RBI (158) Yoenis Cespedes...

Even though he's still relatively new to the game I'm not sure I need much more of an introduction for Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes. After putting on an absolute clinic on his way to winning the 2013 Home Run Derby everyone is taking note of the Oakland A's hard hitting outfielder.

Cespedes defected from Cuba successfully in the summer of 2011 after multiple attempts to reach the United States. After his defection he signed a 4 year 36 million dollar contract with the Oakland A's. He debuted in the 2012 season and if he hadn't come onto the scene at the same time as divisional rival Mike Trout he would have easily won Rookie of the Year after powering the A's to relevance. It had often been wondered what Billy Beane could do with the A's if he had a little more money to throw at a bat and his savvy trades and big investment in Cespedes paid off for a 2012 Divisional title and a contending 2013 team.

I was able to get this Yoenis Cespedes autographed baseball during the 2013 season when the A's played the Angels at Angel Stadium. Yoenis was really nice to the fans, posing for photos while signing a healthy number of autographs. I was really surprised that he was so willing to sign at the first series since winning the 2013 Home Run Derby since many players would hold off until they could get a payday for it. I'm not sure if he'll be in the derby again considering the wrist injury he suffered immediately  when he returned to action for the A's so it's nice to get him to sign so soon after winning the derby against Bryce Harper.

Mid Season Review and 2013 MLB All Star Game...

Well so far it's been a pretty outstanding first half of the season for me when it comes to graphing. I definitely haven't had too shabby start to the season and would say I'd go ahead and put myself at least on a Final Vote position for the Southern California graphing All Star team.

Highlights have been:

David Ortiz autographed baseball

Dustin Pedroia autographed jersey

Mariano Rivera autographed baseball

Kendrys Morales autographed game used baseball bat

Mike Trout autographed baseball

Of the 2013 All Star Roster I have been able to get in this year or previous years:
Mike Trout
Adam Jones
David Ortiz
Dustin Pedroia
Torii Hunter
Felix Hernandez
Justin Masterson
Max Scherzer
Mariano Rivera
Joe Nathan
Chris Tillman
Greg Holland
Grant Balfour
Clayton Kershaw
Craig Kimbrel
Edward Mujica
Sergio Romo
Jordan Zimmerman

AL Manager Jim Leyland

18 of the 78 All Stars, including the starting pitcher for the American League Max Scherzer autograph on a ball. Not a terrible number but not too great in total numbers, but I've gotten about half the American League roster and should be able to cross the 50% barrier by the end of the season. Hopefully I'll be able to knock a few more of them out this year and work on some of the National League All Stars.

RBI (157) More Mike Trout...

One nice thing about being a grapher based in Southern California is the amount of signings in the area and the quality of team demanded by the fan bases. Right now the Angels are loaded with talent and sought after autographs, none more than rising superstar and now two time All Star Mike Trout. I've posted before about getting a Trout autographed 8x10 photograph and pulling my Trout Bowman Platinum but I was able to add another Trout autograph to my collection.

Even though I had gotten him on my 2011 team ball I needed to add a solo signed Mike Trout autographed baseball. I'm not sure you can ever really have enough Trout considering only two full seasons into his career he's a multiple time All Star, American League Rookie of the Year, and won a Silver Slugger. That's more hardware than some guys get their entire career and he's barely starting into his.

I was able to get this Mike Trout autographed baseball on the sweet spot at Angel Stadium before a game during the 2013 regular season.

RBI (156) A Holiday Josh Hamilton...

Previously I was able to get a Josh Hamilton autographed World Series baseball when he was with the Texas Rangers. Since coming over to the Angels I hadn't been able to get Hamilton to sign for me, which was really disappointing seeing as I like the former AL MVP and heard he was a reliable signer. I was however finally able to get Hamilton's autograph on the 4th of July. He signed for a good number of fans taking the time to switch to the appropriate pen or marker for people who came up to him asking for an autograph. He actually took my pen and knocked out a few autographs before he signed my baseball since the people asking for him to sign were trying to hand him a sharpie. I always like when I see a player doing that to make sure their autograph comes out nicely for the fan, and it's even nicer when the player signing is a player of that caliber.

Hamilton is known for signing for the fans and inscribing a bible verse when he gives out an autograph, on this sweet spot baseball he inscribed "Psalm 18" I was glad he put the inscription on the ball since the World Series ball didn't have one and it's a big part of his signing habit so I felt like my collection needed an inscribed Hamilton to be more complete.

