More questions answered - this time on autographs

Mark answered some questions that Nachos Grande had on his blog concerning autographs. I figured since I'm in a question answering mood and looking to get away from pure book reviews, this would be a fun post.

1. What is the best autograph you own?
I've written about this one already.

2. What is the best autograph that you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
Like Mark, I don't buy a lot of cards. Again, I previously wrote about this one. An autograph in a pack from a dollar store? Have to love it.

3. What is the worst autograph you've ever pulled from a pack of cards?
I'm pretty certain the above autograph is the only one I've pulled from a pack.

4. Do you try to get autographs through the mail? If so, what sort of success (or failure) stories do you have?
Yes, I do. My favorite failure story....I've written about. Success story....hmmm...I think I have to go with Ken Johnson. Johnson threw a no-hitter in 1964 for the Houston Colt .45's. There was no score in the game going into the ninth. Johnson got the first batter to ground out then Pete Rose laid down a bunt (just wrong and this alone should keep Pete out of the Hall of Fame). Johnson fielded it and threw the ball away putting Rose on. Rose went to second and then scored when Nellie Fox booted a ball. It was the first complete game nine-inning no-hitter that resulted in a loss for the pitcher that threw the no-hitter.

When I wrote Johnson, I asked him if it was still difficult for him having cost himself the no-hitter with his own error. Johnson, now in his seventies, responded with a simple two word reply: "Hell Yes!!!!".

5. Who was the subject of your first ever autograph?
Pittsburgh Pirate catcher Ed Ott. A friend of the family worked for a bank that had box seats at Veteran's Stadium right on the edge of the visiting team's dugout. He took my family to a game. I'm pretty sure it was this game. In the middle of the game, as the Pirates were coming off the field, my Dad asked Ed to sign my baseball glove. Ed obliged. I initially thought that maybe my Dad knew Ed since he asked so nonchalantly which I thought was neat. We're also originally from western PA and being a little kid I thought the Pirates actually all lived in the Pittsburgh area or something. Maybe Ed and my Dad went to high school together (I didn't realize that my Dad was ten years older than Ed). Then I realized he didn't know Ed which upset me because I would have really liked Dave Parker's autograph instead. As I've gotten older, I've realized just how unusual (and nice) it was for Ed to do that in mid-game.

6. Do you actively collect any autographs (certain players, teams, brands, etc)?
The actively portion has died out. Perhaps some day I will renew a couple autograph projects.

7. Which is better: Autographs or Relics?
Autographs. It saddens me that a company would destroy a piece of memorabilia to insert into cards.

8. What do you think of cut autos?
I don't like them. Again, you're destroying something original for the sake of making a card.

9. What is your favorite autograph design (say in the last 5 years)?
I couldn't tell you. I don't pull enough cards. Anything where the autograph is on card. Autographed stickers and cuts are lame. Oh, and there's the Upper Deck Sweet Spot cards with the faded signatures. That was horrible.

10. If you could get the autograph of any five people (dead or alive) who would you want a signature from (and why)?

1. Rowland Office for less than $25.
2. Christy Mathewson. My all-time favorite ballplayer. Ideally, it would be a checkerboard that Mathewson owned and signed that was sold in the Barry Halper auction. I believe Penny Marshall (Laverne) owns it now.
3. Niccolo Paganini. Because I'm not going to pull one from a pack of violins.
4. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Have to have an author and I can't think of one that would be cooler.
5. Augustus Herring. Some day I might write a book about this overlooked aviation pioneer.

The most amazing TTM autograph response ever

A week or so ago I was talking to my ex-wife on the phone and she mentioned that I had received an SASE in the mail from an autograph request I had sent out.

"Really?"

I moved to where I live now almost three and a half years ago. So the request had to be at least that old. I asked her to open it up and see who finally responded to me after all these years and so I could check my database and see when I sent it. She opened it up and out came two Rowland Office baseball cards. Here's a picture of one of them:



For those of you who are uninitiated to the majesty of the 1982 Topps card, that autograph you see is not Rowland Office's. It is a facsimile that Topps printed on the card. The cards were returned unsigned.

