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Ron Santo

Baseball Almanac site serves as online baseball autograph museum!

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Is there a hobby hall of fame for autograph collectors?

I think Sean Holtz deserves membership.

Living close to two spring training camps in Florida in the early 1970s, Sean began a collection of front-signed baseball cards that’s topped 6,000 specimens.

Imagine looking at a collection so huge, knowing that the authenticity
of every signature is guaranteed.

Yes, Holtz offers three-plus decades of autograph knowledge on his
Baseball Almanac website. Afraid that an autograph of a deceased player might not be the real thing? Start with a peek at what Sean collected.

My rubber-stamped through-the-mail “return” via the Cubs in 1972 from Ron Santo is NOTHING like the real signature Sean displays. I was delighted to see the lengthy bio page that followed the autograph pictured.

As you’re writing for autographs, please write Sean. Send him an e-mail. Thank him for the research he’s sharing. Our hobby needs stars like Sean.

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It’s been a decade since I discovered the hobby goldmine located at www.Baseball-Almanac.com. This 2010 post was the first of many spotlights shone on webmaster Sean. Coming soon: “Baseball Almanac, 10 years later.”

Wrigley Field frowns on autograph collectors

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The new sign should read: "Don't Go Where Cubs Fans Have Gone Before." Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
The new sign should read: “Don’t Go Where Cubs Fans Have Gone Before.” Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Everything is connected.

Wrigley Field’s remodel includes an anti-autograph shield keeping players segregated from signature-seeking fans outside the ballpark.

Re-read the Ron Santo biography A Perfect 10. His sons discussed how he’d sign everywhere, stopping the car along the route home.

The Atlanta Braves spring training address confounds collectors. Mail gets rejected, RTS, without rhyme nor reason.

Teams are redefining us. Not in a good way. Speak up for yourself, and your hobby, every chance you get. 

 

 

Future Hall of Famer Marvin Miller’s Death: Lessons For Collectors

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The Hall of Fame has another mess to clean up.

Ron Santo was just one example. Marvin Miller led the Major League Baseball Players Association. For better or for worse, he helped pioneer free agency. Another worthy, overlooked part of baseball history.

From eBay: small sigs
were vintage Miller!

Inducting someone after their death has happened before.

Miller may have peeved as many collectors as owners in his lifetime. His final stats on www.sportscollectors.net say that he responded 126 times to 174 recorded TTM attempts.

I found the non-player in just two card sets: a 1994 Upper Deck issue and the 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites set.

Miller’s eyesight may have been failing for years, judging by his microscopic signatures.

In his defense, neither card offered a great space for an autograph.

I think he became irritated with the cumbersome nature of signing his book and baseballs. I believe that the final collectors who succeeded with Miller were ones who proved they were sincere, educated fans.

Another eBay example:
face-signed cards?

Look hard for other baseball pioneers. Find them before Cooperstown, or the Grim Reaper, calls.

Team owners
umpires
general managers
scouts

Readers: are other non-players Hall of Fame material, ready for autograph collections?

Coming Wednesday: Arizona Fall League insights from The Autograph Card

Finding Hall of Fame Postcards Cheap

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Autograph collectors have loved them for decades. The postcards depicting Hall of Fame plaques have been a mainstay in many collections.

Once, when most HOFers signed for free, a bonus postcard would be included with a reply. Bob Feller told me years ago that the Hall gave him bundles free for his own use.
Us old-time hobbyists wince at the climbing prices of the postcards, now 50 cents each.

Even worse? Look on the HOF website and see that postage and handling begins at $7.99.
Or maybe not.
For a collector who needs only an annual update of that year’s inductees, the $7.99 seems like a punishment for someone wanting just two postcards.

Here’s an alternative:

Call the Hall of Fame switchboard (607-547-0397). Ask to be connected to the gift shop. Have a credit card handy. Ask if you can place a small order by phone.

Shrewd collectors have found that the shipping charges have been as low as $2 for a few cards.
HOF workers will ask collectors to send in a FAX for a large order.

Worst of all, don’t get soaked by dealers who are re-selling new cards for a few bucks each. Order straight from the source for the best deal.
Coming Friday: A review of the fun new book Baseball Fantography.

Chicago Cubs Voice Judd Sirott Talks Autographs, Fan Mail & Ron Santo

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Know that voice?
Here’s the face!

I confess. I listen to Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts!

Praising a first-place team would seem easy. Finding words for a struggling ballclub? Good luck, Pat and Keith…

One of the guys I feel most for is Judd Sirott. He does only the 5th inning of games. A starter gets several at-bats to shine. Judd is like a pinch-hitter. One chance. How could he not feel cursed to get two “three up, three down” frames when it’s his turn?
He made the most of his chance to contribute some great memories to the book Ron Santo, A Perfect 10.

I reached Judd to ask one pressing question:
What’s fan mail like for the Cubs team? How do they cope?
He replied:

“I haven’t really talked to guys in the past about how they handle fan mail. Ronny would sit in the booth, reading and signing before games.”

Thanks to www.bobblebums.com for
the scoop on this Judd gem, from a
minor league HOCKEY giveaway!

As Judd’s Cub gig could be the springboard to a higher-profile baseball job, I asked him if he’s been depicted on any regional sets. I couldn’t imagine him on an ordinary index card.

“I’m not on any card sets that I’m aware of.”

Looking on the Internet, the same studio mugshot seems to be the main view we get of Judd.

I know some collectors use team logo stickers to dress up index cards. His autograph in a sea of whiteness? Nah…

I wanted to see if his face existed somewhere.
Ideas? Suggestions?

Coming Friday: A pinstriped bonus, Yankees fans! Hart Seely provides some color commentary for the making of Juju Rules!