Best & Worst Experience Meeting An Athlete

[BruceinGa]

I should add another good experience. About 10 years ago while playing in a local softball tournament I was surprised to see former Atlanta Braves pitcher, Terrell Wade, pitching for the opposition. He was friendly and after the game even stopped by out dugout to speak to everyone. Btw, I believe I went 4 for 4 against him .
A year or two later he played on our league team.
He seemed like a "good" guy.

[slipk1068]

Great experience. These folks were so nice I would give them the shirt off my back:

Lou Brock
Phil Rizzuto
Mickey Rivers

Neutral:

Johnny Mize. I asked him a question. He ignored me, so I repeated my question. Still no response. In hindsight he was 80 years old and maybe hard of hearing and didn't hear me.

Yogi Berra. Almost bit my head off for asking which World Series ring he was wearing. I guess I was supposed to know he always wears 1953. Maybe it was just the tone of his voice, but he didn't seem happy with the question.

Not nice. I wouldn't give any of these players 2 bits for their autograph:

Hank Aaron. Not nice to any of the fans. Didn't seem happy to be collecting $30 each to scribble his name on 4 my baseballs. If you don't like the fans, do only private signings. people can send in their stuff and you don't even have to acknowledge them.

Whitey Ford. A kid asked if he could take his picture. Whitey said sure and didn't even look up for the photo. Just kept signing stuff. Same as above, stick to private signings.

John Franco. Signed my card in water soluble ink. It was a Mets Booster Club Banquet. He was introduced and came out signing for folks with his own marker. I handed him card and tried to force my sharpie on him but he refused it. I went to my table dipped my finger in water glass and erased the signature. Then my wife took the card and sharpie and grabbed his marker as he was about to use it again and forced him to use my sharpie. Hundreds of autos he signed that night that are junk today. I don't believe for 2 seconds that this was anything but intentional.

Lee Mazzilli and Ralph Branca. Both smudged the autograph. I believe it was intentional. Branca even went as far as to say I am gonna hate him. Hate is too strong a word.

[dodgerfanjohn]

Best - Steve Garvey. Sat directly behind him at a Dodgers game about 20 years ago. Understand that I was 7 in 1979 when I attended my first Dodgers game, so Steve Garvey was a real big deal to me. Through the first 5 innings, Mr. Garvey must have signed 100 autographs from fans approaching him. Even though I was seated directly behind him, I was iffy about asking for an auto just because he was there with his family and dealing with so many people asking for auto's. I eventually ran to the souvenir stand and got one of those cheapo team logo balls and waited until the inning finished. Mr. Garvey was extremely nice and we were able to talk for a short bit. Still have the ball displayed:



In person I always address the signer as Mr..... Even though I'm mid 40's and some of the signers are younger than me, I've found being polite and a bit formal goes a long way. My other really positive experiences were Pee Wee Reese, Ernie Banks, Orel Herschiser

Shawn Green, who was extremely nice and has a very distinctive and elaborate signature:



And even 90 year old Tommy Lasorda who was a surprise replacement for Scott Alexander at Fanfest this past Saturday. A boisterous "Good afternoon Mr. Lasorda!" worked wonders. FWIW, his time was supposed to be 2:50pm to 3:40pm, but he stayed until 4:30 until he had signed for everyone in line:



Worst ever was Dave Winfield. I was still a kid...around 22 when I got his autograph at a show. Wouldn't look up or acknowledge me at all. Signed off center badly on the ball...just not a pleasant person.

[oldjudge]

In the early-1990s I took my older son to a show in Central Connecticut. When we got there I found that Whitey Ford was signing. When we entered the room there was literally no one near Whitey. He was sitting alone at a table looking bored. We walked over and I started a conversation with him. He was great. He told us a story of his time as a spring training pitching coach working with Al Leiter. Apparently Al was having difficulty throwing first pitch strikes. To help him along Ford made a bet with him—every time he threw a first pitch strike in a pre-season game Ford owed him a beer. A first pitch ball meant he owed Ford a beer. We chatted for about ten minutes. I think my son got his autograph (I did not, but I’m sorry I didn’t), but I’m not positive of it. All I remember is that the greatest starting pitcher in Yankee history was a real gentleman.

