Friends Kyle and Tyler Smego scored Skidmore in 2012. See his answers to their letter at their swell site, “The Autograph Addict.”

Roe Skidmore made that one career hit as a Chicago Cub count.

Topps deemed him worthy of inclusion in the next year’s set.

Card #121, “1971 Rookie Stars CUBS,” pictures Skidmore below pitcher Jim Dunegan.

More than 40 years later, what does he see on that card?

Skidmore replied:

“The 1971 Topps picture was actually taken in spring training at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona.

To this day, I receive approximately 2 to 3 dozen cards per week from collectors to autograph. Still feels good that people remember me.”

Coming Thursday: An Illinois native playing for the Cubs!

Hal Trosky Jr. has died at age 76.

The obituary stated that he pitched in only two games in his major league career. Breaking in with the 1958 White Sox wouldn’t have been easy, winning over manager Al Lopez.

The senior Trosky was a 1930s Cleveland Indians home run machine.

I met the famous dad at a card show in Cedar Rapids. I got his signature on a baseball, then proclaimed, “Did you know there are 108 stitches on a baseball?”

Hal Sr. shrugged and grinned. “All I know is that I wanted to hit every one of them!”

I could see the years melt off his face as he said that.

According to www.sportscollectors.net, the younger Trosky batted a thousand with collectors. That is, of the 16 recorded attempts to get his autograph by mail, he delivered every time. Although he was never seen on a Topps card, he had copies of a photo to send.

Most amazingly, collectors who mentioned Trosky’s dad would get a cancelled check from Hal Trosky Sr.(deceased in 1979). An authenticated autograph from a baseball great who had died more than 30 years prior.

Kudos to Kyle Smego at The Autograph Addict for saluting this overlooked Iowan.

Don’t “he never” yourself out of a great collection.

For instance:

He never starred anywhere.

He never played in the majors.

He never played ANYWHERE.

Never say never. Behind that little-known name might be some classic baseball tales.

Kyle Smego, the driving force behind the “Autograph Addict” website, found that out when he acquired some vintage minor league cards. Being a true collector, he contacted EVERYONE in the set.

One of the classiest responses came from a 1980 El Paso Diablos team trainer.

Don Smelser was in the right place at the right time. He saw Tom Brunansky flirt with an epic five homers in one game. Smelser watched “The Famous Chicken” make his minor league debut, being a part of some now-classic routines. For days off, Smelser found a Hall of Famer for a golf buddy, pitcher-turned-coach Warren Spahn.

Kyle reaped this history bonanza through kindness. He began his letter offering to snare an extra card for Smelser, if the former trainer didn’t have one. A good lesson for us all: think about what you’re giving, not just what you hope to be getting.

Well done, Kyle!

Coming Wednesday: Remember the short-lived Senior League? One collector is getting tough autographs for a “song.”

Imagine your life feeling like a made-for-TV movie.

Louis Clarizio Jr. lived a baseball adventure that no fiction could match. In 1950, this Caucasian outfielder played for a Negro League team, the Chicago American Giants.

His humble letter provided a fascinating picture of the power of baseball.

First, I asked about his childhood. Clarizio replied:

“Growing up on the west side in Chicago in Little Italy, I was not exposed to many Black people. In elementary school there was only one. In high school, there were several.”

Fast-forward to an instant baseball career!

“While playing on the team called the Chicago Roamers, I was invited to spring training to Paducah, Kentucky, a Phillies farm club.


My friend called and told me the Amour Stars needed ballplayers. I would play two games and week and one on Sunday. Most of the players were Black. Armour Stars were part of the Industrial League.


I worked at the stockyards in daytime and played ball three times a week.


That’s when I started to noticed that Blacks were not treated fair.”

Admirably, Clarizio couldn’t recall teammates complaining.

“We rarely discussed race. When we did, it went something like this:


‘We love playing baseball. Things are the way they are.’


While with the Armour Stars, I was one of the leading batters in the Industrial League, and I was noticed by the Chicago American Giants.


Jackie Robinson was signed in 1947 by the Dodgers. The racists were angry. They complained no whites in Negro Leagues. That’s when I was signing up.”

Clarizio included a photocopy of a 2009 article about his experiences. In the feature, he explained that teammates asked, ‘Can this gray cat play baseball?’ They didn’t say ‘white.’ In those days, everyone was a cat.”

While Comiskey Park was Clarizio’s home ballpark (when the White Sox were traveling), the rest of the American Giants’ schedule was unpredictable.

“When we played, every small town had a baseball team. The American Pastime. The Major League sponsored them. That was, and still is, their farm clubs.