When did I send that request out? According to my database, I mailed the request out on March 9th, 2007. Being as my SASE had a 39 cent stamp on it (which the post office delivered without requesting extra postage), that sounds about right.

So Mr. Office has sat on my cards for over four years, doesn't autograph them (and I sent a nice letter with my request), and then sends them back to me (years after I have moved from the address on the envelope). But wait.....it gets better.

There was nothing else in the envelope but my two cards. Check out the back of the envelope, though:



Mr. Office went and had a stamp made requesting $25 to sign cards. He doesn't say who to make a check out to or even if he'll take a check. He doesn't say where the money is going to go. He doesn't give a mailing address. Oh, and I like that he puts the dollar sign after the 25 instead of before and then still writes out dollars.

But beyond that....$25 for Rowland Office? By contrast, his HALL OF FAME teammate, Andre Dawson, signs for less than that with the money going to his foundation for children.

Let's recap. Rowland Office, a man who had a Wins Below Replacement of 3.9 according to baseball-reference.com (yes, I wrote below. His WAR was negative), sits on my autograph request for over four years, stamps the back of my envelope asking for money with no other details and sends it back to a place I no longer live. What is the rationale? Does he need money? Say so then! Why did he take so long to respond? Is he in poor health? Has be been moving around and he just got done unpacking the box that had his fan mail from 2007? I'm tempted to write him again to get the story but I figure by 2016 I won't really care.

Thanks, Mr. Office, for at least returning my cards. Even if it was four years later.

Carl Pavano TTM request from spring training

Much to my surprise I found in my mailbox an envelope addressed to myself in my own hand. I had not sent out any autograph requests in ages and was shocked to find that Carl Pavano had responded to my request for an autograph.

Apparently once the Twins' season ended, Pavano sat down with his fan mail and went through it all. Given that his signature resembles initials, he probably can afford to wait until the conclusion of the season before he knocks them all out in a sitting.

Nonetheless, I am grateful to get the request back and thank Mr. Pavano for his time.

Spring training TTM

I sent out a pair of spring training requests and got one of them back. Scott Downs, closer for the Blue Jays. To give you a sense why the Blue Jays probably cannot compete with the Yanks and Red Sox, Downs is the Blue Jays highest paid pitcher at four million dollars a year.

As much as I think it would be a good idea to have Downs be the closer (he was to be last year until he got hurt), the Jays acquired Kevin Gregg from the Cubs and will likely go with him.

Thanks to Mr. Downs for signing for me.

Law and Pride TTM

I received two TTM requests back very quickly this past week, both of former players who are now coaching collegiately.

Vance Law is the baseball coach at Brigham Young University. He was named the head coach back in 1999 and has led BYU to a conference title and two tournament titles since then.

Curtis Pride is in his second year as head coach at Gallaudet University, the noted school for the deaf and hard of hearing in Washington, D.C. I have a friend who is an audiologist and we have often talked about writing something for publication on deaf ballplayers in professional baseball. Mr. Pride agreed for us to interview him and I am planning on catching the Bisons play against York College at the end of March.

The Bison are looking to overcome a difficult season last year which saw them go 1-18 in the Capital Athletic Conference. The snow that has plagued the region has not helped with Gallaudet's preparation for the upcoming season. Five games have been snowed out already but the team heads for Florida in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to both Mr. Pride and Mr. Law!

Zane Smith TTM

Sarah got to meet Zane Smith in person. So I was inspired to send Mr. Smith a TTM request. I'm doing a crummy job of keeping this organized despite doing it on a very limited basis so I have no idea how long it took to respond but it was really quick, about a week.

Smith is one of those guys I think of when I hear the phrase "crafty lefty". He never had a lot of stuff and as he aged, his control became better. It also helped that he left the Atlanta Braves (right as their run of futility ended and Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz came aboard) and started pitching for some good teams. His record with the Braves was 39-58. He went 61-57 for the other teams for which he pitched. Smith threw 16 shutouts in his career including a pair of one-hitters for the Pirates.

