don sutton through the mail success!

if at first you don't succeed, try again.  and again, as the case may be.  that was the case for me in my quest for an autographed 1978 topps don sutton card.  i suffered two failed ttm attempts before he signed and returned my card, complete with a 'hof 98' inscription!

the first attempt was made via the braves, where he is an announcer, and the second and third went to his home address.  i added a $10 donation to the third request, although he doesn't seem to charge based on the successes that were posted.  whether that made the difference or not, it was worth it to me.

sutton was the ace of my youth.  i saw him pitch for the dodgers a few times (including once in his final go round with them in 1988) and i definitely took him for granted.  he wasn't powerful like nolan ryan or jr richard, or as heralded as steve carlton or tom seaver, but he was good, consistent, and the all-time los angeles dodger franchise leader in games pitched, wins, strikeouts and a host of other categories.  his stretch from 1972 through 1976 in which he won 93 games, saw him finish in the top 5 in the cy young voting each of those years.  he even gave us dodger fans a going away present, leading the nl in era in 1980, his final year with the club.  at the time, i was glad to see him go because he dared to fight with steve garvey in the clubhouse.  now, i am not so naive, and i really wish he could have been part of the 1981 world championship team.  that would have been perfect - to see the complete team of my youth on top of the sport.  in reality, don sutton and the world series just did not get along.

back to the 1978 topps card - it is the 25th piece in my modest 1978 topps dodger autograph project.

here's the tally:

team card (red adams) - through the mail success!
team card (mark cresse) - through the mail success!
dusty baker - through the mail success!
glenn burke
ron cey - through the mail success!
vic davalillo - ebay success!
terry forster
mike garman - through the mail success!
steve garvey - through the mail success!
ed goodson
jerry grote - through the mail success!
burt hooton - through the mail success!
charlie hough - through the mail success!
tommy john - in person/through the mail success!
lee lacy - through the mail success!
tom lasorda - ebay success!
dave lopes - through the mail success!
ted martinez - ebay success!
rick monday - in person/through the mail success!
manny mota - through the mail success!
johnny oates - ebay success!
doug rau - through the mail success!
lance rautzhan - through the mail success!
rick rhoden
bill russell - through the mail success!
reggie smith - through the mail success!
elias sosa - through the mail success!
don sutton - through the mail success!
steve yeager - ebay success!
nlcs (davey lopes) - through the mail success!

25/29 = 86%
 
thanks don!