Alexei Zhitnik

Sent: 1/18/12
Received: 1/27/12
Time: 9 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 2000-01 Upper Deck Vintage, 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro
Item Received: 2000-01 Upper Deck Vintage, 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro.  Both signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Zhitnik was an excellent NHL defenseman, primarily with the Buffalo Sabres.  He was selected for two All-Star Games during his time in Buffalo and finished his 15 year career with 471 points.  As for the cards I sent, I'm pretty excited about my recent discovery of the 2000-01 Upper Deck Vintage set.  I'm already casually working on four different hockey sets, so the last thing I need is another.  But, this is a nice, simple design on gloss-free cards, and they look great when signed.  It should be a nice option to have from here on out when writing to players from that era.

Eric Brewer

Sent: 4/28/11
Received: 1/26/12
Time: 273 Days
Address: c/o Tampa Bay Lightning
Item Sent: 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro
Item Received: 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro, signed in blue marker.

Notes:
I wrote to longtime Blues captain Eric Brewer last spring, right after he had been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning.  I was hoping for a quick return.  When a guy switches teams, it can be an ideal time to snatch a quick TTM autograph if you can get your letter into a fresh pile of mail, before it accumulates.  I obviously didn't get the fast return that I thought I might, but I did get a return.  And a successful return is always worth the wait.

Scott Bjugstad

Sent: 1/14/12
Received: 1/26/12
Time: 12 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1985-86 7-11 Minnesota North Stars, 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee
Item Received: 1985-86 7-11 Minnesota North Stars, 1986-87 O-Pee-Chee.  Both signed in black ballpoint.

Notes:
Scott Bjugstad was an incredible high school and college hockey player.  For one year, he looked like an incredible NHL player, too.  In his four years with the Gophers, he was a Hobey Baker runner-up, a WCHA scoring champion, and played on two Final Four teams.  Bjugstad stayed in Minnesota and made his debut for the North Stars late in the 1983-84 season.  During his 1984-85 rookie season he played in 72 games but scored just 15 points.  His 43 goal, 33 assist sophomore NHL season in 1985-86 was unexpected, to say the least.  It should be noted that he spent the majority of that year playing on a line with Neal Broten and Dino Ciccarelli.  That's not to diminish what Bjugstad accomplished that year, but it is a great example of being in the right place at the right time.  Unfortunately, injuries hampered Bjugstad for the rest of his career and he never came close to repeating his magical '86.  He is back in the Minnesota hockey limelight now by association.  His nephew Nick Bjugstad is a superstar for the University of Minnesota and is a surefire NHL prospect, a 2010 first-round pick of the Florida Panthers.

Floyd Chiffer

Sent: 1/18/12
Received: 1/25/12
Time: 7 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1983 Fleer, 1983 Topps, 1987 TCMA Richmond Braves
Item Received: 1983 Fleer, 1983 Topps, 1987 TCMA Richmond Braves.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Floyd Chiffer pitched for three seasons for the San Diego Padres, including 15 games for the 1984 National League Champions (though he was not on the post-season roster).  His spot in my collection, though, was earned by logging time in the Twins' minor league system in 1985.  I figure that if I'm going to collect autographed Twins minor league cards, I should also include guys who played in the Twins system even if they didn't have a card depicting them as a member of the organization.  I'm actually pretty surprised that Chiffer didn't get a call-up to the Twins.  He had a great year at Toledo in 1985 with 9 wins, 13 saves, and a 2.49 ERA.  As brutal as the Twins bullpen was in the mid '80s, he couldn't have been any worse!

Rick Wrona

Sent: 1/14/12
Received: 1/24/12
Time: 10 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1987 ProCards Pittsfield Cubs, 1989 Donruss Rookies, 1990 Donruss, 1990 Upper Deck, 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Sounds
Item Received: 1987 ProCards Pittsfield Cubs, 1989 Donruss Rookies, 1990 Donruss, 1990 Upper Deck, 1993 Fleer/ProCards Nashville Sounds.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
What a cool guy!  Rick Wrona was a quality backup catcher who was huge for the Cubs in the 1989 pennant chase.  With starter Damon Berryhill injured, Wrona took over the everyday catching duties in September.  He expertly handled the pitching staff and went on the best offensive run of his big league career to help lead the Cubs to the NL East title.  Being a big catcher guy, and a fan of the Cubs from that era, he won me over with that month.  Now, 23 years later, I'm a huge fan.  Mr. Wrona beautifully signed five cards in bold blue Sharpie.  He also added a letter where he thanked me for writing, complimented me on sending the minor league cards ("Those minor league cards are cool!") and, in closing, added "Write my anytime!"  I don't want to take advantage of his generosity, but he seems to really enjoy signing autographs.  So, I may just collect every different Rick Wrona card I can find and write him again.  This kind of response is so rewarding for a collector.

