Hi guys! I'm usually over on the memorabilia side of the house but thought I'd drop by. A couple of quick stories to show both sides. First off, I am ALWAYS very respectfull when getting an autograph...yes sir, no sir, please and thank you. I've never demanded that a player sign or take a picture...asking politely, but not demanding, etc. Anyway, first big Card/Autograph show I attended back in the 80's...had something like 15 HOF'ers. All of them nice until I got to about the 10th one...Willie Mays. I was such a big Mays fan and he was a complete jerk. I can't remember his exact words but I do know that I just wanted to skip the rest of the players and call it a day...totally deflating. Fortunately I stuck around and the next player was Brooks Robinson...totally the best, nicest, warmest person I could have meet. He talked with everyone for a a minute or two and made everyone feel great.
The other story is Carlton Fisk. I must admit that I was never a Fisk fan. Maybe because he played for the Red Sox (sorry!) but I just always had this opinon of him that I didn't like him. Anyway, I was in Cooperstown a couple of years ago and he was signing autographs. As I was walking up to him he saw my Padres cap and starts talking to me about them. Did I think they would be trading so and so soon, can you believe that their pitching is holding up this well, etc. I mean c'mon, here's a guy that had played in the American league and knew what was going on with the current Padres...he is obviously a baseball fan and was a great guy to talk to. That one 3 min conversation has made me a Carlton Fisk fan for life. A really, really nice guy.
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