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

[sdkammeyer]

OK, Yankee fans ..... cover you ears

Stories like this make me cringe ..... but also make me wonder what it would be like if I couldn't urinate in a public bathroom without being hounded for my autograph. You MUST think that back in his early career, Jeter, or any other player for that matter, probably adored the attention and stopped to sign more often. After so long the novelty wears off and your signings become more and more rare. For some players, the novelty NEVER wears off (Babe Ruth and many others mentioned already).

In the end, the players like Jeter are biting the hands that feed them. No, we, as fans, do not write Jeter's paychecks ...... but without the attendance at the games there is no Yankees and therefore no paycheck. Yankee fans know he is an idiot, but yet they still pay for those tickets! Obviously it impossible for him to discern between the fan and the guy who will have that auto for sale on eBay before the night is over ...... and as a player that's gotta suck.

You guys are right though. What is the harm in making an announcement that morning as you enter the facility if you are going to have time to sign or not afterwards? Or, better yet, if you (Derek Jeter) want to have justification for being an asshole, why not stop for 20-25 autos everyday. How long can it possibly take to sign your name 25 times? If you see the same person there waiting for you, knowing that you just signed for him yesterday, then just bypass that person and move on to the next..... or do something silly like sign it "mickey mouse" .... or just give him the Nyjer Morgan sig.

[packs]

I feel like there are only two possibilities as to why players don't say they will or won't sign early in the day and make people wait all day to find out.

Either they truly don't know how they're going to feel later.

Or

They like to turn people down.

I'll never be convinced that some players don't get some kind of sadistic pleasure from watching people want their autograph and walking by without signing a single one. I saw Bryce Harper do it all day, every day at Nationals camp after he was drafted first overall. And then I watched Strasburg sign for almost everyone even though he held the same cache as Harper.

I also don't really buy that a player doesn't know whether or not he's going to sign until the moment practice is over. You walk off the field to people asking for you to sign. You take an hour or two to shower and get dressed. And then you walk by those people again, who you know by now will be waiting for you.

Just say yes or no from the start and stop being a jerk. I can't tell you how many times I watched Jose Reyes and David Wright tell Mets fans in Port Saint Lucie that they'll sign as soon as their drills are over, only to watch them walk by everyone who has patiently waited, pick up their bags, and leave without even looking at a fan. It makes me sick.

[MacDice]

What players get annoyed with is seeing the same people day in and day out who hand them a large stack of items to sign. I think a lot more players would be willing to sign if they did not think that the individual was just going to turn around and sell it.

[byrone]

Personalize the autographs, that will sort out the fans from the re-sellers.

[packs]

It's not hard to make your autograph not worth selling. Sign for everyone.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by packs

It's not hard to make your autograph not worth selling. Sign for everyone.

+1

Anyone seen the value of a Bob Feller graph these days? The guy is a deceased HOFer and statistically was arguably one of the Top 10 pitchers of all-time, and his auto is in the "common bins" because the man simply signed everything in sight.

[BigJJ]

Originally Posted by dgo71

+1

Anyone seen the value of a Bob Feller graph these days? The guy is a deceased HOFer and statistically was arguably one of the Top 10 pitchers of all-time, and his auto is in the "common bins" because the man simply signed everything in sight.

Perfect example. If not for supply, Feller might be as costly as Ted Williams, etc.

Koufax is also an interesting case study, like Ted Williams, but even to a greater degree, Koufax will not sign, as a business venture, unless real money is put forward. But if you see Koufax in person, especially kids, he goes out of his way to sign and accommodate. Williams and Koufax kept their markets high, not by refusing fans, but by refusing lower paying signings and appearances.

[MacDice]

Originally Posted by byrone

Personalize the autographs, that will sort out the fans from the re-sellers.

Depending on the item, personalizations can be removed if you know what you are doing.

[71buc]

I don’t know who is more pathetic in this exchange, the beggars or the pinstriped prince. Ripken he definitely aint....

