IP autographs at Fenway; No more?
 

I attended last night's Red Sox/Rangers game at Fenway park and saw the extended netting they've added as a precaution against bats/balls that fly into the stands. It left me with a thought:

When I was in high school back in the early '90's i would get a ton of cards signed at Fenway by standing along the homeplate to visitor's dugout side. Now, with those screens there, it appears to have severely limited the kids' interaction with the players.

Any thoughts about Fenway IP graphing or if this has changed methods in any other MLB parks?

Probably down one of the lines? I used to graph a ton down the 3rd baseline at Target Field.


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It may make things a bit difficult, but certainly won't stop players from signing.

Here's a pic from earlier this year, when my 3-year old son had Mookie Betts sign his bobblehead. We stayed on the right field side of the dugout as opposed to home plate, and a few players stopped to sign for a few people that night.

That's awesome!

good looking kid scott! nice to see you still have time to hit the park for an occasional graph.

I do think the net makes things more difficult for getting autographs, but even before the net, things (from what I understand - I only started getting some autographs at Fenway again this year with my son) had gotten much tougher last year. Ushers limited access around the dugout area earlier during pre-game, and no one without a ticket for the area could get close to the coveted autograph spot in the front row near the dugout tunnel.

I had a blast in the mid-80s through early-90s stalking players for autographs around Fenway, and although it might not be anywhere near as good as it was at that time, there certainly are many opportunities which still exist. Good luck!

This is exactly how I remember it...would run down to the 3rd base side as soon as the gates opened...got autos every single time but now it looks much harder. Now I'm 6'4" 300lbs, so the ushers look at me but know not to say anything!!

Love it! Can't beat the Fenway experience - I have a partial season ticket package and make it to about 20-25 games a year now.

Side story - I've actually become friendly with former pitcher Lenny Dinardo, and went to a game with him a couple of weeks ago. Here's a pic of me wearing his mammoth 2004 Red Sox WS champs ring at the game - definitely a crowd stopper when this bling gets flashed!

Oh man, really cool! Lenny, #55 right? I remember him...must be good friends for him to let you wear the ring!!

Another cool area at Fenway to keep in mind - though not so much for autographs - is right behind the bullpen pre-game. You get to see the starting pitcher just a few feet away from you, and get a pretty good sense of being close to a 95 mph heater.

The added bonus yesterday - when David Price finished his warmup tosses, he came over and gave the ball he had been using to my 4-year old son, then headed out to the mound. My son was in his glory the rest of the day! Unfortunately I had just tucked away my camera about 15 seconds before Price came over, but did get this picture just beforehand. Oh well.....

That would be pretty darn cool to wear a WS champs ring...very nice!


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