Julián Javier

Who: Second Baseman Julián Javier

Team: Cincinnati Reds

Card: 1972 Topps

Acquired: TTM 1/1 1/21/09 (39 days)

Comments: 1972 was Julián last year in the league, spending most of the season as a utility infielder for the National League Champion Cincinnati Reds. It was the end to an outstanding career were he spent 12 of his 13 MLB season with the Cardinals. After his career was over, he made great contributions to the game of baseball in his home country - The Dominican Republic.

This is a great return. Not only is it another autographed card in the '72 Reds project, but it was a chance to really learn about a player that I had not heard of. Being that Julián only spent one season with in Cincinnati, most Reds fans don't talk about his contributions on and off the field. I wonder how well he is known in the Cardinal fan-base. Hopefully they hold him in high regard.

As for the return, I sent a letter and this '72 Topps to Julián in The Dominican Republic. Since I didn't have any DR postage handy, I threw in a couple of bucks to cover the return postage. Obviously, it all worked out really well. To the right are the stamps that were on the back of my return envelope. Julián used two RD$ 10 (Dominican Republic Peso) stamps. If my currency converter is correct, it cost about $.55 USD to mail the card back. Inexpensive, eh? This is one of the few envelopes that I will keep in the back of my autograph binder. It's fun to get returns from players outside the United States.