Talk about YOUR meetings with an MLB'er

[7nohitter]

I LOVE reading about encounters with player...HOF'ers, scrubs...it doesn't matter.

Who was GREAT to deal with? Who was an absolute insolent ass?

When I young I worked at a grocery store and dealt with Danny Darwin, Rich Gedman, Jeff Reardon, Roger Clemens, Oil Can Boyd, KC Jones (Celtics coach), Lee Smith and Dwight Evans...EACH guy could not have been nicer and signed an autograph from me at the register!

[Runscott]

I really liked Juan Marichal and Bobby Valentine. I was sitting in the outfield at a game when Valentine was a rookie with the Dodgers - he just seemed super happy to be there and was smiling and acknowledging the fans before the game. You could throw stuff down from the bleachers and Marichal would sign it and throw it back up. He also was great after the games.

Since my fondest pro interactions as a kid were with NFL football players, I'll also mention Lee Roy Jordan and Alex Karras. On the I.A. side - Dick Butkus

[drc]

As close as I can get is former NHL player Mike Eaves was the student teacher for my 4th grade gym class. He was a star player the University of Wisconsin at the time, and I went to an elementary school about four miles from the UW campus. As a nine year old, did I ask him for an autograph? Yes. The funny thing is all I had for him to sign was that brown bathroom hand paper from the locker room.

[steve B]

Only two baseball players.

Brooks Robinson, at a Sports Illustrated hospitality room in 1976. Really great, held up the line to talk baseball a bit. When someone complained he told them somewhat loudly "I'm talking to the kid about baseball! You can wait" I think he stretched to conversation a bit.

Bob Feller. He pitched a homerun contest between games of a minor league doubleheader - I think maybe 74 or 75? Afterwards he came up in the stands and signed as much as you wanted, he had probably a couple thousand 8 1/2 x11 printed picture sheets. Most of the kids made paper planes out of them. When I asked if that bugged him he said it was ok because they were kids. Since I was hanging around he asked about little league, and spent most of an inning talking about pitching, and what the pitchers in the game were doing.

The Russian rider at the 73 ISDT who signed by having a pen attachment molded into his arm cast was amazing, even without much interaction. Language barrier, just finshed 6-8 hours riding mostly challenging off-road trails with his arm in a cast, day 3 or four I think, and I'm not sure just when he'd injured the arm. And the first thing he did heading out of the motorcycle impound/pits was have the mechanic bring the pen and put it into the cast.

Steve B

[bigtrain]

The summer before he died I saw Bob Feller in Cooperstown. He had been signing at a table in front of one of the stores but it was late in the day and no one was around. I didn't want to bother him but he greeted me as I passed. We talked for about 15 minutes. I found out that he collected antique tractors and he talked about how he loved to visit Cooperstown. I told him I had a copy of the Daily News from the no-hitter he pitched against the Yankees. He told me to bring it next summer so he could sign it for me. Alas, that didn't happen.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

I love Feller. I met him twice, first was at TwinsFest about 5+ years ago. Just walked by his table, and he struck up a conversation. We talked about who the best hitter he ever faced was, and he looked at me and said, 'it was this man named Ted Williams, some may call him the Splendid Splinter.' That was great.

Second time was at the Bob Feller Museum to get some high grade rookies signed in person. He looked at the '48 Bowman (and his memory is SHARP) and said, 'Ah yes, I remember this, this was taken at Yankee Stadium in '47 I believe.'

Killebrew was amazing, I had my mom get him to sign a few rookies for me because I was unable to attend the event, and he told her 'I was 18 in this photo, and damnit I was handsome!'

[shelly]

Wow, what a difference of opinion we have when it comes to Feller.He sold his HOF ring eight tmes. He would show up at the Strongsville show in his station wagon. It had a big sign on it say Greates Right Hand Pitcher Alive. Will be signing in room such and such because he was to cheap to buy a table.
I will give him this. He was one of the biggest backers of Negro League players. You are correct in the fact he would sign anything. That is why when someone asks what is worth more a signed picture of Feller or a blank one.
The answer is a blank one because you cant find one.

[bigtrain]

Shelly, what was amazing to me was that I had met Feller about 20 years earlier and he couldn't have been a bigger jerk, surly, cranky and miserable. Maybe having a bad day but the second time I met him, he could not have been nicer. Same thing with Pete Rose. Met him when he had just retired and thought he was a real schmuck. Saw him after he started signing his name for a living and he was great. Had kids sit on his lap, posed for as many pictures as you wanted, etc.

[Mr. Zipper]

Chatted with Feller a few times. He could be cantankerous, but I always took it in a funny, entertaining way... not a truly mean way.

