The Dodger Returns Keep On Coming

I go through phases of sending out through the mail autograph requests to past Dodgers.  Sometimes I go on a day long effort writing letters, looking up return percentages on Sports Collectors.Net and packaging up letters and cards.

The search for the proper cards to send a player is a fun one.  I enjoy sending out requests to some more obscure past Dodgers.  Guys that only played for one season on the team.  The ex-player that was the pinch hitter off the bench or the scrappy utility player are autos that are appealing to me.  Those types of players also may not have many cards for me to choose from.  Dodger uniforms are preferred.

Matt Young is one of those random past Dodgers whose auto is perfect for my collection.  These types of players may be tougher to get than a Steve Garvey auto.

Young only threw 54.1 innings as a Dodger.  He pitched out of the bullpen and had 11 saves in 1987 for the Boys in Blue.

Young is also a local boy.  He was born in Pasadena and went to high school in La Canada.  Young also went to college at the undefeated college football powerhouse at UCLA.

I wonder if some players that have played or currently play on the Dodgers carry blue sharpies with them.  Some Dodger players that I write to sign my cards in a blue sharpie.  A blue sharpie makes a Dodger autograph much improved.

Did Len Matuszek walk down the pen aisle at Staples and see the black or silver sharpies and passed on them?  Did he then see the blue ones and decide that was the better choice because Dodger fans write him letters and ask for his signature?  Does he also buy a red sharpie for the requests that he gets from Phillies fans?

I should write Matuszek another letter asking him these questions.

Len Matuszek sounds like the name of a power hitter.  I expect with a name like that he should have been hitting mammoth home runs in the Dodger Stadium pavilions.

He did not do that.  Matuszek only hit 12 home runs in 3 seasons as a Dodger.  He did hit 30 bombs for his career though.

John Kennedy is a Dodger player from the 60s.  Kennedy was a utility infielder that had the privilege of playing on the 1965 championship team.  The Dodgers beat Minnesota that year in the World Series.  I remember watching a touched up replay of Game 7 of that series.  Sandy Koufax pitched a gem, Lou Johnson hit a clutch homer and John Kennedy got to come on the field as a defensive replacement at third base.

Kennedy got to be on the field to celebrate the Dodger series clinching victory.  This is a great addition to my collection.

Thanks to all the players that sent me these returns.