Daryle Lamonica and pics of recent returns

Hello again,

The Raiders alumni continue to be very good to me.  Today I received the Mad Bomber back on a photo of a Raiders helmet.  I found it interesting that he chose to go to the AFL and the Buffalo Bills rather than go to the NFL and the Green Bay Packers.  He played well for the Bills but really had his best days with the Raiders.  He was named to 5 Pro Bowls and named Player of the Year.  He threw for over 3000 yards three times which was great back then. He twice led the AFL in touchdown passes thrown.  He also had an awesome win loss record with the Raiders.  In response to my character counts question, he wrote that honesty is the most important. 

More Recent returns

Hello again,
     Since we are having our carpets cleaned I have some free time so I figured I would update my recent returns. 
     The first one I will talk about is the great Virgil Trucks.  I have to first send my best wishes to Mr. Trucks as I have read that he took a fall and is in the hospital.  I received my items from him a couple of days prior this.  I really hope he is ok.  He truly seems like a really nice man and I am not saying that just because he signed for me.  I have sent to him before but I had to send to him again because I found this cool artwork greeting card of him.  It is on fineartamerica.com  It is an artist rendition of him on the mound and you can put whatever you want on the inside.  I put his name and major accomplishments.  He signed it on the inside.  I thought it was an unique item to get signed and included an extra copy for him.  I also had him sign a Ronnie Joyner bio-illustration.  Mr. Trucks wrote me a letter back and in it stated how much he enjoys peoples interest in his career.  I included a donation to his church. 
     Another return was from Bill Stein.  I remember watching him play for the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers.  I always liked his baseball cards because in a lot of them he is smiling.  He just seemed to be a nice guy and that he enjoyed playing baseball.  One of the best is his 83 donruss where he is in the process of fielding a grounder (or it could have been posed) and he is smiling.  I asked him what his favorite memory is and he said playing against Willie Mays and Hank Aaron.  His favorite place to play was Fenway Park.  His former head coach at Southern Illinois Joe Lutz had the biggest impact on his career.  I also asked if he collected baseball cards growing up and he said that he did. 
     I also received a return from Jack Faszholz a former pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals and Rochestor Red Wings.  I read about Mr. Faszholz on the blog baseball interactions.  He is a great story.  He had a great career in the minor leagues and due to the time period and circumstances never really got a great chance in the majors.  I think he would have had multiple chances if he played in today's game.  He set the record for all-time wins for the Red Wings.  The fact that I thought was so cool was that he struck out both Jimmie Foxx and Mickey Mantle.  There are probably not too many people who can say that.  Ultimately he had to make a choice between staying in baseball and pursuing his other passion-the church.  During his playing days he was also studying to become a minister.  He chose to leave baseball and work for the church.  He said that although his career was basically in the minor leagues-it's great to look back to competing with players who later ended up in the Hall of Fame.  He also played a season with his brother Gene and he said that it was the most enjoyable season of any he played.  They both had good seasons.  Brother Gene played every inning of every game in 154 game season.  He thinks his brothers numbers would have been better if he had been given some days off.  His favorite biblical passage is Ephesians 2:8-9:  "For by the grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of your own doing, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD - not because of works lest any man should boast."  In addition to signing for me, he sent along copies of newspaper articles for the games he struck out Foxx and Mantle. 
      I turned 40 last week so I have started to do a collection of autographs of players from 1972.  I was looking for players that had done something on the day of my birth or during that year.  One player I sent to was Denis Menke.  (Side Note: one of my peeves with today's game is all the strikeouts!!) On my birthday he walked 4 times in a nine inning game and this was the second time he had done that in a month (no intentional walks in either game).  The high for the year was 5 and those were in extra inning games and included at least one intentional walk.  I thought that was cool and then I come to find out while researching his career that he was born the same day as me (July 21st).  He signed a custom photo for me.  Another player that I received was Bill Stoneman who threw a no hitter in 1972 (also had one earlier in his career).  He signed the same custom photo card for me.  Mr. Stoneman also was the general manager for the Angels and helped build the team that won the World Series over the San Francisco Giants. 

The GREAT Virgil Trucks

I was not able to see Virgil Trucks pitch but as a lover of baseball I came across him a couple of years ago.  I sent him a baseball the first time and I was so excited when he returned it with added inscriptions that I didn't ask for or expect.  He also sent along a note, a couple of other cards, and an advertisement for his book.  I bought the book and really enjoyed reading it.  It led me to buy other books of former players like Ned Garver and Chuck Bednarik.  I have sent to Mr. Trucks on a couple of occassions for different projects that I have been working on.  One of mine is the World Series trophy picture.  It is so cool that he won a World Series game but didn't win one in the regular season because of his military commitment.  I believe that he is still the only person to win a World Series game after not winning a game in the regular season.  He has always been extremely generous with his returns.  One of my favorites is one time he sent me a photo of him that had been cutout, autographed and glued to a big popsicle stick to make a fan.  He wrote on the stick--use in case the air conditioner fails.  I love it!  I started to collect signed pocket pros late last year and kept thinking about sending him one.  I was worried because I know that he had surgery on his hand awhile back and I thought it could be hard for him.  I finally decided that I would give it a try.  I also wanted to have him sign a 1951 card that I found at a recent card show.  I was hoping to find an old card of him there and was stoked when I found it and for only $3.  I got my return today and of course Mr. Trucks went way above.  He signed my pocket pro and it came out great.  He also signed the 1951 card beautifully.  Mr. Trucks sent a a one page front and back letter thanking me(really) for my letter and donation to his church.  He sent me a separate envelope that he paid the postage for himself.  In it was a autographed photo with the inscription "to my dear friend"  (Love that!)  and a totally awesome autographed refrigerator magnet that a fan had made for him (he had four of them).  Whoever made it did an awesome job and it is already on my refrigerator!   He said that doesn't mind being good to his fans and popular with them.  He said he has the time LOL  I brought up the interview that I had read online.  He said that the people that write him seem appreciative.  He said he has probably signed 500 baseballs and he never charges. He will sign whether they send money or not.  He wished me and my family all the best.  He is such an incredible man who is so generous with collectors like me.  He will always be one of my favorites and I wish I could have seen him pitch.