Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[50sBaseball]

I have had some great experiences interacting with MLB players.

TED WILLIAMS: As a 13-year old kid at Fenway Park in 1959, I asked Ted if I could take his picture. Kids' cameras back then had two settings: on and off. He was a little further away than I wanted near the batting cage, so I asked him if he could move a little closer. Though he did not do so, he did speak to me and said: "Take the picture, kid, I gotta go hit." I treasure that picture to this day.
In 1999, 40 years later, Ted came to the Chantilly Show to sign autographs in commemoration of his 30-year anniversary of managing the Washington Senators. I had my picture taken with him and shook his hand. He signed a picture of him that I had bought at Fenway Park 40+ years earlier. Ted was not in the best of health then, but I ventured to speak with him, and told him, "Ted, I think that you are the best hitter who ever lived" (which is how he wanted to be remembered). He looked at me and after a moment said in his still booming voice: "why do you think so?" I said: "You hit for average and you hit for power." Perhaps he would have liked to have heard that he never swung at a ball out of the strike zone!

FRANK WHITE: KC Royals 2nd Baseman. Was at a spring training game in Florida with our young sons in, I think, 1979. He signed autographs for the boys, but then stayed a bit and talked with them. Asked them how they liked baseball, etc.
He was super-friendly to them.

1960 MILWAUKEE BRAVES/HANK AARON&CHUCK COTTIER: At a spring training game in Bradenton, Florida between the Braves and Pirates, chased down a foul ball during BP and started to get Braves' autographs. Aaron and a few others were playing Pepper down the third-base line, and their ball came over the chain-link fence and I got it. One of the players said, "hey kid, throw our ball back." I said: "OK if you will sign my ball." And 4 or 5 players signed my ball right there and posed for photos!! Later, I threw my ball over the fence only to have it land on the slanted roof of the dugout. Chuck Cottier, a utility infielder, saw what happened, and suggested to one of my older brothers how to get the ball, and it worked. And then Cottier signed it as well. 3 HOFers signed that ball: Aaron, Mathews and Spahn.

[rainier2004]

So a little o/t, but I think it belongs.

Miles Bridges is the star on the Men's basketball team at Michigan State. He very surprisingly came back for his sophomore year and turned down millions to be a college kid for another year.

During the summers local players from MSU, UM and other D1 schools play in the moneyball which is an eight team round robin at a local complex that is free and all of 5 minutes from my house. I decided that I wanted to go at the last minute as I want to see Bridges play before he leaves us for the NBA. Id heard how this year would be different and he would be as hospitable signing things as he has already done this for a year, blah blah blah.

I actually walked in with Bridges, got a smile and a hello and we parted ways. He spent the next 30 minutes signing everything for everyone to the point it definitely affected his warm up. After the game I stayed for another hour watching the next game and he was still on the sidelines signing, getting pics taken and just chattin it up. All smiles for the entire 2.5 hours I saw him...its easy to root for guys like this and I will definitely remember that day even though I got nothing signed.

[Exhibitman]

I tend to differentiate the card show 'business' meeting from the casual meeting. Among the casual meetings:

Jim Brown: I ran into him--literally. I was leaving my room at the hotel in Cleveland one a.m. before the National and wasn't looking and banged into him. Like hitting a brick wall. I'm 6'3" and was about 240# at the time and I was the one who moved. I excused myself then realized who it was and said "Hey, you're Jim Brown...but you probably know that already." I chatted with him briefly. As I recall he was in town for the show and the HOF induction at Canton. I think it was for Gene Hickerson that year. He was also great at a show I went to; when I asked him to sign a 1960 Topps he asked why I was getting such a good card signed, I told him he was the best ever and I am collecting signed cards of the GOATs, and he seemed really pleased.

Luke Appling: back in the autograph early days he was a free host signer at a local show. I gave him this card to sign. Not only did he personalize it, he told me a story about the uniforms, that they were thick woolens and absolutely miserable to wear in the summer



I once got backstage at the Academy Awards (family connection) rehearsals and decided to hustle some autographs:
--Johnny Carson: great guy. Not only signed happily but was cracking jokes the whole time.
--Gene Hackman: kind of a dick but did sign.
--Cheech and Chong: awesome. So friendly that if they'd had a J I think they'd have offered to share it with me.
--Ricardo Montalban: "Khan!" was very cordial and classy.
--Christy Brinkley: really nice and my god was she amazing to look at.
--Roger Moore: An English gentleman.
--Sly Stallone: I'd seen him around LA a few times and he was always nice to fans. Signed for me and was nice about it.

