I received a great TTM success from Yankees prospect Luis Cedeno. I sent it to Charleston and received it back in 24 days.
The cool part - in addition to the autograph - was this simple note:
While it may not look like much, I really appreciate it. From what I gather, Cedeno is using TTMs to help work on his English. I'm sure this can't be easy. I was Twittering with
Zippy Zappy, and he said that many minor leaguers chose to converse with him in English to practice. And one thing I like about Michael Pineda is that he always does interviews in English. Unfortunately the questions he has to answer are usually about why he stinks, but still, it's admirable for a young man to step out of his comfort zone and continuously strive to improve his grasp of a new language.
Admittedly, I am sometimes a bit more careless with TTM requests to Spanish-speaking players, mostly because I think they may not read them or understand what the letter says. Selfishly, I just want the card back signed.
However, after this success, I am going to make sure to take my time and write more neatly and concisely to Spanish-speaking players, as they may be using my letters to help with their English, and they deserve my time too. I do get the sense that Cedeno may have read my letter, and I hope it was legible and easy to understand.
Mr. Cedeno, thank you for the autograph and for the lesson.
