RBI (118) ROY TTM Response...

There are times where autograph collecting and TTM can be pretty defeating or discouraging. Athletes today often don't sign for fans anymore, but every once in a while you hear about a player who goes above and beyond for the fans. Even more rare are those players who are so friendly AND are fantastic top level players. You've heard my stories about David Price, but a TTM signer who I've learned is pretty reliable and being amongst the top of the league is closer Craig Kimbrel.

Kimbrel was taken by the Braves in the 3rd round of the 2008 and debuted as a September call up in 2010. After that the story was over for other teams when it came to the 9th inning with Kimbrel quickly becoming one of the most dominant closers of his generation. He won a unanimous 2011 NL Rookie of the Year Award and was a member of the All Star team. He gained his 2nd All Star nod in 2012 on the way to the NL Rolaids Relief Man as the best reliever for the year. Both seasons had him lead the NL in Saves, while in 2011 he established the MLB record for most saves by a rookie. That is a record I find highly difficult to believe will be broken seeing as 46 Saves by any closer is an elite year let alone by a rookie. In 3 seasons so far Kimbrel has a 1.46 ERA, 89 Saves, and 283 Strikeouts in 160.1 innings. In 2012 Kimbrel was so dominant that he became the first pitcher in MLB history to strikeout more than half the batters he faced. It's scary to think he's only 24 and already accomplished so much. So long as he remains healthy the Braves have found a true crown jewel to lead their bullpen.

I was very excited and happy to open my envelope to find this 2012 Allen and Ginter card autographed by Kimbrel after 86 days c/o the Braves. This was part of my 365 challenge and is the 24th autograph response I received.

RBI (117) A Veteran TTM response...

I was happy to see a response waiting for me in the mail that included a letter response. I opened it to see former starting pitcher Mr. Walt Terrell had replied to my TTM request.

Terrell was taken by the Texas Rangers in the 33rd round of the 1980 draft. He was traded to the Mets in 1982 and made his debut with the organization that year. It was the beginning of an 11 year career that would take him from the Mets, Tigers, Padres, Yankees, Pirates, and back to the Tigers to close out his career. He'd retire with 111 Wins, a career 4.22 ERA and 929 Strikeouts. He'd throw an astonishing 56 Complete games, 14 of which were shutouts, in his 294 career starts.

Mr. Terrell was kind enough to not only sign my 1987 Topps cards but also signed my index card and answered a few of my questions.

What was your favorite team to play for?
Despite playing for six teams throughout his career Walt said, "I enjoyed them all"

Who was your preferred catcher?
His career allowed Terrell to pitch to seasoned veterans Mike Fitzgerald, Matt Nokes and Mike Heath. Walt responded, "They were all very good and each had something unique about their game"

How did you find out you were debuting for the Mets in 1982?
I found this answer to be very revealing as research into this response told me that Terrell's time in AAA was spent learning how to prepare for the big leagues by former top flight closer of his era, "Tidewater coach Jack Aker told me" Aker set the single season saves record of his time with 32 in 1966. Such consistent performance and numerous appearances must have helped influence Terrell's readiness to go the distance and do what was needed for his 56 Complete Games.

Did you ever talk to Wally Joyner about the 9th inning hit?
On August 20th, 2986 Joyner came up to bat in Tiger Stadium at top of the 9th with 1 Out left before Terrell would cement his name in history with a no-hitter. The at-bat went Joyner's way and "We never brought it up"

It was great to get this response from Mr. Terrell after 16 days quickly from his home address.

The 365 Challenge of 2012 Is Over

Well folks it's the first week of 2013. The 365 challenge has officially come to a very unsuccessful finish. The words "utter disaster" come to mind, but it'd be a little harsh and discount the kind responses of the letters I sent that did returned.

