationals are the latest addition to this cookie-cutter collection of questionable journalism. Reporters seem to write from the same blueprint. Players claim to adore letters from kids. Or, the weary major leaguers discuss a rare memorable letter from the last sincere fan in the universe.

However, readers are reminded that the players are taken advantage of every day by countless corrupt letter writers.

Players finish by claiming that they just can’t cope with all the demands.

In reality, current-player response rates have taken a nosedive in the last five years.

It’s hard to take these articles seriously. Just because a player claims it doesn’t make it so. These season-after-season puff pieces almost seem like paid advertorials devised by teams. As in “Buy our tickets and licensed products, but don’t expect anything in return.”

When will a reporter make the effort to seek out real information, like on www.sportscollectors.net, to see which standoffish players are trying to shine up their tarnished reputations with fans?

Don’t forget to ask about spring training

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City_Island_Field_Daytona_Beach,_Florida
This is where Jackie Robinson made his spring training debut in 1946.

Collectors and fans ask often:

What do I write former players about? What should I ask?

Simple. Spring training!

Short major league careers might hide the fact that someone was a one-year wonder in the Grapefruit or Cactus League. After all, they had to do something great to get their shot at the bigs.

What are their best spring training memories? What was their best pre-season day ever?

Asking is free. Be prepared to be amazed.

Goodbye to Giant autograph signer, Jim Davenport

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Davenport Jim 2When Jim Davenport passed away at age 82 this month, I remembered his polite bafflement.

In 2010, I received a reply (of sorts) to three questions.

I wasn’t alone. According to the ever-trusty SportsCollectors.net, Davenport replied to 298 of 314 documented letters. Best of all, even into this January, he was doing it with sterling penmanship.

While Davenport never seemed to be a quote machine or natural baseball storyteller, he inspired this impressive Alabama retrospective.

Mike Matheny’s most famous letter?

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(Photo credit: Johnmaxmena2, Wikimedia Commons)

What’s special about baseball letters?

Simple. Each piece of correspondence is a window into the heart and soul of a former player.

When I spotted this letter to parents from then-youth baseball coach Mike Matheny, I had to share.

What major league team wouldn’t hire someone who could describe his game plan so eloquently?

I hope many of the parents who received a copy treasured what they were getting.

 

 

 

Player-author Jim Campanis Jr. goes deep!

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campanis bookThe hobby knows Jim Campanis Jr. is one of baseball’s best through-the-mail signers. 

He’s one of baseball’s greatest living storytellers, too. Scan the blog archives and you’ll find proof.

Let me be one of the first to cheer his recent Facebook announcement:

Those stories will be a new summer title from Summer Game Books.

Joe Garagiola. Bob Uecker. Now Jim Campanis. Meet another catcher who can spin classic diamond yarns.

If you’ve ever gotten an autograph from Jim, be sure to make room on your shelves for this new book. Who knows? He might have an autograph anecdote or two tucked in the pages.