How to get autographs of your favorite players through the mail.

Ever have a player you want to get an autograph from? Some players won't have time to sign at the game due to family constrictions, practice, etc. A lot of these players will have extra time on the bus or plane to read through fan mail and sign autographs. Follow these simple steps and you will be able to start or continue your autograph collection with just little bit of patience!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Patience
• 2 Envelopes (1 Self-addressed and stamped)
• 1-3 cards

1. Choose what player(s) you'd like to send the card(s) to.

2. Pick ball cards that a sharpie would look good on. Some of the newer cards that have shiny surfaces, don't let the autograph dry very well, if at all, resulting in splotchy signatures. (Look at the image at the top of this article.)
   
   Also, cards with dark backgrounds or uniforms, can make it hard to read the autograph if the sharpie is written directly on that spot. (See the above picture for that example as well.)
   
   Place the card(s) in penny sleeves, and then those into hard cases.

3. Write a letter to the player. Include a little story or something that makes your letter unique. A standard form letter usually does not get the same attention as a personal letter does. If you want to include a picture of yourself with the letter, sometimes that helps, too.

4. Place the letter and card(s) in an envelope with a SASE so the player doesn't have to pay for the postage to send it back to you. The players usually don't have time to stop at the Post Office and usually appreciate any little steps you can make to make the process of getting the card back to you easier.
   
   On the SASE, I usually write the initials of the player's name and the team's info on the return address spot of the envelope. That way, I know who's sending it back to me when I get it in the mail. Also, keep in mind, if you write the whole name instead of the initials, someone from the post office might pocket your treasured item and you'd never be the wiser. That's another reason to send cards you can afford to lose.

5. On the outside envelope, write as follows, filling in the spaces with your particular player:
   "Player's Name, C/O"
   "Team's Name"
   "Address"
   "City, State Zip Code"
   You can find any Major League Baseball team's address on www.mlb.com by clicking the link "Team Sites" at the top, left of the screen.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure the card(s) you are sending is(are) card(s) you can afford to lose in the mail or never have returned. Sometimes players to keep the cards instead of sending them back.
• I usually send around three or four cards in the mail to the player. In my letter, I usually ask that they sign all but one to certain people (dad, brother, kid at church, etc.) and the player can keep one. I've had better responses doing this. Most of the time, the player will sign all of them and mail them all back. Then you've got good birthday presents (like the Chris Carter with the Minnesota Vikings I gave my dad) or anytime presents.
• I usually find that players who are well-established tend to have many people writing to them. They receive so much mail, it may take a long time to receive anything back from them, if anything at all. Of course, there are the few that will still sign, so don't give up on them. Most of the success I've had in the past is sending the cards of the newer rookies or upcoming stars to them in hopes of autographs. Kerry Wood is a good example of this. He signed for me in his rookie year.
• Patience is a very good virtue to have when collecting autographs this way. The fastest I've ever goten an autograph back is within four days. The longest I've waited before seeing one actually come back has been two years. The average I've seen has been three or four months. It depends on how often the player collects their mail and has time to read it.

[gymbob99]

on 1/19/2009 Absolutely! I have had success with Football (Jerome Bettis, Chris Carter and several others) and with Basketball (Karl Malone).

[CBPope]

on 12/20/2008 Great gift for my hubby. Does this work for football and basketball, too?