Padres Fan Fest 2014 Summary and Autograph Recap

I made it down to San Diego for the Padres Fan Fest 2014 to enjoy my last big graph before the relative calm until the season starts. I won't be making it down to Spring Training so I wanted to knock off as many autographs as I could and have fewer things to work on during the year when I go down to San Diego. Anyways, last years fan fest was great and I was looking forward to this years.

The day started off really well with big help from Rob and Kyle who were able to hook me up with a Carlos Quentin autograph ticket. The ticket got me into the area, but Carlos was signing so slowly he actually got up from his session without finishing everyone who had an autograph ticket. I was about 10 people back in line and was able to catch him at the stairs to leave. He was apologizing to fans that he had to leave and signing a few as he was talking and without really looking took my sharpie and knocked out my photo. That's appropriate because it's the photo of him charging Zack Greinke and knocking him out of part of the season when he broke his collarbone. I'll cherish this photo because I know if I had caught him 1 on 1 sitting down I doubt Carlos Quentin would have autographed it.

At the end of the day I went on the stadium tour and saw this note posted on the PA box between the Padres dugout and clubhouse. And yes it is real. I wonder who it was posted for…

After getting Carlos Quentin I got Josh Johnson's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. It's a nice shot from his time with the Marlins and I asked him to inscribe All Star, he responded he was a two time All Star. I responded that I hoped he'd earn more. He responded by shrugging and inscribing "2x All Star" anyways. I guess Josh can do without more All Star nods. Take note voters.

With Johnson was with Tommy Medica so I got him to autograph this 8x10 photo of him up to bat. I think he was surprised to see me drop a photo on him and was pleased he didn't have to sign a blank autograph card.

When I finished getting those autographs I went to wait in the next line which was to complete my purchase from my stop at the Padres yard sale. I picked up a Yasmani Grandal MLB authenticated Game Used bat. After buying the bat I was really happy to have already picked up an autograph ticket for him so I was able to get Grandal's autograph on the bat.

It's cracked from the game but I'm happy the Padres hadn't taped it back together so it looks better in my opinion.

Yasmani Grandal also autographed this 8x10 photograph I had originally printed for him to sign, and he didn't mind signing it for me after he signed the bat.

With Grandal was Robbie Erlin and I didn't have anything for him so I got one of the provided Padres autograph cards.

My next session was one I really had been looking forward to before heading to San Diego. Last year I was able to get Casey Kelly's autograph but injury really has hindered his chances in the bigs so far. He's going bounce back and I really believe he'll make it with all his talent so I got this Casey Kelly autographed 8x10 photo done.

Current rising Padres star Jedd Gyorko was with Casey and this time I got Gyorko's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. I'm not really sure why but as he was signing I felt inspired and asked him to write "rookie year" on the photo. I don't think he quite heard what I said because he said no problem and inscribed "Rookie" above his name. I think it still looks cool and with PSA charging for Rookie Graph I think I'm more than happy with this photo and inscription.

After getting Casey and Jedd I moved on to snag a quick bite and then got into a overflow line for a session I hadn't gotten a ticket to. I made it in and first I got this Dale Thayer autographed 8x10.

With Thayer was former NL steals king Everth Cabrera and I got him to autograph this nice action shot of him diving in for a bag.

Kyle Blanks autographed one of the Padres autograph cards for me.

His signing partner was someone I always seem to have trouble with, Cameron Maybin. Last year I got Maybin's autograph and it was smudged on my card. This year I was toward the end of the line and he was trying to quickly get through as many people as he could, which I'm fine with. But he didn't take the silver paint pen I offered to him and grabbed a provided silver sharpie. You can see the sharpie almost immediately died on the photo. He took my paint pen and finished the signature then went back over the faded section, which was very nice of him. I just think it's funny a clean signature from him continues to elude me even though the photo is still nice to me.

