RBI (136) Imperfect by Jim Abbott

This post is a bit of a combination book review, player profile, and autograph highlight.

Angel stadium held signing for former pitcher Jim Abbott after he released his book "Imperfect: An Improbable Life" in 2012. I hadn't been able to get Abbott's autograph previously so I jumped at the chance when I heard he would be at the stadium signing. I had been under the impression that with purchase of the book one outside item would be allowed to get signed, but when the signing actually began that wasn't held to be true. I was semi disappointed but I understand that Abbott was there as more than a former ball player and was there as a writer so wanting to get books signed is very understandable.

Abbott was taken by the California Angels 8th overall in the 1988 MLB draft and debuted in the majors without having played any rookie ball. His previous playing experience ranged from high school, Michigan, the Pan American Games and helping to win a "gold" during the demonstration sport debut of baseball in the 1988 Summer Olympics. His career lasted from the 1989 season till 1999 with Abbott spending different stints with the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, and Brewers. He'd retire with 87 Wins, a 4.25 ERA and 888 Strikeouts. He threw a gem for the Yankees pitching a no-hitter against the Indians on September 4, 1993.

Abbott's co-author Tim Brown helped spin his own gem when crafting Imperfect. It's a book that I honestly had a hard time putting down as I was drawn deeper into the narrative. Stories from Abbott's past growing up, playing amateur ball, and thoughts on life and those who inspired him to overcome adversity are intermixed with the story of his no-hitter inning by inning. It's an enthralling read when you begin to see the genuine heart and true grit he maintained to become not only the pitcher he was, but the man. I'm glad to have been able to get Mr. Abbott's autograph for an unusual reason. I'm glad I got his signature because it made me read a book I might have otherwise declined to purchase and read. I'm very happy to have met him and add a Jim Abbott autographed book to my collection.

Ironically the previous autographed books I highlighted were signed by author Ray Bradbury. Bradbury's most well known work Fahrenheit 451 was also published by Imperfect's publisher Ballantine books. If you're looking for a good summer read I highly recommend picking up a copy of Abbott's book. I'm very pleased to have this on my shelf next to my other signed books and think it's a nice change of pace for a Jim Abbott autograph.

RBI (135) Adam Jones, A Flying Star...

In more ways than just one. I was able to get a Baltimore Orioles star center fielder Adam Jones autographed baseball. It wasn't necessarily the easiest autograph to obtain and definitely involved some stadium antics, but I was able to get get the elusive Jones' signature on my baseball.

Adam Jones was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 2003 MLB draft as the 37th pick. He was taken as a pitcher/shortstop but eventually moved to the outfield at the Mariners request. He debuted for the Mariners in 2006 but was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 2008. Since moving to the Orioles he has shined as star for them, so far being a 3-time All-Star and winning 2 Gold Gloves. He shows a strong blend of speed and power with more than 100 Home Runs and 60 Stolen Bases. His playmaking ability at the plate and in the outfield helped convince the Orioles to give him the largest contract in team history with a 6 year $85 million extension.

I was honestly semi disappointed in this autograph. The ball is a commemorative baseball with the 20 year anniversary logo for Camden Yards that I was thrown by Rays pitcher Jake McGee. It's a clean ball with a perfect logo that I held back for almost a year to get signed by an Oriole of note. Unfortunately the stadium shenanigans had Jones in not the greatest mood while he signed so he paid no attention to me when I asked for him to sign under the logo. Yes at least I got the autograph, but it still could have been a great looking piece for my collection with a nice story behind the ball itself. At least I was able to get  an Adam Jones autographed baseball. Thankfully it was still a good day as I got to watch a good game with Kyle of Addictive Artwork, David and my other friends.

RBI (134) Ray Bradbury...

A few years ago I had the opportunity to see distinguished author Ray Bradbury speak about his career.  Bradbury is best known for his works Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles, but he was a prolific short story writer and produced many great works and collections beyond those two novels. It was an enlightening experience to hear him talk and I walked away with the idea that literature needed to be protected and helped to grow by people not afraid to write what they believed in.

Interestingly not many people know that Fahrenheit 451 was written on a rental typewriter in the basement of UCLA's Powell library. Not only is it's birth place a little known fact, but it's also not well known that the book was serialized and published in the March, April and May issues of Playboy in 1954 after the magazine was launched in December 1953.

Unfortunately Bradbury has since passed away and one of America's most celebrated authors is no longer with us. I was able however to have the pleasure to meet Mr. Bradbury after his talk and have him sign a pair of his books for me that I will always treasure.

One of my favorite pieces is this Ray Bradbury autographed Martian Chronicles copy.

Also Ray Bradbury autographed "One More For the Road" for me.

Though lately its been difficult to find the time, throughout my life I've always been a reader with a book around for me to work through when I have a few minutes so I've privately enjoyed slowly building an private library of autographed books on my shelf. I know these Ray Bradbury autographed books will forever be a strong cornerstone to continue to build my collection around as not just works of literature but also to me as pieces of Americana.

RBI (133) Shay Maria...

As you've seen from my previous posts featuring Bobby Hundreds and Johnny Cupcakes it's pretty obvious I like collecting autographs from outside just the sporting world. I like to branch out and have a decently varied collection I think. One autograph I bought was this Shay Maria autographed print. Shay's a well known street wear model featured on tons of sites for her modeling work showing off the styles of The Hundreds, Benny Gold, Primitive and CBNC.

