Your experiences with HOF'ers

[smotan_02]

Originally Posted by 71buc

This has been one of my favorite posts since joining this board. My initial post on this thread dealt with my experience with baseball players. After reading the positive comments on interactions with boxers I thought I would share my own.

I took my son to an Oakland A’s spring training game about ten years ago. He was twelve at the time. I’m a third generation Indian and Pirate fan. He broke with the family tradition and adopted the Oakland A’s. He now has his own personal hell and he can at least relate to his father’s pain. During the game Mohammed Ali made a surprise appearance. When he entered the ball park you could hear a pin drop. It was surreal. The game stopped and the players applauded him. The crowd chanted Ali, Ali! He sat a few rows away from us and an autograph line quickly formed. He signed between innings. Those in line knelt to avoid obstructing the view of others during the game. My son asked why people were kneeling. My wife smiled and told him you do that before royalty. I told my son that this was an autograph opportunity he should not miss. At that time he was painfully timid but with a bit of coaxing he stood in line by himself for two innings. When it was his turn to receive an autograph play resumed forcing him to kneel and wait. Ali looked over at him and motioned to him. My son approached Ali rather nervously. He told my son to sit next to him in a vacant seat. He then opened a bag and pulled out a large oatmeal cookie broke it in half and handed half to my son. He sat with Ali eating that cookie for a half inning. At the end of the inning Ali smiled at him and threw a quick jab his way. He then signed the autograph and thanked my son for sitting with him.

When we returned home my shy son shocked us with the announcement that he wanted to be a boxer. My wife and I cringed but he was persistent so we relented. He boxed for a few years and although he was an average boxer the sport changed him in a positive manner. He became assertive, disciplined, and extremely confident. He has grown into a young man I am very proud of. I have to attribute some of that to boxing and his fifteen minutes with Ali.

This is my favorite. Great thread, keep them coming!

[Exhibitman]

Great Ali story, Mike; that's why he's the greatest. He could be all pissy and self-pitying over his ailment but he's been a joy to his fans for decades instead. It's his personality, just like being a selfish turd was Mantle's personality. I remember seeing Ali at a card show shortly before he was diagnosed. He did not look well at all and was not his usual gregarious self but he stayed and signed as the 'free' guest for hours past his quitting time to make sure everyone got a signature. I remember seeing the ink stains on his white shirt cuffs [he was wearing a suit] and wondering at how much a major celebrity cares about his fans to stay on and keep signing for free like that.

Another guy who impressed me with his caring for fans was Steve Garvey. When he was at the height of his fame here in L.A. I saw him and his family one Sunday morning at a local deli in Woodland Hills. Kids were lined up 20-deep at his table to meet him. His wife was visibly pissed off but he not only signed everything as his eggs sat getting cold, he engaged each kid in conversation, sat them down next to him, etc. Although I was a Dodgers hater at the time [they were playing my beloved Yankees in the W.S. three times in those years] I was really impressed with him.

Another one who's always been good with fans even when he was the biggest star around is Sylvester Stallone. I ran into him a couple of times here in L.A. in the 1980s and he was always polite and nice to his fans and signed whenever he was able. I was so tongue-tied that all I could sputter out was that I'd seen all his movies. He thanked me and signed my autograph for me.

[Mr. Zipper]

Despite the upsetting story about the Mick, this has been a great read!

Love the Ali stories.

Keep 'em coming!

[scmavl]

Anyone got any Stan Musial stories? The Ali stories are very impressive.

[whitehse]

Another quick story of my time working in the major leagues.

I was assigned, along with another co-worker to be Pete Rose's shadow on the weekend in which he came to Wrigley Field and would eventually tie Ty Cobb's hit record. Pete had received death threats and various other threats and they thought it was a good idea to put two of the larger guys on him all weekend wherever he went. Pete would show up at the ballpark and we would literally follow him around wherever he went. The cool thing was I was able to see him in his everyday baseball glory. He was actually very nice to us and engaged us both in conversation the whole weekend. It was very odd to be hanging around the guy that I hated as a kid but he actually won me over.

The cool thing of the whole experience was that Pete would have a press conference every day leading up to the record setting game. We escorted him, on field, to the right field corner where a press conference was being held under than stands. After the presser ended we headed back, on field towards the Reds dugout. Batting practice was going on and we were walking in right field when a ball was hit our way. It was one of those line shot one hoppers that came right at me and I reached out and grabbed it bare handed. Pete looked right at me and said "wow nice grab"! I couldn't believe that I caught the ball AND Pete Rose was complimenting me. It took a few seconds but I realized my hand and arm were on fire from the pain of catching a major league line shot one hopper with no glove but there was no way I was going to show Mr. Rose that I wanted to cry like a baby!! LOL It was a huge thrill for me, as someone who loves the game of baseball to have this massive star not only talking to me and asking questions about my experiences but to compliment me on a great catch!!

I have heard stories of Pete Rose and how much of a turd he could be but for that weekend, he couldn't have been more pleasant and engaging to me and my colleague. He did cause the game of baseball to be cast in a bad light when he bet on baseball and do the crap he did but I did gain a measure of respect for him that weekend.

