Phillies TTM: The Week of 11/28/11
Another successful TTM week!
1977 Team Ball -
This is still a fairly new project, but so far it has gone out and come back home twice - first to Massachusetts to Jim Lonborg and now to Florida and back from Tommy Hutton. Hutton who now is a broadcaster for the
Florida
Miami Marlins was a solid hitting first baseman/OF for the Phillies during much of the 1970's. I chose him as the second target for the ball because of his excellent offseason return record. I think I'll add Ron Reed this weekend during the Philly Show, then get it back out in the mail.
1980 Phillies Team Photo
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The 1980 Phillies are unbelievable! 31 years after they thrilled Philadelphia with its first World Championship, they are still giving...This team is one has some very consistent TTMers - and I am reaching out to every one of them! Last week I got a return from Lee Elia and got the picture back out the next day to all-star shortstop, Larry Bowa . Bo signed and returned the picture in less than a week (fittingly, signature #10 on the picture). Bowa, who was one of the best at his position during his career is a sure bet (year round), and has been for years. Like the 1977 ball, I am considering having Ron Reed sign the picture this weekend. Either way, the plan is to have it en route to Del Unser next week.
Larry Bowa on the 1980 team picture
1965 Team Ball
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Another new project for me, I have previously collected Art Mahaffey, Johnny Briggs and Tony Taylor through in-person signings over the past year. My first TTM attempt was made to SP Ray Herbert. Herbert came to the Phillies before the 1965 team and was a rotation regular. This was the first time I had written to him, and was pleasantly surprised to find the ball back in my mailbox in five days. After a day's rest I got it back out in the mail today to RP Gary Wagner who shows a 95% success rate at his home address.
Ray Herbert on the 1965 team ball
Humorous side note to all this activity...Because I am regularly sending and receiving packages from my TTM hobby - and frequently buy items online - I owe a lot to my mail lady. She does not bend when the package asks her not to. She wraps packages in plastic on rainy days to keep them dry. And most importantly, she never keeps any of these "gems" for herself!
We upgraded to a new mailbox and mailbox post in September. And even though it may look a little nicer than the old one, the mailbox is significantly smaller. You would think mailbox size might be a primary consideration for me, but in the moment it wasn't. The price I pay is that I need to space things out a little more, and it is hard to mail some of the bigger paper items (they just fit). All of my "normal" activities combined with online holiday gift purchases yielded the following note from my mail lady yesterday:
