Which players made you work for the autograph?

[7nohitter]

In other words, were there guys who pretended they would sign, but didn't, or guys who 'promised' to sign, only to walk on by.

Cecil Fielder used to be be extremely generous at Fenway, he'd go from dugout to dugout getting as many as he could.

Dave Winfield on the other hand would always 'promise' but then just smirk as he strode to the dugout....

[brewing]

Greg Luzinski would NEVER sign at ChiSox spring training games in early 80's. You'd have to pay me to take his autograph today.
Carlton Fisk had his hands full with a bat in each hand. I did manage to get his once, though.
Pete Rose wouldn't sign cards at those games. Never got his auto.

[Runscott]

Pete Rose, 1973. Told us he had to put his bag in the bus and would come right back. He went to the back of the bus and smiled at us out the window. Total prick.

[theshleps]

Spending 3 weeks each spring in spring training the list is way too long on players who promised and never signed. Then there were gems like Freddie Lewis who signed and purposely ran his hand over it to smear it. I don't blame players when there are lots of folks that bring stacks of the same card and want to player to sign 10+ of the exact same card.
I know some players well and it is interesting on getting their take on autograph collectors. I try to educate them and give them a positive spin

[RichardSimon]

I was a very young child and I was at the Polo Grounds, Robin Roberts was pitching for the opposition Phillies and he was knocked out early. When the game ended my dad and I saw him standing completely alone outside the stadium. My very first time that I asked for an autograph. I thrust my scorecard and pencil towards him and asked, very politely, for his autograph. He shot me down . And I was a cute, little kid .

[w7imel]

I had a pit pass to a phoenix Indy race in the 90's and had purchased a Indycar tire that was on Emerson Fittipaldi's car the year before and had a grand idea of getting it signed at this race and making a end table for my rec room out of it. I lugged this heavy SOB all day in 94 degree weather and waited patiently by his trailer after his first practice session. He passed by the whole crowd waiting for an autograph and went iside until everyone was gone except me. At this point I had drove 800 miles thru snow and mountains lugged this tire at least a mile in the heat I was going to wait it out to get one of my racing heroes autographs!!! When he did come out he was as nice as I had hoped. He graceously signed my tire and talked to me for a bit. I then carried tire back to car and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. To this day the tire still sits in my house with a nice glass top on it. I truly worked for that one!

[Scott Garner]

In 1997 when HOF Eddie Murray was an Anaheim Angel, I attempted to get his autograph coming in to the stadium at least 10 times. He always said "Thank you for asking, but I don't have time to sign". He never did sign for me, but on Fathers Day he came out of the stadium, winked at me and handed me his game used Fila sweat band that had his uniform # embroidered on it.

HOF Rickey Henderson also played briefly for the Angels. He never signed outside, but promised to sign inside many, many times. I never did see him sign inside, period...

During HOF Rod Carew's stint as the batting coach for the Angels, he was hounded like crazy to sign outside the stadium. After not signing for quite a while, some over-aggressive autograph hounds key-scratched his car. His days of signing for any of these guys was definitely over.
I always took the low key approach with him, but continued to ask him politely for his autograph coming in the stadium. One day he walked past the throng of autograph seekers and walked ahead. Mostly all of the hounds took off when Carew was out of sight. Mr. Carew turned around and came back to where I was standing by the fence. He asked me what I had for him to sign. I let him know that I had a full ticket to his 3,000th hit from 1985. He signed it in blue Sharpie. When all of the autograph hounds started running back to try to get his autograph , he made a quick announcement that he wouldn't be signing any others. Sweet!

[jimjim]

Whenever Greg Maddux would be on the visiting team, I would always try to go to at least one game of the series. In over 5 years, I never saw him sign a single autograph. Now I go to AZ spring training and he is an instructor for the Texas Rangers. Not only will he still not sign, but he goes out of his way to avoid fans. Walking a special route that takes longer just to avoid any fan interaction. And if you do get his attention, he will give that little smirk and keep on walking. Honestly, all players make you work for the autograph these days. With all the pushing, shoving, and yelling plus the ever present dealers, I don't blame them.

[Runscott]

A friend was working at a bar when Tom Glavine came in and sat down. He asked Glavine for an autograph and was told "Sorry, I get $xx for my autographs - if I signed for you I'd have to sign for everyone."

My friend was not an autograph collector, so he was kind of stunned.

My favorite 'working for an autograph' story is Luke's - hopefully he'll pop in and tell it.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by Runscott

A friend was working at a bar when Tom Glavine came in and sat down. He asked Glavine for an autograph and was told "Sorry, I get $xx for my autographs - if I signed for you I'd have to sign for everyone."

