On Saturday, January 18, 2020 my son and I took a trip to Orlando, Florida to Tranquilo Golf Course at Four Seasons Resort for a celebrity golf tournament. We brought a bunch of pictures and cards of former baseball and football players that were scheduled to attend. While my son and I were waiting for Braves Hall of Famer, Tom Glavine, I spotted a guy that I did not expect to see, walking through the crowded side walk. I recognized him right away as Hall of Fame pitcher, Gaylord Perry! I said to my son, "Oh my God! That's Gaylord Perry!--Let me see if I can get a picture of you with him!" I'm sure my son probably thought I was nuts at the moment... like, why? Who is this guy and why do I have to take my picture with him?! I stopped Mr. Perry and assured him I'm not going to ask for an autograph as I wasn't prepared to see him. He was very kind and took a picture with my 8 year old son! After the picture, I said to Mr. Perry, "I would love to have you sign a picture for me, do you sign through the mail?" He said that he does and I continued to ask, "What kind of fee do you charge?" I felt it was only fair for me to offer as I was planning in my mind at that moment of sending him something to sign, I might as well make it worth his time, too. Mr. Perry said, "any donation is fine". The lady standing behind him in the picture gave us his home address! My son and I printed out two 8x10 pictures the next day and wrote a letter, and put a sticky note on each picture requesting them to be made out "To Braden" and "To Brian". Each sticky note, also held a $10 bill. The pictures were mailed out on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 and were returned and received, signed and personalized on Monday, February 3, 2020!
It's always great to add a Hall of Famer to our collection, especially when it's unexpected! Mr. Perry's 314 career wins, 1972 & 1978 Cy Young Awards was more than enough to get him into the Halls of Cooperstown for his 1991 induction!
