About a month ago I wrote about my eight year-old daughter's newly found love affair with baseball (my five year-old son is more into action heroes right now, but he does have an interest in playing tackle football even though he is reluctant to shoulder into the action while playing little league soccer), and her efforts to write a few current Phillies to ask them for autographs. She went about it the right way, handwriting letters and addressing both the envelopes and the self-addressed return envelopes. And then she waited.
As the linked post points out, she heard back rather quickly from 2B Chase Utley and received a very nice glossy card that he signed for her (he was kind enough to return the magazine picture that she had sent to him). I'll remember her shouting to get my attention about what he received in the mail and the smile on her face for a long while.
Today, almost a month after receiving the card from Chase Utley, a handwritten envelope, addressed to my daughter, arrived in the mail. It didn't have a return address, and it's postmark was from out west. The handwriting was very neat, so much so my wife didn't recognize it. She wondered aloud who would be writing from such a far distance to our daughter.
Upon seeing it, my daughter responded, "Mom, that's my writing." Her eyes got really big. She tore into the envelope. Out popped the baseball card she had sent to David Bell. It was different from what she had sent him -- precisely because he had signed it. Three requests, two autographs. David Bell, like Chase Utley, is a hero in my house. He has a fan for life.
We all love getting personalized mail, and it's especially satisfying when it rewards you for some hard work of yours. For an eight year-old, the joy is extra special.
Thanks, David Bell, for brightening my daughter's day.
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2 comments:
David Bell has been my baseball version of the Flyers' Chris Therien -- the guy I blame for anything that goes wrong with his team.
Now I will be easier on him, though I still think he is a waste of salary at third base (I miss Polanco).
If it gets to be 2006 without a response from player number three, please let us know who he is.
TIGOBLUE
Hey, I am 40 years old and still play the autograph game. I can totally relate to your daughter's excitement of getting the mail. Every day I go to the post office with the excitement of what I may
have today...in fact, not too long ago, over a year after sending it out, I received back from Tim McGraw (Tug's son!)an autographed magazine cover that I had sent to him.
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