Where Art Thou Kent Hrbek?

I told myself when I started this, not to get my hopes up. I seriously try. No matter how nonsensical it seems to me to not respond to a piece of mail like what I'm sending out, I still try and realize that everyone has their own prerogative. Some guys just don't like signing through the mail. Some guys simply don't have time to sign through the mail. Most of the guys I'm sending to though, should. And I make it really easy on them. All the tools are in the package I send. Just sign it, and mail it back.

But I need to be happy with the success I've had. I have sent 17 total items (plus two more dropped in the mail today) and received 11 of them back. That's pretty good. Some were complete surprises (Liam Hendriks, Brad Radke), others I was always confident of a return (Tom Kelly, Tom Brunansky). Of the guys I have not heard from, I don't really know what to think. I'm dumbfounded by Gene Larkin, and I understand not hearing from Miguel Sano and Joe Benson. Frank Viola traditionally is very good but takes an awful long time. Rick Aguilera, was a long shot to begin with, boasting a not so great track record of signing through the mail.

I know I should be happy with what I've got, but I can't help but be disappointed in Kent Hrbek.

Research showed Hrbek as a strong supporter of ALS. My wife's aunt is currently battling this and I touched on it in my letter of request to Hrbek. Research also showed that Hrbek is a fantastic through the mail signer if a small donation was made to the Minnesota ALS Foundation he helped start. Since I was sending him a baseball, I sent along a nice check.

Seven days ago I noticed in my bank account that the check was cashed. A scan of it even proves that Hrbek himself endorsed it! Two days later, a thank you card (for tax purposes) came in the mail to me, from the Minnesota ALS Foundation. Seven days ago . . . yet . . . no baseball from Herbie.

I have a hard time believing that the guy would cash my check and NOT sign my baseball and return it, but I'm beginning to worry that that is exactly what happened. 11 of my 17 requests have come back to me without a hitch, so I have a hard time believing it was lost in the process. I hope I hear from him soon, but my doubts are growing with each passing day.

Maybe he was too busy filming Taco Johns commercials.

Disappointment Setting In

On January 18, I mailed a baseball to Kevin Tapani. 10 days later I received my ball back signed. Since then, I have mailed out 17 baseballs. I didn't have high expectations at the time, but after receiving 7 back fairly quickly, my expectations raised. I got my hopes up. I thought I was making it easy for former players to sign and return balls to me and couldn't fathom why someone would discard one. I soon expected to get all of them back. Now, disappointment is setting in.

Guys like Tapani, Reardon, and Tom Kelly confirmed what I had uncovered while researching. They are great, timely signers through the mail. I didn't know what to expect from guys like Kaat and Gagne, but both surprised me with very fast returns.

I have decided that the three minor league players I sent mail to (Sano, Benson, and Hendriks) are long shots. I called Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers and spoke with a man who informed me that the Twins take over the mailing department during Spring Training and lots of fan mail gets lost in the shuffle.

That leaves 7 other baseballs out there in the world. Camilo Pascual and Rick Aguilera were just mailed late last week. Both were long shots, but worth a try. Besides it's too early to tell with them. Frank Viola is semi-reliable but takes an average of 2-3 months so I shouldn't be worried about him quite yet. And the 8x10 I sent to Brad Radke nearly 2 weeks ago, well I'm not even sure I sent it to an accurate address. However, Jim Perry is traditionally a very fast, reliable signer through the mail, and here I sit 23 days later still waiting. Kent Hrbek is another down-to-earth, reliable, and timely signer. 16 days is stretching beyond Hrbek's average response time. And then there's Gene Larkin . . . I feel like the best letter of request that I've written was to Gene Larkin. I don't know why I thought he'd be an easy get, but 23 days and no return.

Maybe patience is a virtue I just wasn't blessed with. Maybe I need to realize these guys have lives and may be busy and need to allow myself to be surprised a month or two from now. Yet every day, I return home from school excited to open the mailbox and see who I may have heard from. And lately, everyday that mailbox is merely full of bills. I sure hope my luck changes soon.