Of my hoped 365 letters I sent out 91 letters to current players, executives and retirees of the game. My 91 is only a 19 letter improvement from last years numbers. To make matters worse of the 91 letters that I sent out I only received 23 responses. In 2011 I sent out 72 letters with 31 responses.

I came to some realizations though as I did this challenge:

Number 1: It's not fun. At all.

The entire process becomes cumbersome when I have to choose a player, research them, write them, write a blog post explaining why I wrote them, update the ttm page, update the 365 challenge page, link all the appropriate pages and then finally get to mail my letter. And then blog about any response.

The sheer prospect of such time consumption made me grow a genuine distaste for really getting into any sort of significant letter writing kick.

I got into TTM because I truly enjoy baseball. I want to learn about the history of the game and it's many facets from the men who played the game. Trying to hit a specific number of letters sent out while maintaining that integrity without making it a mechanical process was too difficult.

Number 2: It ain't cheap.

I also came to the realization that it's a semi expensive hobby when you start cranking out those kinds of numbers. Postage for the letter to the player and your return envelope? Envelopes themselves. Index cards. Baseball cards for specific players. Cheap it was not. I'm not saying it broke the bank, but I realized as I dropped twenty after twenty at the post office that I should at lease be enjoying the process more for what I'm spending.

Number 3: Al Kaline sucks.

Yes I'm still pissed about this.

Number 4: There are some people out there in the baseball world that don't suck. Al Kaline take note.

Carl Erskine
Jerry Dipoto
Bobby Doerr

Now I honestly do appreciate every single TTM response that I have ever gotten, but those individuals have definitely gone above and beyond to help a stranger learn a little about the world of baseball.

Number 5: I will try again.

That's right. Despite all the negatives I've listed it was an experience. There's something magical about a no-hitter. The anticipation of every pitch. The holding of your breath when you hear the bat connect to the ball and you can only watch to see if someone can make a play on it. It's a question if can he go the distance. Will time and circumstance come together for something special to happen for 9 innings. I took my no-no to the 3rd inning. Maybe not in 2013 but one day I'll step back onto the mound and see if I can go the distance.

Autograph Collecting Essentials 2, Collecting TTM

Hi everyone, I've been getting a few questions regarding how to collect autographs Through The Mail (TTM). I thought I'd go ahead and share some of the things I've learned from my time as a TTM collector. I follow a pretty standard formula for my TTM stuff. Hopefully this will be an easy guide on how to start collecting autographs for beginners. So one more time, if you're wondering how to get autographs TTM. Here's how:

The address:

If I'm mailing a current or former player who works for the team at a stadium I address the envelope like:

Mr. Current Player

c/o the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 

2000 Gene Autry Way

Anaheim, CA

92806

If I'm mailing a retired player at their home address it's just a standard address label:

Mr. Awesome Retiree

1234 Not Real Drive

Fake City, CA

12345

The Cards:

I know plenty of people who send a stack of cards through the mail but I tend to keep the number at 1-2. Some people get lucky with their large number of cards while some get 1 and the rest of the cards returned. On occasion the extra cards are unreturned and the player has added to his own collection. I know many collectors don't mind or even encourage the player to add to their own collection but it really depends on if your collection size or budget can afford you sending your extras to the player.

I've run into plenty of players in person and read about their signing habits online where they enjoy adding to their own collection or will reward fans with cards they've received from other collectors. For instance I was at an in person autograph signing for a player who played in the MLB for several seasons for some popular clubs but he wasn't necessarily a superstar. He came to the signing prepared to sign anything for those who came but also had a stack of easily 150 of his cards from various teams and sets. I'm fairly certain the duplicates collectors sent him to sign he ended up signing and giving out to fans who came unprepared to meet him. Personally I have no issue with that and hope my extra Topps card can be a memory as the first piece of a collection for a kid who met his first big leaguer and walked out with not just a stadium giveaway hat signed but a nice clean autograph on a vintage Topps card.

