Best Autographs You Ever Got

My step-grandmother (is that even the proper term?) went to high school with "Stan The Man" and got a ball signed at some class reunion.

Good thing, because my father filed for divorce a few months later.

 

Your father was married to your step Grandmother? Are you from West Virginia?

 

My brother and I used to hang out at the visiting team's hotel after Braves games in Atlanta when were in our late teens. Probably my most prized autographs from that time are Harry Caray (signed the ball "Holy Cow! Harry Caray") and Ryne Sandberg (he couldn't catch the elevator fast enough and got stuck signing a ball for me), Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio (also got Ken Caminiti's autograph then), Ralph Kiner and Kevin Mitchell. Also got Dan Marino's autograph around the same time at some sporting goods store he was signing at; I grew up a Dolphins fan, so the Marino one was/is a pretty big deal to me. I always wanted Dale Murphy's autograph, but I've never gotten a chance to meet him. I got Phil Neikro's autograph about 10 years ago by sending him a letter saying he should be in the HOF (of course he is now). He signed the letter I sent him and mailed it back to me. It's framed in my office. I also got Eddie Matthews and Willie Mays to sign baseballs at card shows for like $35 apiece; for some reason, they're not as special because I had to fork over money for a signature.

My most prized autograph doesn't fit the original thread, but I'll throw it out there anyway. I got Bill Clinton to sign his autobiography in 2004. Meeting presidents (he shook my hand and thanked me for the campaign buttons I was wearing from both '92 and '96 during my three seconds with him) is a feat. Also got Jimmy Carter to sign some books that same year. He was a little easier to come by because he does a lot of signings in Atlanta. I took my little girl with me (she was 3 then and he spoke to her) and had him sign the kids book he and his daughter Amy did. It'll be a neat thing to have for her when she's older.

Experience-wise, this will totally out me to anyone who knows me, but when I was in college as a sports writer for the school paper, I got to interview Wally Joyner at the "Big A" during his heyday. He was a native Georgian and a nice guy and became my favorite player. I sent the Angels an interview request and he agreed to it. The story I wrote wasn't anything special but it was a really neat experience. I remember Bert Blyleven coming out of the locker room and giving us a hard time ... something like "What are you kids doing in here" (a friend came along as the 'photographer'). He was cool. I remember the Angels' PR folks chaperoning us everywhere so we wouldn't ask Wally for his autograph. They took a jersey and two baseballs and had him sign them and mailed them to me later. Wally offered us tickets to the game, but we had spots in the press box. Good times. Also got to cover the Braves a lot in 1991 (What a magical year ... thank you Jim Schultz for letting a college kid cover the team with the pros) and did a feature on Marvin Freeman!!

 

My family had season tickets to the Showtime Lakers for 4 years. I'd take my best friend to a bunch of games and he became enamored of Kurt Rambis. One year it got really close to his birthday and I hadn't bought anything yet. Then, for whatever reason, I thought of Rambis. So I bought a rookie card and put it into a plastic case and mailed Rambis a note saying how my best friend is his biggest fan and could he please autograph this card. I threw in a $5 as a thank you and told him that it'd be great if the card could arrive within a day or two of my buddy's birthday. It got to be a week before, then 5 days, 4 days, 3 days, 2 days. I was so bummed. Then, the day before, Dec. 29, a package arrived in the mail: the card was signed, and Kurt had sent back the fiver. So fucking radical.

My buddy's jaw dropped when he saw that the card had been signed.

For my birthday this year, he was in Amsterdam and caught a show of Boogie Down Productions, so he had KRS-1 autograph a "Criminal Minded" t-shirt he bought at the show and sent it to me.

 

I hung onto all the autographs I got during my junior high and high school days. The best? I think I'm the only person in the world who has a David Shaw/New York Rangers hockey card autographed by Carol Alt.

 

Chick Hearn. I was lucky enough to be at the Boston Garden as a freshman in college in 1988, a few hours before a Lakers-Celtics game. Chick was strolling across the parquet floor, walking by himself. I introduced myself, and we walked together down the hallway for 2 minutes--I told him was thinking about a career in radio, and he gave me a few pointers. Signed my program. Nicest guy you would ever want to meet.