Was this recently? Glavine is one the most accommodating HOFers in any sport.

[Runscott]

Early to mid-90's

[jimjim]

I agree. Tom Glavine is one of the most down-to-earth and friendly Hall of Famer's I have ever met.

[egri]

I saw on another forum a story from an NYPD officer who had gone up to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony on one of his weekends off. He was trying to get Reggie Jackson, but all weekend Jackson kept brushing him and the other autograph seekers off. Finally, as Jackson was pushing his way through a huge crowd, he went to push away this officer, and when he did, his hand brushed up against the officer's off-duty sidearm. That was the only autograph Jackson signed all week.

[almostdone]

Originally Posted by egri

I saw on another forum a story from an NYPD officer who had gone up to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony on one of his weekends off. He was trying to get Reggie Jackson, but all weekend Jackson kept brushing him and the other autograph seekers offoff. Finally, as Jackson was pushing his way through a huge crowd, he went to push away this officer, and when he did, his hand brushed up against the officer's off-duty sidearm. That was the only autograph Jackson signed all week.

That's funny
Drew

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by jimjim

I agree. Tom Glavine is one of the most down-to-earth and friendly Hall of Famer's I have ever met.

That's great, but he wasn't when my friend approached him.

[kmac32]

I was at Cubs Spring training today and Fergie Jenkins, Lee Smith, Meadowlark Lemon, Bill Buckner, Bobby Dernier, and Pete LaCock were signing autographs for the Ferguson Jenkins Foundation. Since I knew Fergie and Lee from Cubs camp, I stopped by to say Hi. Didn't need any autographs so I pulled out a couple of 5 dollar bills as a donation as they were there for a reason. Both told me that was not necessary but I told them that it was something I wanted to do for the foundation. Sometimes it is not about the autograph and more about friendship. Was good to talk to both of them and they both remembered me well. Lee started with "How is my catcher", he wanted to know how I was doing after my spinal stroke and he made a point to ask about my wife's health as she has COPD. Both great people and very caring.

[egri]

At Futures at Fenway, the players are generally very obliging, except for Joe McEwing, who was there one year (2008?) when he was a coach with one of the White Sox minor league teams. He played the "I'll sign later" card, then sprinted up into the clubhouse, came down about an hour or so later, again brushed off everyone else and nearly tripped over a five year old to get out of there. I was able to get him TTM about a year later. Joey Gathright also never signed there.

[Exhibitman]

I saw the Lennox Lewis v. Vitali Klitschko heavyweight championship here in L.A. Funny story on that one. I went to the public workout the week before up at Universal Studios since it is practically spitting distance from my office. I figured it would be interesting and maybe I could score an autograph or two. I watched Shane Moseley work first and then got snubbed by him in the autograph lineup. I guess he just did not want to sign for me, even though he signed for everyone else. I then saw Lewis work out with his trainer Emanuel Steward. Now, when I decided to pop up there I grabbed some 1991 Kayo cards of Lewis and Steward just in case. There were several hundred fans around the ring for Lewis and he didn't really stop and sign as he was leaving to go to the stage, but I noticed that he would sign for anyone who could actually reach him over the barricade and crowd. 6'3"+ with a big wingspan finally came in handy; I got Lewis to sign a Kayo card:



So the heavyweight champ signed for me but not pissant Shame Moseley? Well, f*** him.

But I digress...

The crowd shifted to the stage for the press conference. I was gonna go with them until I noticed Steward in the ring alone, picking up equipment, etc. I went over there and asked whether he'd sign my card. He said OK and the guard took it up for me. Steward not only signed, he fixed the spelling error in his name on the card front and corrected his birthdate on the card back:

[Runscott]

Dick Butkus was the toughest I worked for and didn't get. I was 9 or 10 and a bunch of NFL players were at a golf charity event. The players I wanted to make sure I got were Lem Barney, Deacon Jones, Dick Butkus and Don Meredith. Lem Barney was easy and Don Meredith didn't show. Deacon Jones was very difficult to locate - he seemed to be kind of Marshawn Lynch-ish and when I found him he was by himself in a small bar nowhere near the main clubhouse. He never said a word, but signed. Butkus simply was nowhere to be seen. Turns out he spent all of his free time in the clubhouse, certainly because kids weren't allowed inside. I went inside anyway and walked up to the table where he was sitting with some other men. He grimaced and yelled at me "Kids aren't allowed in here." He was the only sports figure asshole on my childhood list until I met Pete Rose.