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by 71buc

I don’t know who is more pathetic in this exchange, the beggars or the pinstriped prince. Ripken he definitely aint....

...or Nolan Ryan!

I remember when Nolan would come to Anaheim when he was with Texas towards the end of his career, the Rangers would stay at the Doubletree Hotel in Anaheim. You could literally set your clock by Nolan. He would exit the hotel at precisely the same time every day and sign at least two of the three days on every road trip. As long as the croud stayed polite and unruly he would sign one autograph for EVERY person outside the hotel. He would stop signing when he saw the same pair of shoes twice. This is how he knew that someone was trying to pull a fast one and jump back into line. In 1992 and 1993, his final two seasons, the lines to get his autograph were perhaps 100-150 people long, no exaggeration. He took his time and signed neatly for everyone and would acknowlege anyone that spoke to him.

Unfortunately they broke the mold with Cal and Nolan. Of the modern stars, these guys were genuine princes when it came to the way they treated fans.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by MacDice

Depending on the item, personalizations can be removed if you know what you are doing.

you could partially sign the personalization over the edge of your autograph. overlap them a little.

[Exhibitman]

The instructions for getting a signature sound like the Soup Nazi's ordering ritual.

Now this is more like it:

"Tyler Austin, one of the organization’s top prospects, always makes himself available — an easy decision, he said. He recalled attending a Chattanooga Lookouts minor league game as an 8-year-old and positioning himself for postgame autographs by moving down the right-field line, just past a gate that led to the team’s locker room. A couple of players stopped. Many more did not. “I remember it vividly,” said Austin, an outfielder who has hit .331 in the minors. “My mom looked at me and said, ‘One day you’re going to be there, and I swear if I ever see you walk by anybody and not sign a thing for them, I will come and personally slap you right across the face.’ ” "

So someone sells the 'graph, so what? A guy like Jeter makes $200,000,000.00+ over a career and he's miffed that some shmuck ekes out a living selling signatures? What, is the guy taking money out of Jeter's pocket? Taking away a business opp? No and no. And if that was the case, Jeter could simply be polite about it and make a blanket announcement or deal with it like a gentleman. Cary Grant did not sign autographs but he was unfailingly nice to the people who asked. Ringo Starr until relatively recenty signed TTM and when he decided to quit he made a video about it and posted it all over the place just to alert fans not to send him more stuff. Derek Jeter is bigger than a Beatle?!?! Bigger than Ali, as Travis pointed out? There was a recent story about George Clooney in a restaurant in Europe where he thought that his party might have been too loud so he surreptitiously picked up the dinner tab for the table next to his. It's called "class" and Jeter and the rest of the A-hole Brigade don't have it and never will.

The real bottom line about Jeter and the rest of them is what the late boxing broadcaster Nick Charles said was his philosophy: "Judge a man by how he treats someone who can do nothing for him."

[BigJJ]

Originally Posted by byrone

Personalize the autographs, that will sort out the fans from the re-sellers.

Agreed

This is what DiMaggio did, sometimes, in lieu of not signing.

The only problem is, from certain players' perspectives, this requires a conversation, albeit short, with each and every person seeking an autograph.

And what if the guy says, "no need to personalize". Then the player may have to speak even more. And what does he say: "my contract requires I sign only personalized items", this makes the player sound like he is not in charge of himself.

But I do think you try and keep your market high: personalize as much as you can, limit one auto per person, and ignore the guys whose faces you recognize.

But players ought to be signing, legibly, like Ruth, Mantle, and even DiMaggio (he did sign legibly and for kids) for each and every kid under 18 who asks. Every time.

And I agree that most of us might not want a quick signature, except or resale. For our collections would want a nice, bold, clear example.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by sdkammeyer

For some players, the novelty NEVER wears off (Babe Ruth and many others mentioned already).

IT wasn't the novelty. It's really quite simple.
Ruth genuinely liked his fans. He genuinely liked people. And he probably never forgot where he came from.