My Return to Senders
Bob Gibson, c/o Baseball HOF: Blacked out address to
the
*Dom DiMaggio, c/o home address: Read note below
Einar Diaz, c/o Cleveland Indians: Everyone has been
having success with this guy, did he get traded or something??? THANKS TO
KELSEY I NOW KNOW THAT EINAR DIAZ NOW PLAYS FOR THE
**Dale Sveum, c/o Altoona Curve: He manages the team
Bill Doran, c/o home address: Must have just
moved!?!?
Mike Epstein, c/o home address: Must have just moved
also.
Phil Garner, c/o Detroit Tigers, not with team
anymore... drat!
Dale Sveum (again!), c/o home address, I sent to the address
that the Altoona Curve supplied, but I got an RTS. Hopefully I can
get
a chance to meet Mr. Sveum in person some time...
Ernie Harwell, c/o Baseball HOF, blacked out address and
wrote another address, will try this one.
Toby Hall, c/o Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Spring Training address, I
got back my envelope with everything still in it, but a sticker on it saying:
DEVI180 337012221 1203 44 02/19/04 and then FORWARD TIME EXP RTN TO SEND and
their regular season address, will try him at that one.
A.J. Pierzynski, c/o Minnesota Twins’ Spring Training
address, I got back my envelope with everything still in it, but “Return to Sender-
Not with Twins” scribbles on it, will try him at the Giants.
Rodrigo Lopez, c/o Baltimore Orioles’ Spring Training
address, I got back my envelope with “Return to Sender No Such Number” stamped
on it, I don’t know what’s up with that because I used the Tuff Stuff’s Spring
Training address guide.
Paul Quantrill, C/o Los Angeles Dodgers’ Spring Training
address, I got back my envelope with the address scribbled out and “RTS”
written on it. He is no longer with this team.
Jesus Colome, C/o Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ Spring Training
address, I got back my envelope with everything still in it, but a sticker on
it saying: TAMP180 337012023 1203 44 03/12/04 and then FORWARD TIME EXP RTN TO
SEND and their regular season address, will try him at that one.
Steve Cox, C/o Saint Louis Cardinals’ regular season address, I
got back my envelope with “Returned to Sender, Attempted- Not Known,” no clue
why I got a return. THANKS TO KELSEY I NOW KNOW THAT STEVE COX NOW PLAYS FOR
IN
Greg Vaughn, C/o
Jim Thome, C/o Philadelphia Phillies’ regular season address, I
got back an envelope from the Phillies, inside was my SASE unused, my two cards
I sent to him, unsigned, a 5”x7” card that he sent with a pre-printed autograph
and some typed out baseball tips, not really a failure but definitely not a
success.
Red Schoendienst, C/o home address, I got back my envelope
with “Return to Sender, REFUSED” stamped on it. That’s weird since I just sent
him a normal #10 envelope that only had a letter, index cards and a SASE in it
and was not thick or anything, and because every person who has written to him
(besides me) has gotten an autograph in a timely fashion.
Emil J. “Buzzie” Bavasi, C/o home address, I got back my
envelope with a sticker with “Forward Time Exp” on it then another address.
Phil Rizzuto, C/o home address, I got back the card and
index card I sent him unsigned in my SASE and a pricelist.
Gene Bearden, C/o home address, I got my letter and
index cards back with a note at the top of the letter from his son saying that
he had passed away recently.
Mike Gosling, C/o Arizona Diamondbacks spring training
address, I got my envelope back with “RTS” written on it in thick black sharpie
and a stamp on it in red ink saying “Attempted Not Known,” probably not on the
team anymore.
Todd Helton, C/o Colorado Rockies regular season
address, I got back my two cards, unsigned, in my SASE with a typed note from
Todd Helton about making a contribution to his charity and thanking me for
being his fan, big whoop (hey at least it’s better than Barry Bonds’ signing
routine).
Carmelo Anthony, C/o Denver Nuggets regular season
address, I got back my SASE with the card that I sent him in it, unsigned, with
a letter of appreciation and a note that he doesn’t autograph through-the-mail
due to the overwhelming amount of requests.
Freddy Garcia, C/o Seattle Mariners regular season
address, I got back my SASE with the two cards that I sent him in it, unsigned,
without any note or anything in 18 days
Keith Stamler, C/o his minor league the Oklahoma
Redhawks from the Texas Rangers organization, I got back the card that I sent
him, unsigned in my SASE along with a note saying “Please don’t include stats
in the letter- Superstition,” odd huh? Well it just gets odder. On the other
side of the note was a letter written to Keith Stamler from someone else.
Pretty weird huh? I got this back in 13 Days
CJ Nitowski, C/o Atlanta Braves, I got back my letter
with my SASE and two cards, unsigned, still inside along with my typed letter
and “No Longer with team” written on the outside envelope in 24 Days
Kenny Rogers, C/o Texas Rangers, I got back my three
cards that I sent to him, unsigned, in my SASE along with a form letter from
him saying that he appreciates his fans but that he doesn’t have time to write
back to every one of them and that would I please except the enclosed,
unsigned, card as a token of appreciation. Sure Mr. Rogers, thanks for not pulling
a Freddy Garcia on me. I got the letter back in 24 Days
Victor Zambrano, C/o Tampa Bay
Devil Rays, I got back my three cards, my SASE and my letter in my original
envelope with the address crossed out and a sticker that says “Return to Sender
No Longer Here” on it. He was traded to the Mets at the 2004 Trading Deadline.
Alex Rodriguez, C/o
Craig Ansman, C/o Tucson
Sidewinders (Diamondbacks minor league team), I got back my four cards, my SASE
and my letter in my original envelope with the address crossed out and a sticker
that says “Return to Sender No Longer Here” on it. I took 19 days to get this
back.
