Toronto Blue Jays in the Hall of Fame

I grew up near Toronto, Ontario, and at the age of 9, the Blue Jays won back to back World World Championships.  It was in that moment that my passion for baseball, and for the Toronto Blue Jays, was really born.

When I originally wrote this post in November 2010 there were only four Blue Jays players in the Hall of Fame. In just the past few years that number has doubled  -

Rickey Henderson
Dave Winfield
Paul Molitor
Phil Niekro
Roberto Alomar
Jack Morris
Frank Thomas
Roy Halladay

Five of them were crucial in the Blue Jay's championship seasons. Halladay is the only one to have been inducted after his death. In addition to these players, there is one manager and one exec who have been inducted who are connected to the team.

Bobby Cox
Pat Gillick

Back in 2010 I didn't have an autograph from any of these players. Since then my collection has added five (linked above), as well as Niekro, who's autograph I had for a moment before trading it away.

Updated January 2020

Failure #12: Carlton Fisk

Well, that didn't take long!  Just one day after sending out an initial wave of e-mails to the representation of several Hall of Famers, I received my first response back regarding Mr. Carlton "Pudge" Fisk - a Hall of Fame catcher.

Here is the e-mail I recieved this morning from his representatives...

Dear Ben,

Thank you for your interest in Mr. Fisk.  Unfortunately, due to a contractual obligation Mr. Fisk is unable to honor your request.  We wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

	Kim Zayotti Founder, CEO
	265 Franklin Street, Boston, MA 02110
	617.951.3799 x210 phone 617.951.1354 fax kzayotti@blueskyse.com
	www.blueskyse.com

An Idea...

I'm throwing around the idea of e-mailing Hall of Famers who have not responded to my letter request.  At this point I'm not sure how many have e-mail accounts that are accessible to the public, but I'm sure that many have business associates who would answer my e-mail.

I'm thinking it would be interesting to talk about this project in the e-mail and point them to the website so that they can see it unfold.  It may also give me something to publish - hopefully one or two people will respond electronically, and I can share those messages here.

Thoughts?  Does that sound like it might be interesting?

Failure #11: Ozzie Smith

Yesterday I was super excited to see that two of my envelopes had returned, and saddened to find that both were failures.  Ozzie Smith - all star shortstop, Hall of Famer, and acrobatic player - "DOES NOT ACCEPT FORWARDING" (see the two stamps on the envelope?).

I had heard a rumor that this was true from another website, so this was far from unexpected, but it is still disappointing to see another failure in my quest to get an autograph from every living Hall of Famer.

Failure #10: Frank Robinson

And here's to you, Mr. Robinson.  I finally got some mail today!  But alas...

Frank Robinson - former player and manager - opened up my letter, took out the self addressed stamped envelope, placed my letter and blank 3x5 card in, and sent it back.

No autograph.  No explanation.

Not cool.

On the other hand, Mr. Robinson was a part of that illusive group of four without an address, so I guess I should be happy that it found its way to someone who opened it and sent it back.  Now if only I knew what it would take to get him to sign.  Maybe money?

Rest in Peace, Sparky Anderson

I knew that the quest for an autograph from every living Hall of Famer would be a never ending quest, but I figured that new members would be elected before someone passed away.

Today, the baseball community was saddened to hear about the death of Sparky Anderson.  Just three short months ago I found Mr. Anderson's signature waiting for me in my mailbox.  It was the tenth Hall of Famer autograph in my collection, and now it has a much deeper and more bittersweet nature.

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and those who knew him well.  The baseball world has lost an icon.

Bob Feller signing at Spring Training

I thought it might be interesting to give you some background on one of my Hall of Fame autographs in the current dry spell of collecting.

The very first success post on this blog is for the first Hall of Fame autograph I obtained - that of Mr. Bob Feller.  I got his signature well before I had even the slightest inkling of starting this crazy project.  My aunt (a die-hard Cleveland Indians fan) and I went to spring training a few years ago and caught several Indians games in Arizona. 

Mr. Feller has been a mainstay at those games.  He sets up a folding table down the third base line and signs pre-selected photos during the game for $15, or something like that.  You can't bring your own item - such as a baseball, book, or customized photo - only the ones he has on the table. 

He was my grandfather's favorite player, and a Hall of Famer, so I decided to stand in line and get his autograph on this classy old photo of him throwing in the 1948 World Series (sadly, this was the last time Cleveland won a World Series).

Oh, and he has a funny look on his face in the above photo, because he was eating a hot dog while signing for me.