Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[Buythatcard]

Originally Posted by tedzan

In 1984, I recognized Ted Williams in Cooperstown. Ted and I had a really interesting conversation "talking baseball" and baseball cards.
The following is a pretty accurate recollection of my conversation with Ted. We talked for about 45 minutes.
I started the conversation by telling him that......

ME....."Ted, although I was an avid Yankees fan as a kid in the 1950's, I always rooted for you to hit a HR at Yankee Stadium."

And sure enough, many times I saw him hit a HR....usually up into the RF upper deck.

TED...."If you're a Yankees fan, why did you root for me to hit a HR ?"


ME....."Because your name is Ted; and besides, I always expected the Yankees would win the AL Pennant, anyways."

TED....(he smiled) and asked me...."so, why then are you a Yankees fan ?"

ME....."because Phil Rizzuto was my nearby neighbor in Hillside, NJ"

TED...."if the Scooter was on the Red Sox all those years, we would have been the Champs."




Then I turned the conversation to his BB cards. He was like a little kid....I still remember how enthusiastic he was "talking BB cards".

ME....."are you aware of how rare your 1954 Bowman card is ?" ......and, I showed Ted this card.

TED...."No, but I signed a contract with Sy Berger of Topps in 1954, and no other Gum Co. was allowed to portray me."

Then, without me asking him, Ted went on this long dissertation telling me how Sy Berger was annoyed with him in 1959. Fleer had
approached Ted's agent to do a series of 80 cards depicting Ted's life. Fleer offered Ted $500 for the Rights. Sy Berger countered it
with $1000 for Ted to stay with Topps. Ted started laughing, as he told me that a bidding war between Fleer and Topps ensued.
Finally, when Fleer upped the ante to $5000, Topps relented. There it is folks, the real story behind the 1959 Fleer Ted Williams set....
straight from Ted, himself.

TED...."Just think about it, that was a lot of money back then just for having your pictures on a set of gum cards."

ME....."Ted, you ain't kidding, $5000 was my Dad's annual salary in 1959."

We talked some more as we walked. Then Ted ran into some dignitaries. He offered his hand to me, telling me that he really enjoyed
our conversation.







TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Ted, this story should be in the Hall of Fame. When I met you at one of the shows, you told me part of the story. One of my favorite stories. I love the story behind the 59 Fleer set.

[Buythatcard]

Some of my encounters.

Best: Bob Feller
Met him at a card show during a signing. He took time to shake everyboody's hand. He then took time out to tell some stories about his pitching days.

Worst: Keith Hernandez
Stood on line for over an hour to get a ball signed for my nephew's birthday. When it was my turn, I asked him to personalize it to my nephew. He whispered in the ear of someone next to him who then made an announcement that Keith will not personalize any items. He never looked up and had the unfriendliest look.

Biggest disappointment: Mickey Mantle
Back in the mid 80's, I worked in NYC. I went for a walk and passed a sports card store which had a sign saying Mickey Mantle will be signing his new book. I went into the store and there was a table at the end of one of the aisles. Sitting at this table was Mickey Mantle. There was nobody in the store except Mickey, the store owner and myself. I had to purchase his book in order to receive an autograph. I purchased the book and walked up to the table. I didn't know what to say because I was standing in front of an icon. The only thing I came up was, "Is that your World Series Ring?". He looked at me and barked back "No, it's my Hall of Fame Ring". Gave me the meanest look. I walked out of there feeling pretty disappointed.

Almost Dumbest Encounter: Stan Musial
I was at a card show where Stan Musial was signing. Took my preteen nephew to the show. We both had to go to the bathroom. When we went up to the urinals, there was Stan Musial pissing. My nephew turned to me and said, "Should I ask him for his autograph?". I shook my head no.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by Buythatcard

Worst: Keith Hernandez
Stood on line for over an hour to get a ball signed for my nephew's birthday. When it was my turn, I asked him to personalize it to my nephew. He whispered in the ear of someone next to him who then made an announcement that Keith will not personalize any items. He never looked up and had the unfriendliest look.

Not at all surprising. There was a documentary a while back that exposed Hernandez as a "pretty boy."

Furthermore, it was his crucial error on June 14, 1987, that led to a five-run Phillies ninth and ruined the beautiful afternoon for the fans in the right-field stands.

https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/201...second-spitter

[Cmount76]

I've had lots of great experiences. These were some of the most memorable.

