Mid-Season Mail Successes

Now that the Mets season is over, I am at that awkward point in between seasons where the MLB is in the postseason, NFL is in week five, and the NHL and NBA haven't started yet. Since there have been few opportunities to get autographs in-person, I figured I'd share some of my most recent mail successes.

Current Kansas City Royals pitcher and former Oriole Jeremy Guthrie signed two cards for me, including one personalized. I mailed these to the stadium in Kansas City and got them back in about a month.

Former New York Yankee and journeyman pitcher Bob Shirley signed four card for me and personalized one of them. 

Remember Mike Cameron? He played for eight different teams over a 16 year MLB career. He is known for his Gold Glove winning defense, thanks to plays like this and this. He signed five cards for me.

Speaking of people named Mike, Mike Stanton (the pitcher) signed three cards for me in the mail. Not to be confused with Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton. Stanton pitched for both New York teams, and he was also named in the Mitchell Report, although he denies using any banned substance. 

Bruce Berenyi, a member of the 1986 New York Mets, signed a card and personalized an index card for me. I sent a few cards, but he only signed one of them. 

Brian Schneider is now the manager of a Single-A team in Jupiter, Florida. He was previsouly a catcher for the Mets and Nationals, among other teams. I sent three cards to his new team, and he signed all three of them in about two weeks. 

The 1990 World Series ended when Todd Benzinger caught a foul pop-up, giving the Reds the championship. He signed two cards from the 1989 Upper Deck series for me. 

17 year MLB veteran Rick Cerone signed one card for me. I senate a few, but he only got the one. He is notorious for only doing one item per person. 

Former Yankees and Phillies starter Charles Hudson signed three cards for me. 

So did Greg Brock. 

Phillies broadcaster and former pitcher Larry Andersen also signed three, personalizing one. I sent five cards, but I guess he kept the other two. 

At a Mets game last season, I took a picture with Mets third base coach Tim Teufel. I mailed him a copy of the photo and a couple cards. He signed them all and sent them back to me. Very happy to get this one back. 

To close out this entry, I'll switch sports, and genders. In all of NHL history, only one female has played in a pre-season game. That female is Manon Rheaume. She played goalie for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game in 1992. She signed a photo for me.

More Mail Successes

Over the past few months, I've gotten a ton of through the mail autographs. Before I go into what I received, here is a video on how to get a through the mail autograph. I thought about doing one of these videos myself, but this video gives great detail and tells you step by step how to get a through the mail autograph. One difference is that I use StarTiger for my addresses. It charges an annual fee, but it is worth every penny. I hope you enjoy it and get some useful tips from it.

Now, onto what I have gotten.

Current Florida Panthers assistant coach and overall great person Brian Skrudland signed my card and 4x6 photo and added an awesome personalization.

Former New York Rangers goalie Dan Blackburn signed all three of my cards. I sent him the cards a few years ago and got a return to sender, but this time I got a success. Blackburn is most famous for playing with two blockers for most of his career.

Current Bruins defenseman and Stanley Cup Champion Adam McQuaid signed and personalized my card, as well as a ticket from an old Bruins/Islanders game. I didn't even attend that game, the Islanders were pretty much handing out tickets back then, and I got a couple even though I couldn't go.

Switching to baseball, former All-Star Ben Oglivie signed all three of my cards.

Another former baseball player, Walt Terrell, signed all five of my cards, including a personalization on one of them. He is most notable for hitting two home runs off of future Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins in the same game. Terrell finished his 10 year MLB career with a 111-124 record. 

Another former pitcher, Chris Codiroli, signed both of my cards.
He started 37 games for the Oakland A's in 1985.









Another man who started 37 games in 1985 was Mike Smithson. Like Codiroli, he signed both of my cards.









That's all for this entry. I should be graphing an Albnay Devils game this weekend. I hope the video helped. Best of luck graphing!

Through the Mail Tales

Now that I am home for the Thanksgiving holiday, today is a good time to catch up on some autographs that I've gotten in the mail over the past few weeks.


Way back in April, I sent a card to Curtis Granderson in hopes of getting some sort of response. Now a free agent, Granderson is known for sending signed photos to people who send him requests in the mail. After seven months and an entire season, I found my SASE on my desk. When I opened it, I found my card unsigned along with what you see on the right. So what if it's a little faded, it's still a great autograph from a great player. Hopefully he goes somewhere where he won't kill the Mets next season.



This next autograph fits right in with the theme of baseball and the Mets. I sent a few cards to former Mets closer Billy Wagner at his home in Virginia. After a few months of waiting, my SASE came back to me. When I opened it, I was happy to see all of the cards I sent perfectly signed in black. Wagner is one of the few people around that writes out all of the letters in his name. The Mets card might be a little smudged, but overall this is a great success from one of my favorite pitchers.


On another subject, I sent an email to former Colts coach Tony Dungy through his website. I asked for an autograph on anything. A photo, business card, pamphlet for his book. I included my address in my email in case they actually wanted to send me something. To my surprise, I got a large envelope from Dungy's foundation a few weeks later. When I opened it, I was happy to find a signed 8x10 photo of the great coach.


That is all the mail autographs I have to share in this entry. I've been to a few Albany Devils games and will blog about those as soon as I can. If you want any help graphing, feel free to comment or tweet to me. Have a great holiday season!

More Mail and a Special Delivery

The mail just keeps coming in as my summer rolls on. I also got something very special and unique, which you can see at the end of this entry.


