Remember a couple weeks ago, when I said that I wasn’t really that into writing to baseball players to ask for autographs this spring?
Well, I ended up writing 33 letters and the last batch of them are ready to take to the post office this afternoon. That’s still significantly less than I sent last year, when I mailed 73 and got 40 back (39 with signed cards, plus a preprint postcard from Elvis Andrus). But it’s actually more than I sent in 2010.
I already got one autograph this year, from Seattle Mariners pitcher Steve Delabar.
(If you’re thinking of requesting autographs by mail this spring, the Grapefruit League and Cactus League websites should have the addresses. And you can check out my Guide to Collecting Autographs Through the Mail if you need more detailed advice.)
To my fellow through-the-mail autograph collectors, how did you do last spring? Are you planning to send out more, less, or the same number of letters this year?
Here’s a list of who I wrote to (aside from the players in Mets camp, it was mainly inspired by what I pulled from the packs of 2012 Topps cards I bought.)
Players/coaches in New York Mets’ camp:
- Ricky Bones
- Jeremy Hefner
- Dave Hudgens
- Lucas May
- Garrett Olson
- Omar Quintanilla
The others:
- John Axford – Milwaukee Brewers
- Tyler Chatwood – Colorado Rockies
- Justin De Fratus – Philadelphia Phillies
- Danny Duffy - Kansas City Royals
- Nick Hagadone - Cleveland Indians
- Liam Hendriks – Minnesota Twins
- Daniel Hudson – Arizona Diamondbacks
- Jon Jay – St. Louis Cardinals
- Craig Kimbrel – Atlanta Braves
- Jason Kipnis – Cleveland Indians
- Mark Kotsay – San Diego Padres
- Colby Lewis – Texas Rangers
- Alex Liddi – Seattle Mariners
- Michael McKenry – Pittsburgh Pirates
- Mark Melancon – Boston Red Sox
- Devin Mesoraco – Cincinnati Reds
- Brandon Morrow – Toronto Blue Jays
- Jordan Pacheco – Colorado Rockies
- Brad Peacock – Oakland Athletics
- Ryan Roberts – Arizona Diamondbacks
- Brandon Snyder – Texas Rangers
- Eric Sogard – Oakland Athletics
- Jason Vargas – Seattle Mariners
- Randy Wells – Chicago Cubs
- Vance Worley – Philadelphia Phillies
Ooh! I’ll be interested to hear if Axford replies.
I probably won’t write about them all on here, but I will certainly post about any of the better-known players (and players with especially interesting stories) if I get anything back.