Brush with HOF fame...

[FUBAR]

i would have thrown his book back to him and told him where to put it! \i have no respect for guys that act like a douche!

Never met any baseball players, actually, not many here would believe, i have never been to a MLB game. Been to lots of NHL and a few NFL but never a ball game. Its on my to do list.

I met Grant Fuhr when i was a kid and he was fanatastic...met many other Oilers over the years... Met a few UFC guys, all have been great.

Sucks to hear Bench is an A**, he is one guy i always liked. After hearing this, he joins Bonds, Rose in the Douche-mobile.....

Should any others join that club?

[jb217676]

Originally Posted by FUBAR

i would have thrown his book back to him and told him where to put it! \i have no respect for guys that act like a douche!

Never met any baseball players, actually, not many here would believe, i have never been to a MLB game. Been to lots of NHL and a few NFL but never a ball game. Its on my to do list.

I met Grant Fuhr when i was a kid and he was fanatastic...met many other Oilers over the years... Met a few UFC guys, all have been great.

Sucks to hear Bench is an A**, he is one guy i always liked. After hearing this, he joins Bonds, Rose in the Douche-mobile.....

Should any others join that club?

Randy Johnson. The most miserable athlete I have ever met. I was "in his presence" when employed at a different golf course. He was golfing with Heathcliff Slocumb when both were members of the Seattle Mariners in the late 1990's. Johnson wouldn't acknowledge anyone, no autographs or pictures... nuthin'. Slocumb was the opposite and was almost apologizing for Randy's behaviour. Also, I have to say hockey players are by far the nicest athletes you could ever meet. Very down to earth guys.

[canjond]

I've also been pretty lucky to meet many HOF'ers and other athletes in my time, especially when I was younger and working for a show promoter and then agent.

One of my favorite stories, however, was with Reggie Jackson. As a kid, I would spend my summers in Cooperstown. One day, when I was maybe 12, I was walking past the golf course when I saw Reggie on the green. I always carried a baseball and pen with me so I waited for Reggie to sink his put. He must have nailed a 20 footer and was pretty happy about it because he was one of the nicest players I ever interacted with. Reggie signed my baseball and spent at least 5 minutes with me asking me what position I played, who I wanted to play for when I hit the major leagues, and so on, before finally excusing himself to go onto the next hole. A very a-typical Reggie day, but I will never have anything but good things to say about him.

Another interesting story happened with Yogi and Scooter. I was working an autograph appearance when I was probably 16 or 17. I was sitting between Yogi and Scooter. One of the personal items I had to get signed was a "best position players" book for kids from the early 1950's that featured the best player of each position and tips as to how to emulate the stars. Yogi was in the book at catcher, and Phil as a bunter. However, Yogi's name was featured in the book as Lawrence "Yogi" Berra. So, I asked Yogi if we would mind signing his page "Lawrence 'Yogi' Berra" and he politely agreed and did so. I then turned to Phil, who was featured in the book as "Phil Rizzuto" and asked if he would mind signing Phil Rizzuto. Phil gave me this look of disappointment and asked me if he could sign the book "Phillip Francis 'Scooter' Rizzuto" since quote "Yogi got to write his full name"! I, of course, agreed!

[FrankWakefield]

Maybe you caught Mr. Bench on a bad day. He graciously signed for me through the mail, free. But that was several years ago. His website now says $125 for a bat. Ouch...

I sat beside Mr. Bunning, and across from his wife, at a political gathering about 16 years ago. They were both very nice.

Mr. Musial was a true gentleman and an ambassador of the game the one time I met him. I think that has been the experience most folks have with him.

I've been face to face with Ozzie Smith, Feller, Mathews, Reese, and most recently Steve Carlton. All were pleasant, or nearly so.

It's a fickle thing. Back when it was just signing it was different. I can't recall anything that I got signed with which I've parted. It will go some day, though. But obviously, some stuff gets signed one day and is on eBay the next. Gotta be frustrating to an old HOFer who played when the Miller Money would only buy a steak supper. Nowadays it's 6 figure money.

[Exhibitman]

I’ve had varying encounters with HOFers in various sports. Some of my favorites:

--Jim Brown: I ran into him, literally, in the hallway at the Sheraton in Cleveland at a national. It was early in the a.m. and I turned from my room and ran into him. I said “Hey, you’re Jim Brown!’’ He said “Yes I am” and I said “I guess you probably know that already.” At least I can say I got a laugh out of Jim Brown.

--K.C. Jones: At the national a few years ago I was hanging out at a table staked out by an acquaintance of mine from L.A. A tallish older man joined us at the table and we chatted about Chicago boxing for a while. It was Jones, which I did not know until my friend told me.