In no random order:
Brooks Robinson
Ernie Banks (surprised nobody mentioned him. He was GREAT!!!)
Yogi Berra
Ralph Kiner
Mike Tyson

Some more unforgettable encounters, just not for good reasons:
Tom Seaver
Willie Mays
Reggie Jackson
Orlando Cedepda

[71buc]

While father was serving in Vietnam my mother and I remained in Ft. Devens. One day Tony Conigliaro sat in the stands and watched my little league team play a game. He was in fatigues and it was hard to believe it was actually him. He stayed and signed autographs for all of us and asked many of us about our fathers who were serving in Vietnam. I remember how proud I was when he called our fathers heros.

When I was kid my father took me to countless AAA games in Tacoma. My friends and I would wait in the parking lot chasing foul balls and playing wiffle ball. One day Lyman Bostock left the game early. He encountered us in the parking lot and asked to join us. He played with us for about 20 minutes before a crowd began to gather. When the crowd grew he thanked us and said he had to go. He signed autographs and complimented us on our swings. I was devastated when I learned of his tragic death a few years later. What an amazingly classy man.

Speaking of classy, My son was fortunate enough to have Ali invite him to sit next to him during a spring training game in 2002. He was 12 at the time. It was a surreal experience. He sat with Ali for two innings. They talked and shared a large oatmeal cookie. My son was an amateur boxer at that age and was thrilled to have such a story to share when he returned home. Ali signed his spring training program, thanked him for keeping him company, and threw a couple of jabs his way when my son left his side. My son is 27 now and when people talk about celebrity encounters he shares his, "I shared a cookie with Muhammad Ali" story. Hard to beat that one. Ali was as close to American royalty as it gets. The world is a lesser place without him

[gemmint77]

Meet Craig Biggio, Nolan Ryan, Jeff Bagwell, Stan Musial and Lou Brock back in the late 80's at card shows. I can remember all being great to a 10 year old.

[GasHouseGang]

Best, Musial and Duke Snider. Both treated you with respect and would just talk to you like they knew you.

Worst, probably Don Sutton. He signed for me, but I made the mistake of having him sign his rookie card. He said "I always hated that card!", and signed boldly right across his face with a black sharpie. I found this card offered on ebay, so I guess I'm not the only one.

[Baseballcrazy62]

I was at the airport standing in line at the gate and Bob Feller was in front of me. After he checked in at the counter I asked the young lady if she had any idea who Bob Feller was. She had no clue and I told her about his career. Our flight was delayed and he was by himself and I went and sat next to him in the terminal. We talked about his career and the all star games he appeared in here in Detroit. The stories were incredible.When we were done he told me his son was picking him up and asked me if I needed a ride to the resort I was staying at. I politely declined and we went our separate ways. One of the greatest conversations I ever had with an athlete. What an incredibly humble guy. I was so wrapped up in the conversation I forgot to ask him to sign a couple of the baseballs I had with me. Thanks Bob!!

[whitehse]

It's funny how stuff stays in your head from when we were kids. I was hanging by the wall at Wrigley Field and Kurt Bevaqua was warming up in front of me and two other kids. To me he was pretty cool as he was immortalized on that 1976 Topps baseball card after winning the bubble gum blowing competition with Joe Garagiola and I really wanted his autograph. He kept promising to sign when he was done warming up and when he was done he said he would be right back to sign for the three of us and disappeared in the dugout. I was disappointed but hey, what was I going to do?

Fast forward to last year when I spotted him on Facebook as we had a mutual friend and I made a comment that I knew he would see about stiffing me on the autograph forty years ago. His response?

"Andrew, I've been looking for you and those other 2 boys for 30 years.message me and we will figure that autograph thing out."

True to his word he sent me an awesome autographed 8x10. We are now connected on Facebook and speak occasionally. He is certainly a pretty cool guy, just as I thought he would be when I was so much younger.

[joshuanip]

Went to a card show back in the 90's that featured free autographs, from Ali to Campy to Namath. My father was getting M Ali's autograph and he asked if he "can write a little bigger" when Ali was signing his glove. Ali retorted "did you call me a ni---?" Ali paused and my dad's eyes popped out of his head. Ali paused and my dad profusely apologized, then Ali let out a little grin..... At the same show, I would also have him sign my glove and without asking, Ali pointed his finger at the other glove in my hand so he can sign as well, without asking!

Ali was a class act and funny one to boot!