TTM Success: Jose Valentin

I'm happy to report that former Major League infielder Jose Valentin has responded to a through the mail autograph request in just 14 days.

TTM Success: Craig Reynolds

In 2010 I decided to experiment with through the mail sports autographs. This is where a collector sends sports cards or other items to a sports star requesting an autograph.

Some players ask for donations for a charity while others signs for free.

During the year, I received back 63 autographs and then got distracted with life, and stopped mailing - but I still have several cards gone.

Just as I had decided it was time to chalk up the remaining baseball cards as a loss former Houston Astro Craig Reynolds came through and signed my card and returned it.

It took 303 days to get the card back from Reynolds home address in Houston, Texas. The two-time-all star played shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners and Astros during his big league career.

He played in the National League Championship Series once with the Pirates and three times with the Astros but never made it to the World Series. Reynolds took the mound as a pitcher two times for the Astors, once in 1986 and once in 1989.

Both times he pitched one inning, allowed three hits, a total of seven runs and walked three batters. He did record a strike out and hit a batter.

Today Reynolds works as the preaching and teaching pastor at Second Baptist Church North Campus in Houston, Texas.