Journeyman said:
used to be. helps living 20 minutes from anaheim stadium/the pond
the most valuable signed memorabilia i have are:
1.) First edition of "Beckett Hockey Monthly" with Gretzky (Kings Uni) on the front and Pat Roy on the back - BOTH signed it
2.) Last year at the Toshiba Senior Tourney in Newport Beach i got Jack Nicklaus to sign the SI after his 5th Masters
3.) The FIRST copy of the L.A. Edition of "The National" from Jan. 31, 1990 - has Magic Johnson on the cover - last year I paid $100 a pop to have him sign BOTH of my copies. I have pix of this because i am probably going to sell 1 of them - and with pix - it is proof the signature is real - not a fake.
i have a friend who has a framing biz and he framed all 4 in museum style framing/matting - and the glass on the frames is UV protected - meaning it keeps away light - and thus the signatures won't fade.
Journeyman said:
it was NO accident - i planned that all along. i could get a certificate of authenticity - but thoe can be forged so easy it isn't funny. the pic CLEARLY shows magic signing the item - leaving ZERO doubt to anyone's mind - meaning i can sell it for a higher price since the person buying it will NOT have to worry about the signature being forged - they will have ZERO doubt the pic is real.
i also took the pic with a NON digital camera - meaning there is a negative with it - and that i didn't "fudge" with the pic in photoshop or similar. trust me - i covered all the bases with this one!
Jim Kelly is an arogant ass. From what ive heard he has chenged since his son was born with Kravaise disease. But after practice at training camp there was a bunch of handicapped kids in wheelchairs wanting his autograph and he he ignored them and said get them away from me. he wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. I would never wish what has happened to his son Hunter on anybody but isnt life ironic how Kelly is now a spokesperson for these children that he at 1 time wanted nothing to do with.
Coolest athletes>>>> Kevin Mahs ( he took time sign an autog. for me before a game in Cleveland which he was late for). Also Don Mattingly, Paul O neil, Jerry Butler (WR for the Bills)...Fred Smerlas and Jim Haslett. those last 2 guys always took time to talk to me and my friends when we used to hang out at their camp.
Coolest athletes>>>> Kevin Mahs ( he took time sign an autog. for me before a game in Cleveland which he was late for). Also Don Mattingly, Paul O neil, Jerry Butler (WR for the Bills)...Fred Smerlas and Jim Haslett. those last 2 guys always took time to talk to me and my friends when we used to hang out at their camp.
Journeyman said:
i don't know - and i am mad this past saturday about 10 miles away espn had this set up where people could bring stuff like this and get it appraised - and i would have LOVED to have done that.
as for the price - the signature cost $100 and the framing and all would have cost about $200 if i had been charged full price - instead of a "friends" discount - so we are up to $300 already.
so now we are up to $300 just to start. my guess is i could get $500 for this w/o too much of a problem. will i? who knows??
Cal Ripkin
Some of the guys in the Ballmer-DC area might remember this. Forgive me if my memory is not exaclty correct about the dates here, but Ripken, I believe, broke the consecutive games played mark either the year after or 2 yrs after the '94 work stoppage. On many nites, after the game that year, he would come out of the clubhouse to sign autogrpahs for those who waited around. It got to be an amazing ritual. I can clearly remember several hundred fans lining up (not gathering in a mob) and patiently waiting for about 20 mins.-half an hour after a game, and there would come Cal. He'd sign for everyone in line. He did this many, many times.
Some of the guys in the Ballmer-DC area might remember this. Forgive me if my memory is not exaclty correct about the dates here, but Ripken, I believe, broke the consecutive games played mark either the year after or 2 yrs after the '94 work stoppage. On many nites, after the game that year, he would come out of the clubhouse to sign autogrpahs for those who waited around. It got to be an amazing ritual. I can clearly remember several hundred fans lining up (not gathering in a mob) and patiently waiting for about 20 mins.-half an hour after a game, and there would come Cal. He'd sign for everyone in line. He did this many, many times.
True Barry Bonds Story
I am from the Pittsburgh area, A real good friend of mine is a scout for the pirates and can usually hook me up with primo tickets in pittsburgh, well the pirates and reds were in the nl championship series, it was sunday night, my favorite pirate of all time(Bob Walk) was pitching, the pirates were down 3-1 bonds was in a slump, I had tickets 1st level right behind the visitors dugout. chico linds whole family was right in front of me, that is the night as a surprise, sun bonds had bonilla flown in for the game to surprise barry, bonnilla was playing for the mets but was still bonds best friend, well bonds dad and bonilla sat 3 seats from us, everyone was hounding them for autographs, I waited till like the 5th inning when it was in the middle of an inning and took my program up to barry sr. and politely asked him for an autograph, he obliged nicely, then bonnilla(who I couldnt stand) asked do you want me to sign that also? I politely asked him `Why would I want youi to sign this?` he looked completely jacked off.
