RBI (163) Jose Bautista aka Joey Bats...

Joey Bats aka Jose Bautista has been one of the top home run hitters in the game for the past few years. He's taken a long path to stardom but he's amongst the top of the game and would be a welcome addition to plenty of contenders if the Toronto Blue Jays weren't invested long term through the Miami Marlins fire sale in attempting to take the AL East.

Bautista was a 20th round pick in the 2000 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates but was selected in the Rule 5 Draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He was traded and played for the Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, and Pirates before finally reaching the Toronto Blue Jays. His career reached a turning point in 2010 when he took advantage of an increased role with the Blue Jays that let him evolve into one of the more dangerous hitters in the game. He's crossed the 200 Home Run plateau, been named a 4-time All Star, is a 2-time MLB Home Run champion and won 2 Silver Sluggers in his time since becoming a face of Toronto.

I was glad to get this Jose Bautista autographed baseball during the 2013 season when the Blue Jays played at Angel Stadium. It was awesome to get this baseball signed by Jose Bautista because he had previously eluded me the past two years. It was a great day for me because after I got RA Dickey's autograph on my Sports Illustrated Bautista came over when he finished hitting in his batting practice group he came over to the large crowd waiting and took a seat against the dugout. He told the fans he'd sign until 6:05 and for 7 minutes straight went down the line signing balls before switching to a sharpie and knocking out everything a sharpie would be appropriate for until the time he said he would go inside. Everyone was polite and got an autograph, I wish it could be like this for superstars more often.

You can find Jose Bautista @JoeyBats19 on Twitter and instagram.

RBI (162) Cy Young Winner and 1st Autographed Sports Illustrated

It may be surprising that after this many years hunting down autographs I've never gotten a Sports Illustrated autographed. I know lots of my fellow graphers who are able to knock them out but I'm a little more limited in my scope mainly focusing on teams that come to play in Anaheim so getting a SI signed means I not only have to get the autograph, but the player needs to be on a team that plays the Angels.

One issue that I sat on for a while was the R.A. Dickey and Kayla Harrison December 17, 2012 Sports Illustrated. My patience paid off as Dickey was traded from the Mets to the Blue Jays so I knew he'd come through the stadium eventually.

Dickey was the 2012 NL Cy Young winner after reviving his career with an All Star campaign to be the NL Strikeout champion. He's quite the story of finding success after true struggles so I'm very happy to have added him to my collection. His story is something special so adding this RA Dickey autographed Sports Illustrated as the first one I got signed makes the wait well worth it to me.

UFC World Tour Los Angeles 2013 7/30/13

If you noticed from the posts of me graphing the UFC 157 Open Workouts, UFC 157 Fanfest/the fight and the Arianny Celeste and Brittany Palmer appearance I'm a pretty big UFC fan. So I decided to go to the UFC World Tour Los Angeles press conference/media appearance hoping to graph some of the top fighters in the UFC. I woke up, made the drive into Los Angeles and found some parking by LA Live since the event was at Club Nokia. I had never been in Club Nokia so I wasn't sure where I'd be able to catch the fighters and found what I hoped to be a solid spot to catch the fighters.

My main goal was to get the autograph of Olympic Judo medalist and UFC Women's champion Ronda Rousey. I wasn't able to get Ronda to sign for me because despite everyone there being an elite fighter she was definitely the most popular and sought after. It was really disappointing to me to miss out on Ronda again with this being the 5th attempt to get her autograph. I broke down and eventually did get a Rousey autograph.

I did have a good amount of success though because immediately the first autograph I was able to get was a UFC legend, the Rush himself. I was able to get a Georges St. Pierre autographed 8x10 photo as my first signature of the day, definitely one of the best autographs I've gotten period, and I'm glad GSP signed first so I could not worry about getting him.

After St. Pierre signed my picture I was able to get the number contender in the light heavyweight division. Alexander Gustafsson autographed this 8x10 for me and laughed when I asked him to use some of his reach to grab my photo in the crowd, which he did and signed the photo for me.

