Angels vs Mariners Dave Winfield Signing 9-7-11

Due to some luck I was able to get out of work early on Wednesday 9-7-11 for the Dave Winfield signing at the Angels game. The signing was to take place during the 2nd inning in celebration of the Angels 50th Anniversary. Dave Winfield was the guest Angel Alumni to throw out the first pitch. I went out to the stadium early around lunch time to try to get the players walking in. Since there was no action in the front gates (no sign of Mariners being dropped off) I decided to head over to the Angels player parking lot with my friend Scotty. We waited for awhile and none of the Angels that drove in stopped to sign unfortunately. Then we noticed a bus bringing in some players. As we watched through the bushes near the Angels player parking lot we noticed that Garret Richards and Mike Trout were coming out of the bus. We ended up getting Mike Trout's attention and he came over to sign for us through the bushes. There was only about five graphers there so he signed for us all. I asked as usual to sweet spot the signature on my ROMLB and Mike did so with no problems. However I did notice he side panelled his signature for the other graphers who didn't specifically ask. Rule of thumb is always ask nicely and usually most players will sign on the sweet spot.

I didn't have tickets to the game since it was a last minute day of the game decision that I decided to attend this game. I figured I can buy one the day of the game or scalp the tickets if I had to. Luckily my friend Scotty had an extra ticket for me. I want to thank Scotty for the hookup. Scotty is legendary when it comes to graphing. He is the man when it comes to graphing and is a pro at getting multiple signatures. When it comes to volume Scotty is the man and he always gets the top notch players to sign for him. It's good to be a teenager.

As soon as they opened the stadium gates we ran over to the autograph line. The Angels started to hand out wristbands especially for major players who were signing because the lines were getting out of hand. Therefore they only handed out 100 wristbands per signing. Thus you had to get to the stadium early if you wanted HOFers like Rod Carew, Dave Winfield or Reggie Jackson this past year. I ended up getting Dave to sign my ROMLB on the SS. Sadly no HOF inscription since the lady next to him did not allow it but he did give me his jersey number. I forget her name but she works for the Angels and is very strict on what the players can sign and stuff. I was still happy to get a free autograph from an HOFer.

Since I had work earlier the next morning I left the stadium as soon as I got Dave Winfield's autograph and passed on getting the Mariners after the game.