Autograph adventure, by the numbers

With summer and the baseball season both drawing to a close, here's a detailed look at my through-the-mail autograph project ... by the numbers:

293: Autograph requests sent

223: Signed cards received from 93 former athletes

66: In cents, the cost of a first-class stamp. Two are needed per autograph request: one for the standard-sized envelope to the veteran, and one for the SASE

49: In days, the longest turnaround for autographed cards, for two signed by Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez, a former outfielder with the Cubs and White Sox

20: Former White Sox players who returned autographed cards (ex-Cubs - including those who played for both teams - are close with 16)

17: In days, the time taken for cards autographed by ex-Cubs pitcher and current Yankees coach Mike Harkey to return

16: Requests sent to former NFL stars; ex-Bears Dan Hampton, Gary Fencik and retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Bob Thomas are among those who signed

13: Letters returned to sender, unopened, due to incorrect or old addresses

12: The most SASEs containing signed cards received on the same day

10: In dollars, the largest donation sent to a player for an autograph, per their policy (to ex-Cub and Hall-of-Famer Ryne Sandberg)

5: In days, the fastest return, from former pitcher and Elburn resident Dan Schatzeder, who signed all three cards sent

4: Cards signed by ex-White Sox slugger Ron Kittle (even though he was invited to keep two of them)

3: Athletes who returned cards unsigned because I didn't know they charge fees for autographs

2: Requests sent to former NHL stars (the Blackhawks' Grant Mulvey and "Mr. Islander" Bob Nystrom)

1: The number of "Seinfeld" guest stars who autographed cards (Paul O'Neill, who was visited in the Yankees clubhouse by Cosmo Kramer in the episode "The Wink")

0: In dollars, the fee charged by most of the ex-players contacted

*All data as of Sept. 1

- Russell Lissau,

rlissau@dailyherald.com