TTM Success: Whitey Ford

This is more of a half-success, but I’m still grateful. I’ve tried Ford a few times, and each time get my card back unsigned with a price list. I know he charges at least $20 for all requests, but sometimes a nice letter will do the trick. It’s worked for me with Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto, so it’s always worth a shot in my book.

This time, I wrote a nice letter about Binghamton baseball (where I’m from and where he played minor league ball), and how I remember the local media coverage when he was being inducted into the Binghamton Baseball Hall of Fame. I was even at the game where he was honored. I remember reading a few interviews with him and admired that he remembered so much about the community and the fans.

Well, Mr. Ford was nice enough to half-sign my card and return it, free of charge. However, instead of “Whitey Ford”, I got “W. Ford.” So essentially I got a half signature from him, which is still better than nothing. On the envelope, he wrote “Send $20 with next card!” so I guess the W. Ford was a little bit of an F.U. to me for not including a fee. I’m still happy with it.

While I would have loved his full signature, I’m still grateful for the response. I know $20 isn’t too bad for a Hall of Famer and players have the right to charge whatever they’d like, but not sure that I’m going to shell out the $20. Maybe someday I will, but for the foreseeable future I don’t think I’ll take him up on his offer.

What do you guys think? Cool success? Or crappy that I got a half-signature?