That’s why I wince saying his current average is .153.

No, that’s not a batting average. It’s a through-the-mail average. I quote from the ever-amazing www.sportscollectors.net. I’ve been a proud member for YEARS.

One of the many features SCN offers is the ability for collectors to track their TTM

attempts. The record says that 85 collectors have contacted Mr. Koskie by mail since 1999. Of those tries, 13 were successes. The last success came in 2011.

In other words, TTM collectors succeeded just 16 percent of the time getting an autograph from this member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

I wanted to know more. How does Corey Koskie feel about signing autographs by mail?

“To answer your question,” he wrote, “I don’t like it, for a couple of reasons. I don’t like stuff being mailed to my address. Secondly, I hardly get to the letters and open them. Too many bills to pay. (smiley face).”

I appreciate Mr. Koskie’s honesty. Save your stamps. Then, ponder this:

How many former players might sign, if they could keep fan mail separate from their personal, every-day mail.

Back in the 1990s, I spent some time with Al Kaline at a Portland card show.

I asked him if there was more than one way to reach him by mail for an autograph.

Kaline started counting on his fingers. Besides his home address, Kaline received mail sent in care of:

1. The Tigers
2. The station (he was a broadcaster then)
3. The Hall of Fame

I smiled and said that was nice. His smile started to fade. Kaline told me his family used  bushel baskets to keep all the mail sorted. Kaline’s property tax almost didn’t get paid on time that year. The vital bill got lost in a sea of fan mail.

In his case, non-home addresses didn’t lighten Kaline’s TTM workload. Would retirees like Corey Koskie, however, appreciate the added privacy an “in care of” address might provide?

What do you think, readers?

The 2015 All-Star Game proves it. The “official” auction proclaims baseball letters as true collectibles.

Once, something like a cancelled check was seen only as a substitute way of getting a real signature.

Now, the world sees letters as proof that baseball personalities are people, too. Two people connecting over a team, a moment…a chapter of baseball history.

The first two lots come from the family of Herb Carneal. A Ford Frick-winning broadcaster, Carneal announced Minnesota Twins games from 1962-2006. 

Johnny Pesky’s military service, and his value to the Red Sox, are documented in a batch of signed correspondence.

The most fascinating lot surrounds minor league umpire and folk artist George Sosnak. Sosnak’s painted baseball’s are legendary. Here, collectors can see him big-name support for his art. A wonderful Facebook group of collectors of Sosnak art offers a great introduction to his creations.

Online pre-bidding ends tonight (Monday, July 13) at 10 p.m. EST. Check the site for prices realized.

And, realize that those baseball letters you’re getting will have lasting value, too!

I’m agog over the “Ghosts of D.C.” blog. I found this classic 1959 image there of owner Griffith hovering between President Eisenhower and star Harmon Killebrew. Please, read their great “what if?” essay speculating on how the Twins could have become the L.A. Dodgers! How would Mr. Mitterwald have felt about that?

The ex-Twins catcher sounded so pleased to recall manager Billy Martin.

Then, I spoiled it all for George Mitterwald.

Did he have a memory of owner Calvin Griffith?

“Calvin was a one-owner owner and he liked to let everyone know it. We used to say he threw nickels around like they were manhole covers.

He tried to cut my salary my third year after raising my average 30 points and breaking the fielding record for catchers with a .997 average.

I ended up getting a $4,000 raise, but had to hold out for eight days to get it. He held it against me all the season and curbed my playing time.

I never had real problems with the Cubs.”

Coming Thursday: George’s best day ever?

I miss the old “Baseball Bible.” The cover paintings were part of that reverence. I never tried to get a TSN autographed. I couldn’t bear seeing those covers bent in the mail!

George Mitterwald hasn’t forgotten manager Billy Martin. I asked for any memories of their brief time together in Minnesota. Mitterwald replied:

“Billy Martin was a great manager, whom I learned a lot of baseball from. His strategy and willingness to always push the envelope when it came to making the opposition try to stop us from taking extra bases, stopping us from stealing home, double stealing and taking the extra base almost all the time.

Off the field he was brash at times, generous all the time and just plain fun to be around all the time because of his comedic nature.”

Coming Monday: Contrasting memories of owner Calvin Griffith.

Mitterwald maintained that great tight cursive. Glad to hear from him!

Don’t give up.

I wrote to the Twins/Cubs catcher back in 2010.

In one of many phases of doubting my letter-writing skill, my timing and the eternal “handwritten or typed?” debate, I chalked up Mr. Mitterwald as one of my many misses.

Maybe not…

Saturday, a superb two-page handwritten reply to my questions came, along with the apology of not responding sooner. He’s faced health problems plus a family loss.

I’ll share the great insights from “The Baron” beginning Thursday. Meanwhile, don’t assume that one non-response is the beginning of the end. Devote the time to sending out more letters, not staring at a barren mailbox.

I grabbed Harmon Killebrew: Ultimate Slugger (by Steve Aschburner, Triumph Books) to relive my childhood.

I grew up in Central Iowa. I remember WHO Radio being a Twins station. Families felt safe going to the Twin Cities. They weren’t scary cities like Chicago or St. Louis, but a place where your cousins lived and Met Stadium bordered farm fields.

This 2012 Killebrew book is bittersweet, in that the author confesses that he wishes he could have written a first-person “as told to.” Instead, the book is a catch-up effort after the Hall of Famer’s 2011 death.

