…but these actually exist.
Former baseball player Doug Glanville has a column in the New York Times and recently wrote about how he is sometimes guilty of sending out autograph requests and fan mail out extremely late, in some cases 15 years late.
For as much fan mail he gets, some of it is nothing short of tragic, too. One guy actually writes him that he is about to lose his home and asks him for a donation (can you say shameless?), while another simply wants to create a “fan club” but never hears back from Doug. My guess is he’s moved on to Ryan Howard by now.
It’s crazy to read about what kind of fan mail these ball players get. If Doug Glanville, a slightly above-average player is still responding to fan mail after playing only 9 seasons and retiring four years ago, what about a superstar like Mike Piazza, for example?
I’ve only sent out “TTM” in my entire life and it was to retired Atlanta Braves prospect, Troy Cameron. For the record, it’s been three weeks and still no response. Once that comes in, if ever…I will retire from trying to get through the mail autographs. For me, it’s much more fun getting the card signed in person, even if it’s not Ken Griffey Jr. or Hanley Ramirez doing the signing.
I do TTM fairly often and get about a 80% success rate. You have to just abandon hope of most major league players. They simply get too much mail to be able to handle it all. There are some exceptions like Pat Neshek, who signs and returns everything sent to him. The longest response time for me was CC Sabathia. I sent him a card to sign in 2001 (his rookie year) and got the card back almost 2 years later in 2003 (with corrected postage even). I’ve heard him called many names but I can assure you, that anyone who sends back TTM stuff is just a class act and Doug seems like he fits under that category.
I’m a TTM auto guy as well and the only present day players I’ve gotten back so far are Neshek, Chris Coste and Aaron Laffey. Though minor leaguers, I’ve gotten lots of them.
There is actualy a great blog here.
http://www.hipolitodesigns.com/
You can search players by name, and if they have it, will give you their mailing address for TTM’s and a list of success stories regarding if they signed, turn around time, etc.
When I was in middle school in the early 90s, I sent cards through the mail to a few of the top athletes of the day. I only got one back out of about five. The one that I got back was from Joe Montana. That card has been a treasured part of my collection ever since then, but I’ve always wondered if he really signed it or if he hired someone to “handle” the huge amount of fan mail that he must have been getting. Maybe I’ll scan it and post it on my blog soon to see what other people think…
There have actually been industry rumors that about 90% of Montana’s autos are done with an “autopen” machine, along with a lot of other very popular athletes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopen
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Piazza’s letters got published in Playgirl.
All of Mike Piazza’s mail are in a circular bin marked ‘trashed.’
Back in the late 1990s, if you mailed to his home address, you’d get your cards signed – but it was supposedly his brother signing it for him.
That is interesting, Charlie. I’ll take a closer look at my Montana autographed card tonight and scan it for my blog. I wonder if players could get away with using “autopen” for the stickers that they sign for certified autograph cards…
Last year when Piazza was on the A’s, I sent a card to him at spring training. Then, after no response I sent a card to him in Oakland. After I sent them the price of postage went up. Then about a month later I got both back with added stamps to cover the postage! That was totally cool. The thing that was not totally cool was that neither of the cards had been signed. They were just sent back the way I sent them.
…and you just got rid of him!
We’ve had great luck through the mail, including with many major league players. The problem with it is actually finding the TIME to: get the address; do the SASE; and help our young daughter write her letters. But the enjoyment when she gets a return is worth the trouble. I agree with chemgod that ttm returners are class acts…and again, there are many.
If you want to be a sleuth, it’s pretty easy to determine that the signatures are genuine, and I haven’t seen one yet that is fake. Just be selective in the people to whom you send a request.
I just got Shawon Dunston back a few weeks ago; I had sent him a couple cards to the Giants spring camp. I also got back Mike Harkey earlier this year from the Yanks training camp. Still waiting for Mario Soto (Reds spring training) and Josh Hamilton (lost cause I’m sure by now…but sent during spring training).