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

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Uhhh... yes, it does.

Uhhh...no, it doesn't. Have you seen Jeter, through the entirety of his career, every single time he's been asked for an autograph? Even if you somehow had, you would have only that one aspect of his persona to judge him by.

Do you stop and give change to every guy on the corner with a sign? If not, does that make you a jerk? How about if you do 99% of the time, but the one time you didn't I happened to see it and wrote an article about it? Are you a jerk then?

I get that it doesn't take much to sign a graph, and you can compare him to Ruth or Joe Louis or whatever athlete you want from 60-70 years before Jeter played...but the fact is whether he signs autographs every day or never signs a single one, I don't think that fact alone is enough to speak to his character. Athletes are not obligated to sign autographs for anyone.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by dgo71

Athletes are not obligated to sign autographs for anyone.

If you mean it's not in their contracts, you're right.
But if they don't feel they should treat their fans well, then they are arrogant pricks. (If not jerks.)

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

If you mean it's not in their contracts, you're right.
But if they don't feel they should treat their fans well, then they are arrogant pricks. (If not jerks.)

"Treating their fans well" is a pretty broad umbrella. I think if Jeter decides he's going to sign on Tuesday and not Wednesday through Saturday, he's not necessarily treating his fans poorly. At least he does sign, and I don't think that just because you have MLB Network at home or whatever that you have the right to tell a player how much of their time they need to spend "giving back."

[theshleps]

This is the first spring training I am missing in 12 years. I would spend 3 weeks from a few days before report date up until the games start from 6AM-4PM getting autographs at various AZ parks- usually 2 or 3 different parks a day.
The Jeter story is very similar to Ichiro except the people in line turn into a crazy pushing mob if he stops and the polite ones are shut out.
There are alot of dealers but alot of us are obsessed collectors. I would coolect every different card of a player so if say a Corey Hart came buy I might have a binder with 6 of his cards- all different. Never to sell. The dealers would usually have bats, jersey numbers, balls etc. Often times dealers would bring small children along who would ask. It was rare that children were getting autographs for themselves. Most dealers don't get cards signed as there is no $ in cards compared to other items. Or if they do they hand the player a stack of the same card.
Also being a physician who has worked on various players and my son being a bat boy, we talked to many players and they weren't good at differentiating dealers from collectors and sometimes I would try to eduacte them on the difference if they wanted to know. Some of the dealers are very helpful in identifying some of the "scrubs" in street clothes etc. others will go out of their way not to help and be real jerks
I always felt weird getting yelled at or turned down by some marginal player who I happened to want- keeps you humble.
I decided to skip this year for alot of reasons. I miss some of the collectors who are friends- there are also some folks down there I am glad I will not see. And I am trying to limit my collection now to HOF and potential HOF (I have 70,000 signed cards and want to downsize considerably). I feel bad I will miss a chance to get Koufax as I haven't gotten him since 1966 in NYC. . Do I need my 51st Josh Hamilton card signed? (what a great guy) or do I need to get pushed and almost killed in an attempt to get Albert Pujols? It is an obsession and some of us are hoarders. I accept that in myself.
I am going through withdrawal alittle. If Ichiro was still in AZ it would be more tempting tho I hated the wait and then he would drive by and wave but once he retires he disappears to Japan. Oh well, I am sure I will survive- tho getting a guy in person leaves you alot more memories than buying him through the mail and doing it with my son for many years was a great experience neither of us will forget tho he gave it up before me. Maybe he is more mature
I was one on one with Bryce Harper at Juco (while he was in college) in 3 different situations and he didn't acknowlege me or even look up (I was within 3 feet of him) and then when he would sign he'd put a Bible verse.
WE followed guys like Ryan Braun who we got his first day at minor league camp after he just was signed by the Brewers up until last year. He always remained nice as did Prince while others especially WS winning teams- suddenly would become arrogant (like the Giants) become non signers.
Sosa was one of the worst as he was two faced. Bonds at least you new where he stood.
All of us that have been doing this could write a book of stories

[HRBAKER]

Michael,
I have a very similar story. This is the first Spring Training in over ten years that I will not be attending. I used to go with my regular golf foursome every March to Orlando/Lakeland/Kissimmee/Clearwater/Bradenton, etc. Mostly to watch games but to get autos too. Over the past several years as the crowds have grown in size on the auto end, fewer and fewer players have been stopping to sign. Granted to previous posters - many of them are jerks, not sure I've ever seen a baboon ass but many are jerks. Just as assholish have been the actions and behavior of many of the "collectors" who choose to express their immature and off color peevishness at being ignored or turned down regardless of the makeup of the crowd. Frankly, it's just not fun anymore. Many other ways I'd rather spend my non-work time.

