My Spring Training Experience...Autographs...Pics!

[bobbledude25]

I was down in Arizona for my 3^rd year this year. Although I enjoyed my time I must say the whole spring training experience is my opinion is getting worse every year. In talking with a few other people they agreed. Players are becoming less accessible and not as willing to sign autographs Also, security has tightened up in some stadiums which is disappointing.

However, with that said I did have some great autograph successes which I know contradicts what I just said but it’s hard to explain unless you have been there before. Getting autographs is nothing like it used to be.

Here is a list of the following autographs I received and what I got signed from the following teams: Brewers, A’s, Rockies, Padres, Dodgers and Royals. I saw each team once except for the Brewers twice. I'll list pics below of some of the better ones I got

 

Signed Baseball Cards

Casey Blake

James Loney

Kyle Blanks (2)

Chris Young

James Darnell

Will Venable

Casey McGehee

Corey Hart

Jeremy Jeffress (2)

Caleb Gindl (2)

Cameron Garfield (2)

Eric Hosmer

Tyler Sample

Mike Montgomery

Dusty Odenbach

Ryan Spilborghs

Ticket Stub

Greg Zaun

Scorecard

Adrian Gonzalez

Program

George Brett, Podsednik, DeJesus, Gordon, Butler, Trey Hillman (Coach), Henry Barrera, Betancourt, Bloomquist, Irving Falu, Owen?

8X10’s

Alcides Escobar (3)

Jonathan Lucroy (2)

Prince Fielder

Mat Gamel (2)

Lorenzo Cain

Adrian Gonzalez

Dexter Fowler

Eric Young Jr

James Loney

Grant Green (A’s #3 Prospect

Chris Carter (A’s #1 Prospect)

Wily Peralta

David Eckstein - Sports Illustrated Cover

Alex Gordon

Billy Butler

ROMLB - Baseballs

Kyle Heckathorn

Eric Arnett

Ryan Braun

Adrian Gonzalez

Zach Braddock

Michael Taylor (A’s #2 Prospect)

Mike Montgomery (Royals #1 Prospect)

Zack Greinke

George Brett

Billy Butler

 

 

Zack Greinke

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/signed%20baseballs/HPIM0669.jpg

 

George Brett (Looks Smudged...its not)

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/signed%20baseballs/HPIM0671.jpg

 

Adrian Gonzalez

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/signed%20baseballs/SpringTrainingAutos10010.jpg

 

Klyle Heckathorn

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/signed%20baseballs/SpringTrainingAutos10008.jpg

 

Dexter Fowler

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/2010%20Spring%20Training/SpringTrainingAutos10017.jpg

 

Alcides Escobar

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/2010%20Spring%20Training/SpringTrainingAutos10021.jpg

 

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/2010%20Spring%20Training/SpringTrainingAutos10020.jpg

 

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/numberonewadefan/Baseball/2010%20Spring%20Training/HPIM0673-1.jpg

 

[ewizabeff]

Is that a bible verse on the Gonzalez auto?

[bobbledude25]

Is that a bible verse on the Gonzalez auto?

Yes

[BrewersSuperCollector]

How was Brett in person?

[bobbledude25]

How was Brett in person?

He was throwing BP...I was told he rarely signs...just got lucky I guess...didn't sign for that many people but he was ok. Greinke on the other hand had his head down the entire time he was signing...didnt say a word when ppl were talking to him, signed for 5 min and went back to the dugout

 

 

[Dmiles23]

Yeah, we got Brett twice while we were out there, and from our experience... he was not at all friendly. My dad, who rarely says anything bad about anyone, came back saying "Wow... what a jerk!" But what I always say... everyone has their bad days and maybe we just caught him on 2 of them.

[bobbledude25]

Yeah, we got Brett twice while we were out there, and from our experience... he was not at all friendly. My dad, who rarely says anything bad about anyone, came back saying "Wow... what a jerk!" But what I always say... everyone has their bad days and maybe we just caught him on 2 of them.

I hear ya...Greinke was cool last year...this year he was a punk

 

 

[lunk00]

Greinke had a social anxiety disorder, so I don't think it's really fair to judge him and call him a "punk" if he had his head down and didn't say a word. Doesn't seem like he's the most social guy, but that doesn't make him a bad person.

[billyhallfan]

Greinke is always tough...Brett too. I'm kind of surprised Gonzalez side paneled...I've seen him sign a whole box of sweet spots...

 

Nice stuff...shocked you didn't get more, I know someone in Arizona that got a ton.

[Invader3K]

Guys, how is Gamel to get? The only thing I really want signed is the ticket I have from the game in St. Louis where he hit his first homer last year (which someone on this board kindly sent to me).

[billyhallfan]

He is hit or miss...he is really wierd, sometimes he completely ignores you, and sometimes he is super fan friendly...he is really full of himself though...

 

The nicest experience I had with him was when he got out of his cab, we asked him to sign and he said that he had to go to 7 eleven first...so 5 minutes later he walks back with probably 10 or more sleeves of copenhagen and skoal...the he siged for everyone and was really cool.

http://i694.photobucket.com/albums/vv301/briannelson/In%20Person/005.jpg

[Invader3K]

Thanks for the info. I figure we're down there for a week, so hopefully I can get him to sign just once.

[bobbledude25]

Greinke is always tough...Brett too. I'm kind of surprised Gonzalez side paneled...I've seen him sign a whole box of sweet spots...

 

Nice stuff...shocked you didn't get more, I know someone in Arizona that got a ton.

I easily could have gotten more but was mainly going for the "better" players. I could have got a ton more but just didnt have the stuff to get signed

 

 

[bobbledude25]

Thanks for the info. I figure we're down there for a week, so hopefully I can get him to sign just once.

Gamel I woud say has been the most consistent and best signer down at spring training. Everytime I have been at srping training brewers game and he has been there he has signed everything you throw at him for everyone. Don't worry

 

 

[azcheesehead]

I've got more Gamel signed stuff than I know what to do with. A lot of them are balls signed by multiple guys, but he will sign just about anything. I had a daughter about the same time his child was born. I started talking with him about parenthood and he would ask me how things with my daughter were going. I found him to be a pretty nice guy.

[Tailgat0r76]

Yeah I got Gamel to sign too at a Maryvale, and he and McGehee were the only two I really got on 8x10's. I didn't really try too hard to get autographs this year, just had a blast watching baseball in warm weather!

 

I must say I was impressed by both Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter of the Angels. Hunter moreso than Abreu, but both signed for a really long time after getting pulled in the 6th inning of the game. I sadly didn't have anything for them to sign, but I did get a 20x24 pawned off on me to get signed of Torii from someone behind me and he signed it.

[lodiness]

Thanks for the info. I figure we're down there for a week, so hopefully I can get him to sign just once.

When we went down there last year, we found that it was pretty easy to get tickets to the away games right by the Brewers dugout. I think that i got Gamel, Escobar, and Lucroy all in one shot to sign some balls