A Hall of Fame Week

Last week's success TTM  was a matter of quality over quantity!

Jim Rice was one of the most feared hitters in baseball in the second half of the 1970s and throughout the 1980s. He took on the mantle that Ted Williams had passed on to Carl Yastrzemski as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox. The three of them combined to hold down the territory in front of the Green Monster almost half a century from 1939-1987 (excepting the years that Williams served in the military). Rice manned the position well, putting together a career that earned him induction into the Hall of Fame in 2009.

I sent a request to Rice with both his regular 1987 Topps card and the All Star card in that set. Both came back to me unsigned in just over a week. I noticed online that he often signs for a $5 "donation," so I sent another request for the two cards, including $10. This time the cards came back quickly again, with the All Star card signed, but the other one not. Wish he had signed them both, but thankful to add another Hall of Famer to the collection. Not sure if I'm going to try him again though.

1/2 in 9 days

An even better experience was the one I had with NFL Hall of Famer, Raymond Berry. I saw that he often signed TTM, and also that he and I shared some of the same interests. I didn't have any cards or photos, so I just sent him a couple index cards, requesting autographs for my brother-in-law (who is from Baltimore) and myself.

Not only did he sign the index cards with nice personalized notes, he also sent small sheets of paper with his Christian testimony, personalized and signed on the back.

Best of all though, he so appreciated the fact that we share a passion for our faith and an interest in genealogy that he hand-wrote a page long letter to me further discussing them and asking me to send him more information about the history of my family name. He even included a self-addressed, stamped envelope!

During his Hall of Fame career, Berry was John Unitas's go-to receiver. What a joy to make the acquaintance of an all-time great, who seems to be an even better person than he was a football player.

3/1 in 12 days