By JAY R. NEILL
March 10, 2010
Are you ready for some nice weather and baseball season yet? I sure am and to prove it I have mailed 100 autograph requests to current players in care of their spring training addresses.
In the March issue of Autograph we provided the spring training addresses for all of the major league teams. This is the ideal time of year to write to your favorite baseball players, coaches and managers and you still have time. During spring training the autograph successes are far better than what I typically receive during the baseball season and they tend to come much faster, but not always quickly. Last March I received a response from Terry Pendleton who I had mailed to the prior spring. Last week I received a response from Kyle Lohse that came back from a spring mailing that I did 4-years ago, so you can never give up on a request that has been mailed.
The Baltimore Orioles have moved into the Cincinnati Reds old complex in Sarasota. With the Reds I had responses in care of 12th Street and Tuttle Ave. as well as the address below, but my requests to 12th and Tuttle came back return to sender this spring, so I recommend that you use:
Baltimore Orioles
Ed Smith Stadium
2700 12th Street
Sarasota, FL 34237
Two weeks ago I received my first spring training through-the-mail success from the 100 players that I have mailed to this spring and it came from Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Lincoln who is a consistent through the mail signer. Yesterday I received a huge surprise when San Diego Padres All-Star slugger Adrian Gonzalez responded. I’m on track for my best spring training results ever and I looking forward to reporting to you on how the 100 players will respond in 100 days.
For the best spring training results try to mail your autograph requests by the end of the first week of March so that players have nearly a month to sign, but you still have time if you act right away. Also look and listen for former greats that may be appearing at spring training as a special instructor or special guest and mail to them as well.
If you receive any spring training successes or surprise stories please let me know and we can pass them on to fellow readers. How many out of 100 do you think will respond?
I can be reached at jayneill@autographmagazine.com
About Steve Cyrkin
Here is my results for Chicago teams through the mail the results are horriible.I sent them all last October.I wrote to the chicago Tribune and they put my story on the front page.Please click the following if you would like to read the article.http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-0411-haugh-blackhawks-chicago–20100410,0,2323620.column
Great writeup Jay,
March is not only a better time to write to your fave players, but it’s also a better time to meet them. My son tossed a ball and pen to Ricky Henderson a couple of weeks ago while Ricky was on the field between innings.
Ricky cheerfully signed the ball and tossed it and the pen back to my son. During the regular season, I’ll bet that wouldn’t have happened. First, a player or coach probably won’t sign during the game and second, because you’d probably get booted out of the stadium for tossing something onto the field.