I liked to ask him about the pay modern players get just to wind him up and watch him go off. LOL

[GoldenAge50s]

Back in 1993 when I was doing shows I set up @ one of Mike Riccio's Stamford CT weekend affairs when Mickey Owen & Tommy Henrich were guest signers.

Right after the Sat show closed my wife & I adjourned to the motel bar for some well-deserved cocktails and I grabbed a seat @ the bar right next to Tommy Henrich.

I had the great pleasure to sit w/ Tommy & drink Budweisers for about an hour & 1/2 while he told story after story about every Yankee he ever knew or played w/--from Ruth right up until he saw Mantle arrive for Spring Training in 1950.

Greatest thrill I ever had talking to a ballplayer and will never forget it!

[MVSNYC]

2 years ago my wife & i went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. when we landed in Honolulu airport, i was reading the flat screen monitor to see which baggage claim was ours...standing right next to me, and easily a full 12" taller, was none other than Ken Griffey Jr. he was much bigger than i ever thought, and had that unmistakeable smile. i couldn't help but introduce myself and tell him i was a big fan. he thanked me and wished me well. very brief interaction, but still very cool.

[btcarfagno]

Boston area high school show around 1995 or so. Drove up in what was essentially a blizzard. Unpacked our stuff in the hotel room when we finally arrived and headed downstairs to drink away the memories of driving for 6 hours straight in a blinding snowstorm.

We took our drinks out to the lobby and who do we see but Frank Mahovolich. He had sat down in a chair in tbe lobby and was soon holding court with about 15 or so of us gathered around. Then who shows up but Jean Beliveau. The best way I can describe Beliveau is dapper. Strikingly well kempt. Just seemed like he was incredibly classy. He and Mahovolich talked to each other for a couple of minutes then Beliveau shook hands with everyone and left. Mahovolich kept going until his drink was empty and then he also shook hands with everyone before retiring for the evening.

Both were extremely nice and gentlemanly and gave my wife and I a memory for a lifetime.

Tom C

[Duluth Eskimo]

You mention MLB specifically so I will play. I had the rare opportunity to spend many hours with many HOFers back in the 80's and early 90's when signings were still reasonably priced and many of the guys were still alive.

Someone mentioned Brooks Robinson. I have to admit that Brooks was a tie with Buck O'Neil for the two nicest baseball guys I ever met. Buck was truly a sincere gentleman and just like you may have seen in the Ken Burns series. Unbelievable stories that I just ate up.

Worst MLBer was without a doubt Willie Mays. A complete jerk. Joe DiMaggio was also completely disgusted with having to sit and sign for people. I am a big Yankees fan and it really disappointed me with DiMagggio.

If you step outside of baseball, Muhammed Ali was a gentleman as was Gordie Howe, although Gordie would know exactly how many items were signed and if you owed him an extra dollar.

Other really good stories came from Warren Spahn and many of those stars of the 50's. Great times that I will always remember. The best part about it is that at the time, just about every player would sign anything, with any inscription, without thinking twice. Sometimes they would sign an extra just because they felt like it.

I have not paid for an autograph in many, many years. Hard to pay $50 or more for something I got so many times for $5.

[kmac32]

Don Larsen was at the National a few years ago and my wife asked him what his favorite thing to do was. He told her he liked to gig frogs. I about snorted my beer when he said that.

I also have the line Lee Smith used when he put me behind the dish and told everyone he found a place to hide me and my horrendous fielding abilities. Actually ended up being a good catcher after he did this. I also closed one year at Cuns camp and picked him off of first base.

[7nohitter]

Love these stories.

[scmavl]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

Love these stories.

So do I. Keep 'em coming, guys!

[Scott Garner]

A store grand opening in my area offered up HOF and no-hit pitcher Gaylord Perry as a free signer today.

You've gotta love getting the opportunity to meet a HOF player, get to talk baseball with him for a minute, and also get a photo op for FREE!!

I brought a ticket stub from Perry's 300th career win for him to sign. I also had an opportunity to ask him what pitches he featured in his historic no-hitter on September 17th, 1968.

For the record, he no-hit Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cards throwing fastballs, sliders and a fork ball. No foreign substances were applied...
The following day, Ray Washburn of the visiting Cards returned the favor and no-hit the hometown SF Giants.

Here is a photo of me and Mr. Perry, my 300th win ticket that he signed as well as a picture that he also signed for free. Pretty cool!

BTW, not a MLB player, but I did sit next to hockey HOF'er Gordie Howe at a dance competition last weekend. Gordie's high school senior grandson Sean Howe and my 10 year old daughter both dance for the same dance school. Grandpa Gordie must be exceedingly proud of Sean because he just got accepted into the famous Julliard School of Dance. He really is an amazing dancer and deserves all the accolades that he receives.