Travis Bowyer, C/o New Britain Rock Cats (Minnesota
Twins minor league team), I got back my letter, my SASE, and my card in my
original envelope with the address crossed out and “Return-to-Sender, no longer
here” written on it.
Adrian Burnside, C/o Toledo Mudhens
(Pittsburgh Pirates minor league team), I got back my letter, my SASE, and my
three cards I sent him in my original envelope with the address crossed out and
“Return-to-Sender, season over” written on it. I sent it out
Nomar Garciaparra, C/o Boston Red
Sox, I got back the two cards I sent him, unsigned, in my SASE along with a
pre-printed autographed card and appreciative form letter. I sent this out
Floyd Baker, C/o home address, I got back my SASE with
the obituary of Floyd Baker in it. I guess that he had died while my letter was
in the mail. I sent it out
Johnny Damon, C/o home address, I got back my letter
with a sticker on the front that said “Return To Sender, Attempted-Not Known,
Unable To Forward, Return To Sender” and then at the top it said “NIXIE 2026 1
06 12/30/04.” I guess that Johnny Damon doesn’t live at this address anymore. I
sent it out December 27th, 2004, so it took 7 days to get it back.
Mike Cameron, C/o home address, I got back my envelope
(with all the stuff still inside) with a sticker on the front that said
“Forward Time Exp Rtn To Send,” and then it had
Mike’s address that I’m going to try. I sent this letter out
Pat Burrell, C/o home address, I got back my envelope,
with all the stuff inside, and a sticker on the front stating it was a
return-to-sender. I sent this out
Todd Hollandsworth, C/o home address,
I got back my envelope, with all the stuff still inside, but a red stamp on the
front saying “Return To Sender. Undeliverable As Addressed.”
I sent this out
Lance Berkman, C/o home address,
got back my envelope, with all the stuff still inside, but “Does not live here”
scribbled on the front in pencil and highlighted in yellow. Who knows what this
is all about since it didn’t have a post office sticker or anything.
It took 16 days to get it back.
Arnold Palmer, C/o home address, I got back my SASE with
my index card and Upper Deck card that I sent him inside, unsigned, along with
a letter stating that he only signed one item per person (even though I stated
in my letter that he didn’t have to sign the index card), and also that he
doesn’t sign Upper Deck or index cards (that explains it). It took 9 days to
get this back.
Pat Burrell, C/o home
address, I got back my envelope, with all the stuff inside, and a stamp on the
front stating it was a return-to-sender. I sent this out
Ernie Harwell, C/o home
address, I got back my envelope, unopened, with “Moved” scribbled on it, and a
new address on it. I will try the new address. I sent this out
Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, C/o home address,
I got back a letter from him stating that he now charges $10-$15 to sign items
for “necessitate funding.” He sent it in his own envelope (even though I had
sent a SASE), and didn’t send me my card back. He also stated in the letter
“Upon receipt of the fee(s), your item(s) Baseball card will be returned.” What
the heck??? A ransom note for a baseball card??? This took 336 days to get
back.
Update on Pumpsie Green: I sent him back a
letter simply stating that I was unable to pay the amount requested and ask
that he send my cards back. He did, within about two weeks, and wrote at the
bottom of my letter to him in thin black ink pen:
The majority of my fans are your age (12-18). I get hundreds
of cards, so many I cannot answer all at one time. Good Luck, Pumpsie (he wrote out his name). I mean c’mon he has enough
time to write a three-sentence letter, but he doesn’t have enough time to sign
a card?
Dick Radatz, C/o home address, I got my baseball card and index card I
sent him back, unsigned, in twenty-five days. Dick died seven days after I sent
this letter out, and that is why my items were returned unsigned. May Dick be
remembered as not only one of the top pitchers of his generation, but also a
very kind gentleman who really appreciated his many fans.
Billy Williams, C/o Chicago Cubs’ team address, I got
back my two baseball cards, unsigned, in my SASE. This one puzzles me since I
have received his autograph before using this address. Maybe he only signs for
one person? Anyways, it took 78 days to get this disappointing return back.
Marty Barrett, C/o home
address, I got back my original envelope, unopened, with a sticker on it
stating that the forwarding time had expired, and listed a new address to reach
him at. I will try that one. It took 12 days to get this back.
UPDATE: I TRIED THE NEW ADDRESS AND GOT MY CARDS BACK, SIGNED
John Schaive, C/o home address, I got back my card, unsigned, with my
questionnaire, unanswered, in my SASE. He wrote “Simon, I don’t sign cards
anymore. They all end up on eBay for sale.” on the bottom of the questionnaire.
It took 11 days to get this disappointing one back.
**The
Curve blacked out their address and wrote another address. I wrote to the
address they gave me and got another RTS.
*Dom
answered one of my questions and sent a note saying this:
Dear
Mr. Thompson S.
Some
time I agreed to discontinue autographing items by mail, unless a tax
deductible contribution, by check, was made payable to A.P.B.P.A (Association
of Professional Ballplayers of America) to benefit needy old
time baseball players.
Therefore,
it would be very much appreciated if you could see your way clear to make such
a contribution on the basis of $15 for flat items, $20.00 for baseballs &
$35.00 for bats and caps. Please be sure to enclose return postage and
containers. Kindly have checks made out to A.P.B.P.A and send to me at:
Dom
DiMaggio
162
Point Road
(From
May 1 to Nov. 1)
and
to
6110
N. Ocean Blvd #28
Ocean
Ridge, Fl. 33435
(from
Nov. thru Apr.)
Very
truly yours,
Dom
DiMaggio
And
then he wrote:
*The
above has been my policy for the past 22 years, I find it difficult to make
exceptions, sorry.
D.P.D