Non-Hof Autographs: random 2009 Indians

During 2009 Spring Training, my aunt (who is a massive Cleveland Indians fan), asked if I'd like to join her in Phoenix for a few days of baseball and sunshine.  I had never been to spring training, so I quickly agreed.  We ended up going to several games - a few with the Indians, one with the Dodgers, and a game with the Rangers (which I've already mentioned).

Spring Training is an amazing time to get up close and personal to big league players.  During the time there, I ended up getting several signatures on a Cleveland Indians score book.  The cover was autographed by coach, Luis Rivera.  Other signatures found on the pages include manager Eric Wedge, and players Travis Hafner, David Delucci, Ryan Garko, Jamey Caroll, Trevor Crowe, and Shin-Soo Choo.

Of this group, Hafner has done the most in his career in the bigs.  Caroll has found a niche as a utility infielder, and Garko has displayed moments of powerful hitting at the corner positions.  However it might be Choo who has the best big league career by the time these players all retire.  If he does have a Hall of Fame worthy career, he would be the first Korean (and Asian) player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

As mentioned before, Spring Training is an amazing place to get signatures.  I also have a ticket stub that has several Indian players on it, but that will be for a future installment.  It is also where I met Bob Feller and obtained my first ever Hall of Famer signature.

Failure (sort of) #6: Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron will forever be remembered by baseball fans as the man who broke Babe Ruth's all time home run record.  He is a figure who has many fans, and many enemies (those angry with him for breaking Ruth's sacred record for instance).  Aaron's home run record was surpassed just a few years ago by Barry Bonds (although many still consider Aaron the rightful record holder because he was never linked to performance enhancing drugs the way Bonds has been).

Today I recieved the above photo - a quite striking black and white image of Aaron's historic home run.  It is signed - but sadly, this signature is just a printed autograph.  I did not receive my original 3x5 note card back, nor did I receive this item in my SASE.

I have mixed feelings about this one.  For starters, its been weeks since I received my last through the mail autograph, so it was quite a thrill to get some mail today.  I've also read plenty of web forums that indicate that Aaron does NOT sign through the mail and any signature you get back will no doubt be a fake.  This one is somewhere in between.  It appears to be his actual signature, but it is clearly a mass produced item that Hammerin' Hank certainly did not sign.

I've come to realize that I appreciate whenever I get at least something back in the mail.  Whether it is a price list showing what it costs for an autograph, or just a fan photo, I appreciate that something is sent to me.  Currently I've got 25 requests sent out that I do not know if I will ever see again.  That sense of unknowing is sort of scary in a collection like this.  Did my mail get lost?  Did the player simply throw away my request?  Is their stack of incoming mail so large that I may receive something a few years from now?

Sadly, I have no way of knowing.

Roy Halladay (1977-2017)

Roy Halladay was easily my favorite Blue Jay during his tenure with the team.  While I was broken-hearted to see him go to the Phillies (and then pitch a perfect game this year), I still admire his ability from a distance.

I was in attendance at his second career start when he came within one out of throwing a no-hitter, and I watched him pitch incredible games on several occasions.  Through many up-and-down seasons of Blue Jay baseball, he was a constant bright spot.

I obtained this autograph through the mail.  I sent it to him care of the Jays, and included a return envelope, not knowing if I'd ever see it again.  It arrived autographed in thin sharpie (making it somewhat hard to read) several months later - much to my delight.

I really hope he enters the Hall of Fame one day, and if he does, I hope his plaque shows him with a Blue Jay cap on his head.


Edit (January 22, 2019) - Halladay was elected during his first year on the ballot, just two years after his tragic death. I'm considering attending the ceremony this summer.

Non-HoF Autographs: Random 2009-10 Blue Jays

Over the last few years I've dragged this ball (which I originally snagged during batting practice at a game in Oakland) with me whenever I attend a game involving the Blue Jays (ironically, never in Toronto), on the off chance that I get a signature or two.  It has paid off to the point that I now have eleven different signatures on this particular baseball.

