I finally got to a post office and mailed off an initial 'set' of spring training requests for 2011 - each request was mailed in a business envelope with at least a Forever stamp and $0.17 in additional postage [around $0.61 per letter sent].
Inside the outgoing envelopes, there is a typed letter and SASE with one Forever stamp enclosed - along with a random card or two sent to be autographed at some point.
Brandon Belt c/o San Francisco Giants - sent a 2010 Topps Pro Debut.
Lance Berkman c/o St. Louis Cardinals - sent a 2004 Fleer Platinum and 2010 Topps Update.
Chad Billingsley c/o Los Angeles Dodgers - sent a 2008 Topps and 2008 Upper Deck Goudey.
Zack Cox c/o St. Louis Cardinals - sent a 2010 Bowman Draft.
Kyle Drabek c/o Toronto Blue Jays - sent a 2006 Bowman Draft Chrome and 2011 Topps.
Adrian Gonzalez c/o Boston Red Sox - sent a 2009 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts and 2009 Topps Update.
Josh Hamilton c/o Texas Rangers - sent a 2010 Topps Update All-Star card.
Bryce Harper c/o Washington Nationals - sent a 2010 Topps Washington Nationals team card.
Jeremy Hellickson c/o Tampa Bay Rays - sent a 2010 Topps Pro Debut.
Adam Jones c/o Baltimore Orioles - sent a 2007 Topps and 2009 Topps T206.
Hong-Chih Kuo c/o Los Angeles Dodgers - sent a 2008 Upper Deck and 2010 Topps Update.
A.J. Pierzynski c/o Chicago White Sox - sent a 2007 Topps Allen and Ginter.
Mariano Rivera c/o New York Yankees - sent a 1998 Donruss Elite and 2005 Fleer Ultra.
C.C. Sabathia c/o New York Yankees - sent a 2009 Upper Deck.
Jerry Sands c/o Los Angeles Dodgers - sent a 2010 Topps Pro Debut.
Joey Votto c/o Cincinnati Reds - sent a 2011 Topps #134.
Chien-Ming Wang c/o Washington Nationals - sent a 2007 Bowman Heritage and 2010 Topps.
Brandon Webb c/o Texas Rangers - sent a 2007 Topps A&G and 2009 OPC.
I realize I might not get any responses from these players at all and any response may come next off-season or sometime next year - I think I still have to send the requests out in case someone responds. However, getting them all back in a timely manner with successful responses [meaning either my card was signed otherwise] may not be realistic.
Maybe there is a reason this is at the bottom, but former MLB pitcher Kevin Gross returned my cards unsigned c/o a home address - I assume my request got to either Gross or a family member; perhaps he just wasn't home to answer any requests, though there could be several other reasons why I couldn't get my cards inked up.
Whoever sent my cards back used my SASE and took about a month to do so - kind of a bummer since I spend all sorts of odd hours putting together these requests. The requests are unsolicited, but I assume it just comes with the territory, that a former ballplayer is going to receive autograph requests in the mail.