New Britain Vs. Richmond 5/29/13

Today I once again ventured to New Britain to hit Richmond for the first time since they moved from Norwich a few years back. It was nice to see some old faces like Dave Machemer, Ross Grimsley, and Mark Minicozzi who is actually still on the team all of these years later. Also, it was great to 'graph in general for the first time in over a week, which is very unusual for the summer. It has just been terrible weather wise around here. Ironically as I type this, we are having a massive thunderstorm.

My main target for the day was Joe Panik, of Richmond. He is the San Francisco Giants #4 Overall prospect. I didn't know what to expect, but he was very nice. He had his own ride, which came a while after the bus, and he talked to us for a few minutes about Big East baseball.

He signed an 8x10 for me, along with 5 other photos (I got 5/6 when he showed up, and another inside that I found unsigned in my book).

My only other real target on Richmond's squad was Andrew Susac, who was also cool. This team as a whole was really nice, I just didn't have much stuff for them.

I also got a few guys on a team sheet which were:

Ross Grimsley

Former PawSox, Mark Wagner

Andrew Susac again

As for New Britain, I finally had some cards!

For Alex Meyer, I had 2 from someone to 50/50, and my friend gave me 6 at the game to 50/50, so I got 8 cards signed from him total. I also had a bunch of photos sitting on my clip board which I wasn't going to ask for, but Alex picked them up and signed them anyway, which was really cool of him.

I also had a few cards for the other big pitching prospect, Trevor May, plus a few photos:

I also did a team sheet for New Britain:

From top to bottom:

Nate Hanson

Danny Santana

D.J. Baxendale-He got rocked tonight in his AA debut

James Beresford

Logan Darnell

Mark Sobelewski

B.J. Hermsen

Total Autographs at this game: 33

Total Autographs for 2013: 279

Pawtucket Vs. Indianapolis 5/20/13(Gerrit Cole, Jackie Bradley, Allen Webster)

This baseball season has been really strange. I have been to a few games, but have never really felt like it was in full effect until today. Maybe because I haven't had a chance to 'graph a lot of guys in one day, maybe  because I'm sick of AA players thinking they are Willie Mays( Harrisburg comes to mind).

Today was great though. 2011 #1 Draft Pick, Gerrit Cole, who > I met last year at a VERY crowded New Britain game was in town<, and while he was very personable last year, this year was an even better experience. When he showed up in a car with some teammates, he walked right over without anyone even asking, and he signed a ball, and my picture with him from last season. He gave an even more full signature, and didn't personalize like last year:

As a little side goal for the day, I had gone in having met 99 different Red Sox players, and had a few different options to get #100.

Allen Webster seemed out of the question, because he gets to the stadium insanely early( have to love the work ethic though) and he often sneaks in and out. Luckily for me, he left for something, and came back. He came over and signed no problem, but only did 1/6 cards which I expected. But nonetheless, I had hit #100!

For whatever reason, the scanner makes this set look  really bad, but it is really quite a nice card!

Red Sox pitcher, Franklin Morales came shortly after, but unfortunately it took the few of us there until the LAST second to recognize him, so I could not get my photo out in time:

Another interesting success of the day came from Alfredo Aceves. As you may recall,>I met him last week<. When he came in today, he walked along the wall, between tightly parked cars rather than simply walking around the back of the cars. It's tough to explain, but it really made no sense. After he signed, he proceeded to attempt to squeeze inside a barrier, and ended up knocking it down. It was just a really funny sequence, and I heard he has been doing  strange things all week, but is a good signer:

I was also able to get #2 Prospect, Jackie Bradley Jr. again, and he was nice. I asked him for his long signature, but he either didn't hear me, or didn't care. He is still a very nice guy though:

Another exciting success was the Red Sox #5 Prospect Rubby De La Rosa. I had never met him, and he has been working closely with Pedro Martinez. He is a flamethrower!

Former big leaguer Mitch Maier was another first time 'graph for me, I didn't have anything, so I threw him on a ticket:

Former A's hurler, Graham Godfrey, was yet another first time 'graph for me, and he seems like a really cool guy!

He said he had never seen the blue refractors:

Pedro Beato showed up with a lot of friends and signed everything I had:

All of the Pirates guys other than Cole, who I talked about earlier signed this team sheet:

From Top to Bottom, and then ranging Left to Right:

Former Oriole, Felix Pie

Ivan Dejesus, who actually went to the Sox in the huge Dodgers trade, but was then shipped to Pittsburgh.

Mike Zagurski

Darren Ford

Unfortunately, I had to leave before Jerry Sands and Alex Presley arrived.

I also did a team sheet for the Red Sox, which I got many players on:

Steven Wright

Terry Doyle

Drew Sutton

Mark Hamilton

Brock Holt

Brandon Snyder

Total Autographs At This Game: 27

Total Autographs for 2013: 246

 Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Johnny Rzeznik  4) Jim Gaffigan 5)Paul Molitor   

Actor/Comedian Jim Gaffigan 5/16/13

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I went to New York again, this time to meet the awesome comedian and self proclaimed Mr. Universe, Jim Gaffigan. This was another book signing, but unlike the other ones we have been to, this one was not in the Union Square store, but rather in Tribeca.

Knowing that this would be smaller scale, we only showed up about 70 minutes early. We were both shocked, and very happy to see how small scale this one was. There must have only been 10 rows of seats max, and we actually got seats in the front row. We are both huge Jim Gaffigan fans, so it was really cool to be able to get close.

The actual program was really interesting, because Jim's wife who is a comedy writer played the role of interviewer, and Jim would give honest answers with his comedic twist. He was very hilarious throughout.