They are a bit hard to make out, but if my memory serves me correctly, the following players are included - Brandon League, Scott Richmond (his autograph is enormous), Mike McCoy, Bill Murphy, Ricky Romero (you can read about getting his autograph right here), Scott Downs, Lyle Overbay, Jesse Litsch, Kevin Millar, Brett Cecil, and Brandon Morrow (who ironically was obtained by the Jays in a trade for the other Brandon on this ball, and came within one out of a no-hitter earlier this season).  

As far as potential Hall of Famers?  It is still far too early to tell in the careers of many of the pitchers - Romero or Morrow may have a shot - but most of these guys will probably never see the eternal shrine of Cooperstown.  But with this particular ball, the enjoyment has been about simply meeting these guys in person long enough to get them to sign their names.

Non-HoF Autographs: Jonathan Broxton

I'm a fan of any pitcher who throws really hard and can get a strike-out in a tight spot.  At times, Jonathan Broxton is just that pitcher.  He's a big guy, and he throws close to 100 mph on a consistant basis.  He is an All Star, and may prove to be worthy of the Hall of Fame when he arrives at the end of his career.

Unfortunately, at the time of this blog posting, he has not been doing quite so well.  He temporarily lost his closer role, and has been struggling to get hitters to swing and miss.

I blogged about getting this autograph over at my other blog.  I think it would be really cool to get Russell Martin to autograph the bottom of this image.  Oh, and I guess it would be fun to get the hitter, Albert Pujols (a player who is almost certainly going to be elected to the Hall of Fame) to sign as well, but chances are pretty slim for that to happen.

Non-HoF Autographs: Josh Hamilton

I snagged this autograph at a spring training game in 2009.  Josh Hamilton played the first few innings and then headed to the showers.  At this particular spring training park, the players had to exit the field by walking all the way down the first base line and out through a gate in the outfield wall.

Of course when the fans saw him sauntering down the long walk right in front of them, everyone clammored for an autograph (including me).  He was nice enough to sign for a long period of time - long enough for me to make it from the opposite side of the stadium to where he was standing.  Sadly he signed my ticket stub upside-down, but I guess that isn't that important.

Hamilton's career began as a super-prospect touted to become one of the greatest ever.  A huge signing bonus led to living life large, and ended up leading to substance abuse problems.  Many thought his career was finished, but he cleaned up, found religion, and has turned into the incredible major leaguer that everyone expected him to be.  One wonders if his years facing his demons will cost him a shot at the Hall of Fame.  I guess only time will tell.

Non-HoF Autographs: Various Players

This ball has a similar story to my Indians logo ball.  It was also from the summer of 1997 when my aunt took me to a variety of ballgames.  One somewhat unique aspect of this ball is that during that same summer the MLB All Star game was played in Cleveland.  My uncle had tickets for he and his son, but my aunt and I did not, so we watched from the parking structure which overlooked left field.

Half way through the game my aunt's cell phone rang.  It was my uncle, informing us that their seats were right beside All Star pitcher, "Mudcat" Grant (who happens to be one of thirteen black players to have won 20 games in a single season), and if I wanted to get something signed, I should meet him at the nearest gate.  My uncle took him my cheap plastic covered baseball and he signed right on the sweet spot.  Had I known how good of a player he had been, I probably would have retired this ball with just the one signature, but alas as a young boy I was just interested in getting more.  I think the rest were obtained at Indians games throughout that summer (with maybe one exception).

As you can see, other than that notable signature, the ball has a mixed bag of signatures - everything from journeyman players Trenidad Hubbard (obtained at All Star Fan Festival 1997!) and Charlie O'Brien (who if I'm not mistaken, I got his signature at a game at Toronto's SkyDome), to big league sluggers like Brian Giles and David Justice (although my pen ran out of ink while he was signing).

What may turn out to be the most important autograph on this ball is the one from Omar Vizquel.  Certainly Vizquel has never really been known for his hitting ability - although he was a good hitter in his prime - but he is one of the defensive wizards of this era.  It will be interesting to see if the voters for the Hall of Fame give him any consideration.