All in all I had a very productive and fun experience at the Padres Fan Fest 2014 and am already looking forward to heading down there again. It's a nice day, very relaxed and I'm able to knock out a ton of autographs of guys I actually think are pretty decent baseball players. Getting the MLB authenticated bat was a nice pick up and having Grandal sign it the same day was a big score for me. Shout out to Al, Rob, Matt, Kyle, David, Alex, Scotty, Mark and everyone else I ran into down in San Diego and the week before at Dodgers Fan Fest. Great seeing everyone and looking forward to the next year to start.

Autograph Recap Eddie Guardado and Michael Young Stars and Strikes Bowling Charity Event 1/26/14...

The 3rd annual Eddie Guardado and Michael Young Stars and Strikes Bowling Charity Event occurred   January 26, 2014 and I decided to attend this year. It's proven to be a solid event and a large group of Southern California autograph seekers attended to knock out the stars that were in attendance to support Eddie and Michaels fundraiser to benefit children with Autism.

The event was set up differently from what I heard from graphers who previously attended past years. I was able to start the day off by getting UFC welterweight fighter Jake Ellenberger's autograph on this 8x10 photograph.

After Ellenberger signed Eddie Guardado popped out to speak to some of the event handlers, and I got Guardado's autograph on this 8x10 photograph. It was nice to add the two-time All Star and recent member of the Twins' Hall of Fame to the collection.

It was a good start so far and then Ian Kinsler arrived. Kinsler autographed this 8x10 photograph really nicely signature wise, but he signed on a dark spot so it's a little tough to see. Needless to say I was a little disappointed even though I'm still glad I got it signed.

I was disappointed about the nice Kinsler signature being in a tough spot, eventually Adrian Beltre came out and I was able to get his autograph. Beltre's one of my favorite players so I'm really glad to add a nice clean Beltre autographed photograph to my collection of the Gold Glover at work.

After Beltre left the next autograph I was able to get was a big one for me. It was my first time getting Adrian Gonzalez's autograph and I was excited to put the Silver Slugger, Gold Glover All star's signature in my collection on this photo. Making the photo even nicer to me is a opted for a photo of him still playing with the Padres and swinging a nice Trinity Bat Co. piece of wood.

After Gonzalez left the next autograph I got was a surprising one but it was a good one I was very excited to have. 3-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May Treanor was in attendance with her husband MLB player Matt Treanor. I got Misty May autograph a baseball on the sweetspot and then had Matt Treanor sign the ball also and he got a kick that she had already signed the sweet spot before he could.

The last thing I was able to get was this Michael Young autographed 8x10 photograph even though like his former teammate he also signed it in a spot where it's tough to see. I'm glad I was finally able to put something from the 7x All Star in my collection since he's been a great consistent player to watch growing up.

The whole thing was a great event and there were even more signers there at the event that I either couldn't get or didn't have anything for them to sign. It was definitely a nice way to wrap up the off season and add some major names and nice items into my collection.

Autograph Recap San Diego Padres and New York Mets 8/15/13

Ever wonder how to get an autograph at Petco Park? Want to get autographs in San Diego? Here's as close as I'll ever directly tell anyone how to get an autograph at a MLB stadium. Yup that's how irritated I am at my recent trip down to San Diego and the way the graphing community down there was acting.

 I started the day meeting up with Al and Benson to head down to San Diego with the goal of getting Matt Harvey's autograph. That was mistake number one. We went to the game when Zack Wheeler was pitching, and David Wright doesn't travel with the team right now so there was only one guy we were really trying to get the autograph of. Always a recipe for disaster.

We parked and walked around the stadium trying to figure out the best spot for us to hang out to get incoming players. We picked the right spot if you can't tell by all the other graphers that showed up waiting for players to show up to the stadium. If you want to ask them any questions when you get there, don't bother.

It didn't matter though if players came by because the guys down here have no clue who anyone is. They'd flip through their phone while people walked by trying to look at rosters to figure out who the guy 2 feet away was. Repeatedly they would walk to someone with their books of cards ready only for the person to be either A) the wrong player or even more frequently B) a regular person walking down the street. I saw them go up to joe citizen 3 times ready to graph them.