RBI (155) Dustin Pedroia...

This is definitely going to be one of my all time favorite pieces. I haven't gotten many autographed jerseys but the ones that I do have are all of players who are personal favorites of mine. When I went to college Boston I picked up a few extra shifts at my job to work my way up to a nice jersey to wear when I went to Fenway park for a game. All my hard work paid off when I was able to afford a Dustin Pedroia jersey that has become a Dustin Pedroia autographed jersey.

I was able to get Dustin to autograph my jersey when he was in Anaheim with the Red Sox to play the Angels during the 2013 season. It's a great autograph to add to my collection and made even better when you compare it to some of his others you see that it's his tough to get full signature that isn't so scrunched up and includes the dots with his jersey number. Getting this jersey signed the same weekend I was able to get a David Ortiz autographed baseball on the sweetspot made this an awesome series for me this year.

As some of you know I've been working on getting autographs on my authentic Fenway Park seat, unfortunately the powers that be at Angel Stadium decided that my seat was no longer something I could take into the park. This is only going to make working on the piece even harder and I'm concerned I won't be able to get any worthy signature on it this season. Thankfully I already got Pedroia's autograph on it so now I have two great pieces signed by him as well as a autographed Topps card I picked up at the 2010 All Star Game Fan Fest as a souvenir.

RBI (154) David Ortiz

Big Papi. There's only one and he really doesn't need too much of an introduction. I was able to get a David Ortiz autographed baseball, and am thrilled about it. As a big Red Sox fan this is definitely going to be one of my all time favorites and something I always hold on to.

He's had countless All Star appearances, Silver Sluggers, the Hank Aaron award, the Edgar Martinez award, won the Home Run Derby in 2010 at Angel Stadium, and been a key part of the Red Sox 2 World Series championships in 2004 and 2007. I'm proud to say I was able to be there in person for Game 1 of the 2007 World Series and watched him win the 2010 Home Run Derby. Since leaving the Minnesota Twins for the Red Sox he's become a fan favorite and a dominant force in baseball as one of the most effective and feared Designated Hitters in the game.

With over 400 career Home Runs and closing in on 2000 career hits he's going to be an interesting case when it comes time for Cooperstown voters to make a decision on David Ortiz in the Hall of Fame. He's decidedly one of the top sluggers of the game, been a key to a decidedly historic ALCS and World Series run. He's popular with the media and fans so it'll be interesting how long he remains on the bubble to go in and what the final decision is.

I was able to get this David Ortiz autographed baseball when the Red Sox were in town to play the Angels during the 2013 season. Stay the same forever Papi.

RBI (153) A Character Guy...

If you've never had the opportunity to interact with starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, you're definitely  missing out. Guthrie is without a doubt one of the funniest most interesting characters in the bigs. He's not shy from clowning around with fans even though not everyone gets his sense of humor, but he's definitely one of my favorite MLB players to see around.

Guthrie was taken in the first round of the 2002 MLB draft with the 22nd pick by the Cleveland Indians who he debuted for in 2004. He stuck around the bigs after the 2006 season and has been a reliable arm to put in a rotation. More than 700 Strikeouts support his 60+ career Wins, and he's a known innings eater to keep teams in the game with a career ERA hovering around 4.20. He's pitched for the Indians, Orioles, Rockies and Royals. He's been extremely reliable for the Royals and is part of their rebuild from irrelevance.

Jeremy was nice enough to autograph this 2012 Topps Heritage card for me after an Royals vs Angel game during the 2013 season. It was pretty cool because after Jeremy kindly knocked out signing for every one that asked him he hung out catching up with some of his friends a few feet away from the rest of us graphers hanging out catching up with each other. It just goes to show you that if you're polite to a player and don't mob them they probably won't mind doing a few signatures and can act like a normal person with their own friends without having to run away. Though as a side note I have seen Jeremy run away from a kid running in a little circle until he caught him and signed for him, and yes it was funny and good natured not him being a jerk.

On the walk away from the stadium I called out to Jeremy and asked him what was the absolute worst piece of trash stadium he had ever played in. Immediately he responded "This one." Sorry Arte Moreno, but seeing as Guthrie pitched in Cleveland and Tampa Bay it sounds like the Angels have some work to do off the field.

For more hilarity to follow Jeremy Guthrie's Twitter is @TheRealJGuts