Pawtucket Vs. Scranton-Wilkes Barre (Yankees) 6/30/13 (Dwight Evans)

I had gone to Pawtucket this morning as I had the morning off, and still lots of Pawtucket items to get done. Scranton's roster is pretty much a complete bust this year, but featured Brent Lillibridge, who briefly played for the Red Sox last season.

I got to the stadium VERY early, probably earlier than ever, yet Jackie Bradley Jr. and Will Middlebrooks were already in.

I like to mention the denials I get too at events, just so people know what to expect. Today's denials were Xander Bogaerts who WOULDN'T EVEN LOOK over at anyone, and Rubby De La Rosa who also ignored everyone. Alfredo Aceves also muttered something in Spanish to someone who asked(I didn't need him), but he signs pretty automatically most days.

Off of the Scranton bus, I only wanted Lillibridge, and even with his hands full, he stopped which was nice. As I said about Aceves in a previous entry, I'm crazy to use a baseball on him, but I like to get Red Sox on them.

A nice surprise from Pawtucket signing wise was Bryce Brentz who I really just haven't seen this year. He signed 4 for me which was also surprising, because I had heard he was down to one-per.

Along with Bryce, I added 4 others to the team set.

Steven Wright:

Drew Sutton:

Alex Hassan:

Rich Saveur:

Mitch Maier signed 3/5 of my cards. He is always nice about it, just doesn't sign a lot at once:

And the MAJOR surprise of the day was..... Red Sox legend, Dwight Evans!!!

I knew Dwight had been around the team as a roving instructor, and had been at McCoy as recently as Friday, but I always seemed to miss him. When a darkly tinted Mercedes pulled in, I had no idea who it was. It was pretty much the same car Jose Iglesias used to have, but obviously he wouldn't be down here. Then Dwight Evans stepped out and when he got close I approached him a bit and asked him to sign. He didn't say anything at first, but then he walked right up to me and was very cool about it. There wasn't much conversation, but I knocked a huge Red Sox heavyweight off of my list and he became #107 I have met. Brent Lillibridge became #108 minutes later.

Total Autographs for 2013:509

Pawtucket Vs. Toledo (Tigers) 6/26/13

With having a day off and with Nick Castellanos and Alex Avila in town, I headed to Pawtucket to try for the stars of Toledo, as well as the multitude of Red Sox prospects who are now in Pawtucket. I could not make it for pre game, so my first attempts at autographs would be during batting practice, which at McCoy Stadium is always a crap shoot.

When I got to the stadium, the tarp was on the field which was obviously not good. When it was getting close to game time, I hung 2 pictures. One of Nick Castellanos, and Alex Avila. It was still sprinkling so I was the only one hanging items, so I figured my shots were good. Nick Castellanos, the Tigers top prospect, signed the picture I had, and when I pulled it up, there were no smudges, which was very lucky. Avila did not sign.

I also found out that the Pawtucket team set came out, which is unheard of at this time of the season for them. They usually release it in late July when over half of the team is already gone.

I was able to get a few of those new cards done:

Big pitching prospect Rubby De La Rosa signed one after the game in the stands for me:

I then got 3 lesser prospects, Jeremy Hazelbaker, Anthony Carter, and Justin Henry:

Avila didn't sign after the game by the bus. There were just a ton of people. Castellanos did sign after, and because of admittedly my own disorganization last night, I had to put him on my team sheet:

I also got Jess Todd, Pat Misch, and Kevin Russo on the team sheet:

Total Autographs for 2013: 495

Connecticut (Tigers) Vs. Tri-City (Astros) 6/24/13

Last night I once again went down to Norwich, because Tri-City, the Houston Astros NYPL affiliate, were in town. To the casual baseball fan, this league may look like there are no names you have heard of before, but in reality, it is a gold mine of baseball talent, who might in 3 or 4 seasons turn into solid MLB players.

Before the game I was able to get all of the photos I brought done.

For Connecticut I had 2013 1st rounder, Jonathan Crawford:

I also got to meet Ben Verlander, the brother of Tigers superstar Justin Verlander:

Pat Leyland, the son of Jim Leyland also plays for Connecticut:

I also did a team sheet for Connecticut:

From Top to Bottom I got:

Hunter Scantling

Austin Schotts

Javier Azcona

Brett Harrison

Curt Powell

Duncan McAlpine

For Tri-City, I had photos for a bunch of players as well.

Andrew Thurman who was a 2nd rounder in this year's draft LOVED the photo of him at the Astros game, and hadn't seen it so I gave him one. He was a very nice kid:

I also had photos of Conrad Gregor:

Anthony Kemp is also a new Houston prospect. He plays second base, and is an even smaller guy than Dustin Pedroia. He is a good ball player though:

After the game I did a team sheet for Tri-City, and was able to get 23 players on it. I had gotten Chia-Jen Lo on the concourse before the game, but other than him everyone was post game. The photo is labeled with numbers which correspond to the player's name in the list:

1
2 Zach Morton
3 Chia-Jen Lo
4 (This autograph was labeled twice on accident)
5 Anthony Kemp
6 Albert Minnis
7 Russ Steinhorn
8 Kyle Westwood
9 Richard Rodriguez
10 Charles Basford
11 Dan Gulbransen
12 Ed Romero
13 Thomas Lindauer
14 Ronnie Mitchell
15 Andrew Walter
16 Michael Martinez
17 Adrian Houser
18
19 Ryan Dineen
20 Evan Grills
21 Luis Alvarez
22
23 Andrew Thurman


I do realize the logo is 90 degrees to the right, but players started to sign it sideways, and it went from there:

One of the highlights of my night was meeting former Red Sox, Ed Romero. He was very strange, and made me like run with him to the bus. He wasn't as nice as I had hoped, but I was able to add the 103rd Red Sox I have met to my list.

