[Jayworld]

I posted this originally in another thread on this forum back in 2014, but my "worst" without a doubt is Willie Mays:

I met him at an Equitable Old Timers game in the 1980s at old Arlington Stadium. He was the ONLY old time player that did not attend the pre-game meet/greet at the hotel, and the only one before the game that would not acknowledge anyone at the batting cages, take photos, or sign autographs. I was told by my friend who was an Equitable rep that Mays would not be invited back.

The best in-person experience I've ever had was meeting Terry Kennedy, one of my favorite Padres players, a few years back when he was the manager of AA San Antonio Missions. Got to meet him prior to the game with my son (I was wearing one of my vintage game-used Padres jerseys), and he signed a Padres yearbook, four cards, and posed for pictures, and chatted for about 2-3 minutes. Really nice guy. Also, meeting my other Padres favorite, Randy Jones, was a cool experience, as my wife and I met him at old Jack Murphy at his barbecue "restaurant" area behind the left field stands while on our honeymoon. He signed a program, ball, and posed for pictures. At the time, he was in full uniform (navy and orange pinstripes, back in 1994) and told me he much preferred the brown-gold uniforms to the then current navy and orange.