Red Sox Opening Day 4/11/16

It has been six months since I last posted, which I think is the longest hiatus I have been on in the years since I started writing the blog. I haven't stopped 'graphing at all, but merely slowed down because of well, life. With that said, I am looking forward to catching up on the entries I need to write, and there are some very good ones that I can't wait for.

I was lucky enough to have Opening Day tickets for the Red Sox for the first time ever, which was a great experience. I didn't do a whole lot of 'graphing, but I went to my now usual pre-game spot which happens to be near the NESN booth where the pre-game show is aired. Sometimes they have interesting guests, and I figured that being Opening Day, this may be the case.

Shortly after I got to the stage area, I found in a great spot near the exit of the stage and quickly noticed that John Henry, Tom Werner, and Sam Kennedy, three members of the ownership group, were being interviewed. John Henry, who also is one of the Liverpool F.C. owners, while featured in one of my previous blog entries, was who I wanted to get the most, because I don't get many opportunities to see him.

When the interview finished up, the guys walked off of the stage, and a lot of fans started asking for pictures and autographs. I thought my chances were good because there weren't a ton of people, but it took me a while to get in front of John Henry. He was rushing, but signed a baseball for me, which I also added Tom Werner to without much trouble. It was nice to get John's autograph again, and meet Tom Werner for the first time.

I also was able to meet Dennis Eckersley again, and got a baseball signed by him. He was nice as always, especially for a hall of Famer. The pen skipped a little, but that's okay:

While I didn't get a ton of autographs on Opening Day, it was nice to get a few quality ones, and the experience was great.

New York Mets Vs. Boston 8/30/15

Last weekend I went to Citi Field for the first time on a group trip to see the Mets play the Red Sox. It is often tough for me on group trips to get autographs at the games because of timing, but this time we ended up showing up before gates opened which was pretty awesome.

This was my 5th different Major League Stadium, and as always, I was very excited to knock another one off of my list. In order, I have been to: RFK Stadium in Washington, Fenway Park, Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, and now Citi Field.

Since it was a Sunday, I knew there wouldn't be batting practice which would limit my chances for autographs, but when I got inside, the pitchers were throwing, and I already saw someone signing. When I got closer, about halfway down the stairs, I could see that it was Clay Buchholz. I hadn't met him in about 7-8 years,  around the time when he threw his no-hitter.

When I got down to him he was nicer than I had ever seen him, which was pretty great, and he even took a photo with me!:

A few minutes later, Eduardo Rodriguez started to sign after an obnoxious woman was screaming his name for 10 minutes. He signed for her and about 4 others. I missed out which was a bummer, but no big deal I suppose.

Craig Breslow also signed for a while, but I just wasn't in position, and I didn't want to move because I had a really solid spot in the front row. I always joke around saying, I've met over 140 Red Sox players, and he is one of the nicest athletes in Boston, but I just have terrible luck with him.

After that I was able to get one more autograph. Steven Wright was coming over and I really wanted to talk to him because I had seen him play for a few years in Pawtucket and he was always one of the nicest and most fan-friendly guys. I told him about seeing him in Pawtucket for so long and how I was happy that he had really made it and has been sticking around.

I only got two autographs, but it was an awesome day, and Citi Field definitely became one of my favorite stadiums to watch a game at/enjoy the overall experience. People may call me crazy but I mighhhttt like it as much as Camden Yards.

Boston Vs. Cleveland 8/17/15

A few weeks back while I was at work, a reader of this blog who happens to live in the area, whom I had only met once mind you, dm'ed me on Twitter with an INCREDIBLY generous offer of two free tickets to the Red Sox game that night. I was honestly pretty shocked. It was just such a nice gesture for anyone to make, let alone someone who had only met me briefly in person  a few years ago. With that said, I just want to truly thank, "P"(Didn't want to put his full name here) for his generosity.

After work I met up with my girlfriend and picked up the tickets. We then promptly drove up to Boston. Where I used to live was a lot closer to Fenway, about 65-70 minutes, and my new place is about 95 minutes away, but I still like to take any opportunities I can to make it up to the park.