A typical day started at 11 a.m. We boarded the bus and traveled to these small towns to play.


The first thing we did when we got to the ballparks was eat HOT DOGS.


I can’t tell you how many.


Some towns didn’t even have one Black person living there.


We would fill the little stadiums. Most people were good.”

By ‘people,’ I assumed Clarizio meant fans. He added:

“The bad racists threw their beer bottles at me, firecrackers.


When I’d get to the dugout we would all have a big laugh.


‘Double Duty’ (manager Ted Radcliffe) would say, ‘Are you starting World War III?’ He would ask me if I wanted to move to center field or right.”

I’m grateful to this “Gray Cat” for sharing this epic chapter in diamond history. Clarizio’s autograph is available for purchase through http://www.negroleaguelegends.org/. The non-profit website helps organize signings to support these history makers. I see it as money well spent.

(Thanks to Kyle Smego at Autograph Addict for suggesting I seek out this barrier breaker.)

Coming Monday: Another side to the Steve Sax mystery?

Cam Perron may be signing an autograph for you soon.

This amazing 16-year-old collector has moved from mere autographs to becoming a respected researcher and advocate for Negro Leaguers. Making cards. Helping a retiree qualify for a Major League pension. Organizing a reunion in Alabama for league survivors. He’s getting everyone’s attention, even telling Boston Red Sox players about these baseball pioneers he’s reconnected with the sport and hobby. The official team website video is testament to Perron’s passion.

I received two glowing endorsements of Perron, the first from Audrey Vernick, author of a fine biography of Hall of Famer and Negro Leagues team owner Effa Manley. Subsequently, Kyle Smego of always-stunning website “The Autograph Addict” shared the Red Sox video and his praise.

I was delighted to get Perron’s e-mail responses to my questions. His stories amaze and inspire me!

Q: When did you progress from a letter asking for an autograph, to a letter asking questions or more? What’s a typical letter like today to a Negro Leaguer for you? Have you been able to ask specific questions about teammates or past seasons?

A: Once I started getting more into the researcher, over just getting autographs, I began asking players certain questions in the letters. I would ask if they had any photos, stayed in touch with any teammates, and I would pretty much just drill them with questions in order to find out as much as possible.

I don’t really have a typical letter I send to negro leaguers any more. 99% of the time I speak with them on the phone first to explain to them what I’m doing, etc. When I write to them I write a note saying that
“I am the person they spoke with on the phone, enclosed are some photos and articles from your career, some phone numbers and other info. I have enclosed 2 baseballs and some index cards I would like you to sign.” Then I draw a diagram of a baseball and how they should sign it with blue pen on the sweet spot. Most players have never signed a ball since they played, and they don’t know how to make it look nice. Many signed on the Bud Selig signature, or sign through the seams if not told otherwise.

Yes, I have been able to ask specific questions about teammates and past seasons. After speaking with a player a few times, (I’m primarily taking about the players that I’ve tracked down and no one has ever spoken with before), I usually ask them if they remember any teammates and where they were from, from a specific season etc..  I ask them as many questions as possible to get as many names as possible out of them. More names = more players I can find.

Q. What about collectors who’d think: “How do you write to a Negro Leaguer? Aren’t they bitter at the bigotry, that they never got to play in the majors?” What are examples of happy memories you’ve gotten from Negro Leaguers by mail?

A: There are a few ball players who are disappointed that they were never recognized and never make the majors , and 99% of the time, those are the guys who won’t sign through the mail. Those type of guys want nothing to do with their careers, therefore never sign and are tough to deal with if you’re talking about baseball. I’ve spoken with many ballplayers who are the nicest guys in the world, but when it comes to baseball it is a very delicate subject for them. Many ballplayers like to sign and those guys I will give their addresses out with permission. They will sign ttm, sometimes for a few bucks.

As for happy memories, I’ve gotten hundreds of letters back from ballplayers thanking me for everything. I’ve had 100s of players call the house after they receive a package from me. Many times players think I am just doing a school project or something, but when they receive the packages I send to them, their attitude totally changes. I’ve had players cry on the phone and write 5 page letters thanking me for sending them information such as photos, or getting them in touch with teammates they haven’t spoken with for 50 or 60 years.

Q: What other baseball autographs do you collect by mail? How many requests do you mail out weekly? Where do you find your addresses?