He spent parts of two seasons with the Expos, enough to get him on some cards as an Expo. He was then traded to the Pirates in a deal most interesting because of the player to be named later; a young outfielder by the name of Moises Alou.

Thanks again to Mr. Smith.

Tim Wallach TTM

I always liked Tim Wallach. And as such I probably overrated him. In my mind, the best third basemen of the 1980's were clearly George Brett and Mike Schmidt. Right behind them was Wade Boggs. But then you had some solid third basemen of which I think Wallach was the best: Wallach, Lansford, DeCinces, Bell, Gaetti. You had some guys who peaked in their seventies and still played in the eighties like Nettles and Cey but over that decade, Wallach was one of the top guys at the hot corner.

As a matter of fact, no one played more games at third base in the 1980's than Wallach. Three Gold Gloves, Five time all-star. And yet only received one vote for the Hall of Fame.

Wallach, after a lengthy career with the Expos, wrapped up his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and is now a manager in their farm system. Last season, he managed the Albuquerque Isotopes to a divisional title and he will manage them again in 2010.

Thanks to Mr. Wallach for signing some cards, responding politely to a couple of inane questions (really, I embarrassed myself and need to be a little more conscientious in my requests) and doing so quickly (10 days).

First TTM of 2010 - Group of 79 Project - Steve Balboni

What a great way to get this project moving again. I really enjoyed Steve Balboni when I was younger. Keep in mind that a lot of my enjoyment of players in the early 1980's came from playing Statis-Pro Baseball. I lived in a rural area and we didn't get cable television in our house until 1989. The only televised baseball I got to see were Phillies games and way back then we didn't have the newfangled interleague play. Nonetheless, I have fond, fond memories of Balboni's incredible power. Besides that, this was the quickest turnaround time on a TTM I've had. I sent it out on a Friday and got it back Wednesday of the following week.

Balboni is one of those "What if?" players. On the one hand, what if he played now? I don't think he's a major leaguer now. Career .293 OBP. Even Andre Dawson had better (Aw, snap!). But cow holy, could Balboni clout a ball. Even with that sorry OBP, his career OPS+ was 101. That's some serious power, especially when you factor in he played most of his career in Kansas City. Which is the other big, "What if?". What if he played in a more home run friendly stadium? Only 48 of his career 181 home runs came at Kaufmann Stadium.

Balboni was drafted out of Eckerd College in the second round of the 1978 draft by the New York Yankees. He struggled in his first season as a professional, hitting just .205 with a single home run in 62 games. Ugh. From there, though, he got into the swing of things. He led the league with 26 homers and 91 RBI at Fort Lauderdale in his first full season as a pro. Moved up to the Southern League in 1980 and again led the league in homers and RBI. He made it three leagues in a row, three years in a row as he pounded the International League for 33 homers and 98 RBI in 1981.

With his fourth consecutive home run title in 1982 (in only half a season of play) he earned some playing time with the Yankees. He did not fare well and repeated the scenario in 1983 (minus the home run title. He "only" hit 27 homers in 84 games at Columbus) - devastated AAA pitching, struggled in the majors.

The writing was on the wall for Balboni as a Yankee in 1983. A young upstart by the name of Don Mattingly had been converted from an outfielder to a first baseman by the Yankees and the Yankees opted to go with his high average, contact approach (Mattingly didn't develop home run power until he hit the majors). The Yanks dealt Balboni to the Royals in the offseason.

The Royals made him their starting firstsacker and he continued with his home run hitting, belting 20 or more in four straight seasons. Balboni slammed 36 home runs in 1985 which is STILL the Kansas City Royals single season home run record.

The end came fast and hard, at least from the major league standpoint. Released from the Royals, he signed with the Mariners. The Mariners sent him back to the Yankees who then released him following a season where he hit .192. The Texas Rangers picked up Balboni and he spent the next three seasons in the minors, winning two more home run titles (how many players can you name that won six home run crowns on ANY level?). Balboni went out with a bang in his last professional game, as a designated hitter for the Texas Rangers. Balboni finished his career with a 3 for 4 game.

A prodigious yet forgotten power hitter, it's a great honor to have an autographed card of his.