The Yogi Berra Experience
 

Story being told by request. However, I am putting it in a new thread.

It was May 12, 1990. I was in Atlantic City for a concert. I stopped in at a baseball card show that featured the 1961 Yankees. After getting a few, I saw Yogi and went up to him and asked him if he would personalized a photo to me Tom. He said "Sure, go get a ticket". After spending on a photo and a ticket, which was not cheap, I waited in a long line for what seemed like forever. Finally, I went up to the promoter and told him I had to leave for a concert, showed him my tickets, he put me ahead of the line. I went to Yogi with my photo and asked him to sign it "To Tom". He said "no, if he did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone." Well! Why didn't he tell me that in the first place??? With the time he spent explaining that to me, he could of easily wrote "To Tom"! What a waist of time and money. He can go shove that medal that everyone wants him to have far and deep. F..k you Yogi.

With all the stories of guys like Mays and Berra (and many others) acting like jerks at paid signings, has anyone ever seen them called out for being such idiots?

Imagine being paid to sign your name and treating your fans/customers that way...hard to understand

It might not be a good idea to suggest someone who was part of the D-Day invasion shove a medal up you know where. Just saying.

I met Yogi several times and he was always nice to me and my wife. I never asked for a personalization though so I can't comment on that. He did talk and take photos with us.

He used to sign at Yogi Berra Stadium for free, all you needed was a ticket to the New Jersey Jackals game ($8). He was always nice to me and signed just about every flat and ball. I had my girlfriend at the time ask him to put his number, he did it with a smile and a wink. I guess I should start bringing my wife to more signings lol.

I've never had any problem with Yogi, and he's always been nice although sometime a little quiet (which I chalked up to age more than anything else). The only player I've ever thought was a complete jackass was Mays, with a distant second going to Rose.

Mays
 

I was too young to register anything but here's what my father experienced.

Mays was his hero growing up. Mays and Maris. Willie did a show for my dad. When he picked him up at the airport everything was fine. They talked baseball and stats. He took him to the hotel and picked him up a few hours later. He was a completely different person. Rude, abrasive, ill tempered. It was night and day. Unfortunately, he treated the show attendees, that paid to meet him and get his autograph, like turds.

At that moment my father lost all respect for Mr. Mays and no longer valued him as an essential part of his collection.

I only had one bad show experience and it was with Willie Randolph:

My dad and I went to a White Plains show because my dad wanted to get him on a mini-helmet. It's sort of his thing and he was working on a team mini-helmet project while Randolph was a coach. When my dad got up there, Randolph refused to sign the helmet. He said "sorry partner, no helmet today" despite my dad holding a ticket for a mini-helmet, which he paid for.

So F Willie Randolph and his unearned plaque in monument park. I don't know what it is he has over the Yankees head, but it must be something for him to be tolerated like he is.

What a jerk! Did your dad get his money back?

I love threads like this, hearing about how these guys really are.

Yeah he got his money back but it was total BS. We even got them to give us our entrance and parking back because we said we only went there for the autograph. PLUS the ticket specifically said mini-helmet.

Seems like there are a lot of bad Willie Mays stories.

I've only seen Willie twice in person. In 1967 I got him at the team hotel in NY. Don't remember much.
In 2011 I believe he was at Giants spring training where you wait outsode for theplayers to walk buy. It was your usual mix of fans, nice dealers and aggressive obnoxious ones. There was a 90 year old man that had a special item he really wanted Willie on. Never saw the many before and he only wanted Willie. Mays came out. We all stepped away- even the dealers which was a miracle to give the man a chance. Willie blew him off and the man was crushed. What more can I say.

I never met Willie Mays, and from what I am reading, I am glad I never did!

Growing up, Willie Mays was my idol, but i had heard so many stories of his disdain for fans that I purposefully never took the opportunity to go meet him at shows when I had the chance. I wanted to keep the wonderful memories of my childhood fully intact and unblemished by the realities of the world. (Wow, that sounded poetic!) And I'm glad I did. A half minute of watching him angrily sign my card while never making eye contact with me would've completely wiped out a lifetime of good impressions I've had of him as a ballplayer.

From what I have read on this site, Mays would have just signed his object on the worst possible place anyway.

Another Willie is a jerk story.
At a card show in the 80's in Salem Oregon at the state fairgrounds, I was in line behind a woman in her mid 30's -40's holding a Giants program. When it was her turn to get an auto, she very nicely told Willie how she always loved and admired him and how she had seen him play many games in SF having grown up there. She said the program was from a game in 63 which she had attended, as the program was slid over to Willie she told him it would be an honor if she could please shake his hand. The woman just totally gushed fandom of Willie and that prick wouldn't even look up at her, keeping his head close to the table and eyes constantly looking down. After she left heartbroken, Willie quickly looked up to see her walking away. I felt no joy in getting my ball autographed by that detached, rude piece of crap

I need one card to complete the 1964 Topps Giant set- Clemente. That being said when I was actively collecting the set I need Mays and he would sign TTM for $100 so I decided I'd pay. Got it back signed on the back. Now I know why.

