Posted By:
Richard MassonI started writing to retired ballplayers for their autographs in the late 1960s. The Hall of Fame used to have a current address for most former major leaguers and would forward the letters. For about five years I received 10-20 returns a day, 3x5s, pictures, cards.
Jack Smalling of Ames, Iowa was the godfather of autograph completists back then. He devised a system for checklisting all major leaguers, alphabetically by debut year. You can still come across 3x5s with the penciled numbers on them corresponding to Jack's checklist.
Two stories stand out, if you don't mind me blabbering on. The first concerned Swede Risberg, one of the Black Sox and notorious non-signer. I appealed to his inner greed and sent him a check for $20. He cashed it and endorsed the back. My parents thought that was pretty clever.
Second was Mike Marshall, the reflief pitcher for the Dodgers, also a notorious non-signer. I heard he was a chess fanatic and instead of asking for an autograph, I sent him a chess problem from the newspaper and asked if he had another solution to the problem. He returned my letter and his response to my question and signed it.
First letter received-a signed 1969 Topps Mayo Smith. I thought I had discovered how to turn lead in to gold!