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What's your best autograph experience?
plifter
Posts: 361
I would have to say that by far my best experience was with HOFer Judy Johnson. He signed my item and wrote back on the letter I sent him. He wrote "Dear Matt, thanks for remembering me". I believe he passed away later that year (1988?). That tops any in-person experience I've had. Although getting Nolan Ryan's signature at a game in Cincinati in 1985 was certainly an exciting event for a 13 year old.
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Didn't think to ask him for an auto, though.
Did alot of TTM stuff back then as a kid with a buddy of mine and used to come home from school everyday to find anywhere from 6-10 returns in the mailbox.
Shame we both got tired of it when we became teenagers and sold all our goods to some dork with an ad in the paper for next to nothing
Because the work I'am in I have seen alot of ex players speak. Bill Walton,Don Shula,Mike Ditka and Roger Staubach. Had good time talking with all and received autographs.
My favorite experience has to do with my 7 year old (then 6 year old) son. We went to a Cardinals game this year and I took him down beside the Cardinals dugout. This was his first time, so naturally, he was excited, but he also didn't quite understand things. I'll explain. We took a ball with us and stood beside the dugout while the Cardinals where stretching. Well, Andrew yells real loud, "Hey, Albert! Hey, Albert!" Of course, being so far away, Albert Pujols didn't hear him. Andrew started crying. I said, "It's ok, son." About that time, So Taguchi saw me consoling my son, and he comes over to the edge of the dugout and motions for Andrew to come over. So, Andrew, with a great big smile on his face, goes over and gets So Taguchi to sign the ball.
As he was with Taguchi, I turn to my immediate right and see that Scott Rolen is now standing nearly directly in front of me signing for a few kids. So, I tell Andrew, "Hey, there's Scott Rolen." So, Andrew is right there in front of Scott Rolen and Andrew's is the last ball Rolen signs. Here is the good part. Andrew says, "Thank you" so that Rolen could hear it. That's when Rolen stops in his tracks as he is going back to the field and says, "No, thank you, son. That is very good manners. I don't hear that much." I thought that was really neat and also so sad that kids these days don't have enough manners to say a simple "thank you".
Shane
Mixed emotions with my HOF Bat; from Reggie Jackson being a complete a-hole to Bob Gibson, who took time to talk and sign.
On the other hand, every player who has signed my Heisman and HOF helmets have been an absolute pleasure to speak with. Each one acknowledged me, asked how I was doing, responded to my questions (asking Mike Rozier "Holy crap, that's your son! Sucker is HUGE! And he's only in highschool?!?!"), and shook my hand.
I'm positive they aren't "worth" the amount of money and time spent; however, the experience and memories are priceless
Speaking of, that thread will be updated in January.
The best in regards to signer personality and character was Otto Graham. He joked about how bad he looked in the 8x10 picture. He said that it looks like he crapped his pants in it...he even asked me if I wanted him to draw poop on the picture...pretty funnny stuff!
The worst was Jack Lambert...he SCARED me....ONE BAD DUDE! I joked that I was a Cowboy and Browns fan and that he and the Steelers gave me nightmares as a kid in the 70's. His face changes...gets all mean looking and he says to me " I HATE the F^#*ing COWBOYS!" (Glaring at me) I think I wet myself! LOL
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<< <i>" I HATE the F^#*ing COWBOYS!" >>
I just became one of Jack's fans.
It's sad that everyone wants to sell everything for $ and so athletes/entertainers get hounded all the time. Thankfully, alot of them recognize the differerence between fattening their and someone else's pocketbook and making or losing a fan for life.
I met Warren Moon at a John Cougar concert, he was sitting with Kevin McHale. I went up and asked him for his auto, and he really didn't want to do it, but he did sign my crappy checkbook backing sheet (the only paper I had) . Later I realized that for that night, he just wanted to be a concert watcher, not Warren Moon the famous quarterback, and I wish I woulda left him alone. Now I work somewhere where we encounter a fair amount of celebs and I always try to treat them like they were a regular visitor. I might know who they are, but that doesn't make us pals. I would hate getting hounded all the time and so I think that the "happy to do it" atheletes are fantastic!
I enjoy seeing all the stories about great experiences/memories.
stwon was right about Reggie-- A friend of mine worked for the Angels way back when reporting the AP/UPI every half inning to the papers. I got the grand tour one night after a game when Reggie was with the Angels and saw him tear into someone for asking for an auto in the Tunnel about an hour after the game was over.
Best experience was "Sweet Lou" Johnson at Dodger Stadium 10 years ago--total class act!!
<< <i>stwon was right about Reggie-- A friend of mine worked for the Angels way back when reporting the AP/UPI every half inning to the papers. I got the grand tour one night after a game when Reggie was with the Angels and saw him tear into someone for asking for an auto in the Tunnel about an hour after the game was over.
