Comment of the Week award has to go to collector Dan Brunetti. His jewel?

“Sometimes for me, the hunt for the address is almost as exciting as the return.”

Dan is working on assembling an autographed 1979 Topps set.

In the fall of 2013, Jim Beattie closed his Vermont P.O. Box. No one has gotten TTM successes from Beattie, or a current address since, according to www.sportscollectors.net postings.

Dan’s online searching found that Beattie was scouting for the Blue Jays. Dan e-mailed the team, asking if they’d forward a letter. 

Sure!

Baseball scouts travel. Writing c/o a team makes sense. One past theory asserts that som coaches and scouts may still have the idea of autographs as being a work-related job. If you support the guy’s employer (team), he’ll support your hobby. In other words, they feel they’re getting paid during the season to be fan-friendly. 

Of course, current and former baseball personnel may ignore all the mail, packing their piles of correspondence home for the winter.

For the off-season, seek a home address. Harvey Meiselman’s address list remains the gold standard in our hobby.

Team front offices can seem like wastelands. If you get forwarded, it may not be fast.

Different addresses may work at different times. Be creative, and compare notes with other collectors.

Sure, the “whatever happened to…” questions about baseball players are fun.

Learn from the pros how to make the best use of that real estate on your envelope!

Love ’em or hate ’em, there’s no doubt what’s in your mailbox.

PCH knows how to use every inch of an envelope (front AND back). You get their message long before you start to tear open that flap separating you and an almost-guaranteed jackpot.

(No, I haven’t received my giant cardboard check yet, either…)

Collector Dan Brunetti’s success with Alan Trammell got me thinking. There’s so much space on that two-sided envelope.

Why not summarize what your letter’s about? The best letter in the world doesn’t work if it’s unread.

For instance:

“Was At Your 1st Game!”

“Saw 3 HR Game, 2004.”

“Fellow Alabama native.”

Does the player speak more than one language? Add a brief non-English “good luck” or related greeting.

I’ve never felt that “Payment enclosed” on the envelope is a good idea. Keep the added notation about the person, not the process.

Most of all, be honest. If your envelope enticement doesn’t match your letter and contents, get ready for life in the recycling bin.

Sadly, some current and former players may be seeking reasons not to read your letter. Your envelope is competing with a mountain of fan mail for someone’s attention. Take your best swing.

A selective hitter and signer these days!

Congrats to collector Dan Brunetti.

After getting one of the increasing rejections by Alan Trammell (card returned unsigned in the SASE), Dan tried again.

“I sent the second time in a big yellow envelope.  I wrote “2nd attempt” on the back of the envelope so he might see it when he opened it.”

Studying the recording attempts and rejections for a problematic signer like Trammell (whose autograph attitudes seem to have taken a U-turn beginning in 2010 as a Cubs coach), can be done easily with a source like www.sportscollectors.net.

However, the time comes when you have to make your own game plan. Everyone is different. Time of the year (in- or off-season) may matter, too. Even retirees can be busier in summer.

The moral of this story is to keep hope. Don’t risk losing a valuable card from your collection. Yet, figure out a way to stand out from the other requests, and you may be smiling like Dan.

Coming Monday: Baseball’s most inspirational broadcaster?

Check out Nick Diunte’s success, to see how the back-up backstop’s autograph still shines!

I’ve heard from all kinds of autograph collectors, including the position hobbyists. So, here’s some updates about four names linked by job, a quartet of guys making news the hobby right now…

Applause and thanks start with collector Dan Brunetti. After two Return to Sender (RTS) rejections from Bob Boone, in care of the Nationals and later his home address, Boonie signed. I’m thinking Dan scored c/o the team.

Time is dwindling on attempts to get members of the 1950s Yankees dynasty teams. Nick Diunte, one of my favorite baseball writers, had to wait more than a year to get backup catcher Charlie Silvera, now 88. Read how Nick kindness moved the Yankee. Meanwhile, let me cast my vote for an always-worthwhile read at Nick’s “Baseball Hapenings” website.

Also, I wanted to share Ron Martin’s great summary of the career of just-deceased catcher Matt Batts, who did sign for me once. Thanks to Ron, an inspiring Reds fan and collector, noted:

“I guess that you may have heard that the former Red Matt Batts passed away this week.  He was 91 years old.  He was better known for his baseball exploits as a member of the Red Sox and Tigers’ organization but he finished his career in 1955 and 1956 with the Reds.  He was  one of Satchel Paige’s first catchers and also caught the second of Virgil Trucks’ two no-hitters.  He was also the catcher when Jack Harshman set the all time White Sox record of striking out 16 batters on July 25, 1954 against Ted Williams and the Boston Red Sox.”

Lastly, I wanted to weigh in on what seemed like an upbeat story about a retiree deciding to charge for TTM autographs. Catcher Mike Fitzgerald (1983-92) is wanting $5 for signing each baseball card, $10 for balls and other larger items. The note from baseball address king Harvey Meiselman said that the money would be used to pay off a son’s student loans.

