Baseball in the 30s
 

Back in 1989 I bought Donald Honigs book Baseball in the 30s and mailed it over 50 times to players to get signed. I still have the book along with the letters many of the players wrote back to me. Some of the letters were quite sad. I received this letter right back with the book signed by Lew Fonseca. Apparently it was his last autograph. Anyone else get this book autographed?

This was also possibly the last autograph Jack Russell signed as he died while the book was in transit to me. It had this letter from the Director of the nursing home he was at

Sean,

These letters are very touching and it's pretty great that these two individuals took the time to pen the note and fulfill your request.

Two great guys all the way to the end.
Congrats.
James

Great project, Sean.

Very nice Sean.
Personal letters are some of the best stuff out there. These two are bittersweet. It's nice they were able to respond to you to at least tell you what was going on. These older athletes are really great. Whenever one passes, it feels like our hobby dies a little. Most of them were so gracious and appreciative of the fans. In that generation, for every one Willie Mays or Joe D, there were dozens of Gehringers, Doerrs, and on and on. I even had Gene Conley and Ted Lindsay call me personally to make sure they had the right person to send the items back to. Conley had found a package he had "lost" for a month and when he found it, wanted to make sure I knew he was sending it. Lindsay wanted to ask about what I had sent and just chat about sports and hockey specifically. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by both calls. I doubt any ballplayers from today would do that.

Donald Honig has some great books in the 80's. I did not do the 30's book, but I did get his "American League" and "National League" books signed as I went to shows in the 80's

I don't have the NL book scanned, but here are some highlights from the AL book. This link is the album with all the scans.
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Gene Conley was the best. A real gentleman, humble, funny and with an understanding of what's really important in this world. He died not too long ago after a life of great achievement.

Thanks guys! Yeah the Honig books were great to get signed. I also did the 100 best hitters and pitchers books. I mailed my 30s book so much it started to come loose at the spine. My dad fixed it but I finally got discouraged from mailing it after about 2 years. Here is a really sad letter from Ad Liska made even worse for me by the fact that I didnt keep in touch. Attachment 337197

Great autographs Mark! Love seeing these books signed! Here is an interesting one. When I was 14 I wrote Tony Cuccinello and asked if I could meet him. This was the response back. However when I got to Florida and called, his wife said he wa sin the hospital. He got better but I missed the chance at meeting someone whom was in the first all-star game and on a 1933 Goudey and never got him in my book. Stiil a great little note :)

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Love these letters guys! Not from the 1930’s, but here’s a response I got back from one of the great baseball ambassador’s Carl Erskine. Carl suggests we meet for breakfast at IHOP. We did and it was a great experience filled with some amazing conversation from a guy as sharp as a tack!

That's great! IHop with a legend!

Good decision to go to IHOP and not Denny's because a pitcher should always try to avoid the grandslam breakfast. LOL

Great posts! Love seeing these.

I had a great back and forth letter correspondence with Bobby Thomson about 10 years ago since we lived in the same area at one point and he referenced friends he had in the town I lived in.

I also wrote to Dom DiMaggio when I was younger, and I was playing outside with a friend and my dad comes out of the house and says "Mr. DiMaggio is on the phone." At this point, I thought "Mr. DiMaggio? He's dead!" (Joe had passed), and then I immediately remembered Dom. I had seen Dom on a TV program and a few weeks earlier and wrote to him about it, and he called to give me financial and baseball advice. I don't think I ever received an autograph back, but the phone call was priceless! Apparently, he just looked my family's number up in the white pages because I didn't send it to him.

Well done Mike!:D