Inside the envelope:

First a letter saying hello and explaining why I'd like the players autograph. Make it personal and prove why you're interested in that specific players autograph instead of just adding to your stack.

Second the card I'd like signed. I don't always send my best card of the player as I'd rather not lose a Bryce Harper Rookie Card to the US Postal system or water damage when I can hold it and hope to get the valuable rookie card signed in person. Once again depends on your own collection and preferences.

Third a index card next to the baseball card to help strengthen the letter to resist bends and creases. Especially useful if you're sending vintage cards or card stock products like Heritage and Gypsy Queen where the edges can bend easily.

Fourth a smaller envelope that fits inside a standard size envelope. Get the nonlick self seal ones that you only have to remove the sticker so it seals, I've learned players and especially the retirees appreciate it.

Be sure that all your envelopes sent have appropriate postage attached. I use forever stamps to ensure that the postage is always correct, especially considering how often postage has risen recently.

Some of my best TTM autographs are Whitey Ford, Craig Kimbrel and Billy Wagner.

And that's really ttm. If you have any more questions on how to collect some autographs feel free to let me know via email. If  you're interested in how to get an autograph yourself in person at a MLB stadium you can read my article with a few tips here.

RBI (116) Vintage Prospecting...

One thing I definitely enjoy getting signed would be the prospect, rookie, or 1st cards of players. It's nice to note the beginning of a players career with their first card of note. This is especially fun for me to do for players whose cards are vintage at this point since it's more difficult to track them down than current rookies.

Jim Anderson was drafted by the California Angels in the 2nd round of the 1975 MLB Draft. He cruised through the minors to debut with the Angels in 1978. He was able to play almost every position which helped the .218 hitter play 419 MLB games from '79-81 and '83-'84. He would debut for the Angels as shortstop but appear at 3rd base, second base, catcher, and an outfielder by the end of his career.

Mr. Anderson was kind enough to sign his 1979 Topps prospect card for me as part of the Angels 50th Anniversary celebration. He had his family with him and mentioned to what I believe was his daughter that this is the card he had mentioned earlier. I'm assuming he was explaining to her which card was his rookie card. Dave Frost also appeared as part of the alumni appearances but since I didn't have any idea of how to get Bob Slater I opted to not have Frost sign the prospect card as it'd be a project I started that never finished.

Balk (15) - Rookie graphing...

For those of you interested in following a pretty hardcore grapher in the LA area I'd recommend the more recent blog MC's Autograph Signings run by a pretty talented young grapher Matt C. He covers baseball, basketball, hockey, and football so for those of you looking for more regular content than my worked induced semi-hiatus I recommend you take a glance over at his blog.

Balk (14) A work in progress

Well like I said earlier when defining my off season goals I decided that I'd use the off season to start assembling projects to work on getting signed during this coming season. I've been able to find an autograph project for the NBA (Matt Barnes' practice jersey) but it's taken some time to find something for baseball season.

Thankfully the holiday season took care of that for me. I was able to pickup a custom piece of wood from the Orange County based Trinity Bat Company on a pretty decent sale. The fine folks at Trinity have made custom bats used by Adrian Gonzalez, Tony Gwynn Jr., Hank Conger and Mark Trumbo. This is the model used by Gonzo, and I had my bat made to the specifications of a game used Trumbo bat I saw online to give it an authentic MLB feel.

It's engraved RBI Collecting and I'm sure the Trinity folks got a smile out of that thinking I was some Sunday league player being a little over anxious when naming my bat.

I'm looking forward to working on getting my first bat signed. I'm not sure what my requirements will be for to add a player on the bat, but I'll definitely collect multiple signatures on it. The chance to meet a Hall of Famer is too rare to make it a pure HOF bat, but I've seen a few out there and they're pretty impressive projects. Considering it's a legit custom bat I'm fairly certain they'd have to at the least have been named an All-Star. Anything beyond that I'll have to keep thinking about it.

Thoughts?