This Ty Cobb letter from 1954 is one of my favorite items in my collection. I think it sheds light on just how accommodating Cobb was to fans requesting autographs in the mail. From his reply, it's pretty obvious he often got hammered with requests. But it appears that he cordially replied to people even when he sensed he was being taken advantage of.
As an autograph "hound" who has written to hundreds of athletes asking for signatures, I could definitely appreciate this letter. When I first saw it, I immediately loved its content and knew I needed it in my collection...it could have easily been addressed, "Dear Kevin" lol. (Not that I would have been someone taking advantage of him, but the fact that it was a reply to a TTM request.)
Like the one posted above, this letter was also penned on hoteI stationery. Based on this, I would suspect that Cobb often carried his fan mail with him while traveling and responded to requests in his spare time during trips. Just a theory.
In case you can't easily make out his handwriting, here is the text of his letter replying to a "collector" who had obviously sent him a stack of photos to sign. (Apparently, this is not just a modern eBay era trend that today's athletes deal with!):
"Dear Pat,
I do not like to sign so many pictures to one person, sometimes they are used to trade with. Also we have so many of such to sign from different ones.
Also I have always felt honored anyone would want my autograph and try to comply.
Yours, Sincerely
Ty Cobb"
I love that humble line that he felt honored anyone would want his autograph and always tried to comply! Doesn't sound like a crusty SOB who threw everything in the trash to me!
