50 Cent 6/18/15

As I have often said, some of the last minute events I find out about are the best ones.

Last week, one day after my James Patterson event, I was finishing up at work later than usual. I was packing up my things to go home and decided to scroll though my facebook feed. When I saw the post I was pretty shocked. 50 Cent was doing a bottle signing at a package store literally 5 minutes from my house. He was there from 5-8, and I only found out about it because a news station posted a story at like 6:40. 50 Cent has been going all around the country doing these signings, and I knew he was going to be in Massachusetts soon, but I had no idea about his Connecticut stops.

Believe it or not, I had his, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" album in my car, along with the album artwork booklet and everything.

When I got to the store it looked pretty packed, but certainly not unreasonable. After asking a store worker, I found out that they had the event set up where you would go about 5 at a time into the store, pick the bottle(s) you want, cash out, then get into the signing line. The process was slow, but at the same time worked for this particular store, and kept things in order.

I think I got to the front of the line by about 7:30, and noticed that they were taking your unsigned bottle, giving you a pre-signed bottle of the same variety, and letting you take a picture with 50. After I got my picture taken with him, I pulled out my CD booklet, and he took it and signed it with no problem. He didn't say much to anyone at all during the whole experience, but all I really cared about was getting one of my oldest CD's signed. I have had this album since 6th grade, which is 10 years ago now, and it was just crazy that I happened to have it in my car. It was also just awesome that a rap icon who I've listened to for so long was so close to my house. I love last minute signings(well, when I'm prepared).

Best Selling Author James Patterson 6/17/15

Last Monday I was walking back from lunch at work and I saw James Patterson's face on the wall. The sign was an ad for an event happening the next day in Hartford to benefit the Mark Twain House. It caught my eye because I'm a huge James Patterson fan, and I especially enjoy his Alex Cross series.

Seeing how this was to benefit a really great cause, and he is my favorite author not named J.K. Rowling, I decided to buy tickets online. On the page, there was a line about a book signing after the lecture, so I was happy that I didn't have to try for him outside. As much as I love doing this, sometimes it just takes too much time these days!

After I bought the tickets, I went out to a few stores to find some cheap books in good condition(while I have read a ton of his books, they have all been in e-book format). I ended up getting 8 books total. I was going to this with my girlfriend, so 8 really isn't too crazy of a number. Also, while the event was for a good cause, it was pretty pricey, so I wanted to get as many books signed as possible.

The lecture itself was very good, but a little long in my opinion. It went an hour and a half, but had some really good moments in which Patterson showed a sense of humor and a passion towards education.

As we were getting in line after the talk, the people running the event said you could have one personal item signed, unless you bought one of the books they were selling. I probably would have bought one of their books because they were only $10, but I couldn't justify buying a 9th or 10th book, and their selection wasn't fantastic. By this point though, my readers know that I'm pretty good at this, and most 'graphers know that you shouldn't take out extra items until the last minute, and by doing that I was successful.

Between us, we were able to get 5 books signed including a First Edition, "Along Came a Spider", which is one of my favorite books of all time!

The only even slightly disappointing part about the night was that I found out that the Mark Twain House had held this same event last year with Dan Brown, and in 2013 with Stephen King! I literally lived 2-3 streets away from the venue last summer, so I was shocked that I never heard about the Dan Brown event.

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.

Hall of Fame Inductee Pedro Martinez Book Signing 5/7/15

Despite last week being the last finals week of my time in college, I found time to make it to Massachusetts for the iconic Pedro Martinez's book signing. This was actually his second signing of the day, and third of the week.

I got to the store (The Paper Store in Framingham) about 2 hours before the event because I knew it would be packed. Luckily I was only about 25 people back, but if you know about Pedro Martinez you know he takes forever to sign his autograph. Anyways, I got in line and about an hour after the event started I got to the table. 

Pedro wasn't overly talkative, which is understandable because he had a long day. I had met him a number of years ago anyway, so I didn't mind anyway since I really just wanted his signed book.

I ended up getting 4 books signed, 1 for me, 2 for friends, and one extra:

Here is a link to when I met Pedro 4 years ago:
Pedro Martinez 2011

Actor/Director Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother, Liberal Arts) 4/1/15

Well just like in the fall, I'm back again after a bit of a lull in blogs, this one being around two months long. I have been 'graphing here and there, mostly at college basketball games, and a few other low key events. I will be writing a "Winter Recap" entry very soon to document what I did during my time off from blogging. With baseball season starting this week, I should be back in full force with plenty of cool entries!