A little bit after Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson signed for me his opponent the current light heavy weight champion and one the UFC's greatest champions Jon "Bones" Jones autographed this 8x10 photograph for me.

The next person to sign for me was someone I had missed out on at the UFC 157 fanfest, The Ultimate Fighter season 18 coach Miesha Tate. I ran into her while she was coming in but Miesha would only sign at the event table. Even though "Cupcake" Tate lost to Cat Zingano the right to coach the season and a title shot an injury forced Zingano out so Miesha gets another crack at Ronda and there is no love lost between the two in the bitterest rivalry in the sport. I've got autographs of most of the women now in the UFC's womens division with this Miesha Tate autographed photo but still no Rousey.

When Jon Jones finished signing UFC owner Dana White autographed this 8x10 photograph for me that I had printed out hoping to get signed when I went to UFC 157.

My last autograph of the day was GSP's opponent for the welterweight belt Johny Hendricks. He was the last fighter to leave the event and signed tons of autographs and took his time to pose for photographs with everyone that asked. He was nice enough to not only make it a Johny Hendricks autographed photo but to inscribe "Bigg Rigg" under his name on the 8x10.

The UFC World Tour is an awesome idea and I'm glad that I was able to get quality autographs from so many of the UFC's true elite fighters. I only missed out on Ronda Rousey, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos' autographs which I think is reasonably impressive. It was a great event and I'm really happy that the tour started in Los Angeles since by the end of the tour I'm sure they're all going to be exhausted. Definitely a great way to add to my MMA/UFC autograph collection.

RBI (161) TTM Response after 1 Year...

The past few months I've given up on any TTM activity. I've gotten no responses or even return to senders so I could at least reuse my smaller return envelopes. Literally I felt like I was just throwing money out the window. I did finally receive a response recently and I will use it as some motivation to throw a few more letters out there into the world.

Former pitcher Carl Pavano responded to my TTM request and recharged my batteries to send some more requests out. Taken by the Red Sox in the 14th round of the 1994 draft Pavano was featured in the trade that sent Pedro Martinez to the Sox and him to the Expos, debuting in 1998. He had a strange history with the Yankees, but his career was highlighted by winning the 2003 World Series with the Marlins, and being a 2004 All Star. He retired with a wining record of 108-107 supported by 1091 Strikeouts. 

Pavano responded to my TTM request I sent to him care of the Twins after 1 year 5 months. I'm glad to add this Carl Pavano autographed 2011 Allen and Ginter card for me. It's the 28th response I got back from my 365 challenge.

RBI (160) Fred Lynn...

I'm always happy when I'm able to get the autograph of a Red Sox player and I was extremely happy to get the autograph of former Red Sox star outfielder Fred Lynn.

Lynn was drafted by the Red Sox in the 2nd round of the 1973 MLB draft out of USC. He debuted for a cup of coffee in 1974 and then went on to have a historic 1975 becoming the first player to win the AL Rookie of the year and AL Most Valuable Player award in the same year. His career continued on for the California Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers, and San Diego Padres with him hanging up his glove after 17 seasons in the bigs. His career .283 average drove 1111 RBI, crushed 306 Home Runs and supported a .360 OBP. He to go along with his AL ROY and MVP awards Lynn was a 9-time All Star and a 4-time Gold Glover.

He's an interesting person in All Star game history since he was not only MVP of the 1983 All Star game but is the only player to hit a grand slam in All Star game history. His 4 home runs playing as an All Star are second most in the game's history after only Stan Musial. He's played in the All Star Legends soft ball game and been a consistent contributor cranking out home runs for his team.

I was able to meet Fred Lynn twice. The first time I met him as part of the Angels 50th Anniversary celebration where he was only signing Angels promotional hats and no outside items. It was pretty disappointing to me about that since I knew Lynn would be there and had worn my Red Sox jersey for the occasion even though the Angels weren't playing the Sox that game.

