As this blog and my collecting habits have evolved over time, one thing that has really changed is my desire to send out TTM (through the mail) autograph requests.
I have not sent out a request since 6/28/21. Before that, the last one was 2/15/21.
I collect and view the hobby a lot differently than I did 11 years ago when I started this blog. For the first five or six years, TTMs were a mainstay here. I have 415 posts tagged with TTM. I had some great returns, and great stories from those returns. I had projects and goals.
When the pandemic started, I felt uneasy about sending unsolicited mail to strangers. Was the virus on the mail? I know that was silly, but many of us were freaked out and knew very little how this thing was carried. I then saw some posts of MLB players with mounds of mail sent to their home, pleading fans not to send to their home address. I started to see this element of the hobby as a bit of an invasion of privacy.
I stopped sending to home addresses all together. It no longer felt right. In the event I did want to send to a particular player, I sent it to their stadium or spring training. Maybe that's not that much better, but it at least felt like a bit more justifiable to me if I was going to send a piece of mail.
Despite not sending out new requests, it's not uncommon for an old self-addressed stamped envelope to make it's way back to me. Just last week, a return came back from Yankees 2020 first round pick, Austin Wells:
This was sent to spring training last February, for a 365-day turnaround. Annoyingly, the signature bubbled a bit.
I'm sure a few more envelopes will make their way back to me over the years. But as for new requests, not many will be going out.
That's a super good return, congrats. I also had the same thoughts you did about TTMs (especially during the height of the pandemic). To feel less bad about it I went the paid autograph route. Costly but the ballgame changes the minute money is involved lol.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing a photo of a player with a mound of mail too. Can't remember who it was, but I was wondering if he actually took the time to send any of them back. I think if I were a player, I'd prefer to have item sent to the ballpark. But I'm pretty big about separating work from my private life. These days I don't bring anything home to grade. :D
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