While we watched Kyle and Matt showed up to join us so there was a healthy number of real graphers there to go to work. I was able to get this John Buck autographed 2012 Topps Heritage card to start the day. Al and I were the only ones to get him since the SD graphers had no idea why we were walking to  him.

After Buck Benson and I spotted Andrew Brown showing up to the stadium with a friend but we had nothing for him. Unfortunately the regular SD graphers were busy not paying attention and didn't even notice him despite having cards for him. They also didn't notice Ronny Cedeno walking through the group to get inside until Benson said something, but once again we didn't have anything we wanted signed by him.

A player showed up and we went closer to figure out who he was. We tried to take a glance at someone's book who was getting a card sign and AFTER he got the autograph he noticed us trying to figure out who it was and flipped his book around with his arm over it so we couldn't see. Really? You already got the autograph. Us getting a signature would have no impact on you whatsoever and in the end we didn't even have a card for the player. Why? Because it was Carlos Torres. Someone who is barely hanging around the majors which is why 5 serious graphers weren't able to figure out who he was. Nice etiquette and great pick up San Diego graphers. That's why I'm making this post.

Eric Young Jr. autographed this 2012 Topps after he showed up to the stadium. Cheers to him becoming the 2013 NL Stolen base leader.

Matt Harvey shot us down later in the day after we ran into him by the stadium while we were out going to get some food thinking he had already come in earlier in the day.

We went inside the park hoping to get him. After getting good positions above the Mets dugout Matt convinced Terry Collins to sign and our group racked him before the SD graphers were able to get one. I didn't have anything for him that I wanted signed so I called out to him since I didn't get an autograph if I could have a ball. He laughed and asked if I wanted them all but I said one would be fine and tossed me this Mets commemorative logo ball, in a good nature way saying he was done with favors for all 40,000 fans.

Harvey came in early from BP with a trainer looking irritated and didn't say anything when we asked if he could sign and we're thinking he tweaked something while running. The Mets ended and we went over to Padres side to get some more autographs since we had made the drive down and they sign down the line.

Rising star for the Padres 2nd/3rd baseman Jedd Gyorko autographed my program.

After Gyorko signed Casey Kelly came over and was signing but I already got his autograph at Padres Fanfest. Chase Headley autographed this 2012 Topps Heritage base card.

Since I had it even though I'll never finish I also had Chase Headley autograph this 2013 Topps Heritage insert.

And Yonder Alonso autographed this 2012 Topps Heritage base card with his terrible autograph in a black sharpie.

So after showing up to San Diego for the first time to graph I knocked out 6 autographs and a baseball. That's the closest I'll come to saying how to get an autograph at Petco park from visitors or from the Padres themselves. I If you want to get an autograph in San Diego didn't do all the work for you, but there's enough that you should be able to figure it out. In the words of Ron Burgundy, Stay classy San Diego.

RBI Collecting Custom Baseball Bat

As you've seen in previous posts I took advantage of a sale to get a custom bat from the Orange County based Trinity Bat Company. Trinity is a great bat company used by tons of pros in the Majors. If you've ever wondered what bat Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, Skip Schumaker, Carlos Gomez, Everth Cabrera, Kendrys Morales, Mark Trumbo, Cameron Maybin, Tony Gwynn Jr.,  Howie Kendrick, Hank Conger, and Chase Headley hit with. Well know you know they swing Trinity Bat wood.

I had the bat cut to the same specifications Mark Trumbo uses.

Basically this is going to be an evolving piece with players who accomplish something special in my eyes added to it. There are no firm rules for what it takes to make it on the bat, but I definitely have to have taken a shine to them.

First I had Mark Trumbo autograph the bat and he inscribed "All Star" under his name for me. I asked him to check to see if I got the specs right and after holding it and taking a half cut he said it looked like I got it right, which is definitely something I used to be happy about.