[whitey19thcentury]

I am fortunate to have met many celebrities and athletes because of our business and business contacts. Certainly, my interaction with athletes are a bit different than 20-25 years ago when I was in my teens and before when I was pumped just to get an autograph.

The nicest that I can remember when I was younger was:

Enos Slaughter at then 1994 ASG Fan Fest. I got a photo with him and I remember him saying something like "Don't be shy, sonny."

Al Kaline and Brooks Robinson were awesome. They were at the Robert Morris show while I was a student there and I got their autographs and also made small talk.

I remember Warren Spahn and Eddie Mathews both being polite, but kind of curt.

Off the top of my head, the Pittsburgh athletes that I have met or had interactions with that really stand out as being good guys are: Steve Blass, John Wehner, Freddy Sanchez, Sid Bream, Manny Sanguillen (of course!), Pirates President Frank Coonelly, Gerrit Cole, Clint Barmes, really there are too many.

As far as the bad interactions:

I saw Billy Ripken being a jerk to fans after a game while I was traveling with Fox Sports.

My wife and I were at a GOP fundraiser right before Lynn Swann announced he was running for governor. We were the first people there, and in the room was literally us, Swann, a waitress and the bartender. Mr. Swann came over to us and introduced himself (!) and was awesome to talk to. He obliged us with a photo and I knew his reputation as a notorious non-signer, so I dared not ask. The poor waitress came over and asked for his autograph. He said: "If I sign for you, I have to sign for everyone." Granted, other than us four, just the bartender was there, and he was clear across the banquet room.

On another note for Swann: We ran into him a few years later at a charity function, we got a photo again, and before we got it take, he told me wife to put her glass of wine down. LOL

As for me personally with the negatives: This may be a shock given his reputation, but Andrew McCutchen. I won't go into details. Both times were at charity events. I gave him a pass on the first time thinking he may have been having a bad day, but this past summer, his actions made it seem like the first time was the norm.

The coolest former athletes that I have met that I would hang out with anytime are Steve Blass and John Wehner. What awesome guys.

[jsq]

as a huge fan of the yankees it is said to hear that slick was a "*ick!

ironically i saw a dick cavett interview of mickey and mickey was laughing about billy martin being traded because he was identified as "the" bad influence. micky laughed and basically said it was whitey who was the influence.

glad you had some good experiences with some of the others

Originally Posted by slipk1068

Whitey Ford. A kid asked if he could take his picture. Whitey said sure and didn't even look up for the photo. Just kept signing stuff. Same as above, stick to private signings.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

When I promoted my show in Jim Thorpe in 2016 I had 3 guests, Al
Oliver, Ron Greschner, and Nick Fotiu. Attendance was pretty sparse, and autograph seekers were non-existent. Well Ron and Nick talked Hockey with my dad and anyone else who was interested and even walked around chatting with dealers. They kept asking if I had anything else for them to sign. Al was awesome. I was very busy that day, but he and I managed to trade baseball trivia back and forth. None of them were watching the clock and I can't imagine nicer guys. They almost made the financial beating I took worth it!

[Exhibitman]

The ones who are rude at paid events piss me off. I may be off for thinking this way but if you are an athlete trading on your celebrity to make a good living the least you can do is be polite to the paying customer. Reminds me of a Judge who was a real bastard on the bench. Just needlessly cruel. He called s friend of mine a gutter drunk because his collar was turned up. Stuff like that. There was at least one cringeworthy moment every session. When he retired he tried to get into mediation and arbitration and he started to make the rounds of Bar events to glad hand the attorneys. He came up to me and tried and I just laughed at him. I said “you were such an a***ole on the bench there is no way I would hire you.” I can’t figure bothering with players who treat you like crap.

[Sophiedog]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The ones who are rude at paid events piss me off. I may be off for thinking this way but if you are an athlete trading on your celebrity to make a good living the least you can do is be polite to the paying customer. Reminds me of a Judge who was a real bastard on the bench. Just needlessly cruel. He called s friend of mine a gutter drunk because his collar was turned up. Stuff like that. There was at least one cringeworthy moment every session. When he retired he tried to get into mediation and arbitration and he started to make the rounds of Bar events to glad hand the attorneys. He came up to me and tried and I just laughed at him. I said “you were such an a***ole on the bench there is no way I would hire you.” I can’t figure bothering with players who treat you like crap.

Great Post! I feel the same way.