Best experience was "Sweet Lou" Johnson at Dodger Stadium 10 years ago--total class act!! >>
Reggie is the sharpie that doesn't sign the card.
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<< <i>One time I got Latrell Sprewell's auto and then he choked me out. >>
LOL!
One time I got Mike Tyson's autograph and he told me I had nice ears
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Also hung out with Iron Maiden for an entire day in Madrid in 1984 and the Scorpions for a weekend
Had many music relates experiences like that
Went to Ted Williams baseball camp 2 years in a row in 79 and 80. It was for the 3 week sessions and he always came for a visit during those.
Got a few balls signed and thankfully I sent one to my dad (parents were divorced) and the rest got sold at one point or another. Got the one back from my dad a couple years ago when he passed away.
As a 15 year old kid, during the winter after the Dodgers won the World Series back in the late 70's, I was looked at a '70 Topps Walter Alston card, and saw he lived in some place in Ohio. Just to see what might happen, I called information, and to my surprise, his phone number was listed, so I called him. I congratulated him on the Dodgers win, and he struck up a conversation with me asking where I played ball. Later I asked if he'd sign my card--which he was very happy to do. Not only did he sign it, he sent me an autographed picture back as well.
<< <i>
<< <i>One time I got Latrell Sprewell's auto and then he choked me out. >>
LOL!
One time I got Mike Tyson's autograph and he told me I had nice ears
I have a funny Mike Tyson story if you feel like reading it:
I was working at a Saab / Cadillac / Hummer dealer in AZ and one morning, one of the salesman told me he was coming in later that day to look at Hummers and Escalades.
Word got out around the dealership that Tyson was coming and when he showed up, everyone was following him and his posse around at a clear distance to get a look at him.
Earlier I had gone onto the net to try to find pictures to print and get him to sign for me if I happened to bump into him. I came accross one site that all these pictures but they all had funny and degrading ballon captions about eating ears and things like that. As a joke, I printed a couple of them and was asking the guys I worked with if they dared me to try to get them signed. Of course I never would have had the balls to do it so I tucked them into my Saab 9-5 quick reference manual that I used to get our celebrity visitors to sign (we had a lot but that's another story)
It was summer time so it was well over 100 degrees out and after about 30 minutes, Tyson was dripping wet with sweat and one of his bodyguards took him into the dealership to cool off. The ended up making their way to the conference room we had to chill out for a few. I happened to walk into our main office that also, on the other side of the office, had a 20 foot long or so hallway that led into the conference room. When I walked by, I looked down the hallway and saw Tyson sitting down in there. I ran back to the parts room and grabbed my "autograph" book and camera and went back to the conference room. He was in there with just one of his bodyguards. I said hello to him and asked he would sign and autograph for me and maybe get a picture with him. He was extremely friendly, said sure and reached for the book. I handed it to him and reached into my pocket to get the sharpie I had in there earlier and realized it wasn't in my pocket. Without hesitation, I said I'd be right back and took the 30 second or so walk back to the parts department to get my sharpie. About half way there, I remembered the pictures I had tucked into the book that was now in his hands - uh oh. So now I'm freaking out, should I run back in, grab the book and skip the autograph or keep going, get the sharpie and hope for the best(that he didn't open the front cover). I decided to go for it. Ran all the way, got the pen, and ran back. Well, I'm still alive so I guess he didn't open it. Got his autograph and a photo with him.
Through the mail - Ken Dryden. I sent a couple of index cards and received them back rather quickly. About a month later, I get another item from him in a plain envelope. It was a postcard autographed on the front and a message on the reverse that read " Hi Bob, Sorry but I must have misplaced your index cards. I hope this photo will do. Thank you, Ken Dryden". He must have sent my cards back and left my letter laying around only to find it and thought he misplaced my cards. I ended up with his autograph on the envelope (which he paid the postage for), on the front of the postcard and the reverse of the postcard. A very classy act if you ask me.
Bob
email bcmiller7@comcast.net
#1 - For my thirteenth birthday, my parents took me to see the musical "Cats" for my birthday (this was in 1982). Sitting in the row right behind us were Joe Montana, Dwight Clark, and their wives. I got both of their signatures on pages from my mom's datebook...
#2 - When I was in college at Washington University in St. Louis I ended up being the manager of the hockey team (being from CA, my skating wasn't good enough to actually play). We played all of our home games at the old St. Louis Arena about three hours prior to St. Louis Blues home games. Often the visiting NHL teams would arrive during the middle of our games and come out and watch us play. I got both Gretzky's auto and Lemiuex's auto on seperate days, both on lined paper from my spiral notebook....