Steve Garvey autographed the bat and he inscribed "'74 NL MVP" for me on his bat. I know he played before my time but Garvey is one of those slick players that survived LA and I grew up hearing about every time a Dodger player made an error in the field.

Tony Gwynn autographed the bat and inscribed "HOF '07" for me above his former teammate Garvey. Gwynn really needs no explanation for why I had him added to the bat. Hall of Famer who played in Southern California his whole career and was always great to watch play. Easy add. When I had him sign the bat I told him it was the same brand his son used and cut to Mark's specs. He started checking out the bat and told me he wondered how Trumbo could hit with such a monster. I was later told getting Gwynn on the bat was a great pickup as previous attempts to graph him on a bat have had him shoot graphers down if it wasn't his brand of bat.

RBI (126) Hall Of Famer Tony Gwynn...

And definitely one of the more meaningful ones to me to add to my collection. I was able to get Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn's autograph at a free autograph signing in San Diego before the 2013 season started, and I was pretty excited to finally add him to my collection.

Tony Gwynn was taken by the San Diego Padres in the 3rd round of the 1981 MLB Draft and flew through to the Majors debuting for them in 1982. Gwynn was one of the few players to enter the Hall of Fame having played his entire career for a single team. His career stats are obviously impressive seeing as they got him into Cooperstown. He was an 8-time NL Batting Champion, 15-time All Star, won 7 Silver Sluggers, and 5 Gold Gloves. His career .338 average knocked in 1,138 RBI's with only 135 Home Runs coming out of his 3,141 hits. 

Gwynn received plenty of knocks through his career for his lack of home run numbers but he was a consistent doubles hitter with 543 in his career. Teammates who accused him of being only worried about his own stats didn't have the luxury of Baseball Reference which said with Runners In Scoring Position he batted .349 which is absurdly high and beneficial to his team. 

Gwynn was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007, coming a mere 13 votes short of an unanimous induction. At the signing I got this Tony Gwynn autographed baseball inscribed"HOF '07" on the sweetspot. He's definitely a great signature to add to the collection and I also got Gwynns autograph on my RBI Collecting Bat.

I had a lot of fun hanging out with David and Al before the signing at the San Diego Ford dealership Tony Gwynn was signing at. There was a pretty decent sized line because Gwynn is so popular a player in Southern California and who is going to turn down a Hall of Famers autograph? Definitely a reasonably well run event that I had fun at.

Writing TTM to the Padres at Petco

If you read my other post about Padres Fanfest then you know I went on a tour of the team's clubhouse.  What is actually really cool about their clubhouse is that there in the middle of the locker area are giant mailboxes with each player's fan mail waiting for them.

If you look at the photo you'll notice not too many of the players have been making a dent on their mail sent to the stadium over the off season, and judging by the size of some of those stacks not much of dent during the regular season either.

To those of you who have written to Huston Street care of the Padres, have fun waiting. It doesn't seem like he's going to get to you anytime soon.

If you do happen to get a return from one of the players sent to the stadium, well I know I'd definitely value it a bit more.

RPS (6) 2013 Padres Fanfest

Well readers I decided to make the trek to San Diego to join in on the Padres Fanfest held at Petco Park. I had heard that it was a fun event from my fellow graphers and even though there aren't really the name brand stars you'd associate with most other teams I thought it would be a good time.

I made the drive down to San Diego and was immediately greeted with some familiar faces running into Alex, David, Josh, Keith and other regular graphers in line waiting for entry. When I got into the stadium I immediately got an autograph pass for an upcoming autograph session and then went on to the Yard Sale. One nice thing I noticed on my walk over to the Yard Sale was the awesome fact that the Padres were letting fans onto the field for different activities.

At the Yard Sale I was able to pick up a few things at a nice discount. I picked up a Jeremy Hermida Batting Practice Jersey, Game Used Joe Thatcher Padres cap, a Stand Up to Cancer patch, and a pair of team issue socks. I almost bought a John Baker Game Used batting helmet but I opted out at the register since I didn't have a ticket to his autograph session that day.

