Please sign Mr Jeter - NY Times article about collecting Jeter in Fla

[36GoudeyMan]

I've been to every Nationals Spring training since 2005. Over the years, the team has gotten much worse, then much better. At the beginning, the place (Viera) was jammed because of the novelty; for several years it was quiet and empty, and now its busy as hell.

From what I've seen, the ebb and flow of the crowds is almost entirely opportunist re-sellers, dealers or not. This year, the autograph gatherers have set up a lawn chair gauntlet that players are literally forced to pass through when leaving the practice fields behind the stadium. for each of the last 3 years, we've been increasingly bombarded by people in other teams' gear asking us where Strasburg, Werth, Harper, Gio, Zimmerman, and any of several other players. They routinely held huge binders with cards of multiple teams and players. They did not know anything abut the player, except whose autograph was the most valuable and salable. Some did not even know the players' first names, just last name and number.

We've seen parents with massive binders launching kids with balls and cards into crowds to get someone to sign it, only to have the kid get yelled at for not being aggressive enough if somehow she/he failed.

I've half-jokingly suggested that everyone should have to register and disclose their eBay ID if they want to get autographs, so that the players would know who is more likely getting a signature for themselves or for resale.

I've also said that if every player would sign everything in sight, multiples, of anything, and make the supply so vast that demand could never catch up, then the problem would largely go away. Last week, I saw Gio Gonzalez, on several occasions, stop and sign literally everything stuck in front of him, for nearly an hour each time. he says its "part of his job," but that was way beyond any reasonable expectation. I still think flooding the market is the safest way for these guys to go, but I'm no economist.

The way it is now, legitimate fans who want the personal memento of a player by the interactive experience of a in-person autograph are being swamped by the growing hordes of re-sellers, and many real fans are being soured by the experience of trying to get the special, memorable moment when an idol or a hero or favorite does you the favor of shring a memento. Pity.