Mail Bonding

 

By Tom D'Angelo, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

 

JUPITER -- Josh Beckett opened the letter from one of his newest admirers, a 32-year-old woman who has written him three times this spring, pictures and personal information included.

 

"Please forgive me for being so bold and let me tell you I think you're an absolute doll,'' she wrote.... "And I'm 32 -- but who's counting.''

 

Just in case he was wondering, she added: "I'm not a stalker.''

 

Beckett, 23, rolled his eyes and tossed the letter in a pile, one that soon may be large enough to fill the infield at Pro Player Stadium.

 

"I don't know why, but I think older women like me,'' Beckett said.

 

Beckett, of course, was kidding. He knows exactly why his popularity has increased.

 

"It's just pouring in right now,'' Beckett said. "We were never really on national television, so we weren't really out there that much. Now, it's kind of been... "

 

Overwhelming?

 

Before Beckett shut down the New York Yankees in the biggest game on the biggest stage, before Juan Pierre was the regular-season MVP of the World Series champions, before Miguel Cabrera was taking Roger Clemens deep in front of 66,000, the mail room at Pro Player Stadium was relatively quiet.

 

Now, the Florida Marlins walk into the clubhouse daily with a fresh batch of fan mail to add to the mound, some of which goes into a bin and will not be answered for months.

 

"In all, this year it's over 10 times the amount,'' Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell said. "I just put it in a box in my car. I don't even know where to start.''

 

Karl Heard, office service supervisor at Pro Player Stadium, has seen the increase this off-season. And this is the slow season. Heard expects the start of the baseball season to bring a whole new generation of Marlins fans.

 

"All of them are getting tons of mail," Heard said. "The pitching staff receives the most. Baseball starts with pitching and our pitching staff is young and they are starting to build a name for themselves.''

 

The more popular Marlins received about 100 pieces a month during the off-season. That number will increase dramatically during the regular season. And that's the Marlins. Imagine the loads in cities like New York or St. Louis, where passionate fans flock travel just to see their teams in spring training.

 

Lowell remembers when he was a Yankee, watching an empty locker fill up with Derek Jeter's mail during spring training. The entire locker, filled with letters and requests.

 

"For a guy like him, unless he has a stamp or spends seven hours a day every day in the off-season, there's no way he can answer every piece of mail,'' Lowell said. "He'd sit down in between fundamentals and the games and sign a lot of stuff. But he'd sign 10 and 40 more would come. It's a losing battle for a guy like him.''

 

Cardinals relief pitcher Steve Kline estimates he receives about 5,000 letters a season. "I'm pretty nice to the fans though,'' Kline said. "I'll do a lot of pictures and tell them just send it to the Cardinals and I'll sign it and send it back.''

 

So what is inside those envelopes that come pouring into clubhouses across America? Most are stuffed with a letter, baseball cards and a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Some contain magazine covers.

 

Kline has two memorable pieces. He once was sent a small rocking chair with the name of his newborn daughter engraved. The most creative, he said, was his own rsum, from a fan who told Kline he needs to find a new job.

 

The Marlins have become heroes to a nation of Yankees haters.

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Beckett,

 

Thanks for kicking the Yankees (butts)!

 

DO IT AGAIN, Please!

 

 

 

Others? Those only can be read on late-night cable television or printed in magazines covered in dark plastic.

 

Beckett and Cabrera have been sent women's underwear, some to autograph. Beckett receives risque pictures, and has a women in "an East Coast city'' asking if he'd meet her when the Marlins play in her hometown. Women have asked Kline to check them out during the game. "But I'm ugly,'' Kline said. "So I don't get too much of that.''

 

The problem for Kline is the person who opens his mail is his wife, Martine. "She will laugh and usually say, 'How old is she?' " Kline said.

 

Lowell has received several phone numbers, but the one that he remembers most was from a guy who Lowell labeled a borderline stalker.

 

"He told me he had mental problems and he thought there was a connection with me,'' Lowell said. "It was just weird.''