[packs]

Spring Training is definitely a whole different animal in terms of the number of dealers walking around. I don't know why, but most of the dealers walk around with binders of cards they're trying to get signed, not baseball after baseball. They are easy to spot, and guess what? Avoid if you're a player. The dealer thing is BS to me.

I love Spring Training because it allows you to get a lot of insight into the type of person players are. There are plenty of camps where you were barely separated from them, like Dodgertown or the old Winter Haven camp for the Indians. Of the players I've been around, I'd say Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, Pudge and Jason Giambi were the best.

[BigJJ]

Circa late 1980s, I remember Rickey Henderson on crutches at spring training, seeing me and a group of other kids standing by a gate seeking autographs, and he hobbled a half block over on crutches to sign for us.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by packs

Spring Training is definitely a whole different animal in terms of the number of dealers walking around. I don't know why, but most of the dealers walk around with binders of cards they're trying to get signed, not baseball after baseball. They are easy to spot, and guess what? Avoid if you're a player. The dealer thing is BS to me.

You couldn't be more wrong. I go to ST every year and I have stacks and stacks of cards with me and I never sell a single one. I get multiples signed for the occassional trade, but also because I spend over a grand each year on the trip and would like more than 15 signatures to show for my time and money. Not to mention any "dealer" will tell you there is no money in signed cards. People want photos, baseballs, equipment to sell.

Hmmm...so if you, as a collector and avid hobbyist cannot tell the difference between a fellow collector and a dealer, maybe Jeter (or any other athlete) can't either.

[packs]

Jeeze I don't know what to tell you. I don't know why the dealers carry around their binders either since I feel the same way you do, signed cards aren't big sellers. Here's what I do see though, the guys with the binders trying to get 10 autographs while every around them is trying to get one. You brought up how much your trip costs you and wanting something to show for the money. You might not sell your cards, but that's a dealer mentality.

[HRBAKER]

Derek can't either so the default position is that they all are and the little kids are runners. Sadly he'd be right as much as wrong IMO. You choose to spend XXX on a trip to Spring Training as I did, I had to measure it in terms of enjoyment not how many autos I got. The number continued to decrease every year as the crowds got larger and the players less and less compliant.

[Exhibitman]

Given the ridiculous and dehumanizing nature of the autograph chase I think I'd rather just watch the game and enjoy my day then pick up a certified autographed card on Ebay.

One slight defense of DJ: in the article the person being the total flaming a-hole was actually the attendant telling the crowd the rules and insulting the crap out of them. Not necessarily even Jeter's bobo. I've been in other situations where an overzealous 'Paul Blart' security type takes the perceived power overboard. Of course, if I was Yankees management the worker in question would get a hell of a talking to and there would be significant 'or else' policies set for further fan interactions. Jeter may be free to alienate the customers but not the team's parking lot attendants.

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Given the ridiculous and dehumanizing nature of the autograph chase I think I'd rather just watch the game and enjoy my day
One slight defense of DJ: in the article the person being the total flaming a-hole was actually the attendant telling the crowd the rules and insulting the crap out of them. Not necessarily even Jeter's bobo. I've been in other situations where an overzealous 'Paul Blart' security type takes the perceived power overboard. Of course, if I was Yankees management the worker in question would get a hell of a talking to and there would be significant 'or else' policies set for further fan interactions. Jeter may be free to alienate the customers but not the team's parking lot attendants.

I started to collect autographs TTM about 25 years ago. Even Joe D would sign one item per month back then.
I chased autographs a couple of times at the Waldorf Astoria when they had a couple of sports banquets.
It was not something I enjoyed, so I stopped even though I had some success. I gave a friend of mine my SBIII program and he got Namath and Ewbank on the cover for me, at the Waldorf.
And in regards to the parking lot attendant in the Jeter story, that part of the story absolutely reminded me of the National Pastime NYC shows. My table used to be in front of the stage where the main guests were signing so I had a prime view of what went on with the signers and collectors. The guy running the lines there was a total jackass on the only power trip of his pathetic little life.
"Get on line,,, numbers 1-50, if you have #51 you don't belong here and your autograph ticket will be taken away, remember I said only 1-50." Wow, was that guy a jerk.