Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[Jenx34]

I've been very fortunate in being able to have some great experiences in baseball. I worked in Minor League Baseball for 8 years which afforded me some awesome opportunities. I apologize in advance for this being long, though I'll try to keep it brief.

1. Willie Mays - Could be on some people's worst list, but I had the opportunity to spend 3 days with Willie in 2004, including driving him around in my personal car. It gave me a great insight into what Willie is like and why some don't have great experiences with him. He is not very social with people he doesn't know. Think of a typical cocktail party. Some guys hop around, meeting and greeting lots of people, are the life of the party with lots of stories, etc. Others stick to their group but are very cordial when other approach. And a few try their best to stay out of the limelight and don't feel comfortable when strangers approach and deal with them as quickly and with as minimal interaction as possible. The latter is Willie Mays. Every time someone approached him, you could see in his body language he tensed up and just wanted to get it over with. That said, when he was with people he knew or like in my case, with people that were supposed to be there, and no one was asking him for stuff, he relaxed, laughed, told jokes and was great.

On day 2, we took him to Rickwood Field (America's Oldest Ballpark, 1910) where Willie played as a 17 year old for the Birmingham Black Barons. There were about 7 of us, including a friend of his and Renee, his PR person that traveled with him and Willie McCovey. We didn't know how long he would want to stay, but he wanted to see the old ballpark. We ended up sitting in the press box and listening to Willie tell baseball stories for almost 4 hours. It was awesome! One story I will expand on if requested is that Willie and Bobby Bonds told Barry he would not/could not sign with the Yankees when he hit free agency. Barry listened and re-signed with the Giants.

Background: The reason he visited was we did a deal with him to use his likeness for a bobblehead doll giveaway. I handled the deal for the team. I attached one of my prized possessions - the original contract I wrote up for the deal with Willie's signature right next to mine!

2. Vida Blue - Another bobblehead giveaway. Vida agreed to come to the ball park and do a signing during the game for fans. Before the game he was in our office and saw me opening a case and writing names on them. We always made sure all staff, players and coaches got one. I always wrote their name on them and put them in each player's locker. One of the interns was helping me and asked Vida if he would sign his. Vida said hell, why don't I sign them all. He pulled up a chair and sat in the middle of my office and signed every one. After the game, he was still there, hanging out in the office and came back and asked me where a good place to have a drink. I told him where some of us went and he said let's go. He invited half the office and we all went out and drank beer for a couple more hours. He was as personable as you can get.

This is long so I will share one more for now.... This is a unique good and bad story.

Albert Belle - He was a complete enigma. In 1998 we hosted the Orioles and Phillies in an exhibition game the day before opening day.
The Bad - Belle would not sign autographs for the fans, blew off all that asked. Conversely, Ripken signed so long pre-game they had to ask him to come back into the clubhouse because the people whose seats where nearby couldn't get to them and the game was about to start. I had a clubhouse worker get some baseballs signed for me and he signed mine off the sweet spot, Albert Joey Belle. The clubhouse kid (who several years later would sign with the White Sox and later play in that some clubhouse in AA) said he was gruff in the clubhouse too.

The Good - After the game, fans crowded the exit ramp from the clubhouse where they load the bus. Belle came out earlier than most players, got on the bus and sat in the first seat by the window. He opened the window and told one of the security guards to bring him the kids, and the kids only. For the next 30-40 minutes, he signed something thru the window for every kid that was out there...... except one. More bad - One kid had a Cleveland Indians hat on and Belle looked at him and said I'm not signing for the Indians kid. Rumor has it the kid took his hat off and blended back in and got an autograph, but I was told Belle wasn't nice when he said it to the kid.

That's enough for now... got way too long. Lots more stories, fortunately.