I am from the Pittsburgh area, A real good friend of mine is a scout for the pirates and can usually hook me up with primo tickets in pittsburgh, well the pirates and reds were in the nl championship series, it was sunday night, my favorite pirate of all time(Bob Walk) was pitching, the pirates were down 3-1 bonds was in a slump, I had tickets 1st level right behind the visitors dugout. chico linds whole family was right in front of me, that is the night as a surprise, sun bonds had bonilla flown in for the game to surprise barry, bonnilla was playing for the mets but was still bonds best friend, well bonds dad and bonilla sat 3 seats from us, everyone was hounding them for autographs, I waited till like the 5th inning when it was in the middle of an inning and took my program up to barry sr. and politely asked him for an autograph, he obliged nicely, then bonnilla(who I couldnt stand) asked do you want me to sign that also? I politely asked him `Why would I want youi to sign this?` he looked completely jacked off.
BEST: Don Drysdale, Ron Fairly, Mickey Mantle, Jose Cardenal ("Let me sign both your glove and your cap"), Hawk Harrelson, Luis Tiant, Leon Wagner, Winston Llenas , Chuck Hartenstein (one of the few times a player gave me a ball), Nolan Ryan, Clyde Wright (always talked with us kids endlessly- very gracious at an Angels oldtimers game too), Oscar Gamble, John Matias, Chuck Tanner (gave me a few batting practice baseballs), John Werhas, Jay Johnstone ("You really know your baseball, dontcha."), Roger Repoz, John Purdin, Chuck Hockenberry (probably the most hospitable obscure player, conversed many times), Bart Johnson, Mike Schmidt, Mike Rogodzinski, Merrit Ranew, Greg Goosen ("I like talking about Bouton and Ball Four"), George Brunet (this guy was definitely my bud!), Al Montreuil, Ed Brinkman, Jim Everett ("Jeff George wont be as good as me, I actually lifted weights when I went to Purdue"), Jacky Slater, Chuck Knox, Len Dykstra, Bill Buckner, Greg Anthony ("Vegas, baby!), Cazzie Russell, Del Harris, Hank Gathers ("Man, you drink a lot!"), Dante Bischette ("Can you give me a lift back to hotel? Tim [Mead, angel secretary] left me behind"), Bert Blyleven ("Don't let that guy [pointing to mgr Doug Rader] sign or touch anything. I just saw him jerkin' off in the stalls!"), Doug Rader ("If it wasnt for me, Blyleven would be working at Dairy Queen"), Tim Salmon, Anthony Davis-USC, Deacon Jones, plus many others...MEDIA: Jim Rome ("Dont knock me for my turtleneck; I'm not laughing at your hair, am I?"), Al Conin, Ken Brett, Bob Miller, Scott Ferrall ("Your name isn't Bubba. No hippie in his right mind would call himself Bubba!")
.... a lot of in between nice and worst...
WORST: Sam McDowell, Mike Cook (a minor league scrub who tried to kick me and my brother's ass ),Tom Lasorda ( As manager of the Spokane Indians PCL, the most hated guy in the league- we used to spit on him. In latter years, really grew to like him tho), Grant Jackson ("My taxes go up because of fans like you!") MEDIA: Joel Meyers ("They don't let hippies in the Sportscaster Camps nowadays, do they?"), Rick Monday ("Don't bother me")
.... a lot of in between nice and worst...
WORST: Sam McDowell, Mike Cook (a minor league scrub who tried to kick me and my brother's ass ),Tom Lasorda ( As manager of the Spokane Indians PCL, the most hated guy in the league- we used to spit on him. In latter years, really grew to like him tho), Grant Jackson ("My taxes go up because of fans like you!") MEDIA: Joel Meyers ("They don't let hippies in the Sportscaster Camps nowadays, do they?"), Rick Monday ("Don't bother me")
go2guy said:
i agree with you - to a certain point. if i ask someone to sign something - and they choose not to do it - that is their choice - and i respect them for it. i have been turned down by many people and didn't walk away hating them at all - it is their choice.
what DOES get me mad at them is when they take it further than that.
the reason Carew is on this ist is not ONLY because he stiffed me (and others) for autographs - but rather the way he ALWAYS treated us - and others. he would always find a way to make it seem personal - and he would frequently go out of his way to personally insult us - like we did something horribly wrong. for others on the "A**hole" list it is because of more than saying "NO". letterman is on my list because he pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book for people who don't want to sign. instead of simply saying "NO" he said he'd get back to us as soon as he could - like in 10-15 minutes - then when 10-15 minutes later arrived - letterman was NOWHERE around - walking away and not even acknowledging us when he did it. Gwynn was an a**hole because it was JUST me and 1 other person and we were over the top nice to him, "Excuse me, Mr. Gwynn, can we please get you to sign this?" - and this was after we had been at the ballgame for ALL 9 INNINGS - a college baseball game where there wasn't even 200 people at the game! Gwynn is trying to sell the SDSU program to the public - so stiffing us is NOT the way to do it. Keyshawn made the list for his racist comment that would have gotten a White athlete a ton of trouble by the NAACP.
as i said - it is 100% the RIGHT of someone to sign or not to sign - and those that don't it is something i will not blast them on - unless they go many steps further!
I once had the displeasure of sitting near to both Keyshawn Johnson AND Rob Johnson from Seattle to LA right after USC beat the Huskies sometime in the mid-90's. USC's charter plane had broken down and they were flying commercial on Alaska air. Talk about a bunch of arrogant punks. They gave the stewardesses such a hard time, and the media was kissing their ass everywhere. The only cool guy was Tony Bosselli. He just kind of quietly stuck to himself.
