Featured autograph - Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons

I was digging around to look for a Simmons autograph card I thought I'd gotten and found a Miller autograph card rummaging through a random binder - I got this card signed through the mail 10-15 years ago, though the card came back creased in the middle and it looks like my card was signed in ballpoint.

I looked through all my assorted binders and I don’t even know what I’m looking for, so maybe I didn’t get Simmons after all - though I remember it may have been a 1984 Topps AS subset I got signed.

I thought I'd gotten at least one during the 2007 spring training time frame when he was a coach with the Milwaukee Brewers - as far as I was concerned, the newly minted Hall of Fame catcher was just another retired player to get an autograph from.

I thought the autograph card wasn’t in the A-Z box I tried to create as an archive for autographs - because I'd looked through a pile of loose cards with the last name 'S' and Simmons wasn't there.

What I didn't realize was there was another grouping of 'S' cards that was actually in the box - I did some digging and I finally found my Simmons card sandwiched around other common autographs from 10-15 years ago.

From the bits and pieces I've heard, Simmons generally isn’t good about signing [he’s done paid signings, but it seems like he just doesn’t like to do it] - maybe I'd seen him a few times as a 'scout' in the Arizona Fall League, where you knew not to ask.

He'd give you a quiet "no thank you” like Eddie Murray [from my personal experiences] - where the person wouldn't make a big scene but basically refuse to pick up a Sharpie for you when approached.

Ode to Vlad

This is the body of a 'fan-letter' I wrote to Vladimir Guerrero when he was still signing autographs through the mail back in 2000 - you can run, hit and hit a ton. You have one of the best swings in baseball, but it is frustrating as one of your fans to watch you struggle in the field as one of the worst outfielders in baseball, execution wise. With your quick wrists, it is easy to see why you are a great young player of the game. But even with a strong and deadly cannon for an arm, your instincts in the outfield are something to look with intent to improve. Hopefully you can develop better instincts in the outfield. You are too great of a young player to let that part of your game slip.

I found a bunch of saved Word documents on Yahoo! Briefcase, I quickly went over and promptly deleted - I saved a few 'examples' for my archives, but looking back at the letter I sent to Vlad, I don't know if what I wrote to him was entirely accurate - or even if it made sense. I had asked for my two cards to be signed, though I don't know if I got particular cards from this request back.

He just happens to be my favorite player [if nothing else, just to watch] today - back in 2000, he was probably just one of these rising stars who still signed through-the-mail on a somewhat regular basis. He probably stopped in 2001 or 2002 and is virtually impossible to get in-person unless it is an organized event where he is mandated to sign.

My [Jeff] Cirillo success isn't an oddity, but maybe unique. He signed two out of four cards, returning the other two unsigned (including my 2001 Fleer Tradition 'set' card). I noticed that there were two distinct dots on the unsigned cards. I don't think this was due to the fact that he stacked the cards together, causing the other cards to stain.

I've heard rumors about players marking cards that they return, but do not sign, to see if you would 'double up' them up with the same card and make another request. In recent months, I had read Florida Marlins reliever Todd Jones' column on Yahoo! Sports about the deal with autographs from a player's point of view. His column details how players would make little marks on the cards they return (unsigned) to see if you do end up making that multiple request.

I wonder if Cirillo took the time to dot the cards, so that he'd have a 'chuckle' in the remote instance I'd write to him with the same unsigned cards. Of course, it isn't like I have other Cirillo cards in my collection I could send him, but most likely I would have sent the unsigned 2001 Fleer Tradition again (since that is the card I really want signed).