I also took a picture with 2012 2nd round pick, Adrian Houser.

Total Autographs at this game: 55

Total Autographs for 2013: 486

2013 Travelers Celebrity Pro Am @ TPC River Highlands

After last year's success, I decided that the Travelers Celebrity Pro Am would again be a must hit event. I have to say, again, overall it was probably my best 'graphing day ever.

I woke up at 4 a.m. to make the drive to T.P.C. River Highlands for one of my favorite events of the year.

I am a big golf fan so I would enjoy 'graphing a golf tournament anyway, but it is really cool that the celebrities get to play on Wednesday, because that aspect provides Southern New England 'graphers with a little more of a chase.

Compared to last year, I would say there were a lot less people, but still a ton of people trying for autographs. Rather than going through every single autograph and saying where I got them, I will highlight a few, and show the rest, but I will say the majority were obtained in the practice area, a very solid amount off of the 7th green (my new favorite spot), and others in various areas.

I will start with the "Celebrities":

If I didn't have a photo, or it wasn't someone huge, I put them on photo paper so I can print a photo later if I wish to.

One of ESPN's most famous personalities, Chris Berman. He was very nice. Even nicer than the last time I met him! I got him on a baseball because he always calls the Home Run Derby. After he signed, Chris asked me my name, and shook my hand:

1984 Olympic Gold Medal Gymnast, Tim Daggett:

WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter:

Former Uconn & NBA Basketball player, Scott Burrell. Scott was the first African American to be drafted in the first round of both the NBA and MLB drafts:

Uconn Women's Basketball Legend, Jen Rizzotti:

Celebrity Chef, Ming Tsai. I was kind of surprised that he had a bit of an attitude. Not a terrible one, but he wasn't as nice as some of the bigger names.:

Basketball Hall of Famer, Geno Auriemma:

Even when Geno is rushed he still takes care of everyone.

Actor, Jim Naughton of "Making the Grade", and "Law and Order". He took about two minutes to talk to me which was pretty cool:

Uconn Basketball Head Coach, Kevin Ollie. I was upset because on the drive there I realized that I forgot my 8x10's from basketball season:

I was able to meet "The Voice" season 1 winner, Javier Colon again. He is always so nice:

Former NFL fan favorite, Doug Flutie was there like last year. I was able to get him two different times, and he was nice on both occasions. I bought a mini helmet off of a guy there for very cheap which was good, although I wish it were a Boston College or Patriots one:

And the biggest celebrity I got was..... TIM WAKEFIELD! I found out just last night that he would be playing, so I brought some baseballs. I was able to get him after he finished on the driving range and he was super nice to everyone. The guy I got the helmet from was around with nothing left for him, so I had him get a second ball for me. Wakefield is the 103rd Red Sox player I have met, and it was just so cool to meet someone I watched throughout my entire childhood for my favorite team.

Both baseballs came out beautifully, the camera angle on the plastic makes them look a tad dull/pixelated.

Later on in the day, I decided I had to go for him again because I had no idea when my next opportunity would be. I got him off of 7, and also got a photo with him!

Meeting Mr. Wakefield pretty much made the entire trip for me.

Now for the part the golf fans out there will enjoy!

Justin Hicks:

Kyle Stanley, who actually turned pro at TPC River Highland 4 years ago:

Johnson Wagner:

Hunter Mahan, who fell just short at the U.S. Open last weekend:

Freddie Jacobson. He actually denied everyone coming down to practice, but he signed coming up from practice. You have to love that autograph:

I was VERY happy to meet Sunday's U.S. Open winner, Justin Rose. It is always nice to meet a major champion, but it made it even more awesome to see how nice this guy is.

I also met Lee Westwood for the first time: The program has Bo Van Pelt on it as well:

I was able to get former Masters winner,  Zach Johnson, which very much surprised me. I caught him at the perfect time off of 7. He is known to be very tough.

I also could not believe how much easier former Masters winner, Bubba Watson was this year. It was SO hard for me to even get him once last year, and I was able to get him twice! I was happy because last year he signed my Sports Illustrated in black, on the darkest spot, but this year he signed it beautifully across the middle in blue!

(I covered the address)

Shout out to a buddy for giving me the card for free!

Rickie Fowler was not at the tournament last year, but he was pretty much this year's version of 2012 Bubba Watson. He kept telling everyone he would after his round, and he didn't lie. When he finished,  he skipped around a ton, and I fell just short of getting him. Then he ran up to the practice green to go behind the barricade. He signed a lot right there, and after moving around a lot, I was thrilled when he grabbed my photo. He personalized it, but I keep them anyway so it doesn't matter. He has such a nice autograph.

Golfers really sign more than any other type of athlete. Some sign after every single hole, and it is really awesome when guys like Justin Rose, and even Bubba Watson who signed more than last year don't get sick of it.

I did try for Alec Baldwin at the mini golf event... he was late for the charity event, didn't sign going in, and basically gave us the "f**k you" wave after it was over.

Total Autographs for 2013: 431