A couple months ago I wrote a few pieces about TTM autographs and I also included a list of requests that I was sending out. One of the players that I sent a request to was Cody Asche of the Philadelphia Phillies. Well, I received my request back from Cody on Wednesday, August 5, however it wasn’t what you’d really call a “success.”
As you can see in the picture, Asche returned my request with my card (unsigned), my unused SASE (not pictured), a color postcard featuring a facsimile autograph, and a pre-printed letter thanking me for my support.
Here’s what really bothers me about this situation. First of all, I doubt Asche put these things in that envelope and returned them to me. It was probably done by some intern in the Phillies organization. Second, I just received a similar package from Ryne Sandberg a few weeks ago, but his postcard was SIGNED! And he’s a hall of famer who undoubtedly gets way more TTM requests than Mr. Asche does. I wouldn’t have cared to receive what I did from Asche but he could have at least signed the postcard. I’m sure Sandberg didn’t sign that postcard specifically for me and then stuff the envelope himself. I guarantee he signed a stack of a couple hundred so his intern could stuff his fan mail envelopes so he could focus on managing and that’s fine with me. Heck, the same intern stuffing Asche’s envelopes is probably the same one stuffing Sandberg’s.
This kind of thing has always been a pet peeve of mine with athletes. I’m sure any fan would prefer to get a real autograph returned to them a year later instead of a facsimile one in two months. These fans are taking the time to write to you and those athletes should take the time to write back. The fans aren’t owed anything but it is a sign of respect and without the fans, who would be there to watch the games?
However, in Cody Asche’s mind, apparently something is better than nothing.