For those who may not know Jim, a lot of his comedy revolves around food, but maybe even more so his family life. His book is about different things he and Jeannie(his wife) have had to go through, while learning to be the parents of 5 kids. I have already read a bit, and it is really fantastic, and a good laugh.

Jim was asked about how he got the title for his book, and his answer was really funny. He said that when one of his sons was learning to write, in kindergarten or so, his first sentence was, "Dad is fat." Jim and his wife decided that that sentence would make an appropriate title for their book.

As I said earlier, this event was more low key than some of the others we have been to in NYC, which allowed for a more intimate experience with the author. The store and Jim even allowed for pictures with him, which we had not experienced before at the New York signings.

Jim seemed really, really genuine, and talked to every single person who went. They were also allowing books to be personalized, if you so wished, and while I prefer mine not to be, he wrote a message to my buddy Matt whom asked me to pick him up a book. He also wrote notes in the books my girlfriend bought.

When I got up, he looked at me and said, "Anybody who buys three books is my hero!"

I bought 3 total, one for Matt, and either 1 or 2 for me, depending on if anyone wants the third one.

This was just a really great event, and it was awesome to meet one of my favorite entertainers.

Total Autographs for 2013: 219

 Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Johnny Rzeznik  4) Jim Gaffigan 5)Paul Molitor   

EDIT: After writing this, I found out about the train crash in Connecticut today. Wishing everyone the best. It was on the exact line we take to New York City, and at a spot we passed twice yesterday.

Pawtucket Vs. Gwinnett 5/15/13 (Jason Heyward, Jackie Bradley)

I had been planning to go to McCoy for the first time in a while tonight for quite some time, but when I heard Braves superstar Jason Heyward would be rehabbing I was very excited, and knew this could either be a great or horrible trip.

It had been rainy all day, so there was no batting practice, but although it was absolutely freezing out, it cleared up nicely. I hung a photo for Jason before the game (you have to hang anything you want signed inside McCoy Stadium, if I have never mentioned that, because the seating bowl sits on top of the dugouts. This makes McCoy one of the toughest stadiums in America to 'graph inside). He did not sign my photo inside, so I was slightly disappointed, but I knew I had another shot.

When I was hanging for Heyward, I noticed that the Red Sox #2 Prospect, and Opening Day outfielder, Jackie Bradley Jr. was on the field on the Pawtucket side, greeting some dignitaries. I ran over, and was lucky enough to toss a baseball down for him to sign. As you can see, his autograph has changed very much since >last season when I met him<   . I should mention everything is signed in blue, which is hard to see with the lighting in these photos.

That was all I ended up getting inside. 

After the game, I headed outside, and the first player I met was Brandon Snyder. I had no cards for him, so I just got him on a team sheet:

I also ended up getting former Red Sox pitcher, and hot head, Alfredo Aceves. Aceves became my 99th Red Sox I have met! I know I'm probably the only real collector that would get him on a ball, but as you guys know, I love getting Red Sox players of any kind on baseballs (unless they have played like less than x amount of games). I am kinda mad that he side paneled it though.

The great part of postgame though, was meeting the Jay Hey kid, Jason Heyward. Jason was one of the last ones out of the clubhouse and I called his name twice. He didn't look over, but then he said, very nicely, "I'll be over in one minute." I think he put his bag on the bus, and then he came right over. He had no problem signing both a photo and a ball for me, and a ball for my dad, giving BEAUTIFUL signatures. This made my night.

The  photo looks much better in person. The sharpie did skip a bit, becasue it was almost freezing out. That was my bad for not testing it. I'm happy nonetheless though:

You can watch the entire encounter here. Sorry about all of the darkness, they shut off the lights very early tonight, and my camera doesn't have a light for videos.:

Anyway, thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed everything. I rushed through a little bit because I will be on a train to NYC in less than 12 hours, 2 of which will be spent driving!

Total Autographs for 2013: 216

 Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Johnny Rzeznik  4)Paul Molitor 5)Jim Rice  

New Britain Vs. Portland II 5/10/13

I kicked off my summer vacation from college in a pretty good way today by going to a double header which featured Portland, the Boston Red Sox AA team, in New Britain. As you may remember, *I saw these guys on opening day*, and they weren't the best signing bunch, but I actually had a little more luck today, even with putting in less time probably.

I wasn't able to hit the bus pre game, but after batting practice, I was able to nab a few autographs. No players came over after batting practice, but I landed Bob Kipper, and 2 more Rich Gedmans, which completed a 50/50, so that was good:

Before game one I was lucky enough to get the Red Sox #1 Overall prospect, Xander Bogaerts. I did not get him before game 2, but I did get him again outside after the game:

Matt Barnes, who was very tough last time was charting in the stands during both games. I got him after game 1, and dipped him on a game used ball I got from Travis Shaw. I then got him again after game 2:

Matt wasn't bad tonight, but he is relatively tough to get in Connecticut for being a former Uconn player.

I got Christian Vazquez for the first time before game 1:

I was able to meet Drake Britton again, as I did last year. Drake is a great signer. He seemed nice, hopefully he continues to turn around after his DUI in Spring Training:

Drake was charting with Barnes, as was Anthony Ranaudo, who I have had terrible luck with in the past. I was more lucky today, but he still felt the need to personalize my generic 4x6. Really?...

Travis Shaw:

My final graph of the night was from former Red Sox Daniel Bard, who is trying to find his way in the minors. He signed much more than I thought he would considering the HUGE post game crowd. I was the one to stop him as you can watch here:

Total Autographs for 2013: 209

 Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Johnny Rzeznik  4)Paul Molitor 5)Jim Rice