<< <i>I got O.J. Simpson's autograph once and he....... nevermind, this one's in poor taste. >>
What, he immediately pulled a gun on you and asked for it back?
sports: Dodgers-Cardinals playoff game in 1985 in L.A., I had gotten down to the field level as the game was ending, and was heading toward the aisle where Cardinals players would come up who were visiting family or friends (most of whom would sign at least some autographs). I recognized someone famous sitting down in the special seats near the foul line that were added for the playoffs, pulled out both baseballs I had with me, headed over, and asked "Mr. Musial, would you please sign these for me?" He signed both. No one else was paying any attention to him.
non-sports: After a performance of Foxfire, I saw 2 of its 3 stars walking on the sidewalk by the theater while I was leaving, and got them to sign the cover of the playbill. They were Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy.
Nick
[edited for typo]
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I went to the Bob Feller museum to get Wade Boggs auto one day and Bob was there signing too so i decided to get his as well. Bob is a talkative yet hard to understand fellow sometimes and when i was getting my baseball signed, he for some reason brought up nile kinnick, he asked if i knew who he was, but i didnt here what he said, i just heard the name nile kinnick.
So i said "what?".
He must hae thought i said, "who?", so he somewhat, shall i say ,enthusiastically, says "you dont know who Nile Kinnick is?!" (Remeber we are in iowa, everyone knows who kinnick is here, so dot feel bad if you dont.)
Anyways, I felt like an a$$ in front of everyone there and he went on to tell an interesting story about playing aau ball with kinnick. It was a great story, but im sure everyone, including Bob, now thinks i am a moron.
P.S. this isnt a bad memory, i think its funny, gotta love those old guys!
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/
<< <i>
<< <i>I got O.J. Simpson's autograph once and he....... nevermind, this one's in poor taste. >>
What, he immediately pulled a gun on you and asked for it back?
http://sportsfansnews.com/author/andy-fischer/
Two stories, the good and the bad. I worked in Beaver Creek (Next to Vail, even more upscale) for 6 years and so was around lots of Celebs. One time I see Joe Montana about 6-7 years ago in one of the Art shops and even though I don't collect Auto's decide to ask him.
I walk up to him and politely tell him I am a big fan and could I please have an Autograph. He tell's me to go F&%%^$^K myself and turns and walks away. Class Act !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Second story as I have mentioned on these threads before I grew up with my Dad having seats in the box behind the Raiders Bench at Oakland Coliseum. I went to every home game from the age of 4-16. All of the fiercest Raiders were the best to us kids you can imagine. I was carried around on the shoulders of the likes of Matuzak, Hendricks, the Snake and more. For Real Class Acts!!!!!!!
One last story, happened in Beaver Creek again. I was with one of my Working partners and we spotted Jeff Foxworthy in the Cafeteria at the Base of the mountain. So my Buddy walks up to him and leans over and says (Beaver creek has a Guard gate to get into the Ski Area) " So we told them down at the Gate no Rednecks Allowed !!!!"
So Foxworthy gets a big Shi#4%^ eating grin on his face and yells out " Well, It Didn't Work!!!!!!" then shakes my Buddys hand and carries on a 15 minute converstion with him.
OK one more, Sat down at a Bar in Beaver Creek and next to me is Bill Cowher, so we drank a couple of Beers, and we talked about the Steelers and he gave me a super hard time for being a Life Long Raider fan, all in good fun, what a class act !!!!!
Neil
<< <i>Good day,
Two stories, the good and the bad. I worked in Beaver Creek (Next to Vail, even more upscale) for 6 years and so was around lots of Celebs. One time I see Joe Montana about 6-7 years ago in one of the Art shops and even though I don't collect Auto's decide to ask him.
I walk up to him and politely tell him I am a big fan and could I please have an Autograph. He tell's me to go F&%%^$^K myself and turns and walks away. Class Act !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Second story as I have mentioned on these threads before I grew up with my Dad having seats in the box behind the Raiders Bench at Oakland Coliseum. I went to every home game from the age of 4-16. All of the fiercest Raiders were the best to us kids you can imagine. I was carried around on the shoulders of the likes of Matuzak, Hendricks, the Snake and more. For Real Class Acts!!!!!!!
One last story, happened in Beaver Creek again. I was with one of my Working partners and we spotted Jeff Foxworthy in the Cafeteria at the Base of the mountain. So my Buddy walks up to him and leans over and says (Beaver creek has a Guard gate to get into the Ski Area) " So we told them down at the Gate no Rednecks Allowed !!!!"
So Foxworthy gets a big Shi#4%^ eating grin on his face and yells out " Well, It Didn't Work!!!!!!" then shakes my Buddys hand and carries on a 15 minute converstion with him.
OK one more, Sat down at a Bar in Beaver Creek and next to me is Bill Cowher, so we drank a couple of Beers, and we talked about the Steelers and he gave me a super hard time for being a Life Long Raider fan, all in good fun, what a class act !!!!!