We were able to make it to the stadium while batting practice was winding down which happened to be much earlier than  I had expected to arrive, and I saw Pitcher, Trevor Bauer, signing over the dugout, so I raced over and was able to get him to sign a baseball. He must have signed around 50 things for people, and he was just very nice.

After everyone else came in, I decided to go to the NESN set on Yawkey Way to see who was doing the pre-game show  because I had seen that a number of my friends have had good luck over there in the past.

Hall of Fame Pitcher, Dennis Eckersley was doing the show with Tom Caron, AND nobody was around the exit of the set, so we went and got some food and came back closer to the end of the show. When the show ended, Dennis was walking over and when I asked him to sign, he couldn't have been any nicer. It was VERY hot so I was happy and thankful that he did it, and was extra happy to have met yet another Hall of Famer, and to add another Red Sox player to my list. I have now met 140+ Red Sox players.

Eck was also kind enough to take a photo with me.

I may have only gotten two autographs at this game, but when one is a Hall of Fame legend, there is little to complain about.

New Britain Vs. Richmond(Giants) 6/29/15

I haven't been able to make it to many Minor League Baseball games this season, but a few weeks ago the Giants AA team was in town with their #1 Prospect, Kyle Crick, as well as their #3 Prospect, Tyler Beede. I have done very well with their farm teams in the past(Connecticut used to be home to their AA squad), and just a couple of seasons ago, I met Joe Panik and Andrew Susac in New Britain, who are both currently starters for the Giants.

The scouting report going in was that Tyler Beede was incredibly nice while Kyle Crick was a little bit tougher of a 'graph. 

There was a double-header because of a rain out over the weekend, and I got to the stadium near the end of the first game. Beede is currently in the bullpen, and on his way in he stopped to sign for a number of fans. He was very nice, and I got to talk to him about growing up around me.

He was nice enough to sign a couple of photos and take a photo with me:

I wasn't able to get Crick before the next game. A few people had asked, but he said, "Not right now."

I was hoping I would be able to meet him after the game, but I had doubts because this stadium has 

huge crowds outside after every single game it seems.

After the game ended, I went outside and my friend gave me 2 more Tyler Beede photos to get signed. That was pretty nice of him, and I was happy because I had only the two that I got signed earlier in the night.

A little bit later, Crick emerged from the locker room as everybody was waiting for him. In general, #1 Prospects end up making an impact in the Majors, and end up becoming super tough to meet so they really get hounded for autographs in the minors. Some are nicer than others, and I would say Crick was overall pretty fine about signing. 

He only did one, and after I got mine signed, I turned my hat around and got back behind everyone else. He definitely remembered me because he asked, "Did I already sign for you?" I just said "no". This was one of only a few times I can remember lying to an athlete, but I didn't exactly feel bad about it because a kid who signed a $900,000 signing bonus can't be having too hard of a time, and can sign for their fans.

The night ended up being very successful, and I hope to see these guys playing in San Francisco very soon!

2015 Travelers Championship Celebrity Pro-Am

One of my favorite events in CT all year. Unfortunately last year I had to skip it because I had just switched jobs, but this year I was good to go and hoped rack up on some celebrities, as well as some of the best golfers in the world.

For those who don't know, the Celebrity Pro-Am is a charitable event in which a PGA Tour Professional is paired with 3 other people. These people can be celebrities, dignitaries, and just other local people of interest. Of course, I only go to meet the celebrities and PGA guys, and usually I am very successful.

Here are links to the other two times I have 'graphed this event:
 2013
 2012

This year, I'll start by talking about how I met each celebrity and what they were like.

George Lopez was my big target for the day. I knew his signing habits were very good, so I wasn't too worried about missing out on him although there were a lot of people.

I first met him when he was coming up from the practice facility. He was rushing because he had to tee off and kept saying,"Last one, last one." but he kept signing and  did two 8x10s for me:

Later in the day, I still had photos for him so I went to the 8th green, and I was super happy with what transpired.

I called him over after he finished the hole, and I had 2 photos showing(with some more peeking out under them) on top of my book. He signed the first two, and without me even asking, grabbed the others and signed them for me. This was incredibly nice of him, and not something someone of his level of celebrity do very often, if at all.