Well, upon closer inspection at www.sportscollectors.net shows that the one-time Met and Expo hadn’t returned any requests since 2011. Collectors who’ve waited more than two years for a reply have gotten a letter from the son, indicating that, upon payment, he’ll see that his father signs the cards promptly.

In a way, it’s like a ransom note. Will peeved collectors who’ve written off Fitzgerald as a lost cause bite? Years ago, the ex-catcher sent out autographed Christian testimony cards as bonuses. Now, it’s easy to wonder if even his son and money will keep him motivated to sign.

Keep chasing Boonie before the HOF calls! If you think he’s a streaky signer now, just wait…

One of the joys of this blog is finding all-star readers. These are the gamers of the hobby, those tireless collectors who do autographs their way.

Thanks to Dan Brunetti sent a great note with an interesting possibility:

“I have enjoyed your posts this month.

My “why won’t this guy sign for me?” is Bob Boone.  I have gotten RTS returns from him both through the Nationals and at his home address while the rest of the world seems to be racking up successes at both addresses with one or two week turnarounds.  I am chalking it up to bad timing, as I sent to the Nationals in January and to his home in California in May.

I have have a few others where I saw several cards mailed after mine show up in the success column of others while I was still waiting.  Bill Lee and Bert Campaneris are two good examples.”

Poor Mario Mendoza got a “line” named after his anemic batting average. Will the spot signers who vex a particular collector be assigned the pitcher’s name? As in, “The guy totally Santorini-s me every time I write!”

Lastly, here’s a grateful shout-out to Daniel Solzman. He shared…

For many autograph collectors, it’s about the GETTING.

For others, it’s the GIVING.

And the HOPING.

Some hobbyists might nickname former outfielder Chet Lemon as “Lost Cause Lemon.” The always-awesome www.sportscollectors.net site says that Lemon’s last documented response came in 2007.

That hasn’t stopped Dan Brunetti and his son.

They decorated an envelope with tiny pics of all 54 of Lemon’s cards. The whole undertaking took more than an hour. Dan’s son wrote the letter. They just want one card each signed (for their Topps set projects).

Dan’s son told Mr. Lemon in the letter that he had a “cool name.”

He’s got two cool fans. Autograph or not, this pair have a classic shared memory that’ll deserve a lasting place in their collections.

Why?

I’m dazzled by the collectors who can answer that question. When I look at someone’s collecting specialty, I want to know how that emphasis (the year, teams, players, etc.) reflects that hobbyist.

Dan Brunetti, who is focusing on autographs on 1979 Topps, knocked the question out of the park. He said:

“That set is my favorite as it is the first year that I collected. My mom couldn’t figure out what order I was keeping them in. She would sort them by number, by team, or alphabetically and then I would put them back they way they were before she sorted them. It seems that I has memorized the order I had opened them in and kept putting them back that way. She also claims that I learned how to read by sounding out the player names on the cards. I suspect that the first story has a good bit more truth than the second.

I collected autographs for a time as a kid. My best through the mail has to be Cool Papa Bell. I got Nolan Ryan at an Astros game. Then Ernie Banks and Yogi Berra at a card show. I quit autographs until I got to college at Alabama and they won the football championship in 1992. I collected everything Alabama for several years after that. I got back into baseball autographs in 1999 sending mostly to minor league managers and coaches who were former big-leaguers.

I started back in November and have gotten Ed ” Too Tall” Jones, Charlie Joiner, Dave Kingman, and Greg Luzinski plus a few Alabama players (including Ozzie Newsome) since then.

My mom never threw out my cards and I still have the cards I opened that year. Most all of them have at least one crease in them. I thought about sending them out but have opted to buy nicer cards instead. I’m not sure that I made the right decision. I wish I had sent Kingman and Luzinski 1979 cards instead of cards from 1977.



Above: Dan appreciates personalized responses. Meanwhile, his son is savoring TTM success, too!

My son is collecting the 1986 Cubs by accident sort of. I give him cards for doing his chores and cleaning his room. I gave him Cubs team sets at first. He noticed that Ron Cey was in several years, so Ron Cey was his first TTM. Since then, whenever I send a player from the 1979 set that was on the 1986 Cubs we include that one and send both cards and we both write letters. Since the first note Richie Hebner has signed for us.

My mini-project within the 1979 Topps is to get the players who played in the first game I went to – the Sept 2, 1979 matchup between the Mets And the Astros. I got Kevin Kobel today. He is the Mets pitcher who tallied the win at the first game I went to. Other players from that game I have are Art Howe, Denny Walling, Andy Hassler, Terry Puhl, Ed Kranepool, John Stearns, and Richie Hebner.

My dad saved the program from the game and framed it for me. It has a couple of autographs on it too, looks like Luis Pujols and Jimmy Sexton. I also got the batboy, since he wrote BB underneath his signature.”

Two great collections reflecting two people having FUN. That’s true value. Thanks, Dan.