Another edition of "how the TTM thing is going" ... or not going

And it's definitely "not going" at all. I haven't received an autograph in the mail in months. And, just as telling, I haven't sent out an autograph request through the mail in months.

I'm not sure why that is. Either life got in the way, or stamps got too expensive, or the disappointment of a couple TTM failures affected me, or I just stopped caring. Probably a little bit of all four.

But I am committed to posting a periodic update on my limited foray into TTM tries, so here is my latest one.

I continue to wait for a return of my autograph request to Bob Welch, one of my 100 all-time favorite ball players. I sent out the request in August. People tell me waiting a few months is nothing. So, I'll continue to wait.

I've waited even longer for Orel Hershiser. I sent out a request in June. Still nothing. I know people have waited a year or more and received an autograph in the mail. But I also know that folks have received a TTM autograph from Hershiser in less than the six months I have waited. So, I'm wondering, should I send another request out, or sit tight?

Meanwhile, I'm going to finally, FINALLY send out this card to former Dodger reliever Phil "The Vulture" Regan. I've planned to do this at least a couple times, but never carried through with it. However, I'm on vacation and lousy weather is predicted for tomorrow. So I have all the time in the world to craft a note to Mr. Regan.

And, while I'm at it, I think I'll send another request out to Mr. Snider. I might send the card at the top of the post, or this Flair Greats card, or ...

This card. It is crying for an autograph or SOMETHING to fill out that vast acreage of cardboard to the right.

And why not get a couple more cards from my favorite player of all-time autographed? I'm sending out this card to Mr. Cey. It's the one that he didn't sign the last time I sent a request to him, since he signs only two cards at a time.

And, I'm going to get this card signed. It's Cey's first card that he doesn't share with a bunch of rookie scrubs (yeah, that's right, I called Mike Schmidt a scrub. My blog, my rules). It's a very cool card, and I'd love to get it signed.

I know that I'll get it back, since Cey is a terrific signer.

And that just may spark some interest in the TTM thing again. Maybe then I'll actually attempt a few players that I haven't already tried once before.

OK, here are the stats so far:

My limited TTM experiment

1. Ron Cey: Yes (2 of 3 cards signed)
2. Duke Snider: Yes (2 of 2 cards signed)
3. Fernando Valenzuela: Yes (1 of 1 card signed)
4. Hideo Nomo: No (2 cards returned to sender, unsigned)
5. Jerry Reuss: Yes (2 of 2 cards signed)
6. Carl Erskine: Yes (1 card sent, but 2 cards signed and returned!)
7. Chris Speier: No (2 cards returned to sender, unsigned)

8. Orel Hershiser: pending
9. Bob Welch: pending

Success rate: 5 for 7 (9 of 14 cards signed)