Current Arizona Diamondback and former Oakland A's pitcher, Brad Ziegler, signed the card I sent.

Former New York Mets first baseman and current Seattle Mariners bullpen catcher, Jason Phillips, signed all of my cards. I mailed them to the care of the Mariners in Seattle and they came back quite quickly.



Current Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter signed my cards from when he was the manager of the Texas Rangers. I mailed these straight to Camden Yards and was not disappointed. If you want to get a better view of any of the autographs, feel free to click on any of the pictures posted on this entry.




The last autograph I got in the mail for this entry is Rob Blake. Blake is a former Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings great who played in six all star games, as well as a Stanley Cup Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist.

Lastly, the unique item I got. I entered a contest from Autograph University for a Phil Jackson signed book. A few days after entering, I received an email from AutographU's founder, Matt Raymond, saying that I was the winner of the contest. Shortly thereafter, the book arrived in the mail. I am now the proud owner of a signed first edition of Phil Jackson's newest book, Eleven Rings. Special thanks to Matt and AutographU for everything and I highly recommend their website for autograph collecting advice.





That's all for now. Best of luck graphing and have a great summer!

Signature Stars: Ken Morrow

Morrow (#3) defends the net.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

From the moment Ken Morrow started playing hockey, he was a champion. In 1976, he was drafted by the New York Islanders. Before he could play his first NHL game, he got a chance to try out for the United States Olympic team. After a rigorous tryout under legendary coach Herb Brooks, Morrow had made the team. That team would go on to upset the heavily favored Soviet Union in a game later known as the Miracle on Ice. That was voted to be the greatest moment in American sports history. The US would later go on to win the gold medal against Finland a few days later. Morrow was a solid defenseman for the United States throughout those 1980 Olympics, stopping the opposition in it's tracks and making big hits when he needed to. He was even on the ice for the final shift of the Soviet Union game. You could see that shift HERE, if you didn't click on the words 'Miracle on Ice' above.

Shortly after leaving Lake Placid, Morrow was thrown into the Islanders lineup. Even though Morrow was never known to be a goal scorer, he scored THIS goal to win a key game in the first round en route to the Islanders first Stanley Cup win. That made Morrow the first player ever to win Olympic Gold and the Stanley Cup in the same season. Morrow went on to play on all four Islanders Stanley Cup teams, scoring THIS goal to finish off the Oilers in the last game of the fourth Stanley Cup win. Morrow eventually retired due to injuries in 1989. In recent years, he has been one of the head scouts for the Islanders. 

Back in 2009, when I was first getting into autographs in the mail, I sent Ken four cards, he sent them back signed in a few weeks, and he personalized one like I asked. He wrote something very unique on the card that he personalized. Believe in miracles. I hadn't asked for those specific words, but they came out great. If you are wondering, I have thousands of cards from all four sports, spanning over many years and decades, all throughout my house. All I have to do is look, and I'll find cards of just about any athlete that I'm looking for. 

Now fast forward to December 2011, the Islanders were set to induct Morrow to their Hall of Fame on New Years Eve. A couple days prior, the Islanders were hosting the Calgary Flames. I had tickets for that game as it was during my winter vacation from school. Prior to the game, the Islanders said that Morrow would be doing at singing at that game. I was thrilled, as I had a special puck that I wanted him to sign. The signing was going to take place during the second intermission of the game. I arrived about halfway through the second period, as I didn't want to wait on line for too long. If you are going to a signing, be sure to show up early for whatever you are going to. To my surprise, Morrow was already there signing away. While waiting on line, I took a video of Ken signing which you can see HERE. Shortly after I stopped filming, I approach Ken, and he signed the puck with the inscription that I asked for. I shook his hand, thanked him, then left and went back to my seat as the line grew several hundred people deep. 

That would be the last time I saw Morrow for a while. Then, this past December 8, I was at an Albany Devils game with my friend. The Devils were playing the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Isles AHL affiliate. As we were walking around the concourse during the intermission, the door to the bathroom opened. The person that walked out was, you guessed it, Ken Morrow. I said, "Ken?" He looked at me, confirming that it was in fact who I thought it was. My friend and I approached him, and I asked if I could take a picture with him. He said sure, and you can see the picture we took HERE. After taking the picture, my friend asked Morrow to sign his ticket, and Morrow obliged. He signed a page in my autograph book as well, and then I asked him a question I had thought about for a while. "Who would win in a game; your 1980 Olympic team USA that won the Gold, or your 1980 Islanders that won the Stanley Cup?" To paraphrase, Morrow said that the Islanders would probably win because they had more talent. He also added that neither legendary coach, Herb Brooks or Al Arbour, would be out-coached. My friend and I thanked him for his time, and we went our separate ways. Morrow was there scouting for the Islanders during the lockout. There were no NHL games, so Morrow was in Albany to look at many of the Islanders prospects.

Lastly, a few weeks ago, I sent Morrow the picture he took with me in Albany as well as a picture from his Islanders playing days to the same address I sent the cards to years earlier. A few weeks later, I looked in the mailbox and got both back signed. He personalized the picture with the same inscription he made on one of my cards back in 2009. The signed picture of him playing can be seen in the second paragraph of this entry.

Ken Morrow is a legend in the world of hockey, and he is a legend in fan interaction. He is a great person, and it was a pleasure to meet him. Ken is a mail legend, as well as a great person to meet live. That makes him a signature star.