What about Tom Seaver, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio? I have not heard any good stories about them.

Unfortunately I have had several bad experiences with Willie Mays over several years at different venues , different cities, with different promoters , being an in line autograph purchaser and also getting in on the dealer signings. Granted these were from 1988-1999 but he never changed and I believe getting older made him more of a jerk.
I believe any autograph signer can have a bad day as we all can, and I have enough stories that can verify that, but Mays was always a jerk consistently. This covers me doing this for over 40 years and meeting hundreds of players in a variety of settings.
On the other hand I have seen enough players go out if their way to accommodate people also, and this includes Mantle, Williams , DiMaggio Rose, Mike Schmidt and others.

I have had nothing but good experiences with Yogi in the three or four times I have met him. On the other hand, Mays has been unpleasant, surly and rude. Sometimes it seems he goes out of his way to mess up your collectibles. To me the only person on a comparable level of obnoxiousness is Johnny Bench.

Just once I'd like to here a story about someone finally giving Mays a piece of their mind and putting him in his place for being such an asshole.

It's also funny how some athletes object to personalizing an autograph. I just sent an album cover to be autographed (hopefully) by my favorite band, and they actually make a point to personalize every piece as a way to prevent people from sending stuff in to simply resell for profit. A seller wouldn't get as much for a personalized piece, and a real fan would better appreciate an autograph made out to them.

Just to illustrate that Mays isn't rude only to fans:

One of my former managers worked in the Giants organization a few years ago. I guess each year during spring training the organization brings in some of its former greats, including Mays, for a day just to hang out with the major-league coaching staff and some of the minor-league directors, instructors, etc.

At the end of the day, all of the former players were holding court in the clubhouse, and the atmosphere was great. Lots of laughter and stories being swapped. A few of the current coaches and staff started passing around balls to have signed. My friend said that as soon as Mays saw that, he announced loudly that if anyone asked him for more than two autographs, he was leaving right then and there.

All of the current members of the Giants just kind of froze and stared at each other, not really knowing what to do.

To put it in perspective, in my years in and around professional baseball, I'd never seen or heard of one member of the fraternity treating another like that. It's just not done.

I agree totally. As I said I have had several bad experiences with Mays, and one set of memorable experiences involved over 1 year of work and travel and 100 of the Ron Lewis 500 Home Run posters ( the Yankee facade background style), and Mays trying to screw them up until my partner and I put a stop to it . Now I laugh about it but back then it just made my partner and me furious.

After reading about Mays being a very gregarious person during his playing career, it almost seems unreal to read some of the stories here. Any idea what turned him in to such a grouch?

he thinks he got screwed by the money they got back then for playing, when he would be a trillionaire today with the skills he had, and signings autographs for money is beneath him but he does it anyway because he needs the cash.

He thinks he shouldnt have to sign to make money when he was such a good ballplayer and todays guys can make multimillions of dollars per year , even a pitcher with a losing record.

so he hates it. a guy had a home plate beautifully signed by mantle and snider and he brought it to mays at the show and mays messed it up and you could tell the guy's arches were fallen when he saw it.

There is a story I saw on this board where a promoter had jumped through all sorts of hoops to bring in Mays, and minutes before the signing was to begin, Mays demanded another $2000. The promoter told Mays where he could put the $2000, and cancelled the signing.

Mays complaining about money makes no sense. He was making the big bucks while he played. Here's an easy way to put things in perspective:

In 1960 Mays made $150,000. The average median household income was $5,600.

In his final season in 1973, Mays made $165,000. The average median household income was $7,580.

Now adjust those numbers for inflation. Mays was a millionaire in his time and has absolutely nothing to complain about.

180 degree day
 

Meanwhile, in another part of the collecting world....Warren Spahn was great. Was a small show in N.C., but talked with everyone and even took off his championship ring for a fan to look at. Nice memory for me of a great HOF'er and a great guy too.

Agreed
 

Two more guys you can put on the great person list: Brooks and Duke. Out of all the players we had sign at shows, hear guys were the best. Brooks is awesome with kids and Duke took us out to dinner!! Talk about class act.

A good motto for Mays was " if there is a camera on him he is gregarious and friendly , but turn the camera off and the true bitter and mean spirited man comes out ".
Mays has always put on a good front for the media.
I guess that is where his godson Barry Bonds learned it from ....watching his godfather Willie Mays!!!

Never met Willie but the most accommodating HOFer I ever met was Stan Musial. I remember dragging my wife to a signing and she stood in line for over an hour as I waited to get my item sign and Stan made sure to thank everyone in line and shake their hands, including my wife, even though she didn't get a signature.

+1 for Stan the Man

Stan was not only great in person, but also TTM. I received a package from him with a note that stated the ball I sent him had been stolen out of the envelope and he included one of his own as a replacement. He also sent a personalized 8x10 to boot. An all around class act.

Tom Seaver was very nice to me when he was at a White Plains show. Shook my hand, asked me my name, and let me step behind the table to take a picture with him. I'll never forget that.