The one time I became a star-struck babbling idiot was in a bookstore. I was leaving and heard an unmistakable voice asking the clerk for a book on Voltaire. I wasn't even going to approach but my wife encouraged me; she said he was alone, no one was talking to him, and I'd regret it if I didn't. So I did. I got complete verbal diarrhea and went on about his charity contribution for a school where I was on the board and some other stuff. He was really great about it. I had the autograph made into a custom card:



I grew up on Monty Python; I even made my parents take me to their live show in NYC when I was ten. So this was the best celebrity meeting I've ever had.

[Chris-Counts]

"Joe DiMaggio on the other hand was a true gentleman. He wore a suit and tie, acknowledged everyone he signed for, shook their hand, and thanked them for being there. What a contrast."

I, too, had a great encounter with Joltin' Joe. Back in the early 70s, I arrived early for an old timers game at Angels Stadium. I must have been about 12 or 13. I was wandering around the empty parking lot long before the game, and amazingly, I see Joe Dimaggio popping out of car just a few feet away. All I had for him to sign was a 3x5 card, so I handed him a stack of them so he would a stable surface to sign on. He was somewhat reserved, but friendly. There was nobody within 200 feet of us, and I was completely in awe of him, who I had only read about. After he signed the card, he placed it in the back of the stack and signed another. By the time he reached 12 or 13, I was feeling so guilty over my good fortune that I reached out for the stack of 3x5s and thanked him for his time ...

I got to meet Tony Schumacher at the NHRA Summer Nationals in Englishtown,NJ and Austin Dillon at Martinsville in the Pit Area when our son got us Pit Passes , he was a Tire Carrier for Joe Gibbs/Kyle Busch Racing Xfinity Series and Red Horse Racing. Also our daughter got to meet the 2007 U.S. Women's National Team during a practice in Zarephath NJ, she had her picture taken with each player that signed a US National Soccer Jersey for her

[z28jd]

This might seem like an odd one, but I'm not a big autograph person, so there aren't many stories to tell.

About 12 years ago, Johnny Blanchard was signing at a small local card shop. My dad was a huge Yankees fan during Blanchard's time and he had stories about seeing him hit homers in person. He went to a lot of games during that time.

Anyway, I took my dad with me to the store and only one person was there getting Blanchard's auto at the time, so we got a chance to talk to him. I had him personalize a ball for me and he gave a terrific autograph, along with "61-62 WS champs" underneath.

To me it was cool to meet one of the players I heard my dad talk about a lot growing up. Then my dad was behind me and it was like he turned into a kid, talking to Blanchard for a few minutes and getting his autograph. I don't even know if my dad has another in person autograph after the mid-60s, but it was a cool experience to watch them interact.

Blanchard didn't have much of a career really, but he peaked at the right time for my dad to think highly of him.

[bigfanNY]

The Johnny Blanchard story was great and reminded me of the time my Dad met Clete Boyer. It was at a Philly show in the early 90's Mr. Boyer was an autograph guest and after my Dad and he had a beer together and he told my Dad some great stories about the early 1960's yankees. An hour or so later my Dad and Mr. Boyer come back to our table he signs pictures for me and my son tells a couple g rated stories and I drive us all back to hotel. Only time I ever saw my Dad get an autograph. If I mention Mr. Boyer to my Dad tomorrow a smile will instantly come to his face.
Before that show when there was an autograph guest I would pull some cards of theirs and get the signatures. But after that if and only if it was a Yankee I would still pull cards but my Dad would get the signatures. Sadly we only did a few shows after that and stopped when it was too hard for my Dad in 1997.
I have not had bad experiences with athletes but I never take it for granted they will sign so am not upset at all if they don't.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by rgpete

I got to meet Tony Schumacher at the NHRA Summer Nationals in Englishtown,NJ and Austin Dillon at Martinsville in the Pit Area when our son got us Pit Passes , he was a Tire Carrier for Joe Gibbs/Kyle Busch Racing Xfinity Series and Red Horse Racing. Also our daughter got to meet the 2007 U.S. Women's National Team during a practice in Zarephath NJ, she had her picture taken with each player that signed a US National Soccer Jersey for her

Thanks for posting that. Racers are almost universally awesome when it comes to interacting with fans.