A: I collect retired ballplayers from the 40’s 50’s and 60’s. I have a few thousand 50s 60s and 70s cards signed. I used to mail out like 15-20 a week, but now I’m lucky if I mail out 10-15 within a 2-month time period. I have just been so busy lately with the negro league reunion I helped organize in Birmingham, and dealing with all the ball players I find, and call the house, so I haven’t really been able to do much with the retired mlb players lately. I get the addresses on sportscollectors.net  

I also have tracked down many elusive mlb players, not just negro leaguers. Players such as Choo Choo Coleman, Ossie Chavarria, Charlie Dees, Benny Valenzuela, and others. Many of these mlb guys I deal with had never been in contact with anyone either, so I got them in touch with many of their teammates, and in return got some autographs etc…  These guys’ addresses I find myself, as there is no database for these tough-to-find players.

 Q: Back to Negro Leaguers: who are some of the men you’ve made cards for? The article made it
sound like you’ve contacted card companies on their behalf. Example?

 A: Well, I started out making cards on adobe illustrator on my computer, and printing them out on card stock I bought at staples. After doing that for a few ballplayers, me and some of the players decided we wanted some high-quality cards that we could get in large qualities. The ones from my computer were kind of flimsy, and I couldn’t make very many of them at a time, because I had to hand cut out them. So I contacted Custom Sports Cards in California, and after working with them for awhile they gave us a great deal and made up some cards. Now, me and Custom Sports Cards have worked on producing about 4 cards for players, with 3 or 4 players I am about to start on. Some of these players are James ‘Cowboy’ Atterbury and Bill Bethea.

Q: How have you researched the Negro Leagues by Internet and in person? Where should a fan start to learn more?

A: I do most of my work by speaking with the players. I really don’t like to read and am not one to read through research books. So most of the stuff I learned I picked up one my own. I started out by just speaking with people on sportscollectors.net,  where we would try to find and talk about the negro leagues. I have also interviewed hundreds of players and met many players, and I have interviewed and talked with them about their careers. I also find much of my info from old newspaper articles, where they talk about many of the players.

I think a fan should start to learn more about the negro league by meeting a player. It sounds kind of weird, but these people can talk to you for hours about their playing days, and if you want to learn and really get involved with the Negro Leagues, you have to meet a player. When I first went to Birmingham last year and talked with 50+ players for hours, it really put everything in perspective.

Q. Please, would you share an example of finding a former player’s address online?

A. Well. I’m not going to use names or websites here, because this is kind of my big secret.
I start by finding out the approximate age of the ballplayer, and cities where they could have possibly lived. From there, I use approximately 8-10 websites in conjunction to help me track down a player. I’m sorry, but I cant really say much more without giving it away. This is really the only thing I don’t like to tell anyone.

Q: Individuals you’re searching for, or research questions readers might assist you on?

A: There’s probably 25 ballplayers that I know are alive, but they move so much that there is no current info on them. These guys I compare to Jim Ray Hart, a MLB ballplayer who has been known to continuously move from place to place, and no one can ever find him.

Some of them are:

Bert Tarboro, Indianapolis Clowns – Bethlehem, Pa
Herb Crawford, KCM – somewhere in D.C. or Maryland

Also if anyone can get Al ‘Buddy’ Owens of the Chicago American Giants to sign a baseball, I’ll give you 100 bucks. This guy is known to be one of the toughest signers. He’s in Harvey’s books. Many people have sent to him, but he won’t sign, not even for money!

If anyone lives in these areas or something, maybe you’ve heard of these guys, as many of them coached locally after their careers.

Also if anyone knows of any local negro league players, maybe they wrote an article about them in the local paper or something, let me know!

Q: Advice writing to a little-known retiree from any part of baseball’s past, where you don’t have tons of stats or info on him?

A: Whenever I write to a cup of coffee ballplayer or something like that , I totally disregard their major league career. I mean everyone in the past has talked to them about their meager baseball career. I like to talk or ask them about their minor league career. If you go on baseball reference, you can see minor league stats going back to the early 1900’s. Many of these cup of coffee guys, had extensive minor league careers, and there’s always tons of old minor league photos, and information on these teams. When writing to these guys, ask them about how it was playing at so and so park, or talk to them about a specific minor league team they played on. Talk to them about an old-time manager, every ballplayer has played for an old-time manager, especially for these guys who played in the 50’s or 60’s, many of their managers played in the 10’s 20’s or 30’s.

Q: For Negro League addresses, it seems that Harvey Meiselman (www.sportsaddresslists.com) has the best available?

A. It is by far the best list out there But the negro leaguers he covers is just a small portion of the many guys still alive. He has maybe 200 or so, just to let everyone know, there are many more than that still alive.

Q: Future hobby goals? Or realms of baseball history you might seek out as a collector-researcher?

A: FIND MORE LIVING NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYERS.
As for other realms of baseball history, I have done a lot of Spanish and Cuban ball players of the 40’s through 60’s in the past. Maybe at some point I will head back to that? I’m not sure. I’m very overwhelmed as it is right now with negro league stuff alone.

