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  

Throwback #7 Giants Star Pitcher Madison Bumgarner

Date: September 7th, 2009
Place: Dodd Stadium, Norwich, CT
Setting: Concourse, Sit down signing

Over the past few years, Madison Bumgarner has proven himself as one of the Giants best starting pitchers, and is even becoming one of the better pitchers in the National League.

I have never forgotten this success, because I actually met Madison, ONE DAY before he made his Major League debut. Tim Lincecum had been injured, and Madison made the jump from AA to the San Francisco rotation and I never saw him again.

I was 16 at the time, and I remember Madison being really nice. I actually got 2 things signed that day, as he was the chosen player to sign on the concourse (Norwich always sends one or two players to sign at a table).

I remember being shocked the next day when I heard his good news, not because he wasn't good enough to hit the majors, but because he was SO young at the time, and not many guys make the jump from AA to the MLB level.

This will always stand out as one of my favorite successes because of the fact that I met him the very day before his MLB debut.

I am at school, and this is the best image I could find:

New Britain Vs. Harrisburg 5/2/13 (Hall of Famer Paul Molitor)

Days like this make all of the waiting around/driving/everything in this hobby worth it. I had originally planned to go to Pawtucket today for Wil Myers, but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to go to New Britain.

Going to New Britain also allowed me to finally take in an entire game of baseball. I talk about 'graphing a lot, but I really do enjoy watching baseball in general. I had been to New Britain and Pawtucket last month, but I wasn't able to actually watch a full game, so today was nice.

The game was very early today(10:30) because it was schools' day or something to that effect. Anyway, I didn't get there for the bus obviously, but I tried for Harrisburg during warm ups. All I have to say is that Brian Goodwin is a real piece of work. He wouldn't even look over, or anything. Just a really cold dude. My buddies said he wouldn't even look at them outside. I never wish badly on anyone, but I could absolutely care less what happens to his career now. He'll be begging for fans if he stays in AA for 4 years like half of the players out there. Sure he is a top prospect, but there is really no excuse to not even acknowledge someone.

P.S. He got ejected after being rung up, for flipping off the 3rd base umpire, and saying obscenities.

On New Britain, my two targets were big pitching prospects Trevor May, and Alex Meyer. Luckily for me, May was charting so I got him between innings. He is a quiet, but cool guy:

Meyer came outside pretty quickly after the game, and he was as nice as can be. I asked him how he enjoyed his time at Kentucky, and he said he really liked it:

And then for the big surprise of the day. My friends told me shortly after I got there that Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor had been walking around. Paul is a roving instructor for the Twins organization, as you may have read on my blog last year:

*Last Year's Molitor Success*

I hadn't seen Molitor with my own eyes at all during the game, so I wasn't sure if he had left, but sure enough, he came out of the clubhouse  maybe a half hour after the game, and was even nicer than last season:

What a great day. I'm VERY happy that I changed my mind.

Total Autographs for 2013: 194

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

The Goo Goo Dolls & Ryan Star 4/27/13

My school brought in the legendary Goo Goo Dolls, with opener Ryan Star for our Spring Concert. I had been anticipating this for months, and they did not disappoint signing wise. My school is about as easy as it gets 'graphing wise, so I just sat in the sun for a while. Ryan Star and his band showed up VERY early. Actually before I even woke up, but I caught them walking around.

Ryan was really cool, he asked me a lot about school, my major, etc.

Edit: After seeing the show, I have to say WOW! Ryan and his band are great, he can really sing. Their live sound is amazing!

Ryan Star:

His Band:

The Goo Goo Dolls showed up maybe 2 hours later, and founding member Robby came off first. He was very nice, and was impressed with my collection. He genuinely seemed happy to see that someone had a variety of CD's which was pretty nice. He signed 10 CDs (One is not pictured).

Johnny, the lead singer, and other founding member, came off the bus about a half hour later, and was SO nice. He also signed all 10 Cds, and took a picture with me. Meeting Johnny was one of the coolest experiences I've had in a long time. I was telling my girlfriend on our way back that it was the happiest I had been in a while after getting some autographs.

I got touring member, Brad Fernquist, on "Something for the Rest of Us", because that was the only album he did studio work on that I had with me. He was also really nice, and when he was walking up he joked, "You know I'm not Johnny right?" 

We shared a laugh, and I take it he gets called Johnny a lot by people because he sort of has some of the same features, but is bigger and looks older.

The concert was amazing, they actually played a number of new songs from their upcoming album, on top of the classics like "Iris", "Slide", & "Name".

Total Autographs Today: 26

Total Autographs for 2013: 185

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

3x Grammy Winner (2011 Best New Artist) Esperanza Spalding 4/25/13

This is by far the latest I have ever blogged, but I really wanted to get this entry up. I have an insane amount of work for school lately, but I found a pocket of time tonight to head to Uconn and meet a truly unique person and artist.

I really wanted to 'graph Esperanza, because she really isn't like any other artist out there. She is known for beating Justin Bieber and Drake for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2011, but she has done even much more than that. She won 2 Grammys earlier this year, and continues to make some of the most unique music in the world.

I showed up a little before the show and she was already in, so I hung around until after the show and went back to her bus. After waiting for a while, a very nice guy who was in her band I believe, told me that she would actually be signing inside at a table. I was disappointed that I had waited for so long, but was happy that I knew I could meet her at the same time. I went inside, and there was a line of maybe 75 people. I got in back, and was through in about 40 minutes. Esperanza was very personable towards her fans, talking to each one, and taking pictures with whoever wanted them. She was nice enough to sign an album for me, along with 3 photos.

I have had a lot of fun with Uconn's events in the theater this year, and I'm sad they are coming to an end, but next fall should bring some more surprises.

Total Autographs for 2013:159

 Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Tommie Smith 4)Jim Rice 5)Jeff Bridges