Here is a picture of my daughter from last weekend. I'm a proud father as well!

I was in line at Bi-Mart with a bag of birdseed in one hand and box of buckshot in the other when the voice of my childhood, Mariners play-by-play legend Dave Niehaus, pipes up behind me.

"Are you looking to shoot your dinner?"

I hesitated to explain myself, "NO, NO. These purchases are unrelated". He rolled his eyes and gave me a good ribbing about "you really should have bought a magnet to get the shot out", "you shouldn't shoot in city limits", etc. and continued to give me a hard time out to my truck. There, he signed the butt of my winchester XTR1500 "HAPPY HUNTING, DAVE NIEHAUS" with a sharpie he said "he always kept in his pocket for the fans".

Just a real gentleman, his baritone will always be remembered as the voice of the Mariners.

[GKreindler]

AMAZING stories, guys.

Fred, I'd LOVE to hear more about Henrich. He was always one of my favorites from those late-30s teams.

Graig

[GoldenAge50s]

Well, for one thing there was nothing in the least bit pretentious about him--he was as personable & down-to-earth as your best friend would be. He was very easy to talk to and really warmed up when I told him my very 1st World Series thrill was Game 1 of the 1949 WS when he hit a lead0ff HR in the bottom of the 9th off Don Newcombe for a walk-off 1-0 Yankee victory!

He was very impressed I remembered all the details and from there he just kept right on going for the next close to 2 hrs! I asked him about seeing Mantle for the 1st time and he just shook his head in amazement as he said he had never seen a player w/ the speed & raw power---knew right off the "kid" was "gonna' be a good one"!

I just sat there mesmerized, bought him a beer or 2 and had the experience of my life w/ a true Yankee Star.

[drc]

My dad was a science professor and met a few Nobel Prize winners over the years. One of his favorite stories was meeting Neils Bohr, Danish nuclear physicist ranked on the order of Einstein. Bohr had such a thick Danish accent my dad didn't understand a word he said.

[mr2686]

Neils Bohr was the answer (or question) on Jeopardy the other night. Kinda weird how you've never heard of someone and then you hear about them twice in a few days.

[Exhibitman]

Don Newcombe

I posted this eight years ago but this thread seemed like a good place to reprise:

I had a really great experience.

A friend invited me to Dodger Stadium to have lunch with Don Newcombe and to meet the current team, as part of a charity thing he'd won at a golf tournament. It was amazing. We met Newk at 2:00 sharp and spent the next hour and a half on the field at Dodgers Stadium. I met Shawn Green, Paul Lo Duca, Manny Mota, Maury Wills (who gave me tips on teaching my daughter to field), Jose Hernandez, David Ross and Alex Cora. Jose Lima was really cool; gave my nephew his batting gloves. My nephew, who is 5, also got to meet Eric Gagne and got a single-signed ball. I had the players sign my hat and had Green sign a 2001 Upper Deck Vintage card (the ones that look like 1971 Topps cards). I also took a bunch of pictures and an hour or so of video. Best of all, I was able to get Don Newcombe to tape a greeting for my Dad, who was a Brooklyn Dodgers hardcore fan, and sign a nice personalized team photo for him.

The field is like the nicest golf green you have ever seen. The players are all a heck of a lot bigger and stronger than they look on tv. Most are about my size (6'3") but built a heck of a lot differently. They also have a lot of fun that you never see. The pitchers were taking bunting practice and playing games with it, and the regulars were playing home run derby. Honest to God, they were putting the ball into the bleachers and giving different points for the closer orange seats and the farther away blue seats. Green even smashed one into the scoreboard, which must have won him something. You cannot believe how hard these guys can hit until you are ten feet away in an empty stadium listening to the ball explode off the bat.

Lunch was great. Newcombe played 2 years in the Negro Leagues and then 3 in the minors and 10 in the majors, so he saw it all and did it all. Since my friend and I are baseball history nuts (me much more so than him, which is why he wanted me there to talk with Newcombe), we had a hell of a 2+ hour discussion about what it was really like back then. Among the more interesting things we learned:

--The best pitcher he ever saw: short term, Koufax. For a career, Spahn and Roberts.
--The toughest hitter: Stan Musial. I asked him about Williams. He said that he faced Williams a couple of times in an all-star game. Teddy Ballgame hit the hell out of the ball all four at bats. Two were caught over the fence, the others were long hits. I said I guessed he was pretty tough too; Newcombe sighed and shook his head.
--Beanballs: He was adamant about the lack of quality of today's pitching because of the reluctance to go inside. He said that his era had pitchers who dominated the plate (which is why Clemens is the pitcher he likes most today) and there were never the fights that break out today. It was just part of hard, tough play. He said that once at Wrigley, Duke Snider had a home run and the Cubs hit Rocky Nelson, the next batter. Robinson asked him to do something about it. Newk threw at the next 7 Cubs. The ump came over and told him to stop, as did Alston. Alston said if he did not stop, he'd have to come out. Newk told him to take him out after the next two because he still had two batters to throw at. Alston yanked him. He also said that no one threw at him because the pitchers all knew that they'd have to stand in against him later on.
--Minnie Minoso: I asked him if he'd played with Minoso in the Negro Leagues because I'd heard the guy was a character. Newcombe said no, he wasn't a character, just crazy. He said that there was only 1 restaurant in Tampa Bay that would serve the black players, so all of them ate there. Minoso liked their chicken and would order it every time. The others would come over to talk with him and steal the chicken to eat. Finally, Minoso got so mad that he spit on all the chicken and dared the others to take it. Of course, he had to eat spit covered chicken afterwards.
--Racism: I asked whether he felt he had been held back because of his race when he was signed. He said absolutely, that he was 54 and 9 in the minors over 3 seasons, but Rickey was reluctant to promote too many black players at once.
--Chuck Connors: the Rifleman was a teammate of his in the minors. He said that the only time someone charged the mound against him was when a redneck came at him. He ducked out and Connors "beat the hell out of him." Connors said that he (Newcombe) wasn't allowed to fight, but he (Connors) was allowed to fight. Afterwards, he was approached by an elderly black man who said that he had done the right thing not to fight. It was Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
--Jackie Robinson: I asked whether it was true that Robinson told the black players to get out and mingle with white teammates. He said they were very careful to do that. In fact, the clubhouse man had put all 3 guys (Robinson, Campy and Newk) lockers side by side by side and they insisted that they be spread out instead.
--Josh Gibson: He pitched to Gibson and says that he was every bit as good as any major leaguer, and then some.
--Batting Practice: He used to throw BP instead of throwing on the side between starts, which he said was great for him and for the batters because he could work on live batters and they could hit live pitching. He claims that the Dodgers started using a screen at his request because he was tired of ducking liners. They used to try to hit it through the box at him and he would always threaten to knock them down. Carl Furillo was the "best" at hitting back through the box in BP.
--No pepper: he has no idea what the reason is why pepper was banned. He said that he and Furillo played it constantly as a means of improving their control.
--Drysdale: Whenever Drysdale had a batter who liked to dig in, he'd yell: "Keep digging, because you are going into the hole!" and then throw at them.
--Cheating: Lew Burdette taught him to throw a spitter. He in turn taught a number of players on other teams. I asked him if it was a feeling of pitchers against hitters and he agreed that there was a cameraderie among pitchers that extended beyond teams to the point where they would share information and techniques. He also told me how pitchers load it up today. You can go to the mouth off the mound and there is no way to force the pitcher to dry off afterwards. I asked him how a spitter worked (I already knew from physics, but I wanted to hear what a pitcher thought about it). Sure enough, he had a practical explanation of what the ball does that fits right in with the physics explanation: the ball is thrown straight as a fastball and it dives. (The scientific explanation is that a spitter works by changing the wind resistance on a ball, causing a straight looking pitch to dive). What I did not realize is that water and sweat don't work. It takes spit.

Anyhow, it was an awesome experience to talk baseball for hours with a ROY-MVP-Cy Young winner.

Oh, I had him sign all 3 of his Exhibit cards, a 1956 Brooklyn team card and a 1955 Bowman card. He also got Vin Scully to take a moment from his pregame and sign a 1961 Union Oil piece for me.

[shelly]

I have a Warren Spahn story. Bill Alsburg who used to run showes in Orange County set up a private signing with Warren. He sat down wrote on a ball his name backwards and said look in the mirrior. He then preceded to talk about baseball. Half way into his telling me about his life story he turns to Bill as asked him if was German. Bill said yes and Warren told him what a great job they did on the Jews. I looked at him like he was out of his mind. He then started to talk about Jackie Robinson and how he ruined baseball. I asked him why and he said the blacks are to good and they made the white man look slow. I then was in total shock when he then said he hated Hank Aaronn more because he did not have the balls to fight back when his teamates called him Nigg. I just left. Bill called me latter and said that Warren was drunk and he did not mean it.

[drc]

You know a nuclear physicist must be big when his name appears on a game show.