I know this is a bit obscure, but one experience that really stands out to me was meeting Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah at a local mall when I was about 10 years old. Nehemiah was playing for the 49ers at the time, and there was no real reason to think he would draw a crowd at a mall in Pennsylvania. Almost predictably, only four or five people showed up to meet him/get an autograph. Even as a 10 year old, I knew it was a pitiful, uncomfortable turnout of fans.

But Nehemiah could not have been nicer. He asked me what sports I liked to play, spent quite a bit of time talking to me and was not outwardly angry at all about the tiny turnout.

[clydepepper]

I met Whitlow Wyatt, Joe Sambito and Russell Branyan. All three were great guys!



-

[drcy]

Originally Posted by Bored5000

Thanks for posting that. Racers are almost universally awesome when it comes to interacting with fans.

I know this is a bit obscure, but one experience that really stands out to me was meeting Renaldo "Skeets" Nehemiah at a local mall when I was about 10 years old. Nehemiah was playing for the 49ers at the time, and there was no real reason to think he would draw a crowd at a mall in Pennsylvania. Almost predictably, only four or five people showed up to meet him/get an autograph. Even as a 10 year old, I knew it was a pitiful, uncomfortable turnout of fans.

But Nehemiah could not have been nicer. He asked me what sports I liked to play, spent a quite a bit of time talking to me and was not outwardly angry at all about the tiny turnout.

Nehemiah was a legend in track.

[tedzan]

I have gotten many, many autographs since 1981 at BB card Shows and at Cooperstown during HOF weekend.
Every sports figure that I met was very friendly and gracious. This is partly due to my avoided guys who had a
reputation of being a "schmuck". And more importantly, because I waited until the end of the autograph line to
get their signature. When you are the last guy standing, these ballplayers are more inclined to be friendly. And
it's my experience that they will be willing to spend more time having a two-way conversation with you.


Stay tuned for a great conversation which I had with Ted Williams in Cooperstown back in 1987.








TED Z

T206 Reference
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[Tabe]

I've never had a bad experience with an athlete. They've always been great. I don't do autographs, so maybe that helps. But here are a few of my favorites:

1) Al Kaline - I was probably 8 when I met him and was absolutely terrified. He was signing at a bank and my grandmother took me to meet him. He signed a photo for me and could not have been nicer.

2) In 1989, I had a friend who worked at a movie theater in Pontiac, MI (where I grew up). After the Pistons won their first title, the Pistons had a free viewing thing at the Palace for their championship video they'd be releasing. On the way there, my friend tells me that he'd met John Salley the night before at the theater and went on and on about how much time they'd spent together and how cool Spider was. Yeah, right. We get to the Palace and there's hardly anyone where we are - except one car. As we're walking in, that car's door opens and out steps this gigantic human being. John Salley. And Salley sees us and yells to my friend "Hey Johnny, how are you?" We talked for a couple minutes. Salley was great.

3) Mark Rypien - Mark lives in the Spokane area and has a foundation here. He was at a Spokane Indians game. My wife approached him, said I was a big fan and asked if he'd mind meeting me. She came and got me and I met him, told him I was a Lions fan and that he'd broken my heart in the playoffs when the Redskins killed Detroit. I said, "You guys kicked our butts". Mark got a huge grin on his face and said "yeah, we did". It was great.

4) Steve Garvey - Garvey was in town to be honored before a Spokane Indians game. The night before he was to be honored, I got up to leave after the game and he was standing in the aisle right behind me. All alone, no one around. I asked for and got a photo. The next night, I brought my good friend who was a big Garvey fan. As a kid, he mailed Garvey a letter when he played in Spokane - and got a handwritten response! He brought that letter with him. We get to the park early and look around and there's Steve down in the corner. We went over and started talking to him. He signed my photo from the night before (so cool) and then my buddy showed him that letter. His eyes got REALLY BIG and he immediately pulled out his cellphone and took a bunch of pictures of it. He called over the news reporter he was talking to and showed it to her. Then he signed it for my friend. He posed for several pictures and we talked for a good 20 minutes. Just awesome.

5) Wayne Gretzky - Gretzky was at a Spokane Indians game because his son was in town to sign a contract with the Cubs (whose affiliate was playing Spokane). My friend points out Gretzky and I go over and ask for a photo. He kindly took his sunglasses off and posed for a pic. I immediately called my wife to tell her I'd met Wayne and I'm just over the moon. Only I didn't SAVE the photo. On my phone, you had to manually save it, it wasn't automatic. I was crushed. Then I see Wayne walking into the stadium and ask for another pic. He gives me this huge sigh and says "alright" and then grins at me. Take the pic and I save it and then I see...it's completely dark because we were in a shadow. I go sit down and am really disappointed at blowing my chance to get a good photo with Wayne. Then I see he's sitting near me and I find the courage to ask for one more. He graciously said yes and, well:

[Prince Hal]

Bobby Orr and Harmon Killebrew were the best. Bobby Orr came to Albany, NY many years ago to open the state rink. He then met with fans and signed autographs. I grew up in Western MA in the '60s and '70s and he was my all time favorite. When it was my turn he stood up and shook my hand and thanked ME for coming to see him.

