Angels vs Giants Post Game Graphing 6-19-12

Tonight was the second night of graphing the Giants post game. I was really hoping that the crowd of graphers would die down and was also hoping that the events of the previous night would discourage other graphers (not including the regulars) from showing up.

When I arrived at the front gates it was really empty even after the game compared to the night before. It looked like not many family members were waiting for the players outside. With the advice of my friend Nancy I decided to switch it up a bit and try graphing at the back of the stadium near the team bus. Normally it's not wise to wait back there since players usually get on the team bus and leave but I figured it's worth a shot since there wasn't much action in the front tonight.

The first group to walk out was Matt Cain, Javier Lopez, and Ryan Vogelsong. At that point there were only six of us waiting and only five being graphers including me, Matt, Keith, Nancy, and a random girl who wore a Tim Lincecum shirt. All three Giants were headed toward Matt Cain's car since I guess they carpooled together. The girl with the Lincecum shirt ended up getting Matt Cain to sign her shirt using her black sharpie. Since I got Matt Cain on a baseball the night before I decided to get my 2011 Allen and Ginter card signed since he was running with the black sharpie. I think the only reason why Matt stopped and signed was due to the fact that there weren't many fans at that point. I really got lucky thanks to the advice of my friend Nancy.

I didn't have anything for Javier Lopez so I skipped him over and asked Ryan Vogelsong to sign my cards. Ryan was nice enough to sign my 2012 Gypsy Queen and my 2012 Topps Heritage card.

Luckily I was the first person to approach Ryan for an autograph. What's funny is that afterwards other fans asked for an autograph and mistakenly called him Brandon Belt. Ryan got pissed off and stopped signing as soon as he heard that and went inside Matt Cain's car. It must suck being mistaken for another player. It's not like Vogelsong is a scrub. He's actually a talented player. I don't know how people get both players mixed up. To me they just slightly look alike and you can easily tell them apart.

The last person to walk out was Brandon Crawford. He walked over to his girlfriend/wife's car to get a ride. Brandon again denied all autograph requests.

On a side note I am a true believer in karma. One example is Aaron Hill. Since Aaron signed for me the other night even after he wanted to leave he ended up hitting for the cycle. I believe that if you do good deeds for others then good fortune will come in return. Karma can work negatively as well. In Brandon Crawford's case his girlfriend's car wouldn't start. Thus he was stuck in the parking lot for over 15 minutes. Here is a picture of the car.

Doug, one of the members of the security team at Angel Stadium helped jump start the car using jumper cables. Brandon was basically in the car for 15 minutes. He could have at least signed for the few fans waiting for him which would have made everyone happy but he didn't even bother to sign. Oh well no big deal to me but I found that it was ironic that the car wouldn't start after he denied signing for us back to back nights.

The last person to walk out was Coach Bruce Bochy. I had Coach Bochy sign my 2012 Topps Heritage card. One funny thing that happened when Bochy was signing was his reply to a fan who told him that he was getting autographs for his kids. I don't know if this is a graphing trick but I hear it a lot when I do in person signings where graphers tell an athlete that the item that they are getting signed is for their son or daughter. Maybe it's a trick for the player to sign for them or whatever but Coach Bochy's reply was hilarious saying that "everyone has a daughter and son" meaning he really didn't believe the guy who said the remark. In reply to Coach Bochy's comment I was blunt about it and told him straight up that the autograph was for me. Everyone got a laugh out of that.

The gamble did pay off as we later found out that the only player to walk out and sign in the front was Angel Pagan. Nothing against Angel Pagan but I figure most fans would choose to get Cain, Vogelsong, and Bochy over a Pagan autograph.