Wilbur Huckle

[seawolf17]

As many of you know, I have a collection of Mets autographs -- over 1,000 of the 1,111 Mets and counting, plus another sixty or so field-adjacent folks like managers and whatnot. I've been mailing cards to players since I was a kid; many get lost along the way, but I've gotten dozens of responses over the years. Usually they just sign and return the card, I stick it in my binder, and check them off my list.



I figured almost-Met Wilbur Huckle would be a fun guy to add to the collection; his address was in the database I use, so I created a simple custom card, wrote a little note, and sent it off a few months ago. You never know with the older guys, because, well, you just never know. Huckle is 83, according to the internet.



So I was *very* pleasantly surprised to get a SASE in my mailbox yesterday with a neatly-written "Wilbur Huckle" return address in the corner. But when I opened the envelope, not only was my card signed and returned, but he had hand-written an AWESOME letter in return!



His letter assumed I was a kid, which says something about the hobby, my handwriting, or both, but it absolutely made my day nonetheless.

[Edgy MD]

That's great. Tom Seaver's minor-league roommate, among other things.



If your letter gives you anything to add to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_HuckleWilbur Huckle Wikipedia page, don't hesitate in contributing!

[dinosaur jesus]

That's wonderful.



The Wikipedia page says he's 79, and that the 1937 birthdate you often see is wrong. If so, he went to high school in San Antonio at the same time as Jerry Grote and Davey Johnson. And my father. And Doug Sahm of the Sir Douglas Quintet. That's quite a collection of talent in one medium-sized city not known for baseball or mathematicians.

[G-Fafif]

This is hucking great.