I'm pretty happy with the purchase seeing as I think she's a pretty interesting person in that part of the world and her instagram and twitter always have cool updates from her popping by the offices of the various brands and photographers. I think it was $10 well spent and I don't mind waking up to this print on my wall at all. Shay Maria's twitter is here if you're interested. And let's be honest Shay Maria's hot so who wouldn't be interested. I picked up another Shay Maria print you can see here.

RBI (132) Hanley Ramirez...

Yeah no fancy title or clever turn of phrase for this one. Why? Well honestly Hanley doesn't deserve one in my opinion. I went to get Hanley's autograph during his rehab stint with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and was less than pleased with the experience.

The obligatory Hanley Ramirez career stats so far. He was signed by the Red Sox as a international free agent and debuted in September 2005. He was traded to the Marlins as the center piece with Annibal Sanchez for the Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota. He's a 3 time All-Star, won 2 Silver Sluggers, was 2006 NL Rookie of the Year and was the '09 NL Batting Champion.

I wasn't very pleased with the experience I had getting this Hanley Ramirez autographed baseball. There were about 15 people waiting for him in Rancho and when he showed up he seemed less than happy that we were waiting for him. Sorry you have fans? He walked over and said he wasn't going to sign for everyone while he took a pen and grabbed a baseball. Originally I had printed 8x10's for him but when I saw him run with the pen I pulled out a baseball and he signed it. He then did another ball and started to walk off stopping only to sign one for a kid and a girl.

He was standoffish, refused to sign my friends jersey, and I'm not really understanding why he only signed about 7 autographs when there were only a handful more people. If you're not in the mood to sign for a while I understand that, but doing one per is fine with me and everyone would have left happy instead of plenty of disappointed faces. He was honestly the only star I've heard of going to Rancho who wasn't very pleasant to deal with. I'm not saying all the others are over the moon happy to see people wanting their autograph but they're at least less surly than Hanley was. Andre Ethier normally earns tons of a fans when he has to make a rehab appearance being pretty pleasant and funny to those who hang around for him. Even Dan Haren who was notoriously difficult to graph at Angel Stadium was more pleasant during his minor league rehab stint.

At least there were some fun moments hanging out with David, Benson, Matt, and Matt C.

RBI (131) Ryan Howard, The Angels, and Charity...

I went to the Angels' 2013 Yard Sale at the stadium in Anaheim. Unlike the previous year I had gone it was not held under the hats, and instead was within Gate 3 of the stadium. The usual items were available for sale ranging from jerseys (I got one of Jean Segura's authentic team issued jerseys) bats (picked up a used Kendrys Morales)  helmets, hats, t-shirts, and autographed items including baseballs.

There were an assortment of autographs available and as I perused through the items I can across a weird signature that seemed out of place. Whose was it? None other than Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. I didn't believe it and the Angels representative nodded saying that the different charities traded autographs with each other. In the selection there were balls autographed by Adrian Beltre, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Webb, Joe Mauer and the Ryan Howard ball I bought.

Howard is a 3-time All Star, '05 NL Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger winner, the 2005 NL MVP, 2008 World Series Champion, and the fastest hitter to reach the 100 and 200 Home Run milestone. He's a hitter who knows what he wants to do regardless of the other team running an extreme shift when he comes up to bat and of his so far 1,100 career hits he's hit over 300 home runs. He's a great hitter and has even made a pretty funny appearance on It's Alway Sunny In Philadelphia as himself.

Needless to say I was beyond thrilled to pick up a certified autograph of his even though I bought it at Angel Stadium. Who's going to complain about a $20 certified autograph? Not this guy. To make matters even better there is a sweet COA sticker on it from Howard's foundation authenticating the ball. Definitely a sweet pick up that I'm very happy to add to my collection.

RBI (130) Mad Max, A Strikeout Artist...

Starting pitcher and strikeout master Max Scherzer was kind enough to sign an autograph for me.

Scherzer was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks 11th overall in the 1st round of the 2006 MLB draft. He made it through the minors and debuted for Arizona in 2008 and since then has stuck around as a reasonably successful starter. He was a key piece in a three way deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yankees, Ian Kennedy to the Diamondbacks and moved Scherzer to Detroit. It's definitely been a successful trade for all parties involved since all three teams have made strong playoff runs with each piece of the deal being key components for their team.

As a starter for Detroit he's paired with ace Justin Verlander to give the Tigers a serious 1-2 punch. He competed for the Strikeout title in 2012 against Verlander and finished second with 231 on the season, but had the AL best 11 K/9. He's already compiled more than 800 Strikeouts and if he keeps up with his obscene K/9 rate he'll finish the season with more than 1,000 career punch outs.

I got this Max Scherzer autographed baseball during a 2013 Tigers vs Angels series at Angel Stadium. I'm very happy to have gotten the ball signed by Scherzer since he's having a great season and not only was named an All Star but is the starting pitcher for the 2013 MLB All Star game in New York. He's got a great record and tons of strikeouts so getting Scherzer to sign my ball this year was an awesome decision so far.