[grainsley]

My "meeting" was actually by phone. Over in another BB card group, OBC, (yeah, we love beaters, too), I started up the Hall of Mediocrity....guys who had no shot at the real Hall but we liked them anyways. My guy was Billy Hoeft, who I had gotten interested in because of his several variation cards. One day I got an email from his son asking what this was all about, this Billy Hoeft Fan Club. I explained, he liked it, and that was that, until some time later. He contacted me again, explained that his brother was coming back from the Gulf and they were having a family reunion....any chance I would like to get on the phone with his Dad for a bit and ask any questions I might have? (Are you KIDDING me???) It happened, I had lots of off the wall questions, we talked a lot about his career and travels, players from the '50's and '60s', cards, the game, etc. Billy spent two hours on the phone with me, his sons listening, because they didn't know much about Dad's career, they had been too young. Fine gentleman was Billy, and he didn't have to do that. He just liked people and talking BB. I'll close with one of the questions I asked him........the difference between his era and today. He thought about that for just a moment, and said "I hate the way guys grandstand now, posing at home plate after launching one. We never showed anybody up. If anyone had done that to me, the next time I faced him, I'd throw a teaser low and away. I'd put the next one right in his f***ing ear.

Thanks Billy, for my Field of Dreams moment.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Originally Posted by shelly

I have a Warren Spahn story. Bill Alsburg who used to run showes in Orange County set up a private signing with Warren. He sat down wrote on a ball his name backwards and said look in the mirrior. He then preceded to talk about baseball. Half way into his telling me about his life story he turns to Bill as asked him if was German. Bill said yes and Warren told him what a great job they did on the Jews. I looked at him like he was out of his mind. He then started to talk about Jackie Robinson and how he ruined baseball. I asked him why and he said the blacks are to good and they made the white man look slow. I then was in total shock when he then said he hated Hank Aaronn more because he did not have the balls to fight back when his teamates called him Nigg. I just left. Bill called me latter and said that Warren was drunk and he did not mean it.

He must have been pretty drunk. I picked him up at the airport and spent a couple of hours with him and never got that impression. I did hear many racist stories from a few of the guys from that generation. Spahn did tell some great stories about his times and how weak pitchers are today. He echoed the sentiments about how pitchers don't own the plate anymore and said if he had someone try to show him up he would have just hit him in the head. I gained a lot of respect for the hitters of that generation by listening to stories the pitchers told.

Eddie Mathews had some great stories as well and when I met him I was about 16 yrs old. We were getting stuff signed in a hotel room about 9am and had three drinks delivered to the room to get his day started. Mathews told a story about how he and Spahn and Atwo others would take separate cabs from the airport in a town, tear a $100 bill in half and tell the cab driver he could have the other half if he got to the hotel first. $100 was big money for the 50's and he said the cab drivers would drive on sidewalks about 50 miles and hour to get that other half of the bill.

A separate story from a 60's Twins pitcher related was how they would bring women back to their hotel rooms and drink, etc. one time he said he and another player were hitting golf balls off of her pub** hair with full golf swings. He stated they were so drunk he couldn't believe they even hit the ball. That was probably the craziest story I heard, but there were many that rivaled it.

The biggest thing I remember is how these guys described how little money they actually made and how many, even stars had to get jobs in the off season to earn extra money. Can you imagine walking into a car dealership and seeing your favorite player trying to sell you a car. Hard to relate to today's saleries.

[shelly]

Just a little excerpt from a book about Aaron.

Aaron also stayed distant from his teammates. He did not go out drinking, and he steered clear of racist teammates, including Warren Spahn, the undisputed team leader.

[bbcard1]

A few brushes worth mentioning....

In college, Joe Nuxhall came to Marshall and after speaking played quarter bounce with a bunch of us...

Jose Canseco could not have been nicer, talking at length with my son about baseball and the beauty of the game. My son didn't notice the ankle monitor.

Bob Gibson was an ass, which I understand is to be expected.

[GKreindler]

That's amazing, Fred.

It's amazing to think how much Henrich saw in his day. Basically bridged the gaps between Gehrig, DiMaggio and Mantle. Not a bad bunch of guys to be playing with.

But seriously, there was always something about him that really interested me. It might have been all of those great moments that he had been a part of (the '49 WS homer, the '41 Mickey Owens gaffe), or it might have just been because of hearing him in interviews. He always seemed so affable and his eyes just lit up when he would talk about the old days.

I was VERY sad when he passed.

Graig

[SmokyBurgess]

Baseball- Dale Murphy. Signing with 2 other players before a Sunday night game. Very cool. Gave the photo to a nurse friend of mine.

Non-Baseball- Mother Teresa. Went to her complex in Calcutta and spent an afternoon at the orphanage with the kids. Meeting was very short (as was M.T), but playing with the abandoned kids (starved for attention) was a memory that still lasts after all these years.

[71buc]

When Tacoma was the Twins AAA affiliate I played whiffle ball with Lyman Bostock in the parking lot of Cheney Stadium. I was 11 and he was very friendly and left a lasting impression. I was crushed when he was murdered.

