Today has been a great day so far for a few reasons but one of which was the mail. I received a pair of surprises in the mail today and am humbled by the generosity of others.
The first package I received was a large rigid envelope from Ron Kulpa. Ron had signed and returned a cool baseball for me last week but today I was surprised to receive an 8×10 photo personalized to me! Ron took the time to sign it and send it to me. That was really neat!
The other package from from a fellow schedule collector who mailed me an Orioles postcard featuring Brooks Robinson on it that was signed by Brooks. And, if that is not cool enough, TODAY is Brook’s birthday!
Fun day of mail all around! Hope yours was just as cool!
My Kulpa Is Half Full!
Today I received a cool baseball from Major League Baseball umpire Ron Kulpa. A little over a week ago I was part of a Zoom meeting with a couple other schedule collectors and we started talking about my collection. My buddy Steve mentioned his two friends who are/were umpires and said I should send a request to them. Steve confirmed they both would do it so I mailed them out. Today I received the first one. In my letter to Ron, I asked him to write about his favorite memory of umpiring in baseball. His response did not disappoint! I did not realize this until I received the baseball but Ron was the home plate umpire for Justin Verlander’s no hitter back on June 12, 2007. That is a pretty cool memory but what he wrote was even cooler. He said his previous home plate assignment was for a game in which Curt Schilling pitched a no hitter for 8 2/3 innings. After that game he phoned his dad and told him that was as close as we probably would ever get to a no hitter. Funny how things work out! Thanks for the cool baseball Ron and for hooking me up Steve!
Sean Called!
Today I received something that made me really happy. Not only is the baseball really cool but the note inside that accompanied it made it even more special. Sean McDonough is not only a well respected broadcaster, he is a GREAT broadcaster. I can add “human being” to that list of “great” that he is. Sean signed a baseball with his call of Joe Carter’s walk off World Series winning home run in game 6 of the 1993 World Series. “… The winners and still World Champions, the Toronto Blue Jays!” If you are reading this I am sure you remember the call and the moment. I included where I was when this happened (it was homecoming weekend at St Cloud State and I was in the back room of a little Mexican bar/grill listening to a single guy play a guitar and sing while watching the game with my buddy Mike T). Sean also included a really cool note and returned my donation stating it was not necessary and apologizing for his “subpar penmanship” (I could read it so it was not too bad!). The note was even cooler than the baseball and the baseball was really neat. Thanks for making my day Sean!
Devin is Heaven
I received an RTS today from my request sent to Lewis Thorpe. I do not know his apartment number so it was shot back to me. I sent it hoping the letter carrier would look for it but I knew I had a slim to none shot at getting it back signed.
I did, however, received a reply from Devin Smeltzer filled with hope! Devin signed my card and included an inscription on it that said “Baseball Will Be Back!” It was just what I needed as I have been missing baseball a lot lately and pretty much have come to the realization that I will not see a Twins game live this year. Thanks for giving me hope Devin! GO TWINS!!!