A former Member of Congress who represents Cooperstown used have a political fundraiser during induction weekend and he would bring in 10 HOFers to sign autos and mingle. I had my son with me one time, he must have been around 10, and we met Harmon. He spent 20 minutes talking to my son about baseball and was amazingly pleasant.

The worst, Gaylord Perry. Same event, different experience. Total DB.

[Jenx34]

Good:
I flew to Charleston SC to visit a friend around 2000. Got in on a Saturday evening, friend picked me up and we went straight to a bar in Mt. Pleasant. It was packed so I went upstairs where they had a couple of pool tables to see if there were any seats. Found a round table big enough for 4-5 people and sat down while my buddy went to the bar to get beers. Shortly after I sat down a guy came up the stairs that looked out of place in the bar. He was a little older than the crowd, black (bar was at least 95% white, if not 100%) and by himself. Without saying anything he parks himself at my table and turns away from me and looks over the rail down to the first floor. After a minute or so, buddy still not back with beers, I kept thinking I recognized him. Then it hit me. He looked my way and leaned over and said "Excuse me, are you Dwight Smith?" He smiled and said yes. He was the hitting coach for the Charleston Riverdogs of the South Atlantic League. We chatted and then finally my buddy shows up and I introduce him to my new friend and my friend, who was a die hard Cardinals fan, yelled "Oh My God, I hated you!" Smith laughed and we all hung out the rest of the night, drinking beers and grabbed some appetizers. The team was at home the next day so he left us tickets and will call and we went to the game. It was a weird chance meeting and the fact that I recognized him was lucky, but I was a Cubs fan and remembered the '89 Cub playoff team very well.

Bad:
Moses Malone & Julius Erving - The 76ers arrived at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis in town to play the Pacers. There was a large group of high school kids (me included) in the lobby. Some of us immediately recognized them and approached for autographs. Malone mumbled "I ain't signing no autographs" and kept walking. Dr. J was at least polite and said he wanted to go to his room, get settled in and he would come back down and sign for us. He never did. Other guys on that team were great. Andrew Toney was one, Marc Iavaroni, Mark McNamara and Mo Cheeks are ones I remember being cool. They sat down with us and hung out for a bit.

We took our son back in 2005 to Florida to see the Spring Training Camps of the Mets and Dodgers, he was 11 years old at that time. The worst experience was at the Mets, Mike Piazza was a total idiot with no one around him, told my son I'm working you cant bother me, while walking to a different work out station, but Tom Glavine was a class act he got a ball for my son and signed it for him, Mets were tough to get. Dodgers at Vero Beach were easily accessible, My son got to meet Eric Gagne who signed a Dodgers hat , Tommy Lasorda who talked to him for about 10 minutes, and pretty much got most of the Dodgers to sign a ball for him

[orly57]

Just before starting law school, I worked at a pretty nice restaurant in Miami that overlooked the ocean. One day on a lunch shift, I had a party of four which included a father, mother, and their two children (a boy and a girl). The boy was wearing a cast on his arm. At the table next to theirs sat Eddie George with a GORGEOUS woman (who often frequented the establishment with famous athletes). Unfortunately, Eddie's table was not in my section, but apparently, the family struck up a conversation with him. At some point, the mom allowed the boy to get his cast autographed by him, despite her previously firm "no signatures on your cast" edict. As I was running around getting drinks or whatever, a waiter tells me Eddie George wanted to talk to me. I thought the waiter was messing with me, but he wasn't. Eddie George was exiting the restaurant, and was looking for me. He asked me how much their meal was. I told him I had to check the computer, but he just took out a wad of cash, ripped off four $100 bills and asked me if that would cover it with tip. I told him that it absolutely would. The family was thrilled to find out that Eddie George had paid their tab, but it was I who was the fortunate one. The bill was about $250 of the $400 he gave me. AND, despite my telling them that the tip was covered, the family left me an additional $50. I will always hate Ohio State (See: 2003 Fiesta Bowl), but am forever a fan of Eddie George.