Anyway, now to get to one of my favorite 'graphing experiences of all time.

About a month ago, I heard rumblings of my favorite actor from my favorite television show, landing the spring lecture spot at UCONN. After seeing the official news, I bought my ticket right when they went on sale to the event which would eventually sell out.

To give some personal background, How I Met Your Mother has been my favorite show since early middle school. I am graduating college in a month, and when it ended last year, it was the first show I had really watched every week from pilot to finale for years. On top of that, Josh Radnor played the lead of Ted Mosby, and eventually created and starred in the movie Liberal Arts, which was a huge independent success, and highly underrated in my opinion.

Although I had never had success meeting someone at this theatre before the show, I decided once again to try my luck since I figured the stage door would be packed as always afterwards. About 40 minutes before the show, a towncar pulled up to the sidewalk(actually down the street from where it should have, and out stepped Josh.

I quickly walked over, and asked Josh to sign a photo. He didn't think twice about it and seemed happy to. After the first, he saw that I had another, and signed that with no problem as well. I couldn't believe that one of my favorite celebrities of all time was being this cordial.

After he signed for me, he asked me where the stage door was and I explained to him how to get to it, and offered to take him to it. He went back to the car to tell his driver he was all set, and when he came back I asked for a photo with him. At this point he seemed a little rushed, but still took a nice photo with me. This was an experience I will never forget.

His lecture was hilarious, and capped the overall experience off in the perfect way.

An Atypical Day of 'graphing 2/6/15

Yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. I had been planning to go to Mohegan Sun for Mike Francesa's annual charity broadcast with many former Yankees greats. This year's lineup included Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, David Cone, Bernie Williams, Buck Showalter, and a few other minor names. I had never done this event before, but my friends had luck in the past with it, and it was on a Friday which was nice and allowed me to go.

ALSO going on at Mohegan was 80's week, which was to culminate with a huge concert at night featuring Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Terri Nunn of Berlin, and other 80's pop stars. Being a general fan and follower of pop culture, I was excited to possibly see a few of these people since I have been hearing their music on pop radio since I was a little kid.

ALSO in the building was Rev Run, of Run DMC fame, who would be DJ'ing an event at a club at night.

Finally, Fleetwood Mac would probably be showing up at some point for their show on the following day.

I'll start with the baseball guys since that was my main focus of the day.

David Cone:

David, known as a pretty nice guy, came walking down to head to the radio show and said he would sign for us on the way back. He ended up signing a ton inside the radio show, and I got word of this, but when my friend and I went over, the room was at capacity so we couldn't go in. He went another way on his way back, and I never saw him again.

Joe Girardi:

Joe came walking down to the show, and I stepped up and asked him to sign. His security seemed to be more of the problem, and they said he was late and might sign later.

I was able to get inside the show while he was on the air, and he signed after he got off the set for 10 people or so, but I just couldn't get close enough.

Buck Showalter:

Word was circulating that Buck wasn't feeling well, and when we was walking to the show this was apparent. He looked really bad, and didn't seem to want any part in interacting with fans.

By this point you may be thinking, "Well, who DID you meet?"

Luckily for me, when Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman came down, he was in the signing mood and helped me not go home empty handed.

I also was able to meet former MLB player, and local guy, John Ellis:

(Thanks to my friend Geoff for the card!)

I didn't try for Bernie Williams, because he is one of the toughest autographs in baseball and I had to get going.

Throughout the day I walked around a bit because I was getting a little bored, and I ended up running into 2 80's pop stars.

The first was Terri Nunn, known from her time in the band Berlin, who is best known for the song,"Take My Breath Away", from the hit Tom Cruise movie, "Top Gun".

Terri was really sweet. She talked to the few of us that ran into her. I have to give the assist to my older buddies who pointed her out for me. I was happy to get a nice photo with her.

Later on in the day I was walking to another prime spot, and when I arrived, people were taking photos with 80's pop icon, Tiffany! She was also very nice, which was cool and I was happy to get a photo with her. I remember Saved By the Bell making multiple references to her over the years, and it was really cool to meet her.

Debbie Gibson and Rev Run both took pictures and signed for people during the day, but I just wasn't lucky enough to see them. I would have loved to meet Gibson, but I couldn't complain after meeting a few cool people.

Fleetwood Mac hadn't shown up by the time I left.

Overall, I had an interesting day. The Yankees were very tough, but the music successes definitely helped the day move along!

