Talk about YOUR meetings with an MLB'er

[dwr11]

This is a great thread!

I have been fortunate to have numerous conversations with MLB players. A couple of the cooler experiences were meeting Killebrew at a show in January of 1984 at the Metrodome. It was right after it was announced that he had made the HOF. I am almost certain autographs at the show were $1.00. I had this shirt made up that said on the front "Minnesota Loves Harmon" and on the back it said the "Killer is in". Harmon loved that shirt. I told him I was going out to Cooperstown for his induction in August. He told me to look him up when we got out there. We went to the Otesaga Hotel and Harmon recognizes me and the shirt right away. He asks me if I want to meet the other players. That day he introduced me to Koufax, Campanella, Drysdale, PeeWee, Musial, Kiner, Aparicio and many others. At that time they were signing anything and everything I had along except for Campy. Each of the guys gave me a few of the yellow HOF plaque cards signed. Harmon was just a class act and would occasionally write letters to me wishing me luck for the upcoming high school sports season.

One other cool Cooperstown story was in the early 80's (I think it was 82) I was able to watch Ted Williams play Tennis at the Otesaga Hotel. There was a smaller group of people watching him play and after he was done he came over and had us lineup and went down the line and signed autographs for us.

Numerous times I have talked with players in the bar. Some of the nicer guys (including all sports) were Eric Davis, William Perry, Marcus Haynes, Steve Carlton, Billy Sims, Ricky Henderson, Anthony Carter, Earl Morrall and Don Larson.

Some characters included Spahn & Matthews.

[whitehse]

I had worked for the Chicago Cubs for 7 years in the '80s which was right after I graduated high school. I started as game day security which put me on the field and in the dugout during games which allowed me to chat with almost every player that came through the National league during that time. While many of the players and team staff were great to me (Tommy LaSorda is an interesting man), I found the most interesting guys were the old timers that used their gold passes to get into games for free and hung out for an afternoon of baseball. These guys told the greatest stories and appreciated the fact anyone wanted to listen to them.

I remember a very busy afternoon where the crowd was quite large outside the gates before Wrigley opened I found myself wading through the crowd when I saw an old Boston Braves hat being worn by an older gentleman. I stopped and commented on his hat and he laughed and said thanks and proceeded to tell me he wore it while playing in a World Series. I always prided myself on knowing my baseball but I had to be honest, when he told me his name was Phil Masi it didnt trigger anything in my head. Mr. Masi obviously saw his name didnt provide me any recall and looked at me and laughed. He said go ask the guy in the Cubs radio broadcast booth who he was as he was pretty sure Lou Boudreau could tell me a thing or three about him. I did ask Mr. Bourdreau about him eventually and did I ever hear more than I wanted to know about Phil Masi. LOL

I remember having a few conversations with George Brace about his career as a photographer. He told me that he remembers sitting in the dugouts with Gehrig and Ruth when he was a much younger man and talked about knowing the many legendary players that I had only read about. Mr. Brace was not much of a talker as he was there to get his photographs and left for the day but he was always one I knew I could talk to if I wanted an opinion on a ballplayer that played in the 20th century.

As I progressed in the organization and finally would get a chance at a full time/ year round position I had a chance to meet many team executives and broadcasters for the home and visiting teams. One of my favorite memories was taking a security shift (in stadium opearations, I was low man and did whatever was needed) and getting a frantic knock on the main office door at about 4pm. This day happened to be the annual Cubs/Sox game that was being played at Comiskey park so I assumed the person at the door was a front office person who forgot something and needed entry asap. I answered the door and before me stood 3 very young players who were called up from Iowa to play in this charity game. One of those players I recognized right away as Rafael Palmeiro who would eventually stay up with the team. The players all thought the game was at Wrigley and panicked when they saw no crowds and no teammates. After a few phone calls I was able to get them in a cab and on their way to Comiskey where they got there in time for the game. These players could not have bene nicer and each shook my hand repeatedly after I get them straightened out.

[shelly]

Ok last one for me. Hank Greenberg used to play tennis at the Beverly Hills tennis club. My Uncle Babe was a member and he invited me to meet Hank. I sat down and I told him I was from Cleveland and I knew his niece and how I used to see him at the ball park when he worked for the Indians. We started to talk about his chasing Babe Ruth's 60 hr record and how bad I felt that they pitched around him so he would not beat the record.
He really got pissed. He said that was a total crock and no one pitched around him. He said he was surprised he had that many home runs and that the last few weeks he just could not get there. He then told me that yes there where a lot of bigots put he loved the game and made many friends.
I did a lot of shows and private signings. Like I said the top five a holes where Willie Mays, Joe D, Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt and Aaron. The best. Killebrew, kiner, Matthews, Carew, Williams, Mantle, all the hockey players, Dr J, Magic, Ali and the list goes on for the good guys.
I am really sorry I forgot one of the best there is Ernie Banks. I can not tell you what a great person he is because it would take up to five days.

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by dwr11

This is a great thread!
Harmon was just a class act and would occasionally write letters to me wishing me luck for the upcoming high school sports season.

Every time I hear a new story about Harmon Killebrew I am astonished at what a kind, caring and GENUINE man he was. He should be a role model not just for all athletes, but for the rest of us as well.

[travrosty]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2CXq0Q_zwU

go to the 7:50 mark and watch harmon killebrew give a nice legible autograph, then watch carlos gomez give a fan a piece of junk autograph. gomez one of the worst autographs ever.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by travrosty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2CXq0Q_zwU

go to the 7:50 mark and watch harmon killebrew give a nice legible autograph, then watch carlos gomez give a fan a piece of junk autograph. gomez one of the worst autographs ever.

Travis,

Wow! What an AMAZING stark contrast between the two signers!

I couldn't help laughing at what a crappy autograph Gomez has and he could give a rats ass that it sucks.

FWIW, this is pretty typical of today's players signatures...