Nevertheless, talented researcher Aschburner makes the most of the opportunity, even gleaning some nuggets of special meaning to autograph collectors. Such as:

In 1985, Killebrew’s hometown of Payette, Idaho, had two business boosters who imagined painting red stitches on the white high school gym dome, then adding a huge facsimile Killebrew autograph. The plan was scuttled only when students protested giving priority to only one former resident.

In a 1959 game, Killebrew exchanged autographed baseballs with President Dwight Eisenhowever. He claimed the ball was for grandson David. When Killebrew met David in 1970, he told the slugger how he had kept the signed ball all those years.

Overheard behind the Metrodome batting cage? Killebrew to Joe Mauer: “Your swing is perfect Joe. Now work on that autograph.”

Autographs may have played a role in Killebrew’s retirement. Aschburner recounts a Killebrew tale during his final year, 1975. He signed baseballs for two kids at Anaheim Stadium. He overheard the kids discussing the autograph.

“Well, is he any good?”

“He used to be.”

Killebrew concluded, “I mean, kids tell it like it is, and he was right. It was time for me to quit.”

Avid Twins fans will love the book most. Ashburner slows down the narrative, piling on details about other Twins and the team’s history. Someone tuning in strictly for Killebrew tales may get impatient.
As editor, I would have shaved content.

Of course, dedicated Twins-atics might protest. Where else will you get a comprehensive rundown of every word Jim Bouton wrote about Killebrew in Ball Four? Or, what all got said during Killebrew’s two appearances on the David Letterman show?

All in all, Ultimate Slugger fills a void in Hall of Famer history. If you remember this “Killer” (autograph or not) and smile, you’ll want this on your reading list.

Coming Monday: a challenge for on-the-move TTM collectors.

I was blessed to get a surprising reply from underrated Twins hurler Dave Boswell in 2011. He died June 11 at age 67.

I hoped to find a tribute to him that didn’t dwell on the fight with manager Billy Martin. Here’s the best one I spotted, complete with great memories from roommate Frank Quilici.

A tip? Ask about roommates in future letters to retirees. They’re a fading part of major league lore.

And be grateful for any autographs you received from Boswell in the last two years. He battled illness, but did his best with fan mail. He didn’t forget us. We won’t forget him.

Coming Wednesday: Ripped from the headlines…an Atlanta Braves autograph faker!

Minnesota Twins pitcher Dave Boswell could have been neither.

I asked him about joining the Twins, as well as his success at bat. He added a couple of startling tidbits concerning what might have been.

First, I asked how owner Calvin Griffith was upon signing his first contract.

“Tom, tell you what — I got $15,000 and a new car. It wasn’t that hard getting it from Mr. Griffith.


Had the same offer from the Yankees.”

I pointed out that the designated hitter rule wasn’t suited for pitchers like Boswell. He had 74 career hits, four of them home runs! He replied:

“I signed as a pitcher and outfielder. Loved to play every day.”

One explanation for Boswell’s mound success, four straight years of double-digit wins (culminating in a 20-win season in 1969) could be Minnesota pitching coach Johnny Sain. How did Sain help?

“John was great at explaining situations to you. All of a sudden, you would find yourself in that position and you knew what to do.”

Twins fans, send your thanks to this might-have-been Yankees outfielder now. My reply ended with…

“Been very ill lately. Sorry it took so long.

Dave Boswell”

Coming Thursday: My “10 Most Wanted List” — Phillies Edition.

There’s still time to cheer for former Minnesota Twin Steve Brye.

I tried. His all-star humility can outhit any compliment. Retirees are entitled to a bit of chest-thumping remembrances. Especially a platoon player. “I was great when I got to play. Could’ve been greater!” is the common response.

Not Brye. This team player’s letter was a classy reminder of the 1970s players I admired most.

I asked about being a first-round draft pick in 1967. He remembered…

“In 1967, the draft was very low-keyed compared to the draft now. I had a good friend who covered the Oakland Raiders for the Oakland Tribune. I went to work with him on draft day and watched the picks come over the ‘tele-type.’ I found out afterwards that the Giants, with the next pick, were going to draft me as a catcher. So it all worked out.”

Wow! There’s one possibility for Twins and Giants fans to ponder. “Now batting for the Giants, catcher Steve Brye”?

I found on http://www.retrosheet.org/ (thanks, guys!) evidence of one of Brye’s biggest games ever: four hits, four RBI, three runs scored — a 1974 slugfest at Tiger Stadium. Brye noted:

“I was fortunate to have good games in Detroit. I loved playing there. For some reason, players have real success against some teams and not so good against others.”

Brye’s smart, patient work ethic paid off against Wilbur Wood, yielding 16 career hits off the knuckleballer. Brye explained:

“I was a contact, gap-to-gap, hitter, so that approach helped me against Wilbur Wood and his type of pitcher. I had to get my hits then, because after the 5th or 6th inning, they would bring in Terry Forster or Rich Gossage!”

Lastly, Brye added a note about the meaning of baseball. I had read comments from other collectors that Brye had mentioned that he had taken baseball trips to Cuba. I asked. I’m glad I did! He added:

“Yes, I went to Cuba to play ball, last Feb. and five years ago (Santiago and Havana). It was great. The people were great and I felt very safe there.


Baseball is a terrific common denominator, and has provided chances for me that I would have never had, and to develop relationships that last a lifetime.


Thanks for your interest. All the best —

Here’s a classic essay by Josh Wilker of “Cardboard Gods” about Brye.

Coming Friday: Toast the post-season with Mike “TigerNut” Micho and his comprehensive autograph collection!