[theshleps]

My son batboyed for team USA when Frank Robinson was manager and they were doing practice games in Maryvale in Phoenix.
There is a superfan named Suzie who has a deep voice and comes to the games in AZ (mainly Dbacks) and cheers on each player. Even if they are just having a catch- she'll yell "great catch or something like it". She is well known to AZ fans. The players didn't know how to relate to her. One day Suzies voice was saying its usual accolades but Suzie was nowhere to be seen. It turns out that Frank was imitating Suzie from the dugout. You'd have to be there to appreciate it, but it was hilarious.
Despite my son and Frank having many neat conversations, Frank only signed one autograph for Noah for all the time they spent together. Noah had some 1960's Topps RBI and HR leader cards that were partially signed already but Frank would turn him down. Frank would say "maybe you'll get me someday".
Noah would yell from the dugout a cheer he learned in school to the batters "stroke it and poke it". He didn't understand the sexual connotations. Within a few days Frand was yelling it to. I once paid $65 to get Frank to sign a picture of he and Noah and to inscribe- stroke it and poke it. he refused to inscribe.
I ran into Frank at the winter mlb meetings a few years ago. We spoke about Noah and he remembered him. I said Frank can you sign this card or Noah's and he said no.
One more story- not a HOFers but since our collection specializes in HOF and Jewish- we own Shawn Greens AAA home jersey from Syracuse. We went to the DBacks spring training camp in Tucson not knowing if we'd get it signed or not as it was quite crowded and we didn't know Shawns signing habits. Shawn and the rest of the team came out about 50 yards away to warm up. Noah was wearing the jersey. Shawn looked over (50 yards away) and sprinted over to Noah to get a look at the jersey. He was amazed that we had it. He signed it and posed and was amazing. A few weeks later Noah saw Shawn outside of Phoenix muni and remembered him and they talked for 20 minutes.
Noah has alot of these stories and times we shared together. As a result we can rarely root for a team- just individual players as each team is a mix of great guys and not so great guys

[GrayGhost]

More great stories. I wonder why Frank doesn't sign much in person, or didn't in those days? Seemed friendly enough.

One that a friend told me, not a HOF, but hope you allow it. He was at a card show w Bucky Dent and Mickey Rivers signing. Apparently it was Mick's first show. A kid walked up to Mick and handed him a photo, and Mickey asked Bucky "What do I do" Bucky was flabbergasted,..maybe Mick was kidding? Anyways, Bucky said, like this. Bucky took one of his own photos and signed it Buckey Dent. Mick then took the kids photo he had, of Mickey Rivers mind you and signed it BUCKY DENT

Another HOF'er I met many years ago at the same show I met Brooks Robinson at was NFL HOFer Bob Lilly. He was really really cordial.

Last one was at an Ed Keetz show in Polish home in Albany NY years back. Scooter was a guest and I had a yankees stadium postcard to have him sign. He asked me where to sign it, I pointed to the sky, and he said right up there where Mick was right now. Also, a card show years back in my old HS w Scooter. A big line was forming for him, in the hall outside the signing area. Phil came down the hall w a rep and a little boy rushed up to him, w no autograph ticket. He asked Phil if he could sign the ball. Sure Sonny. The promoter then runs up to Phil and says "he didn't have a ticket for that" Phil's reply. "You Huckleberry, I'll sign for the kids anytime I please" . Made me smile.

[scooter729]

I once saw Frank Robinson when he was managing the Orioles around 1990, on a trip to Boston. It was a Sunday, their last day in town. I approached him outside of Fenway with no one else around, and asked him politely to sign my 1967 Orioles card with he, Brooks Robinson and Hank Bauer, already signed by the other two.

He looked at the card, saw it was signed by the others, and said, "Nice card you got there, signed by Hank and Brooks."

I said, "Thank you, Mr. Robinson - would you mind signing it for me?"

He said, "I'll sign it for you tomorrow."

I responded, "But it's your last day in Boston."

He loudly laughed and said, "I know," and walked into the park.

I wonder what would've happened if I followed the Orioles to the next town and presented the card to him then. What a jerk.

[scooter729]

One other bad HOF story to share now - this happened about 2-3 years ago now, but I'll copy and paste from my post at the time, about Johnny Bench....

================

I went last night to the Boston University Bookstore for a book signing by Johnny Bench. I was planning on buying his book and having it signed, but my real goal was to have him sign my HOF bat. I've been working on this bat for about 15+ years, where I have been getting as many Hall of Fame people to sign it. I'm close to 30 now. (My experience has been that at book signings, usually the people will only sign their book and not other things, but I figured I'd take a chance.)

I went into the signing area and left the bat in my car, and figured I'd ask Bench to see if he'd sign it first. (It's pointless to ask bookstore people, since they'll just say no.) So I waited in the small line, went up to Bench, had him sign my book, then asked him:

Me: Mr. Bench, I have a bat out in my car that I've had about 30 Hall of Famers sign. I would be thrilled if you would sign it for me as well.
Bench: Ah, well, ask my son what he thinks (pointing to back of room).

His son is about 20 years old and goes to BU - hence the appearance there. I'm confused, but I do as he said and go talk to his son. I repeat the story to the son, and he says sure, although he's not sure why Johnny told me to ask him. I go back out to my car, get the bat, wait at the back until the last 10 people or so get their books signed, then I go up to the front where Bench is, by himself.

Me: Thanks to you and your son for agreeing to sign the bat for me; I greatly appreciate it.
Bench (taking my pen and signing my bat): My son told you I want fifty bucks for doing this, right?
Me: Excuse me?
Bench (somewhat snapping at me): I'm here to sign books, not your bat. I want fifty bucks.
Me: No one said that to me. I had no idea.
Bench (angry now): Don't give me that crap. If you've had 30 people sign this, you know how it works. You want it signed, you pay up. (He's now holding my bat, not giving it back.)
Me (opening my wallet and showing him): I've got 24 bucks on me; I came in with 50, but just spent 26 to buy your book. And honestly, I haven't paid anyone else to sign my bat.
Bench: So you think I'm here to just sign your bat for free? Ridiculous. (Rolls the bat back across the table at me.) And to think I tried to give you a break - go to my website next time, and you'd have to pay 100 bucks.
Me: So do you want my 24 bucks?
Bench: Get out of here, will ya?

My memories of The Baseball Bunch have just gone up in flames. Another hero shot down in my mind.