--Willie Brown: The Raiders great was a guest at a card show I was working in the early 1990s. He came to my table looking for a Willie Mays card and bought a 1967 from me. I gave him a “Raiders HOFer” discount, which cracked him up.

Boxers are the most fun, down to earth guys:

--Carlos Ortiz [lightweight, jr. welterweight champ]: I saw Ortiz at a HOF ceremony and had him sign a striking pad. I told him that I had a card of him at home but I forgot it. He laughed and said “you f***ed up, my friend.”

--Jeff Chandler [bantamweight champ]: I met Chandler at a HOF event and chatted with him for a while at my table. After I asked him to sign a card for me he actually thanked me for remembering him.

--Brian Mitchell [super featherweight champ]: We were talking about travel--he was originally from South Africa, left during the apartheid era, and later moved back, but was probably the most-traveled fighter of the modern era since all his fights were thousands of miles from home. He told me that he and his wife and son had traveled over 30 hours in the air to get to the HOF induction ceremonies (plus ground transport on both ends).

--Emile Griffith [multi-division champ]: Super nice guy, though badly brain damaged from a mugging several years ago. If you catch him at the right time he will go on forever about his title fights--he fought more championship rounds than anyone in modern boxing history.

Biggest jerk I ever encountered was Willie Mays. He was at a country club in NY where my parents were members when I was about 8 (it was his year w/the Mets). Wouldn’t even acknowledge a kid’s existence. Big hitter, though...

[FUBAR]

I was at Sturgis in 1998. I was filming Main st. one night , standing in an empty spot trying to get good footage. With my eye stuck into a camera lens, i didnt see someone cutting it close to me. He came within 6 inches of my lens. Within looking away from my lens, i called the guy a f'in idiot and told him to learn how to drive.

The guy was apologetic and asked me if i could move so he could park. Are you kidding me... i started to decline then i looked up and seen it was Bill Goldberg. He stands about 6ft5 and about 300 lbs of pure steroid, dude is huge!

He actually turned out to be really cool and took some photos and such before a crowd gathered. He apologized again as he left and i had a good memory and still came away with all of my limbs in tact, knowing he could have ripped them right off!

[barrysloate]

I went to high school with Lyle Alzado...talk about a scary guy! When I saw him in the hallway I ran in the other direction. I was terrified of him. True story.

[alanu]

I saw Frank Robinson blow off a little kid who asked for an autograph in the lobby of a Kansas City hotel when the Orioles were visiting the Royals, it was after his playing days when he was working for the Orioles. Left me with a bad impression of him.

[GasHouseGang]

That Bench story is amazing. My wife used to work the ticket counter for TWA out in Palm Springs. Bench came through and she really didn't know who he was, but knew he was a baseball player. She got him to sign a TWA ticket jacket for me. I didn't hear anything about him asking for $50 bucks! I guess he figured we wouldn't try to sell it.

[53Browns]

I actually have two more brushes with a HOFer's I should mention. This is actually a much better one than my close encounter with Mr. Bunning. In the summer of 1984 I was a sophomore in high school and had just obtained the latest Baseball Address List by Jack Smalling and was feverishly writing to every ball player I could. The first encounter was when I wrote to the Chicago Cubs great Hank Sauer. His wife actually wrote me back and sent back the photo autographed by him that I had sent, along with a nice letter thanking me for being a great fan. This was in November. In December I got a box in the mail from "The Sauers". I opened it and there was a wrapped Christmas gift inside. I opened it and enclosed was a photo album that Mrs. Sauer had put together for me. It was full of re-printed photos and news clippings of his career. Some of them autographed. I couldnt believe it! Now that's a classy thing to do. I still have it!

The second encounter was the most exciting. That same summer, in August 1984 I noticed in the Baseball Address List that Waite Hoyt just lived across the river from me in Mt. Adams (Cincinnati). I wrote to him and let him know what a big fan I was and maybe sometime I could meet him. I expected him to send an autographed photo back. He didnt. He actually handwrote a shorrt letter back to me. The letter said he and his wife would love to meet me and he gave me a date and said why don't I come to their house and we can make a day of it. He included his home telephone # and asked me to call him. I about fainted! But then a horrible twist of fate happened. I got the letter in the mail late that evening because I was out all day and was planning to call him the next day to set up a meeting at his house. My Dad was watching the 11 o'clock news and I heard him call me from the other room. He told me to look at the TV. I did and the newscaster was reporting that earlier in the day Waite Hoyt, the hall of fame Yankee and long time Reds announcer was rushed to Jewish Hospital. A few days later he died. He never came out of the hospital. I was so close to meeting this legend. I still have the letter.