 

The primary purpose of the letters is to receive an autograph. Collectors come in all ages and will use any tactic, including flattery.

 

 

 

Josh, I want my son to have an autograph of the best pitcher of his time. It would be like me having Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens.

 

 

 

And sympathy.

 

 

 

Hi Josh,

 

My husband is 69 years old, loves baseball, and is a big fan of yours. He recently had a second heart operation.

 

 

 

Many players sign one card per letter, despite receiving up to four or five in one envelope.

 

"I will keep one when I get five of the same ones,'' Lowell said. "That bothers me. If they just send a note and say, 'sign this,' and they don't say please, and it's four of the same card and I haven't seen it, I'll take one. That's my fee.''

 

In addition to signing his cards, one fan asked Marlins players for "a pair of cleats, bat, ball, or any part of uniform," with the request, "PLEASE WRITE BACK.''

 

Jeff Conine reads most of his mail, except the form letters. Dontrelle Willis and Cardinals second baseman Bo Hart, both of whom started last season in the minors, attempt to answer it all. Alone. Both are finding it overwhelming, especially Willis, who stares each day at large bin full of letters that sits on top of his locker at Roger Dean Stadium.

 

Several players receive help from family members. Juan Pierre puts his mom to work. Lowell's mom and his cousin get a kick reading his mail.

 

"What I find is it's the same ones over and over again,'' Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris said. "You know when somebody is sincere or if you get a letter from some place like Japan you might read that because that's neat.''

 

St. Louis third baseman Scott Rolen has his mail forwarded to the front office, where thousands of autographed pictures he has signed are stuffed into the self-addressed stamped envelopes. He includes a note in which he apologizes for not signing the cards.

 

"They bring some of the positive ones with stories or situations to me,'' Rolen said. "If somebody is sick I'll try to put a personal touch to it. Otherwise, if somebody is just calling me a (jerk) they throw it away.''

 

Hate mail is rare. Kline, one of the more popular Cardinals, received more threats last season than ever before because he was the team's union representative.

 

"They wanted to kill me,'' Kline said. "They'd say we're spoiled brats and we don't appreciate what we have.''

 

One Marlins player received a letter from a woman who ranted for a full page after he skipped her as she was attempting to get an autograph at Roger Dean Stadium. The player said he was signing only for children.

 

"Please tell me what you meant, so I can tell my first born grandchild who is due in June (why) it was that you couldn't sign an autograph for him or her,'' she wrote in an 800-word letter.

 

"It's pretty tough, but you just hope the people are patient,'' Willis said. "I try to get to as much as I can because I feel bad because they took the time to write.''

 

tom_dangelo@pbpost.com

 

Interesting article on fan mail. I once sent Conine a baseball card thru the mail for him to sign when he was with the O's.. Never got it back

 

But hes still my favorite marlin either way. :thumbup

 

Article

In '97, I wrote to Niner and I got a signed baseball card. That card is now my lucky baseball card.

Interesting article on fan mail. I once sent Conine a baseball card thru the mail for him to sign when he was with the O's.. Never got it back

 

But hes still my favorite marlin either way.

 

You shoulda said you were a Girl and you wanted the card signed for your cousin or something. See PudgesMamita got a signed card! =)

In '97, I wrote to Niner and I got a signed baseball card. That card is now my lucky baseball card.

 

 

DAMN YOU!!

 

jp

I wrote to Dontrelle the first week of June but . . .

In '97, I wrote to Niner and I got a signed baseball card. That card is now my lucky baseball card.

 

 

Is this the famous Niner card? :mischief

Interesting article...I stopped sending out autograph requestsd at about 11 years old when I wrote to Bo Jackson and got one of the fake carbon copy replies and info for his fan club.

"He told me he had mental problems and he thought there was a connection with me,'' Lowell said. "It was just weird.''

:lol

Conine signed for me as well in 1997 as well as Kevin Brown

 

I also tried Willis right when he was called up but never got a response.