Neil >>
Great story!!! Beaver Creek is Awesome. "North America's Downhill"
Collecting:
Brett Favre Master Set
Favre Ticket Stubs
Favre TD Reciever Autos
Football HOF Player/etc. Auto Set
Football HOF Rc's
<< <i>One quickly comes to mind.
As a 15 year old kid, during the winter after the Dodgers won the World Series back in the late 70's, I was looked at a '70 Topps Walter Alston card, and saw he lived in some place in Ohio. Just to see what might happen, I called information, and to my surprise, his phone number was listed, so I called him. I congratulated him on the Dodgers win, and he struck up a conversation with me asking where I played ball. Later I asked if he'd sign my card--which he was very happy to do. Not only did he sign it, he sent me an autographed picture back as well. >>
This one confuses me, Alston last managed the Dodgers in '76 and last won a WS with them in 1965. I think this story needs some work...
Steve Carlton: Sat in the Gibson's bar (during the Chicago Sun Times Show) and BS'd with him for over 3 hours. He was a class act and very funny. I asked him how he would pitch to Barry Bonds and he pointed to his head and said he would hit him in the "F&#*%^$ Head". He ended up signing a bunch of stuff.
William Perry: My wife and I sat next to him for a few hours at the Embassy Suites Bar (during the Chicago Sun Times show). He was very cool as well. I had him sign a baseball which was the only thing I had with me at the time.
Reggie Jackson: I have met him a number of times and each time the experience wasn't the best. But, just a couple of weeks ago at the Chicago Sun Times show we were staying at the Embassy Suites and Reggie kind of accidentaly budged in line right in front of me while we were eating breakfast. Once he realized what he had done he apologized and said he would go to the back of the line and was sorry. I told him it was no problem and kind of left him alone. Everyone seemed to be leaving him alone or not recognizing him. After he had finished eating I asked him to sign a ball and he couldn't have been nicer. I think he would have signed as many as I wanted but I only had one ball with me. Kind of cool considering he was charging $99.00 at the show.
Harmon Killebrew: I have met him many times but the coolest was when he got inducted into the HOF in 1984. He remembered me from a prior meeting and introduced me to Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Stan Musial along with a bunch of other guys. All of them gave me quite a few signatures except for Campy. This was at the Otesaga Motel in Cooperstown where the players stay.
Many others as well but these come to mind.
Back in the 80’s when sports cards were still important to kids, I worked weekends at one of the bigger local card shops. I spent a couple weeks bragging to all my friends at school that the card shop would be bringing Steve Largent over to sign autographs one Saturday. They were all suitably envious of me and I loved it. When the big day came, I got to spend a few hours watching Largent sign autographs, shake hands, and tell stories. At the end of the day he signed a picture for me which read: “To my good friend, Chav. Best wishes.” Ouch. That hurt my pride. You see, my name isn’t Chav, it’s Chad. I was so embarrassed that I had to use a Sharpie to “fix” my name before I could show all my friends at school and I did a terrible job at it. The autograph looks just like a progress report looks when you try to change an “F” into an “A.”
***
Some buddies and I drove 300 miles to Seattle to watch the Mariners and the Red Sox play. We went the day before the series started and we were killing time in the mall. While we were sitting in the food court two really tall dudes wearing sunglasses got in line at Orange Julius. It took me a second, but then I realized it was Roger Clemens and Tim Wakefield. After a few minutes of trying to work my courage up I went over and got in line behind them and said, “Excuse me, I hate to bother you guys, but I’m a big fan and I’d . . .” and then Roger cut me off and said, “Not today, kid. It’s my day off.”
The next day we waited out by the bus after the game was over and while the Red Sox players came out I called to Roger: “Hey, Roger, can I have your autograph?” His reply: “Not today, kid. It’s my day off.” What a swell guy.
There would always be 30-100 people outside the Seals entrance but there was hardly ever anyone except me and maybe one or two of my friends that came to the game with me. So while the Seals fans were busy getting autographs or Carol Vadnais, Joey Johnston, Bobby Sheehan, and Morris Mott, we had Orr, Esposito, Dryden, Lafleur, Bobby Hull, basically all to ourselves and they all were willing signers.
While all hockey players back then (save one) were unbelievably nice, they'd even sign if they had ice packs, stiches, even crutches. Bobby Hull was perhaps one of the all-time greats. Not only did he sign autographs for us but spent time asking us if we played hockey, what positions, etc. (and if we were any good!) I will never forget that.
Ken Dryden and Scotty Bowman would only sign with their own pens. Yvan Cournoyer was really friendly, and Jean Beliveau had a real special 'sense' about him. Don't know how else to describe it. Probably one of the classiest guys ever to play the game and had a gorgeous signature.
The Flyers aka Broad Street Bullies were as a whole a bunch of nice guys off the ice, especially Dave "The Hammer" Schultz.