The marker he had by this point was God awful, but luckily I was able to get him to use mine on the previous photos.

To top it off, he was more than happy to take a picture with me.

Bridget Moynahan, the star of Blue Bloods on CBS, was another big target. Some may remember her from her role in Coyote Ugly as well.

She was actually hosting/playing in the charity mini golf tournament that takes place the same day as the Celebrity Pro-Am. When she arrived, she had a cart bring her right up to the mini golf course so I wasn't expecting the best. She had a brace on her ankle, so I'm guessing that was the reasoning for her being driven directly up. Other people were reassuring me that she would sign at the end, because that's what she did last year.

They were right, and at the end she signed away and took a photo with me as well:

She was very sweet to the fans, and thanked us for coming out. She even commented on how much she liked the photo I chose.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show was also at this event, and I had never met him before so he was also near the top of my list. I was able to get him coming up from the practice green area. He was rushing much more than the others, but still stopped and signed and took a photo with me:

Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots was another name I was excited to see on the list because he is one of the Patriots that I haven't met yet. He was VERY nice. I told him I loved the photo of him making the tackle and he laughed and said," Me too, but my knees still hurt from doing that." He was half kidding...

Tim Wakefield needs no introduction, and while I had met him before, I am always excited to see him because I grew up watching him. He signed 2 photos for me(I had to dip him) but he was very nice.

He had his own(blue) sharpie to my surprise. Usually no famous person voluntarily carries a blue with them.

The Connecticut legend Jim Calhoun signed up a storm at the event, and I caught him coming down from the clubhouse. I've never had a bad experience with him!

It was a bit of a surprise to see that NASCAR phenom Bubba Wallace Jr. would be attending this event, but as a fan of his, I was pretty happy. I saw him multiple times throughout the day, and he was always very nice as most NASCAR drivers are.

Skateboarding legend, Ryan Sheckler was also there, and he was truly one of the nicest people in attendance. His handler kept trying to drag him away from signing, and he just kept going and going. He wouldn't stop, and his handler was getting visibly frustrated. It's always so funny when power hungry people try to ruin the fun, but Ryan hooked everyone up!

Season 1 winner of NBC's ,"The Voice", Javier Colon was there as always. I've gotten a bunch of things signed by him over the years, so I just went with one photo this time.

Coach/ Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma is always a great signer, and I was able to get him to sign 3 of the AWESOME new Womens' Championship Sports Illustrateds.

Overall, I had a great day 'graphing the celebrities who attended and now I will talk about the golfers.

Two-time Masters Champion, Bubba Watson, is always one of the top golfers at this event. He usually signs a lot coming off of his last hole, and that was true again this year:

I was able to meet another two-time major champion, Ernie Els, for the first time around the practice area. He probably has the worst autograph of any golfer out there, but it was still cool to meet him.

Another first-timer for me was former Masters Champion, Angel Cabrera. Angel is a STRICT one-per and glares into your soul like a dementor straight out of Harry Potter to make sure that he doesn't sign for you again.

I got the rest of the golfers that I had either met a number of times before or that I didn't care as much about on pairing sheet books.

Keegan Bradley:

Hunter Mahan:

Gary Woodland:

Brandt Snedeker:

Luke Donald & Stuart Appleby:

Mark Leishman:

Jason Gore, Kevin Na, & One Unknown:

I'm really happy with how this year's tournament worked out for me, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Baseball 'graphing April/May 2015 (Mike Trout, Rusney Castillo, + much more)

This April and May I was able to make it to four baseball games despite having finals,  graduating college, and working. While not as frequently attending games as in past years, the quality of the players I met was really great, and I was able to bring my total of Red Sox players I've met to 141!

In this entry, I'll be going in chronological order of when I attended games to recap my solid month.

April 24th/25th Red Sox @ Orioles in Baltimore

This was a very interesting trip, because it was in the middle of the riots in Baltimore. We actually were held in the stadium on the 25th because the riots had made their way to the perimeter of the stadium. Luckily, the game went into extra innings so we didn't have to wait after it was done.

I was able to get a few autographs on the 24th, but none on the 25th.

The Red Sox were very tough inside the stadium on this trip. I was actually  only able to get two different players.

