Rick Reilly in West Hartford, CT 5/14/14

Now that I'm living in central Connecticut, and working full time, my 'graphing opportunities are a little different than in summers that have passed, but I opened up my summer yesterday by going to the beautiful Blue Back Square section of Hartford to meet Sports Illustrated and ESPN legend, Rick Reilly.

Rick is quitting ESPN soon, and he put together another collection of his favorite columns from over the years, hence why he was in the city. He was scheduled to promote his new piece at Barnes & Noble.

I went straight from work, and was the first person at the store for the event. It was a very small event, but there was a good discussion, with lots of great questions being asked and answered.

Rick was really nice, and I tried to get a photo with him, but the kid who was taking it just kept failing, so Rick asked to take a selfie, and we did that.


Check out the awesome title he chose for his book. He said the reason behind it was that he 'collects quotes nobody has ever said, and this was his favorite one.'

Total Autographs For 2014: 113

Pawtucket Vs. Toledo 5/5/14

As some of my Twitter followers may know, I actually went to this game on Monday night, but because of studying for finals, and completing a few projects I had no chance to squeeze in time to write an entry.

My main goal with Toledo was to meet former MLB pitcher(most notably with the Tigers), Nate Robertson.

There was batting practice, so I knew if he was in the mood to sign, there would be a good chance of me getting him and that's exactly what happened. He was shagging fly balls in the outfield, and when he came in he had no problem signing at all.

I hadn't really prepared any baseball cards or anything for the rest of the team, mainly because this game was kind of short notice, and I knew I probably wouldn't be staying after the game because I had a final the next morning.

Regardless, I ended up getting many guys on a team piece:

Included are, Casey Crosby, Coach Larry Parrish, who became my 119th Red Sox I have ever met, Brandon Douglas, Former big leaguer Trevor Crowe, Hernan Perez, and Kyle Lobstein.

This will be my last Pawtucket entry for quite some time, because I am starting a new job farther out in Connecticut. On a good note, that will allow me to go to the much more 'graphing-friendly, New Britain Stadium, where baseball's #1 overall prospect, Byron Buxton, will be arriving any day now.

Total Autographs For 2014:112

Pawtucket Vs. Indianapolis 5/2/14

Yesterday was the first day of my summer off from school(sans exams), and it was a beautiful day, so I decided it would be a great opportunity to hit Pawtucket before work.

Daniel Nava and Ryan Roberts were both sent down from Boston since my last trip over to Pawtucket. I had met Daniel Nava tons of times prior to starting my blog and his emergence, but not since, so I didn't know what to expect.

Baseball's #12 overall prospect, Gregory Polanco was in town as well with Indy, but by 3:10 the bus STILL hadn't come, and I had to get to work.

Just so people know, not that it's a big issue or anything anyway, but Pawtucket now has security guards in the players' parking lot and at the locker room door, so I wouldn't bother trying to park back there if you have been.

My day started with Garin Cecchini coming in first. Garin is a really good prospect, and always pretty nice. He gets to the stadium EARLY so if you need him, prepare to get there on time:

I decided to start a new project yesterday, and I really like how it's coming along. I was too young in 2004 and 2007 to really start a World Series team item, and I had been really wanting to do something nice for the 2013 team, so I'm going to be getting anyone who played for the Red Sox in 2013 on the Boston Strong Sports Illustrated issues. For players I meet in the minors, I'm going to get them on the new one, and for players I meet in the majors, I'm going to put them on the Johnny Gomes one. In a few years, hopefully I can finish and frame them together!

Yesterday, I did really well starting it off. From top to bottom, spanning left to right:

Brayan Villareal

Brandon Workman

Daniel Nava

Alex Wilson

Rubby De La Rosa

Allen Webster

Ryan Lavarnway

Brock Holt

Brandon Snyder

It was awesome meeting all 9 of those guys, all of which played for the Red Sox last year.

As I just mentioned, I did end up getting Daniel Nava on the magazine, and he took a nice picture with me as well. He is still very nice, and it reminded me of all of the times he stopped for me about 4 years ago.

As I said to begin this entry, Ryan Roberts who was recently sent down to Pawtucket was one of my main targets. When he showed up, he was quiet, but nice enough to sign. He drives one of the nicest cars I have ever seen in Pawtucket. A Porsche!

Brock Holt was nice enough to sign my team ball, along with the magazine above:

Some other random autographs I got yesterday were Christian Vazquez,Bryce Brentz, Justin Henry, and Alex Hassan. Vazquez showed up dressed as Superman! Haha

Total Autographs For 2014:105

Finally, here are some photos from yesterday that my friend, and owner of The Sweetspot Jacket, took.

Here is a link to his website. He has created a new, and interesting product for autograph collectors.

Sweetspot Jacket Website