GB Autographs is a blog written by one 'grapher from New England that shares stories about meeting athletes,celebrities, and politicians through the point of view of a collector.
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:
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:
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
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
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
Wow. Well as usual Uconn 'graphing gave me a hell of a story to tell you guys.
So I got to the campus at like 5:30, because I did NOT want to wait until after the show like some other times there. This time, the concert was in Gample Pavilion the arena rather than Jorgensen so I knew going in it would be exponentially tougher than usual.
When I was walking around I first saw 2 identical buses but quickly ruled them out as simply promotional buses I walked around the arena, to an area I had only seen once before(when we were chasing for Dick Vitale). At this location, there were 3 large tour buses I was quickly questioned by a woman rent a cop and was told to go away, and that I could not be back there. I walked away, and kept glancing over my shoulder only to see the woman peeking around the corner to make sure I made the entire 200 yard walk.
I decided to go back to my car to rethink my plan, and by this time it had started to drizzle, and the wind was terrible, which made my chances even worse.
On my way to the car, I saw the other act, Steve Aoki, who was nominated for a Grammy this year, walking around with his friends. He stopped no problem, was very nice, and gave me a super cool 'graph:
After that, I went to my car, and listened to some of the Boston Crisis on the radio. With a new sense of energy after I heard the good news, I went back to the great spot I had before, and this time the scene was SO different. The security people were being super conversational with me, probably after realizing that it's not a huge deal to have ONE QUIET person waiting back there.
At about 8:10(or so) Kendrick's manager, who I have heard really good things about in the past, came over to me, asked me if I was a big Kendrick fan, and said that Kendrick was busy on the bus(probably smoking a j), but I will not complain, and brought my two album panthlets onto the bus and had Kendrick sign them for me. While Kendrick does not have that great of a 'graph, this was still a pretty cool success
Here is an example of Steve Aoki's work on the mixing board:
Total Autographs for 2013:155
Top Autographs for 2013: 1)Rudy Giuliani 2)Sonia Sotomayor 3)Tommie Smith 4)Jim Rice 5)Jeff Bridges
Just a note: I've been having a really hard time keeping a top 5 for the year, becasue frankly 90% of the stuff I have gotten this year would be #1's or #2's in years past. This is why I have been switching a few names back and forth. I can't believe that Kendrick won't make my top 5 with it only being April, but it has been a great year.
Hello again everyone! I am happy to announce the website's 3rd drawing, which this time will feature former Red Sox player Rich Gedman! I know I promised another one of these a while back, but I have been busy with college as you can imagine.
This drawing will end in two weeks on May 1st. Also to note, nobody ever claimed the Chris Carpenter giveaway, so the first person to comment, will win that, and also be entered into this drawing. To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post with an email address, OR email me at garrettberthiaume@sbcglobal.net.
-gbautographs.com is not responsible for any card that is lost in the mail. -I will tell the winner the day I mail it to them. -The photos below represent what his signature looks like, you will get a perfect card, but not necessarily one of the EXACT ones pictured.
Tonight my school hosted the very funny, K.T. Tatara. Tatara has been featured on several shows on Comedy Central and Showtime, as well as Californication, and an episode of How I Met Your Mother(The Sexless Inkeeper, from Season 5), which happens to be my favorite show.
Tatara's show was pretty funny, and I think he is a comedian who is greatly underrated. He has a lot of funny videos on his YouTube channel, which is titled K.T. Tatara.
After the show I went up to him, and he signed my photos. He was really nice, and somewhat shy, or surprised it seemed that someone brought photos.
As I said though, he is a very funny comedian, and it is really worth checking him out. I was really excited when I found out my school was bringing him in, and they did a great job this entire year getting quality comedians.
I apologize for the poor camera quality, I don't have access to a scanner usually at school as you guys know. I will scan them this weekend.
Here is one of his YouTube videos, give him a subscription!
P.S. On a day like this, things like autographs and entertainment become so trivial, Boston is in my heart.
Total Autographs for 2013: 152
Top Autographs for 2013:1)Tommie Smith 2)Rudy Giuliani 3)Sonia Sotomayor 4)Jim Rice 5)Jeff Bridges