The first guy I met was catcher Sandy Leon. While he isn't the most exciting player on the team, he represented a new Red Sox to add to my list, so I was happy nonetheless. I was able to throw a ball to him during batting practice when he was standing in the dugout. I was hoping to add more players to the ball since it was just signed by Leon, but I can do that eventually.

The other player I got to meet was pitcher, Justin Masterson. Justin has always been one of my favorite players, as well as one of the nicer guys in the league. I hadn't met him since 2008, so I was happy to catch up with him again. I was actually able to make it down to him twice and he took a picture with me after signing:

Pawtucket Red Sox Vs. Columbus Clippers(Cleveland Indians) May 14th, 2015 

I don't live as close as I used to so I can't make it to Pawtucket much anymore, but I still try to make it once in a while because the minors are so much easier to 'graph than MLB. 

Pawtucket's club is STACKED this year with Red Sox top prospects and Columbus was in town with a few of Cleveland's top prospects as well.

Before the game, I was able to meet James Ramsey and Top Prospect, Francisco Lindor off of the bus. I had met Lindor a few years ago in AA before he was the Top Prospect. Both guys were extremely nice, especially Ramsey:

James Ramsey:

Francisco Lindor signed and took a photo:

I showed up late for the PawSox guys coming in, but did see Rusney Castillo who denied the 4 of us waiting when he came in.

I was able to get Henry Owens, who is still one of the Red Sox top pitching prospects inside after the game because he was charting:

I did pretty well after the game as well.

Clippers wise, I really only needed Charles Nagy who is a UCONN legend, and former MLB pitcher. My friend hooked me up with a card which is seen in this picture:

Also in the above photo are former Red Sox players Luis Jimenez and Jemile Weeks on the ticket.

I was also surprised to meet Allen Craig who has played on the Red Sox the last 2 seasons.

Finally, Rusney Castillo came out and I was happy that he came over to sign for the few of us left there. A bunch of people had left a few minutes earlier, which was really lucky because I doubt he would have stopped if they were still there.

I had to get him on the baseball with Allen Craig because I ran out of items:

This ended up being a great day because I was able to meet four Red Sox players that I hadn't in the past.

Red Sox Vs. Angels May 23rd,2015

This was my first time ever 'graphing outside at Fenway, and while it was a long day I feel like I did pretty well although my big catch was inside.

Most Red Sox players denied coming in, but I was able to get a few. Xander Bogaerts only signed for women, and to my surprise, Craig Breslow said he was, "running late".

The first autograph I got on the day was from Junichi Tazawa. I hadn't seen him in a number of years, the last time being when he was in AAA, so it was nice to see him again.

After that, nearly the entire team came in without signing, so I went over to the Angels side for a while to test my luck there. Nearly entire team came off the bus without signing. The only guy that even acknowledged us was Albert Pujols with a wave/look back.

Chris Ianetta came in with a cab, and despite being right in front of him, even he wouldn't sign.

I decided to go go and get some food, and to my Surprise I saw Rusney Castillo signing. I was able to get through the crowd, and was really happy when he took my baseball and signed it. Even though I had gotten him the week before, it was nice to finally have him on his own baseball.

After getting some food, I went to try and meet the MLB on Fox broadcasters. Being a big fan of baseball, I was really happy when Joe Buck showed up and was super nice to the few of us who wanted to meet him. He signed and took a photo:

I never saw Harold Reynolds or Tom Verducci.

Of course the big goal with the Angels in town was to meet the best baseball player in the world, Mike Trout. After he didn't sign off of the bus(as expected), my last chance was inside. I had a number of friends who had bad luck with him all weekend, so I wasn't really sure if I would be able to meet him. During batting practice, I was in the front row, and Trout came over to sign when he noticed a serviceman and some kids nearby. He signed for a kid first, then the serviceman, then me. I felt really lucky, and sometimes luck is what you need to meet the best athlete in any sport. I was pretty shocked that I got to meet him. For the past 3 seasons, I had seen people post their successes with him, and I just never had the opportunity to try with him playing in Los Angeles. I was thrilled that I met him in my first attempt ever, and I still can't really believe it.