I posted this story about my son couple of years ago. Although it is not a baseball story it is still fun nonetheless. I took my son to an Oakland A’s spring training game about eleven years ago. 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.

[Mr. Zipper]

[thenavarro]

Last year at the Rangers game. I was sitting there emailing on my phone while Maven (my daughter) was just hanging out. Next thing I know, I hear Maven chatting with someone, and I look up and see her holding Scott Feldman's glove, and he was right there with her. I heard her tell him, "I can't sign your glove because I only have a black marker (he had a black glove), do you have anything else?" He said "sure, how about this piece of paper" and next thing I know, she is signing an autograph FOR Scott Feldman. He told her he was going to hang it in his locker. VERY COOL of him, she was so ecstatic. I got a picture of them, and you can see him holding her autograph in his hand in my pic. Most of the Rangers are very cool to my daughter. Ever since Nellie Cruz told her she was cute, she's been hooked as a Rangers fan, LOL. They are a great fan friendly organization

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by 71buc

When Tacoma was the Twins were AAA affiliate I played whiffle ball with Lyman Bostock in the parking lot of Cheney Stadium. I was 11 and he was very friendly and left a lasting impression. I was crushed when he was murdered.

I posted this story about my son couple of years ago. Although it is not a baseball story it is still fun nonetheless. I took my son to an Oakland A’s spring training game about eleven years ago. 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.

Wow, Mike! What a great story! How cool is that?

[Big Dave]

I think these are the best kind of postings on here. All the drama queens take a break from these and the stories are really interesting and worth the read.

Thanks for the insightful stories.

[toyman55]

How great of your son Mike to be influenced by Ali. I've told the story here before but my two boys were 4 and 7 when we met Ali. While getting the autographs with my boys Ali saw my wife on the side taking pictures. he picked up my 4 year old and gave him a kiss on the cheek. We have the pictures framed along with his autograph. Ali is the Greatest of all Time.

[shelly]

When Ali would do signing for Prince of Cards he would alway ask Darren did that guy just call me a name. Stand up a pretrended to take a punch. When you saw the size of those fist comeing at your head you thought would die right then and there. He always smiled and never complained even though you could see that each time he signed it was getting harder and harder to do. He is a great man.

[RichardSimon]

A friend of mine was friendly with Ted Williams' agent the notorious Vince Antonucci and my friend had chatted with Ted at a show.
One day he gets a phone call from Vince Antonucci inviting him to Florida to look at a huge autograph collection he had just gotten. My friend invited me along.
Vince owned a large hobby store. When we got there much of the collection was spread out in the store on showcases. Vince had many, many showcases in the store. Vince said we can purchase items the next day as he was busy that first day we were there.
Vince was also the agent for Monte Irvin who was in the store at the time. I had been told before hand that we had a chance to meet Monte so I brought along all the wire service photos I had of him. He signed every single one of them (maybe 20) and told me the story about each photo as he signed it. We then took him out to lunch and later to dinner. He came back to our hotel room. All day long he regaled us with baseball stories. What a wonderful man he is.
The next day we get to the store in the morning and my friend says to Vince "give Ted a call and tell him I am here." Vince calls Ted Williams. He then comes over to me and says that Ted is coming over but I should not bother him or ask him any questions as he does not want to talk baseball.
Well about 20 minutes later, driving up to the front of the store, in a jeep, is Ted Williams, literally larger than life. My friend introduces me to Ted, who after shaking my hand glances around at the store and sees all the items on top of the showcases.
He encourages me to join him and he does a walk around in the store and every time he would see an autograph item of someone he knew something about he would tell me about that player. This lasted for a full hour. When he found out I was a Mets fan he told me how he loved the swings of Darryl Strawberry and Greg Jefferies. He told me a story of a three game series, Tigers vs. Red Sox in Boston where he won the first two games with late hits. Then in the third game, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, Williams coming up. Tigers bring in lefty Billy Hoeft and the count goes to 3-2. Curve ball after curve ball and Williams keeps fouling them off. Listening to him was just jaw dropping. Finally Ted says "that SOB throws me a fastball, and I took it for strike three. The next day the papers in Boston ripped me to shreds: WILLIAMS FAILS IN CLUTCH were the headlines." And this after he won the first two games .
One of the greatest times of my life. And of course he signed two photos for me but I won't show them because I have done that about 6 times already and my friend Shelly will just tease me about it again .

[mr2686]

Richard, you have a signed Williams photo?

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by mr2686

Richard, you have a signed Williams photo?

And it is straight from Florida too .

[dwr11]

This is a great thread!