 

Got a cool Knucksie story, doesn't involve an autograph (although I do have one that I got from him when he was leaving a BBQ place in my hometown about 15 years ago.)

Niekro lives on the lake in the next town over -- he can be seen at a local mountain-man BBQ restaurant (not the same one as above ) eating breakfast a couple mornings a week.

In 1998, my first real job was umpiring youth softball and baseball, all ages. Doubleheaders two nights a week, and a hellacious all-day schedule on Saturdays. Got paid $120 to call eight games, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 3-8:30 p.m. Fun times.

One of those Saturdays, I was running the pitching machine for a 9-10 girls game, when Niekro shows up for whatever reason. He stands behind the backstop watching the game, nobody bothering him, for about 30 minutes. I'm shitting myself because, well, it's fuckin' Knucksie! He's just watching, no big deal. He didn't have a granddaughter on the team or anything, I think he just saw a game and had nothing to do so he thought he'd stop by for a while. After about two innings, he walked back to his car and left. Just like that.

Nobody seemed to recognize him; or if they did, they didn't want to disturb him. I didn't, either. ... It was just the weirdest thing. Never saw him again that season. But damn, that made my day.

 

Wrote a college magazine piece about (pre-SNL breakout) Steve Martin, got an autographed copy in the mail sometime later.

I've only ever asked one person for an autograph, and I still have it:

O.J.

 

Oh, and my favorite autographs:

Cal Ripken
Tom Glavine (personalized)
Brooks Robinson (also personalized)

Carlos Delgado: September 1992, Dunedin, Fla.

 

Gordie Howe on a Goal Magazine with Mark Howe on the cover circa 1983/4 at a Flyers game.

I was waiting in line for Lindsay Carson or some other fourth-line scratch and my Dad pointed him out. Was as nice as could be and let me hold his cup of coffee for him while he signed.

 

I love hearing these stories. . .

Two personal ones come to mind. About 15 years ago, I was covering the first year of one of the new Cal League teams that were popping like mushrooms from the late 80s to the mid 90s. One of the guys in the press box was the older guy from a weekly who must have been in his late 70s, because he told stories about watching Bobby Doerr in high school.

Well, we got to talking about autographs and I told him I collected autographed baseballs. The next game, he hands me these two old boxes of Reach "Base Balls."

In the first one was a ball signed by the 1937 Philadelphia A's. In the second one: a ball signed by the '38 Red Sox (featuring Lefty Grove, Jimmy Foxx and the aforementioned Bobby Doerr) -- the Holy Grail to a Red Sox fan like me. He told me to take these because he knew from talking to me all these games that I'd appreciate them a hell of a lot more than his grandson. I still have them in a safe deposit box.

The second one happened five years ago, when I was unemployed after losing my paper job. I was working PT at this radio station that broadcast the Kings, so I got tickets to a game and took my then 8-year-old son. He was wearing my old Gretzky all-star jersey.

We walked through the Fox Sports Grill at Staples when this guy motioned us over. He said he knew the massage therapist for the Tampa Bay Lightning (that night's opponent) and offered us downstair passes next to the Lightning's locker room. This was the place where the player's families and friends waited for them after games.

We patiently waited there, as Dave Andreychuk, Vincent LeCavallier, Nicky Khabibulin, Brad Richards, Martin St. Louis, Frederik Modin and about a half-dozen other players walked through and signed everything put in front of them -- including my son's jersey. All of them couldn't have been nicer.

 

Best and worst autographs came in the same year.

Worst: I'm at the Midwest League All-Star Game. Bowie Kuhn is there. He gets up to leave in about the sixth inning, so I hustle over and politely ask him for an autograph.

"You bet," he says, and then just scribbles on the program. I couldn't make out any sort of signature.

Best: Couple of nights later, same ballpark, someone says, "You might want to get the autograph of the new guy that was just drafted. He's going to be pretty good. It's his first minor-league game tonight."

Go down to the fence, ask a guy named Paul Molitor for an autograph. Signed my program and a baseball he gave me.