Ahhhh good old Ted Williams. If you were a hot girl (under the age of 25) he loved ya. If you were anything else he was Prickusis Maximus. I watched him asking all kinds of questions and gushing over some (roughly) 18 year old girl about five people ahead of me. When 13 year old me got up there with my bat he did the old Willie Mays routine of not aknowledging me. That would have been fine except he took my bat (already signed by 20+)by the handle and banged it against the table like he was (over) killing a spider. Then after he signed it, he ROLLED it to me. By some miracle it didn't get smeared.
flash forward to last month - I go to see a chiropractor who has no personality and wouldn't engage in any sort of conversation about my back issues. However if there was a pretty girl in the room, he was a whole different person. I called to tell them I wasn't coming back and when they asked why I said " I've had enough Ted Williams in my life " and hung up. I know they didn't understand but it felt great to say that :)

Brooks Robinson is a great guy.
Years ago when I used to set up at shows he was doing a show in Staten Island.
My son used to work at my table with me and in those days we would get FREE (yes, free) autographs for being a table holder. My son would get on line for the autographs. I would take his picture, with the player, when he would get to the head of the line. Brooks saw me taking a picture, he stepped away from his chair, came around to the front of the table, and said to me "take another shot to make sure you have a good one." That was such a classy thing to do and a great memory that I and my son will always have.

Remember reading many years ago, I believe it was in SCD, of an instance where a father and son were at a show getting Brooks Robinson's autograph, when the son became ill. Father and son went immediately to the parking lot to get some air, followed by Brooks, who was concerned for the young guy and wanted to be sure he was okay.

Amazing and wonderful care for others by Brooks Robinson

Tom Seaver was extremely nice to me in a non hobby situation.
My daughter was valedictorian of her high school class. A ceremony was held in the city for all the valedictorians from NYC high schools. Tom Seaver was the guest speaker.
He gave a great speech and was very cordial when I asked him to sign the program.
I also had a great non hobby contact with Ted Williams, spending an hour with him in Florida. He was wonderful. Regaling me with stories and looking at memorabilia with me and commenting about the memorabilia and the player associated with it. When he found out I was a Mets fan he commented about how he loved the batting strokes of Darryl Strawberry and Greg Jeffries.
While in Florida I spent an entire day with Monte Irvin, he is the definition of a great guy. He signed a bunch of wire photos for me and told me some wonderful stories. About a year later my son had an assignment for his journalism class, interview a famous person. I contacted Monte Irvin for my son. He graciously agreed and spent 30 minutes with my son on the phone.

I like hearing these positive stories much more than the negative ones. While the bad ones are informative, they are also like a train wreck that you want to look away from but can't.

Tom C

Since we're talking about the good guys now, I cannot say enough good things about Don Mattingly. At spring training he signed for everyone, took photos with people, spoke to people and just in general was in a great mood and happy to see fans. It made me happy to see that since he had always been my favorite player.

On the positive side, I cannot imagine anyone who has met Buck O'Neil who didn't love him. What a great, great human being. Easily my favorite IP auto.

Bert Blyleven was cool to me, too.

Tony gwynnGreat guy.

Don Newcombe and Frank Howard were both GREAT! I cannot say enough good things about both of them.

Same with Denny McLain.

I love hearing the good stories!! For me, it's going back quite a ways, but the coolest guy EVER was 'Pistol' Pete Maravich. My brothers and I went to his basketball camp in upstate NY and what an incredibly nice, awesome person he was. Something I will never forget!!

Hank Aaron was a gracious gentleman when I went to get his autograph. Engaging and friendly. His plane was late from ATL and he stayed as long as needed to get everyone who'd waited taken care of.

I can't believe that was 20 years ago...

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...size/Aaron.jpg

I wonder if Hank Aaron would of been so nice if you had asked him to personalize and inscribe.

Connie Francis said it best, "if you don't like signing autographs, become a librarian!"

Don Newcombe:

My Aunt Carolyn is a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan. She went to her first game in 1950 with her brother David. They played the Phillies. When I met Newcombe at a show, I asked him to please sign the photo "To Carolyn". He started to sign her name, but misspelled it. He ripped the photo up and threw it away and said "I will keep signing photos until I get her name right!"

Denny McLain:

I met him at a show in November, 1990. I commented how I admired his wife for standing besides him. He said "I can't afford to let her go." I also told him 61 homers in a season will be broken many times over, but no one will ever win 30 games again.

He came and left the show in a pick up truck.

Brooks Robinson
 

There have been some really nice HOFers like Killebrew, Spahn, Buck O'neal, etc., but Brooks has been the best. Every time I met him he was more than friendly, and treated me as well as my family as a long lost friend (and was sincere at that...). Gotta love Brooksie!

A friend had Killebrew for a show just before Christmas one year. Killebrew arrived dressed as Santa and his was dressed as an elf. How many players would do that?

Agree on Brooks Robinson, also found Enos Slaughter to be very nice.