Mike Shannon - 1965 Topps World Series

Despite there being two of my SASEs in my Informed Delivery email, only one of them made their way to my mailbox today.

The return I received was from Mike Shannon in care of the St. Louis Cardinals, who signed the 1965 Topps commemorating game one of the 1964 World Series.  He signed it in black ballpoint pen, which is nearly invisible against the busy background.  I wasn't sure at first if he had signed it or not.  

Mr. Shannon hit a two-run home run against Whitey Ford in the sixth inning to help the Cardinals tie the game, which they eventually went on to win.

For some reason I have it in my mind that he's tough to get ttm, but he has a success rate of about 73% on SCN.  I may be confusing him with Bill White, who has a 27% success rate.  Mike Shannon will typically sign just one card, sometimes two, and doesn't always return the other cards so there is some risk in sending to him.  I recommend just sending the one card you want signed, unless you have a couple and no preference if he were to sign just one of them.

He also seems to just use whatever pen he has handy.  Black, blue, even red is some cases.  Sharpie, ballpoint, etc.  So, you get what you get, which is fair considering he signs for free.

Last summer he signed his 1965 Topps for me, which turned out nicely in blue sharpie.

I believe I have his 1964 Topps rookie card around here somewhere.  His card-mate, Harry Fanok, appears to be a reliable signer but can take a while to return requests.  I may send that card off to Mr. Fanok, and by the time I receive it back, enough time may have passed to send to Shannon again.

I am quite curious about the SASE that was in my Informed Delivery email this morning but didn't arrive in the mailbox.  It is my typical SASE but had two stamps on it.  I don't recall adding an additional stamp to any of my requests.  The postmark is illegible in the image, so I have no clues as to where it is coming from.

My best guess is that it is from Jim Kaat, who signs via another person (his agent?), and that they put my card in a toploader, even though I didn't send it in one, and assumed it would need another stamp to make it back to me.

It is a "special" return, which means I put a little tick mark on the SASE so I know when I see it in the Informed Delivery email that it is a good one.  A "good one" means it's from a Hall of Famer, another special player to me, or a tough signer that would be surprising to get back.  

I had enclosed a check with my Jim Kaat request which was cashed a few days ago, which is another reason I think it might be from him.  Hopefully it will show up in my mailbox Monday.