Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[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!



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[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.

[btcarfagno]

I remember Nehimiah from the times he would appear on the show The Superstars.

For all you youngins, that was a TV show in the 1970's (maybe into the early 80's?) where they would bring together a bunch of current sports figures who would compete in different events like track and field, rowing etc. Then there would be a winner at the end of the show when all the points for each event we're tallied. Sometimes it would be whole teams, like the Cowboys against the Steelers.

Anyway, whenever Nehimiah was there and doing any of the track events he just absolutely wiped the floor with everyone else. As soon as you saw he was going you just wondered who would finish second and just how far behind he would be.

[Yoda]

Back in the 1950's, when I was a wee sprite, my father, who was an executive at GE, had a report who had been an All American at Northwestern and had roomed with the NY football Giants center, Ray Witeka. A plot for a surprise birthday present for yours truly was hatched and I soon found myself at the old Polo Grounds cheering the Giants on against the 49'ers. About 5 minutes before the game ended and the Giants pulled out a cliff hanger, my Dad suggested we move down to the sidelines. In a blur, I did so, and soon I was standing next to giant men, trying not to breath. The game ended and we moved towards the center of the field to meet Ray. He asked me if I wanted to carry his helmet to the locker room. I could only nod in gratitude.
The locker room was a scene of happy chaos. Moving among these titans, I quietly went around seeking autographs. All were very pleasant and encouraging, and I snagged autographs of my gridiron heroes, Frank Gifford, Kyle Rote, Charley Connerly et al. I was doing pretty well until Rosy Greer came out of the shower in all his glory. I had never seen a naked man so large and powerful, but he happily signed my program and gave me a wet pat on the head.
The program is long gone, but I still have the vivid memory of that surreal experience logged forever.

'Say hey, what Willie? I once set up near the autograph tables and heard Mays berate a young boy for daring to ask a question. The lad's dad turned purple and I thought was going to pop Willie one. 'Nuff said.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by drcy

Nehemiah was a legend in track.

I know. He is originally from New Jersey, but I just meant that he didn't really have any kind of natural fan following in the Philadelphia area based on him playing football on the other side of the country, His appearance at a Pennsylvania mall had all the making of a flop crowd wise, but he could not have been nicer.

[Jayworld]

I posted this originally in another thread on this forum back in 2014, but my "worst" without a doubt is Willie Mays:

I met him at an Equitable Old Timers game in the 1980s at old Arlington Stadium. He was the ONLY old time player that did not attend the pre-game meet/greet at the hotel, and the only one before the game that would not acknowledge anyone at the batting cages, take photos, or sign autographs. I was told by my friend who was an Equitable rep that Mays would not be invited back.

The best in-person experience I've ever had was meeting Terry Kennedy, one of my favorite Padres players, a few years back when he was the manager of AA San Antonio Missions. Got to meet him prior to the game with my son (I was wearing one of my vintage game-used Padres jerseys), and he signed a Padres yearbook, four cards, and posed for pictures, and chatted for about 2-3 minutes. Really nice guy. Also, meeting my other Padres favorite, Randy Jones, was a cool experience, as my wife and I met him at old Jack Murphy at his barbecue "restaurant" area behind the left field stands while on our honeymoon. He signed a program, ball, and posed for pictures. At the time, he was in full uniform (navy and orange pinstripes, back in 1994) and told me he much preferred the brown-gold uniforms to the then current navy and orange.