Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

[cjw]

Interesting story!

http://www.slate.com/id/2154698/?GT1=8900

[Eric]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

That's pretty great. When i was a kid I used to do the same thing- send letters to as many players that I could. Got some great responses which I have saved to this day including one from the late Hall of Famer James "Cool Papa" Bell.

His daughter wrote a note saying Bell's doctor has advised him not to do activities that would be strenuous to his deteriorating eyesight, which included responding to his fan mail. But he insisted on writing me back anyway. I still have his note, his daughter's note, and a signed copy of a USA Today article about him.

[RobSteinmetz]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

I did the same thing. In fact, I have a letter that I received from Mike Schmidt in the early 1980's hanging in my office. I also still have tons of old Topps cards that I sent out to have signed - mostly Cubs. However, I think my favorite momento from my childhood letter writing campaigns is a letter I had hand-written to Steve Carlton in the early 1980's. The letter was returned because I had drawn the stamp on the envelope instead of using a real stamp. Amazingly, my Mom saved the letter and gave it to me last year.

[kylehess10]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

I did the same thing from January to April of this year. I got some pretty good autographs from it, a lot were from celebrities too. My favorites would have to be what I got back from Phil Niekro & Virgil Trucks. Phil Niekro signed my index card with "To Kyle, Good Luck To You,Phil Niekro,318 Wins,HOF '97". Virgil Trucks not only signed my index card with his nickname "FIRE" written in red, but he also included 7, yes SEVEN other autographed cards and a note thanking me for the letter.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

Great Story!

In 1982, I got Cal Ripken to sign his Donruss rookie via mail. Back then, retired players were great signers thru the mail (even HOFers like, Enos Slaughter, Brooks Robinson, Joe Dimaggio). I got several hundred thru the mail. In 1984, UCLA basketball coach John Wooden sent me a 2-page handwritten letter on his personal stationary describing his favorite players and most memorable games.
Then, I moved to Florida and discovered spring training. I think I got every Major League player of note(who trained in Fla.), throughout the 80s.

[kylehess10]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

Great Story!

Back then, retired players were great signers thru the mail (even HOFers like, Enos Slaughter, Brooks Robinson, Joe Dimaggio). I got several hundred thru the mail.

They still are. 90% of the autographs I recieved were from retired players

[flaco1801]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

sheesh in the 70s i got williams,aaron, marichal, frank and brooks, jenkins, spahn,gehringer,dimaggio,kell,jocko conlon, and many many more all sent to their homes, jonnny mize wanted a dollar for the demerest boys club, matthews wanted something for his charity. it was a different time.

[sylbry]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

David Robinson was my favorite basketball player in the early 90's. I sent him three letters. The first two times he sent back stamped signature photos of himself. The third time I got the same photo as the second time but this time it was signed. Years later I relooked at the signature and realized it was forged. Oh well, I was thrilled at the time.

[Yankwood]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

sheesh in the 70s i got williams,aaron, marichal, frank and brooks, jenkins, spahn,gehringer,dimaggio,kell,jocko conlon, and many many more all sent to their homes, jonnny mize wanted a dollar for the demerest boys club, matthews wanted something for his charity. it was a different time.

I remember Johnny Mize sitting for 4 hours in the early 80's, on a Sunday afternoon signing free autographs for the Polish Falcon Club. I'm sure they paid him a fee of some sort but I'll bet it wasn't much. He was very courteous and spoke kindly to everyone when I met him. It's not always so pleasant to meet famous people, but he seemed to be a really nice guy.

[cjw]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

I have had a great number of positive experiences over the years working at the ballpark in Toronto (including friendships forged with players such as Roger Clemens, Joe Cruz Jr., etc) I even got to meet and sit with my hero - Henry Aaron. But this was all as an adult.

The most memorable encounter with a player, I had as a child was at Canada's Wonderland (sort of a Six Flag's amusement park). I remember spotting Dave Stieb across the parking lot and wandering over in awe (he was the biggest star in Toronto at the time), and politely asking him for an autograph. He said "F&%$ off...I am with my family!). needless to say, I was crushed and quickly starting admiring the great ouldfielders on the Jays teams of the 1980's!

I entertained Dave as a quest in the ball park restaurant I managed years later and he still carried an arrogance about him that warned people to stay away.

[sandman02910]

Re: Remembering your childhood passion for collecting...

I to used to mail away a ton of requests to different players and received a variety of responses. I recall my first card show that had autogaph guests and they charged $5-$10. The show had Kevin Seitzer, Jeff Treadway, Jody Reed and Todd Benzinger. Of course I had my mother cart me to the show to spend what my mother considered outrageous money for an autograph. She couldn't figure out why they wouldn't sign for free.
My best moment as a child happened and I never even realized how great until many years later. In the mid 80's I was only 10 years old and considered players like Todd Worrell and Pete Incaviglia to be the big superstars of the time. My grandfather insisted that my brother (8) and I go with him to the Grand Opening of the new Supermarket in the area Stop&Shop. We went with him and I remember all the time he was acting like a child. We waited in line to meet this old guy signing autographs on balls, cards and whatever scraps of paper people could find. I recall this old guy was quite a big deal to everyone there....especially the adults. I got his autograph on a Donruss Perez Steal card and a K-Mart set card and had my picture taken with him with his arm around me. All the time just to satisfy my grandfather. Years later my grandfather gave me the cards and photos which he had been keeping in a safety deposit box and there standing next to me larger than life was Mickey Mantle.