Dick Bokelmann Return

Today brought one return: #204 Dick Bokelmann signed his 1953 Topps card in eight days.  Probably more like seven; I mailed it in the afternoon of the 22nd, so it didn't get out until Saturday.

This brings me to 107/274 (39.05%).  I'm running out of players to send to for this project.  The only one who is still signing that I don't already have is Rocky Krsnich.  There are 4-5 other players still around, but none who sign.  

Dave "Boo" Ferriss Return

Today brought the last of the 1949 Bowman returns: #211 Dave "Boo" Ferriss.  I say the last because there are only three other players from the set still alive (Red Schoendienst, Yogi Berra and Ralph Branca) and none of them are signing.  This makes the 13th signed '49 Bowman I have.  He also included two signed pictures as well.

Ferriss was nicknamed "Boo" because as a child he couldn't pronounce the word "brother".  In the 1980's, when David Halberstam was researching The Summer of '49, he traveled to Mississippi to search for Ferriss, but the Dave Ferriss he turned up was the pitcher's grandson; the former pitcher is listed in the telephone book as Boo Ferriss.

Ben Wade Purchase

My most recent purchase arrived today: #4 Ben Wade.  This is the 106th addition to my 1953 Topps set, and brings me to 38.69% completion.

Tommy Brown Return

Today brought one 1949 Bowman return; #178 Tommy Brown, a former Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder.  Brown came up in 1945, and holds the record for youngest player to hit a home run in an MLB game.  He hung around for a few years with Brooklyn, the Phillies and the Cubs before retiring in 1953.  I sent this out on May 9th, so that makes a 10 day return.  He also enclosed a window decal for the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.

  This is the 12th signed 1949 Bowman I have.  After turning the cyberworld upside down, I managed to find #211 Dave Ferriss at a price that was not outrageous, and sent that out to him a few days ago.

Johnny Hetki and Gene Stephens Returns

Now that finals are over, I finally have time to get caught up.  A couple of returns for my 1953 Topps project came in recently: #235 Johnny Hetki arrived on 4/30 after about two weeks, and #248 Gene Stephens came in a couple days later.  I had sent it on 11/18, so just under 6 months.

Gene Stephens is suffering from Alzheimer's, which I can see from his signature; it looks almost nothing like the facsimile on the back.  When he came up, the Red Sox were grooming him to be Dom DiMaggio's replacement but he had a hitch in his swing that prevented that.  Johnny Hetki was nearing the end of the line when this card came out: the following season was his last in the majors.  He hung around with Toronto, then a minor league team, for a couple more years but never made it back.  There seem to be a lot of Pirates in the high numbers (#221-280).  Not sure why that is.