I have been fortunate to have numerous conversations with MLB players. A couple of the cooler experiences were meeting Killebrew at a show in January of 1984 at the Metrodome. It was right after it was announced that he had made the HOF. I am almost certain autographs at the show were $1.00. I had this shirt made up that said on the front "Minnesota Loves Harmon" and on the back it said the "Killer is in". Harmon loved that shirt. I told him I was going out to Cooperstown for his induction in August. He told me to look him up when we got out there. We went to the Otesaga Hotel and Harmon recognizes me and the shirt right away. He asks me if I want to meet the other players. That day he introduced me to Koufax, Campanella, Drysdale, PeeWee, Musial, Kiner, Aparicio and many others. At that time they were signing anything and everything I had along except for Campy. Each of the guys gave me a few of the yellow HOF plaque cards signed. Harmon was just a class act and would occasionally write letters to me wishing me luck for the upcoming high school sports season.

One other cool Cooperstown story was in the early 80's (I think it was 82) I was able to watch Ted Williams play Tennis at the Otesaga Hotel. There was a smaller group of people watching him play and after he was done he came over and had us lineup and went down the line and signed autographs for us.

Numerous times I have talked with players in the bar. Some of the nicer guys (including all sports) were Eric Davis, William Perry, Marcus Haynes, Steve Carlton, Billy Sims, Ricky Henderson, Anthony Carter, Earl Morrall and Don Larson.

Some characters included Spahn & Matthews.

[whitehse]

I had worked for the Chicago Cubs for 7 years in the '80s which was right after I graduated high school. I started as game day security which put me on the field and in the dugout during games which allowed me to chat with almost every player that came through the National league during that time. While many of the players and team staff were great to me (Tommy LaSorda is an interesting man), I found the most interesting guys were the old timers that used their gold passes to get into games for free and hung out for an afternoon of baseball. These guys told the greatest stories and appreciated the fact anyone wanted to listen to them.

I remember a very busy afternoon where the crowd was quite large outside the gates before Wrigley opened I found myself wading through the crowd when I saw an old Boston Braves hat being worn by an older gentleman. I stopped and commented on his hat and he laughed and said thanks and proceeded to tell me he wore it while playing in a World Series. I always prided myself on knowing my baseball but I had to be honest, when he told me his name was Phil Masi it didnt trigger anything in my head. Mr. Masi obviously saw his name didnt provide me any recall and looked at me and laughed. He said go ask the guy in the Cubs radio broadcast booth who he was as he was pretty sure Lou Boudreau could tell me a thing or three about him. I did ask Mr. Bourdreau about him eventually and did I ever hear more than I wanted to know about Phil Masi. LOL

I remember having a few conversations with George Brace about his career as a photographer. He told me that he remembers sitting in the dugouts with Gehrig and Ruth when he was a much younger man and talked about knowing the many legendary players that I had only read about. Mr. Brace was not much of a talker as he was there to get his photographs and left for the day but he was always one I knew I could talk to if I wanted an opinion on a ballplayer that played in the 20th century.

As I progressed in the organization and finally would get a chance at a full time/ year round position I had a chance to meet many team executives and broadcasters for the home and visiting teams. One of my favorite memories was taking a security shift (in stadium opearations, I was low man and did whatever was needed) and getting a frantic knock on the main office door at about 4pm. This day happened to be the annual Cubs/Sox game that was being played at Comiskey park so I assumed the person at the door was a front office person who forgot something and needed entry asap. I answered the door and before me stood 3 very young players who were called up from Iowa to play in this charity game. One of those players I recognized right away as Rafael Palmeiro who would eventually stay up with the team. The players all thought the game was at Wrigley and panicked when they saw no crowds and no teammates. After a few phone calls I was able to get them in a cab and on their way to Comiskey where they got there in time for the game. These players could not have bene nicer and each shook my hand repeatedly after I get them straightened out.

[shelly]

Ok last one for me. Hank Greenberg used to play tennis at the Beverly Hills tennis club. My Uncle Babe was a member and he invited me to meet Hank. I sat down and I told him I was from Cleveland and I knew his niece and how I used to see him at the ball park when he worked for the Indians. We started to talk about his chasing Babe Ruth's 60 hr record and how bad I felt that they pitched around him so he would not beat the record.
He really got pissed. He said that was a total crock and no one pitched around him. He said he was surprised he had that many home runs and that the last few weeks he just could not get there. He then told me that yes there where a lot of bigots put he loved the game and made many friends.
I did a lot of shows and private signings. Like I said the top five a holes where Willie Mays, Joe D, Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt and Aaron. The best. Killebrew, kiner, Matthews, Carew, Williams, Mantle, all the hockey players, Dr J, Magic, Ali and the list goes on for the good guys.
I am really sorry I forgot one of the best there is Ernie Banks. I can not tell you what a great person he is because it would take up to five days.

[7nohitter]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

I think these are the best kind of postings on here. All the drama queens take a break from these and the stories are really interesting and worth the read.

