Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[Jenx34]

Check my post on page 3. It may give you a little insight into Willie and why he is standoffish.

Originally Posted by 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.

[skelly]

So what's the deal with Mays? Was he always unfriendly, or did that develop over time? I just remember being younger and hearing how he would play stickball in the street, etc... Not being into the autograph scene, I would have guessed he was a decent guy based on the pictures / stories I heard when I was little.

[Tennis13]

Some nice people:

Alvaro Espinosa's wife. I met her at a Yankees game when I was like 10, and she said if I gave her my Don Mattingly card, she'd get it autographed. She sent one in the mail to me, autographed. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have it authenticated to see if she was who she said she was! ha.

When we were like 6 years old, I had a friend who's dad played for the Dodgers. He always thought Steve Welch was the nicest guy on the team to him.

Andre Dawson -- met him in an elevator at a Cubs-Mets series in NYC when i was like 10. I had an 8.5 x 11 ready for him to sign, but it was in my room. He told me he'd get me later, but I begged him, and he gave me his room number and signed my photo which I hung on my wall my entire childhood.

Lenny Dykstra: I still don't have his autograph, but EFF him and his gold Mercedes. Never has a man been so beloved by the fans but been such a selfish unlikable guy to his public. I don't think I ever saw him sign an autograph in Clearwater during spring training. EVER.

[darwinbulldog]

I don't really have any baseball celebrity stories, though I think Alice Cooper's a pretty solid softball player, and I got to meet him in Albuquerque one time as part of VIP package I won through a radio contest. I've met lots of football players, especially Saints and Dolphins, and they've all been pretty friendly. I ran out of my school one day in about 5th grade to chase Archie Manning down the street and get his autograph, like in the middle of the day, so I could have gotten in trouble for that, but everyone let it slide. It was Archie Manning after all. I have an in-law who played in the NFL for many years, and he's always been nice to us, so count him too if we're allowed to use family. I'm almost certain I was on a flight with O.J. Simpson back in '91. He's always seemed like a sweet guy. Anybody know what he's been up to these past 27 years?

I met Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams on separate occasions as a UT student in the late 90s. Ricky and I lived in the same dorm, and one night when my friends and I were sneaking a dog into my room, Ricky was on the lobby phone (I guess those probably don't exist anymore), and the dog went up to him and started jumping up and licking his hand. He just said "Hi" and smiled and petted the dog for a moment. We didn't really have a conversation, because he was still on the phone, and he's very shy anyway, but that was a cool moment.

I was an usher at the basketball arena in college (Erwin Center) and had to ask anyone seated in this particular private room in the building to move to a different area before a meeting started. Earl Campbell was sitting in there, all by himself, and watching TV. (It was the basketball game that was being played live like 100 feet away). So I just said, "I'm sorry; I have to ask if you can move over to this other area." And he gave me a look like, "Are you joking? Do you know who I am?" and then just shrugged his shoulders and moved like I asked him to.

I saw plenty of other athletes and musicians when I was working at that arena. My coolest assignment was being stationed as the security guy for Elton John's dressing room before the concert. I just hung out there for a couple of hours before the show, chatted with his bodyguard, listened to his rehearsal with the band, and met him (very) briefly when he came back to the dressing room -- to take a nap. Ricky Williams told me "Hi", but Elton John gave me a full "Hello."

[Jayworld]

Originally Posted by Jenx34

Check my post on page 3. It may give you a little insight into Willie and why he is standoffish.

Chris, yes- I re-read your post, and that would explain Mays stand-offish attitude, yet it does not explain that when a promoter (in my real-life scenario, The Insurance Company The Equitable) is paying former players to show up at an old-timers game, and part of the agreement is that the players will attend a pre-game meeting at the hotel with special guests (meet, greet, sign autographs, etc.), then attend the old-timers game, then attend a post game get-together and dinner, and Mays didn't do anything but show up at the game. In other words, he took Equitable's money and did not fulfill his end of the contract. That's why my friend who worked for the Equitable said he would not be invited back.

Conversely, every other old-timer showed up at the pre-game, game, and post-game events and signed plenty of autos, posed for pics, etc. Ernie Banks was an incredible gentleman at the post-game dinner.

[Jenx34]

I'm not trying to excuse what he didn't do at that event. He really shouldn't have agreed to do it. That type of event is not in his comfort zone for sure. Who know's he could have had an agent agree to the deal and tell him to just show up? Still, not an excuse.

I just noticed that his body language changes when people approach him. In fact, after the 3rd day with him as I was dropping him off at his hotel, I asked him if he would be kind enough to sign two things for me, a 1962 issue of Sport Magazine and an 8 x10' of him in a Birmingham Black Barons uniform. I asked him without even getting the items out so as not to put pressure on him. He immediately started to grumble. Renee, his PR woman, said "Willie sign the stuff for him. He's been nothing but nice to you!" As soon as she said that, he relaxed, smiled and said give them to me. He signed them, shook my hand and said thank you and that he enjoyed meeting me and went on his way.

For whatever reason, something or someone has made him that way. He signs because he is knows he should, but he is not comfortable doing so. Not sure if it goes back to the days he grew up in Birmingham and its racial tensions and now inside he's perturbed that white people love him and want his autograph now that he got famous? Or if someone took advantage of him financially along the way? Or if he's bitter the players "today" make so much more than he ever did? Or something else? But in your situation, I would have been very disappointed as well.

Originally Posted by Jayworld

Chris, yes- I re-read your post, and that would explain Mays stand-offish attitude, yet it does not explain that when a promoter (in my real-life scenario, The Insurance Company The Equitable) is paying former players to show up at an old-timers game, and part of the agreement is that the players will attend a pre-game meeting at the hotel with special guests (meet, greet, sign autographs, etc.), then attend the old-timers game, then attend a post game get-together and dinner, and Mays didn't do anything but show up at the game. In other words, he took Equitable's money and did not fulfill his end of the contract. That's why my friend who worked for the Equitable said he would not be invited back.

Conversely, every other old-timer showed up at the pre-game, game, and post-game events and signed plenty of autos, posed for pics, etc. Ernie Banks was an incredible gentleman at the post-game dinner.