After I made my purchases I went to the first autograph signing session of the day that I had a pass for. I had Carlos Quentin autograph this 2012 Topps Heritage card for me.

Quentin's signing partner was Casey Kelly. I had just pulled two of his Topps 2013 rookie cards and wasn't sure if I wanted the parallel signed or the base card. I put them both in front of Casey and asked if he could sign the one he liked the most. He responded "Well why don't I just sign them both." I was really excited since I had been big on him since he was signed by the Red Sox. After Casey Kelly autographed them he asked why one of them was blue and I explained the difference between the two. He asked why Topps did that and the first thing that came to mind popped out of my mouth, "to make us spend more money" he laughed at that and said thanks for coming out.

After getting the Quentin and Kelly autographs I went around the stadium taking a tour of the stadium. Here's the view from center field toward home plate, and if you notice in the above photo there was a temporary fence up where the Padres are pulling the fences in too. I can't imagine being even farther back and hoping to make a home run.

After my tour of the stadium I popped by the player interview session hoping to score Chase Headley on his way away from the stage. When he was walking on the stairs I asked Chase if he could sign please and he turned back holding up the line of security and other players and very sincerely apologized saying he'd love to but he wouldn't be able to sign right then. I said it was no problem and wished him well. I was struck with how genuine Chase appeared to be to me and all his fans, he seems like a great guy and I hope he continues to be the dangerous hitter he has become.

After that I went back onto the field and got a scoop of dirt for my collection, ate a little lunch, and wandered the stadium a bit more before waiting in line for the next batch of autograph session tickets and in line for the next autograph session. The next session was for Brad Boxberger who I didn't have anything for so I had him sign one of the provided Padres autograph cards. I felt semi bad not having anything for him to sign, especially since most of the fans were skipping him and going to the next signer.

The next signer of course was the man of the day Chase Headley. I was pretty excited to get Chase Headley's autograph on a baseball and it was made even nicer when I asked him if he could please put an inscription on the ball. He was kind enough to inscribe "SS & GG 2012" on the sweetspot with his name and number on a ball I had gotten after a game from Joe West.

From there I went to the next signing and got Cameron Maybin's rushed autograph. Apparently he gave me his rushed short signature on this 2012 Allen and Ginter card. I saw his full signature on a few other pieces and he definitely has a very nice one compared to the short one I got here. I know I technically shouldn't complain since I heard he's a tough signer in San Diego and it was a free event, but having seen the other signature it's definitely different and sort of a let down to get the rushed one.

After Maybin signed I had his signing partner Adys Portillo autograph on another one of the Padres autograph cards.

When I finished at the Maybin signing I waited around for Bud Black to finish his interview session to add another card to my 1987 set, but I wasn't able to get his signature. After being shot down I scooted on over to the next autograph signing and was caught with another dilemma of which card to get signed again. I put down a Jedd Gyorko 1st Bowman Chrome card and a Bowman insert card and asked if he could sign the one he liked the most. He didn't say anything just thanks for coming and signed both of the cards. Definitely excited to have these Jedd Gyorko autographs in knocked out because I've got the feeling he's going to be good for a while.

Signing alongside Gyorko was Logan Forsythe who signed his 2013 Topps Series 1 card for me.

I meandered one more time through the Yard Sale where I almost bought a few blank batting helmets to use to get signed but opted out when I realized they wouldn't look the same without the right team logo on the front. I took the tour through the clubhouse and on the way in almost got knocked over by a guy running through the halls. I turned to see who it was and saw "Street" on the back of his shirt and realized Huston Street had popped through the tour running into the clubhouse. I called out to him and he turned to throw a quick smile and wave before heading deeper into the off limits part of the clubhouse.

All in all it was a great day spent in San Diego. I got a few cool pieces of baseball memorabilia, some nice autographs, took a tour of the stadium and club house, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I may not have racked quite as many autographs as some of the other graphers but I got some quality stuff and I'm glad I made the trip down to see the Padres and tip my hat to the whole organization for such a fun day.