Phil Wilson

Sent: 5/12/11
Received: 1/24/12
Time: 257 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 1988 CMC Portland Beavers, 1988 ProCards Portland Beavers
Item Received: 1986 ProCards Orlando Twins, 1987 ProCards Portland Beavers, 1988 CMC Portland Beavers, 1988 ProCards Portland Beavers.  All signed in black marker.

Notes:
As great as the Twins were in the late 1980s, they were not exactly bursting at the seams with major league quality talent in the minor league system.  Few names really stood out in their minor league baseball card team sets.  Phil Wilson did stand out... not because he was on the fast track to the big leagues (he never did make it), but because he had the name.  He was the brother of Mets star* Mookie Wilson.  [* "Star" not meaning "elite player" in this case, but rather meaning "average player with a big smile, popular because he played in New York and his name was Mookie."]

Phil Wilson did look like he had a chance to be a major league player for a couple of years.  In 1985 at Visalia, he hit .297 with 49 stolen bases.  More impressively, he posted a .389 on-base percentage.  He carried that performance to AA Orlando in 1986, hitting .293 and showing a tad more power.  There were signs, though, that the higher level was giving him more trouble.  His walk rate plummeted and, most important to his game, he stole 25 fewer bases than the year before while getting thrown out just as many times.  Promoted to AAA in 1987, he badly struggled to a .227/.317/.288 slash line.  His 35 steals proved he had big league wheels, but he just didn't have the bat and he ended up getting passed on the Twins depth chart by similar but younger players like Jarvis Brown and J.T. Bruett.  After a half-season in the Expos organization in 1989, Wilson's playing career was over.

Matt Foy

Sent: 1/11/12
Received: 1/23/12
Time: 12 Days
Address: c/o Stockton Thunder
Item Sent: 2005-06 Victory, 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro
Item Received: 2005-06 Victory, 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Retro.  Both signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Matt Foy was not exactly a top NHL prospect, but in the Minnesota Wild's sad state of player development under former GM Doug Risebrough, the ex-sixth round pick was about as exciting of an offensive prospect as the Wild could boast.  His highlight was a two-goal game early in the 2007-08 season.  All told, he scored 13 points (six goals and seven assists) in 56 NHL games over parts of three seasons with the Wild.  He signed with St. Louis in 2008 but never played in a regular season game for the Blues.  After a year off, Foy is now playing with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL.  He is one of the team's elder statesmen, along with another former Wild player, Jason Morgan.

Edit:
On February 27, 2012, I received an envelope post-marked from Canada with no return address.  I opened it and found these two "custom" signed Matt Foy cards, printed on HP photo paper.  There was no letter or note.  I can only assume that Mr. Foy saved my address from the initial request and decided to mail me these, too.  That's a first!  And it's awesome.

Gorman Heimueller

Sent: 1/13/12
Received: 1/21/12
Time: 8 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1987 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1988 Cal League Visalia Oaks, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays, 1991 ProCards Portland Beavers
Item Received: 1986 ProCards Toledo Mud Hens, 1987 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1988 Cal League Visalia Oaks, 1989 ProCards Visalia Oaks, 1990 ProCards Orlando SunRays, 1991 ProCards Portland Beavers.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
First of all, I'd like to say this: You can scan the archives of this blog and you'll find many requests where I sent two to four cards to the recipient.  This is the only one to date where I have sent six.  Here's why: I had six different Gorman Heimueller cards in my box of Twins minor league cards.  I couldn't decide which three or four to send, so I simply sent them all.  I asked if he could sign a few of them and told him he could keep any he wanted.  Mr. Heimueller graciously decided to sign and return all six.  He also included a note answering a question for me.

Gorman pitched briefly in the big leagues for the Oakland A's in 1983-1984.  In 1985 he signed with the Twins as a minor league free agent.  He retired following the 1986 season and immediately accepted a pitching coach position for the Twins' Visalia Oaks affiliate.  I had read somewhere a long time back that the Twins had given World Series rings to all the coaches in the entire organization in 1987 and 1991, so I asked Mr. Heimueller if that was true.  He confirmed that he is the proud owner of three World Series rings: from the 1987 and 1991 Twins and from the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies, for whom he was the minor league pitching coordinator.