I heard from a friend that Lynn was in attendance at an Angels game during the 2013 season and kept an eye out for him the whole time I was at the game. I caught him by myself while he was leaving the stadium and told him about the merciless heckling I got for wearing my Sox jersey to meet him in 2011 and he showed me he appreciated it by agreeing to sign my ball on the sweet spot then shaking my hand and saying a few kind words for wearing the jersey last time to meet him. Awesome. I'm really happy to have ran into Mr. Lynn again and I've very proud to have a Fred Lynn autographed baseball in my collection.

Autograph Collecting Essentials 3, How to get autographs at a MLB Stadium

Over the past few years I've often gotten many emails from readers asking how to get autographs at a Major League Baseball Stadium. Normally I'm asked specific questions about where to go before, during or after the game to get a player to sign at specific stadiums. I've never given out too many specifics because I tend to compare graphing to fishing. You may have your best friend who is a regular fisherman teach you how to cast but you wouldn't expect him to give up his best lures or favorite fishing holes would you? Didn't think so.

Here are a few essential basic tips though to help give you a leg up on the competition of the average casual fan trying to get a souvenir baseball signed though I wouldn't say they'd give you much of a lead over regular graphers like myself.

Timing: Get there so you're actually there while the player is available. Don't expect to score an autograph from someone if you come 5 minutes before first pitch. If you want to get a certain players autograph you should be inside while he's around. Common sense yes?

Ballhawk vs Grapher: Decide if you want a ball or an autograph. You can try to chase both but it's tough. Not many people are very good ball hawkers and graphers, choose one. If you want a bp ball then hit the outfield. Don't just hope for a foul ball to slice to you, go to where the balls are coming to you. And always take a glove if you think you're even going to try for a ball.

Priorities: If you want autographs, decide who you want. Pick a team and stick with them. Pick which player you want and stick with trying to get them.

Supplies: If you decide to spend the time to chase an autograph make sure you're equipped right. You can read the entire essentials article on your supplies here.

If you were expecting a step by step list of directions of how to get an autograph at Angel Stadium, where to get players autographs at Dodger Stadium, which hotel the Red Sox stay in, or any other information like that well then you need to realize this hobby is a lot like the game itself. You can read about it all you want but sometimes you need to get dirty and out there to the park. You may strikeout or you may hit a home run, you never know how it'll go. My streak of 144 consecutive Angel games with at least one autograph ended this season and it's likely I'll never be able to run a streak so high again. Even the best out there can't bat a thousand so the final piece of advice I'll throw out there is this. Be patient and if you work hard enough it'll pay off.

If that's too much work and you'd rather stick with how to get autographs TTM you can read my much more in depth article here.

For even more knowledge on the autograph craft I'd recommend you start to attend Autograph University a great resource for the graphing community run by the always knowledgeable Matt Raymond who has his own great stories and networked a large group of successful autograph hunters to share their knowledge for those already in the hobby or just learning.

Here's a random photo I took of Petco Park at the Padres 2013 Fan Fest because I like it. If you're interested in getting signatures in San Diego and want to know more inside tips on in person autographs at Petco Park read this post.

RBI (159) Mike Napoli...

I was finally able to get an autograph from former Angel Catcher and first baseman Mike 'Nap' Napoli.

Nap was drafted in the 17th round of the 2000 MLB draft but didn't debut until 2006 when he stuck around immediately in the big leagues. After debuting for the Angels he switched to the divisional rival Texas Rangers which did him no favors with the fan base in Anaheim. After posting an All Star year and appearing in the World Series with the Rangers he moved to the Red Sox. While not known for a strong batting average with a career average in the .250's he maintains a reasonable OBP in the .340-.360 range by being a consistent power threat with his career .499 SLG percentage. He's been able to contribute solid production for the resurgent Red Sox who have risen from the ashes of the Bobby Valentine debacle to push again for baseball dominance. Most notably with his walk off home run against the Yankees to help finish winning over Red Sox fans.

I was able to get this Mike Napoli autographed baseball during a Red Sox vs Angels series at Angel Stadium during the 2013 season. Napoli is actually a good signer when he's back in town unlike some former Angels. He doesn't seem to mind stopping for the fans that remember him or signing Angel photos which is always nice since that's what most graphers in this area have for former Halos when they come back. You do run into some players that won't sign anything of their former team.