Thanks to Cam Perron for the time he shared in answering these questions. Most of all, I’m grateful for the example he’s setting for older, more experienced collectors. We ask “why?” He says “why not?” As a result, a whole new generation of fans and collectors will find a deeper appreciation of the least-known chapters in Negro League history.

Today’s news comes courtesy of Kyle Smego, the senior voice behind the fine father and son website and blog known as “The Autograph Addict.” In 2010, I discovered their epic quest to complete a 1962 Topps set autographed.

Kyle shared:

“I wrote to former Cubs outfielder Bob Will, back in December. I received a handwritten note back that he asks for a $10 donation to a children’s leukemia hospital. In return, he would send an signed photo and answer any questions that I had. It was a nice note….not the standard price list that some send. So I decided to send a $20 donation.

A couple of weeks later, I received a five page response from Mr. Will. He spoke about his playing days, Freddie Lindstrom (who was his manager in college), and what he’s doing today. It turns out that he still hangs out with Billy Williams, Rich Nye, Billy Pierce, and other former Chicago athletes. Can you imagine what goes on when those guys get together?

At the end of the letter he said that he is in the process of writing a book about his time in baseball, but….he is currently battling 4th stage colon cancer that has spread to his blood system. lungs, and liver.

I’m not sure if you ever send “donations”, but I think this is one case where you should consider it. It’s for a good cause and you’ll get a great story in return.

You can read my letter here:

http://www.autographaddict.com/bbwl.jpg (click on it to enlarge)”

Kyle’s news is quite moving. As Will battles cancer, his ability to do more than sign autographs may be limited. Likewise, his hope to tell his baseball life story in book form is a beat-the-clock challenge.

Too many moments in baseball history are being lost to the ravages of time. Every letter Will has sent helps preserve just one more seed of a story. For the hobby, Will hasn’t made “what about me?” demands for his autograph. He’s donating the “fee” to children in need, while trying to give added value to every collector who participates.

As Bob Will battles for his future, tell him that he mattered. Let him know he’s not forgotten. Send him a simple note. Give him YOUR autograph.

Bob Will, 3417 S. Country Club Road Woodstock, IL 60098

Tomorrow: Decoding pitcher Carl Bouldin’s extra message.

This site is the collaboration of father-and-son collectors Kyle and Tyler Smego. You might spot them at Camden Yards as many as 30 games a year.

Through the mail, they’re collecting memories.

In January, the Smegos posted 40 questionnaire responses, saying they had a couple hundred more. What’s the current count?

“I try to get these online as quickly as I receive them, but it’s hard to keep up,” Kyle said. “I still have, at least, a couple hundred more that are waiting to be posted. It seems like we get around 10-15 back every month though. In the past we have tried to send the same questionnaire out to all the players (Tyler made up the questions. We try to keep it questions that the players can quickly jot down an answer.”

These “autograph addicts” are gleaning great insights from baseball history makers. Pitching coach Ray Rippelmeyer talked about teaching Steve Carlton the slider. We all know how that experiment turned out.

“Ray was one of the longest letters we have received, but not the longest,” Kyle said. “We have received many responses where the player filled out our questionnaire and wrote a letter. Some of the longer responses include: Rippelmeyer, Duane Pillette, Bobby Shantz, Jake Gibbs, Ernie Broglio, Don Ferrarese, etc….even Phil Niekro and Tony Kubek. All of those guys wrote a page or two or three.”

The Smegos’ best-ever response?

“Our longest correspondence however has been with Ken Retzer,” Kyle said. “I saw that you blogged about him this week. He really is a great guy. He likes to tell stories about his playing days with the Senators, catching JFK, his family, and his business ventures. Over the past year he has sent several letters and included some neat items each time. One time he sent a copy of an old menu from his diner that he used to own (Home Plate), a couple of pictures of his family, some additional pictures of him with JFK, copies of all his baseball cards, etc. He plans on coming out to the DC area sometime soon and I look forward to taking him out to dinner.”

Kyle and Tyler are making the hobby their own. They’ve asked for suggestions for other fun questions they can be asking. Ask someone about what they think of when they see the photo on a certain baseball card.

More than 30 years ago, Twins infielder rolled his eyes and grinned while signing his SSPC “Pure” card. I asked him if he liked that card.

“I think they took photos on the hottest day of spring training right after wind sprints,” I seem to remember Terrell saying. “Look at how sweaty we look. Look at the other Twins cards, and you’ll see what I mean.”

What fun questions do you ask when you write a former player?