Which players made you work for the autograph?

djson1 · #1 03-07-2015, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

...
During HOF Rod Carew's stint as the batting coach for the Angels....he made a quick announcement that he wouldn't be signing any others. Sweet!

This is a great story, Scott. I think that was pretty cool of Rod.
Another Angel that was a rocky request was Reggie. I remember hanging out after the games and he would get into one of his classic cars and yell at these little kids for getting too close to his car. He did sign for kids, but on those days, his signature was basically a horrible "RJ"...not worth even getting. I remember thinking what a jerk he was for yelling at the kids like that. I also remember one time an adult stuck his hand in front of Reggie to congratulate him on his homer that day and Reggie yelled at him saying "Don't stick your hand in my face! Can't you see I'm signing autographs!?". I never bothered to ask him for his autograph as I thought his attitude was so rude.

Scott Garner · #2 03-07-2015, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djson1

This is a great story, Scott. I think that was pretty cool of Rod.
Another Angel that was a rocky request was Reggie. I remember hanging out after the games and he would get into one of his classic cars and yell at these little kids for getting too close to his car. He did sign for kids, but on those days, his signature was basically a horrible "RJ"...not worth even getting. I remember thinking what a jerk he was for yelling at the kids like that. I also remember one time an adult stuck his hand in front of Reggie to congratulate him on his homer that day and Reggie yelled at him saying "Don't stick your hand in my face! Can't you see I'm signing autographs!?". I never bothered to ask him for his autograph as I thought his attitude was so rude.

Thanks Jason! Yeah, that was definitely a nice gesture by Carew. At the time I was really pleasantly surprised.

During Reggie's era with the Angels, several friends and I sat out by the right field foul pole at Anaheim Stadium. We would talk to him over the railing a fair amount. Reggie did sign for me a few times through the years in various settings. All the sigs were his better, more complete autograph. With Reggie, as well as other players, I am certain that timing and approach are critical in terms of getting his autograph. Reggie was never rude or off-putting with me IP, but I was respectful and engaged him in dialogue other than just asking for his autograph before asking him to sign. Maybe the approach made the difference?

theshleps · #3 03-07-2015, 06:34 AM

Two years ago I was at an A's minor league spring training game and Rickey Henderson was there. I a few months earlier had gotten a great deal on one of his minor league rovers spring training jerseys on milb.com. I called my wife and asked her to drive up to the field and bring the jersey. Meanwhile all the dealers waiting for him said that Rickey never signs jerseys. The game ends and Rickey comes off the field and the dealers stepped back while my 60 year old wife wearing the jersey walked up to him and asked him to sign it. He comes unglued and starts yelling at my wife "Where did you get that jersey. They are not supposed to sell those, etc etc in quite a loud voice" She had no idea where I got it and was pretty intimidated. Suddenly he took the sharpie and signed it, walked on and didn't sign for anyone else.

7nohitter · #4 03-07-2015, 08:38 AM

These stories are awesome!

sycks22 · #5 03-07-2015, 09:40 AM

One of the best auto stories I have happened last year at Target field. We went to a Tigers game and saw Omar Vizquel is their hitting coach and made eye contact with him and said "Omar, can we please get an auto?". He looked at us and nodded "no". The next time they were in town we found him again and asked for an auto, he finally said sure. He was in the camera area which it about 10 feet away from the field so my buddy threw him a ball, which he caught and when he threw the pen Omar fumbled it and dropped it. Next I throw him the ball, which he caught then came the pen which he again fumbled and dropped. Everyone around him started laughing and giving him a hard time about how he used to be sure handed, now he can't catch a pen. The one person who didn't sign for anyone on all 3 games we went to was Pujols, he didn't even look at the kids. Trout on the other hand was the man and signed for pretty much everyone.

rjackson44 · #6 03-07-2015, 10:04 AM

i was at a dodgers mets game in L.A .had great seats to my right tom cruise and larry king both signed my program it was very cool.im not into autos so i will never sell .p.s mets lost.

Deertick · #7 03-07-2015, 02:32 PM

My mom was down at Phillies spring training in 1983 and made it her mission to get autographs for me as a gift. She bought a cheap souvenir ball and had about 12, including most of the stars sign it.

She knew Schmidt was my favorite, so she approached him several times during the day but he kept giving excuses and saying "later". Finally after they were done practice, she asked him again and he said that he would sign after his shower. So she waited. And waited. Then she saw a figure briskly walking across the field behind the clubhouse. She sprinted around the fence and chased him, yelling the whole time. When she caught up to him, she scolded him about lying to her and that he could have just said no. He apologized, signed the ball, and reached into his duffel and handed her a pair of batting gloves.
I just wish I could have seen my barely 5' 95lb mom confronting the greatest third baseman of all time.

BTW, the signatures all bled like crazy into indecipherable blurs, and I wore the batting gloves out. And I have had nothing but pleasant encounters with Mike.

kmac32 · #8 03-08-2015, 12:29 AM

I took autographs to a whole different level at Cubs Spring training. I had been to Cubs Fantasy camp that year and with camp you get a full dress Cubs uniform to keep. I decided to wear mine to a spring training game. I was talking with a friend in the stands and two really obnoxious kids started hounding me for my autograph. They were so rude with no hint of politeness that I happily took their balls with many Cub autographs on them that I complied with their request and signed my name right next to Kerry Wood's autograph on the balls.

If they had been polite instead of interrupting the conversation, I would have gladly told them that I was a fan, not a player. Can only imagine these kids looking up Ken McMillan in a baseball encyclopedia and saying who is this player. Can imagine my name encased in a plastic case for all eternity.

Same day also had a group of about 50 women celebrating a birthday and they wanted a picture of me in the middle of the group for their friends that could'nt attend the event. They knew that I was not a player but wanted something to show off to their friends at home. All in good fun.

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