Red Sox Winter Weekend 2015

Last weekend was the weekend in which most MLB  teams had their fanfests, and for the first year, the Red Sox held one not too far from me at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

Over the last few months, the Red Sox had a huge list of possible players named, "expected attendees" on their website. They purposely did not say how many players you would be able to meet, so I was expecting maybe 3-4, but even that turned out not to be the case. Luckily for me, I was able to catch a few guys and got them to sign when they were not in the autograph room.

The first person I met on the day was former Red Sox/ Broadcasting legend, Jerry Remy. Jerry was sitting near the NESN set, and was signing/taking photos with mostly anyone who wanted something.

My Dad and I both got a baseball signed, and I got a photo with him. I found it extremely curious that he sweet spotted for my Dad, and side paneled for me, especially since I handed the ball to him the correct way. Of course my Dad let me hear it, joking that he was the better 'grapher.

Nonetheless, I was happy to add another former Red Sox player to my collection, bringing my total to 132.

After meeting the RemDawg I noticed that Red Sox/Liverpool FC owner, John Henry was sitting nearby watching a ping pong tournament that was going on. Surprisingly, I had never met him and being a fan of both of his teams, I had to add him to my collection. He was very nice, and signed no problem:

After we met him, I had a 1:00 autograph session so I went up to the ballroom that the autograph sessions were taking place in, and the line to get in at 12:00 was already INSANE. I'm talking hundreds of people already waiting to get into the 1:00 session. 

The autograph session worked like this:

There were many different times(you picked one earlier in the week).

For each "Time" there were 4 separate lines of 1 player each, (2, if the players were of way less caliber).

There was also a "photo only" line, that the autograph line lead into after you get your autograph.

So when it was all said and done, if you didn't know what you were doing, the most you were guaranteed to get by attending Winter Weekend was 1 autograph and 1 photo. I should mention that this was NOT a free event, so unless you either A) Got really lucky with who your autograph session was, or B) Worked to get extra autographs, this event was NOT worth the money whatsoever. Luckily for me, I was able to do both case A and B, and ended up doing alright.

So back to the event... I walk in to the ballroom, and head to my assigned line. After about 3 or 4 minutes I sighed in relief as I saw that the legendary Carlton Fisk was who I drew to get an autograph from. I was extremely lucky, because the line next to me was for 2 relatively unknown players to the casual fan. Dustin Pedroia was also signing during this session, but I had already met him albeit 9 years ago now! 

Carlton was really nice, but wouldn't add the  "Hall of Fame 2000" inscription. I figured he wouldn't, because there were A LOT of people, but I was happy regardless.

It's not every day that I can add an autograph as nice as this to my collection::

As I said earlier, after you got your autograph, you had to option to enter the "photo only" line. The player that was in my photo line was Xander Bogaerts, and even though I had met him probably a dozen times in the past, I had never gotten a picture with him so I decided it was worth the wait. 

By the time I was done, it was time for my Dad's autograph/photo session. Unfortunately, he didn't draw as good of an autograph as me, but his photo draw was better. He drew newcomer, Wade Miley for his autograph, and Fred Lynn as his photo. I was happy that he at least got to meet one guy he used to watch a lot.

With that said, this is where the event was poorly planned, and many folks didn't get their money's worth. I got super lucky with my draw, but my Dad got a terrible autograph draw, and a good photo draw. I guess you could say for the casual fan, this would be fine, but for people/'graphers who come to expect a bit more, they left disappointed. I personally got my money's worth, but had to really work for it, and have some luck on my side.

Here is the Wade Miley autograph:

After he got out of his session, we went back down to the main area where we had met Jerry Remy and John Henry earlier, to see if anybody else was hanging out. 

Allen Craig would not sign coming off of the NESN set, but I was able to get Tommy Layne, who made his Red Sox debut last year. I had failed to meet him in Pawtucket before his call up last season, so I was actually pretty happy about meeting him:

After that, I was pretty exhausted so we decided to leave. I was walking through the casino towards the exit, when all of a sudden I saw Xander Bogaerts, Mookie Betts, and a few others walking around. I had to choose, because they were walking somewhere fast and Xander was the best player, so I went with him. I was the only one asking him/that noticed them, so he signed for me and gave me a better autograph than I have ever seen him give. I had to keep pace with him, but he made it worth it. 

That was a nice ending to my day, and the event overall.

One more thing worth mentioning before someone asks is that the players WOULD NOT sign after their talks or even walking through the event. I think they were strictly told not to. I got Xander Bogaerts because he was walking through the casino, not through the event space.