Thanks for the insightful stories.

Hell yes!

[dgo71]

I've met many MLB players and HOFers, but one of my favorites was Harmon Killebrew. He did a speaking engagement in my area several years ago and afterwards signed autographs and shook hands and chatted with many of the guests. I had 4 8x10 photos with me and he happily signed them all. As he signed each one, he told me where the photo was taken and when. The first three were very obvious (one had the Yankee facade in the background, so it was obviously at Yankee stadium, etc...) but the last photo was an action shot of him swinging on his follow through. There wasn't really anything in the picture to clue anyone in as to where/when the photo was taken. Without missing a beat, Killer lit up and said "Ohhh! This one! This is me hitting a grand slam off of Sandy Koufax!" I was wide-eyed and with amazement said "Wow? Really??" He looked at me with a wink and said "Well, it could be!"

I also am fond of the time I met Hank Aaron. He too was at an event but this is one I did not attend as I was a broke high school student at the time. I did however manage to crash the dinner afterwards and when I saw Hank sitting at a table near the exit I positioned myself and waited for a good moment to approach him. A few minutes later one of the attendees walked over and had Hank sign his program from the event so I figured that was my chance. I approached him and first shook his hand, telling him what an honor it was to meet a true legend. He thanked me and I asked if he'd mind signing something for me. He asked what I had, and when I produced three baseball cards and a blue sharpie from my shirt pocket, he gave me a look like "Ah...ya got me." He signed all three cards however and was very cordial. I shook his hand again and quickly left. Less than 5 minutes later, the event broke up and Aaron BOLTED for the door, signing maybe 2 autographs for the 20 people waiting outside without ever breaking stride. To make the day even better, I went to a AAA Tidewater Tides game that evening against the Rochester Red Wings, and got about 10 cards signed by the Orioles up-and-coming prospect, Mike Mussina. So that was definitely a very good day for autographs!

Last, an experience I thought was pretty funny where a little serendipitous timing worked in my favor. Dave Winfield did a hitting clinic at a local college, a two-day affair, and had been giving the autograph seekers quite a hard time by denying about 90% of the time he was there. On the last day, I had found out Winfield would be leaving by cutting through the gymnasium locker room and I headed around to catch him. On my way, I ran into Winfield who was engaged in a debate with a kid who looked to be about 12. Apparently the kid didn't believe Winfield was anybody special, and Dave was, well not yelling, but using a tone that was instantly recognizable as frustration. Winfield was telling the kid he was the RF for the Yankees (this was 1990 or 91, the January after he missed a whole season to injury) and the kid just flat out didn't believe him. It was really funny to watch, and after about a minute of this (seemed like much longer!) I asked Dave if he'd mind signing an autograph. Winfield looked at me with a look on his face like "Oh thank God", signed my 2 cards and looked at the kid and said, "You SEE?!" and walked off.

[yanks12025]

I met Chris Chambliss last month at a local signing, only acouple people showed up. I guess it was more for the store to get autographs to sell than people coming to see him. But I chatted with him for a bit, he even called my father and wished him a happy birthday(I asked him on the spot, so probably pressured him into doing it but he was kind enough and did it).

[MooseDog]

My mother was a nurse and worked with Mrs. Oletha May, mother of then-Angels and later-Yankees pitcher Rudy May. I guess they got to talking about baseball and their baseball crazy sons (I was 13 at the time).

One day the Angels are in town and I'm on my way to Mrs May's house to meet Rudy. Talk about star-struck! Sandy Alomar was there to as a bonus. I'm sure I was dumbstruck, as I don't really remember what I did or said but I know I was in awe being in the presence of two genuine professional baseball players. I had brought a Little League type ball to get signed which they both did an this card of Rudy.

Both men were nice as could be.

[MooseDog]

My mother was a nurse and worked with Mrs. Oletha May, mother of then-Angels and later-Yankees pitcher Rudy May. I guess they got to talking about baseball and their baseball crazy sons (I was 13 at the time).

One day the Angels are in town and I'm on my way to Mrs May's house to meet Rudy. Talk about star-struck! Sandy Alomar was there to as a bonus. I'm sure I was dumbstruck, as I don't really remember what I did or said but I know I was in awe being in the presence of two genuine professional baseball players. I had brought a Little League type ball to get signed which they both did an this card of Rudy.

Both men were nice as could be. Rudy sent me home with a signed team ball as well.

[MooseDog]

Originally Posted by dwr11

This is a great thread!
Harmon was just a class act and would occasionally write letters to me wishing me luck for the upcoming high school sports season.

Every time I hear a new story about Harmon Killebrew I am astonished at what a kind, caring and GENUINE man he was. He should be a role model not just for all athletes, but for the rest of us as well.