Upcoming Signing: Cecil Fielder January 18, 2014 at OC Dugout

The signing will take place at OC Dugout on Saturday, January 18th, from Noon-1:30pm at
1238 S. Beach Blvd, Suite J, Anaheim CA, 92804

Cedric Ceballos Signing at Dr. Liu's Optometry Office 11-9-13 from 2:30-3:30pm

I want to thank Dr. Liu for hosting another awesome signing at his office.

Xavier Henry Signing at Harry's Dugout November 16th from 3-4:30pm

Lamond Murray Signing at The Optometry Practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu, O.D.

After the Jose Canseco signing I decided to stop by the Lamond Murray signing at The Optometry Practice of Dr. Alex Corbin Liu which took place from 2:30-3:30 at my hometown of Rowland Heights. I love it when signings take place near my house since I don't have drive far. It was also an honor to finally get a chance to meet my friend Dr. Liu who I have corresponded with through emails the last couple of months. We made an instant connection since we are both doctors in the health field but also like to graph as well on our spare time.

As soon as I arrived Dr. Liu introduced me to Lamond and told him that I am a dentist. Lamond and I ended up having a conversation about how he recently had his wisdom teeth extracted a few months ago. He ended up signing all of my cards and also took a photo with me as well.

I want to thank Dr. Liu for hosting another great signing at his office. If any of my readers need new prescription glasses or need an eye exam soon make sure you stop by Dr. Liu's office. Cedric Ceballos is also having a signing at Dr. Liu's office in a few weeks so make sure you keep an eye out for that (no pun intended). I also want to give a shout out to my buddy Jesse as well for keeping the line in order today.

Jose Canseco Signing at Harry's Dugout 10-26-13

I decided to check out the Jose Canseco signing at Harry's Dugout today. Jose was scheduled to sign from 1-3:30pm today but arrived a few minutes late to the signing since he was attending youth baseball clinic earlier today. I was happy to finally get a chance to meet the legend himself and to finally add his autograph to my collection.

My goal today was to get a bat signed from Jose along with a baseball signed for my friend Benson who couldn't make it to the signing today.

When I arrived around 1pm there were already about 40 people in line. It was cool running into my friends Anthony, Eddie and Daniel today. Not many of the regular graphers were in attendance due to the numerous other signings that were going on today.

Jose was chatting it up with the fans and also posed for photos as well.

There were a ton of inscriptions to choose from but I went with "1st 40/40 Man Ever" since he was the first to reach that milestone in the history of baseball.

Afterwards he signed Benson's baseball with the same inscription.

Before he signed the baseball I asked him to write out the inscription above the sweetspot as Benson requested. His girlfriend overheard our conversation and asked Jose where the sweetspot was. Jose jokingly replied the sweetspot is the sweetest part of the baseball if you lick it. That response can be interpreted on so many other levels but I don't want to go into details. We all laughed it off when he made that response.

Afterwards my buddy Anthony who was in line with me ended up getting Jose to sign a dual photo of him and Mark McGwire together back when they were playing for the Oakland A's as the Bash Brothers.

I guess Jose realized that it was a project for Anthony to get McGwire to sign the photo as well. Again Jose joking replied "good luck with that one since McGwire doesn't like to sign autographs." Jose wasn't trying to discourage Anthony but jokingly made that reply so we all had a laugh since we know how elusive Mark McGwire is when it comes to getting his autograph.

It was finally nice to complete my Oakland A's Bash Brothers bat collection. Growing up in the 80's both McGwire and Canseco were the two most feared hitters in baseball. Although both were implicated with PEDs it was still nice to add their autographs to my collection.

Overall it was a well run signing by Harry's Dugout. I want to give a shout out to Eddie for hosting the Jose Canseco signing at his shop and for keeping everything organized and well run. If you are in Whittier make sure to go check out his shop. I also want to give another shout out my my friends Anthony, Eddie and Daniel. It's always fun chatting it up with you guys when we are in line at these signings.

Postseason Trades

Just like in baseball or any other sport there are always postseason trades between different teams in order for each team to improve their roster or to rebuild their team. This goes for graphing as well. Thanks to my  blog i've been able to network with fellow trustworthy graphers from California and also out of state to complete several transactions. Here are some new items below added to my collection.

My buddy Ryan was nice enough to trade me his Antonio Gates signed mini helmet since I wasn't able to make it out there to the signing in San Diego.

Ryan also sent me a Byron Buxton signed ROMLB with MLB Authentication.

James Shields ROMLB with MLB Authentication.

Eric Hosmer ROMLB with MLB Authentication.

I also made a separate trade with my friend Jaret who sent me a Bryce Harper PSA Rookie ball.

Frank Thomas ROMLB on the SS

Jose Fernandez ROMLB minor league signature on the SS.

I want to thank both Ryan and Jaret for trading with me and making the entire process as easy as possible. If anyone else is interested in trading feel free to contact me.

Marshall Faulk and Manti Te'o Monday Night Football Tour 2013

I decided to check out the Monday Night Football Tour in San Diego today with the hopes of getting Marshall Faulk's autograph today. The Monday Night Football Tour travels across the country and has different tour stops each weekend. This weekend happened to take place in San Diego. Initially I was reluctant to attend since I heard rumors the night before that Marshall Faulk may not sign personal items. The same rumor applied to Manti Te'o who was a last minute addition to the event. Although it was a long drive to get to San Diego I decided to roll the dice and attend the signing.

I arrived at the signing at 8am and surprisingly I was the first one there. The staff didn't arrive until 9am. I was surprised by the low turnout since I expected more people to show up. Then I realized this was San Diego where graphers aren't as hardcore as LA graphers. I should have slept in a few more hours.

The first person besides me to arrive was my buddy Paul H. who rolled out to the Faulk signing with his entire family. Paul is a diehard Rams fan so he came well prepared to get several items signed by Marshall. When the staff finally arrived at 9am they let us form a line where we would have to first register, then test drive a car in order to receive an autograph voucher. They also handed out free swag including $10 American Express gift cards, t shirts, a bead necklace and also had a raffle for a chance to win signed items by Antonio Gates, James Lofton, and Eddie Royal who were all in attendance the previous day. Sadly I couldn't attend the event yesterday due to work.

Afterwards I got in line to get Marshall Faulk's autograph. Marshall was scheduled to sign from 12:30-1:30; Manti Te'o was scheduled to sign from 2:30-3:30; and Larry English was scheduled to sign from 4:00-5:00pm. 

In the end about 100 fans shows up for the signing which in my opinion was a low turnout. Marshall arrived on time and started signing.

Here he is signing a HOF helmet for my friend Victor

Here is Paul's haul aka the Hirigoyen haul.

As usual Paul and his family killed the event and racked up. Good pickups Paul and that helmet came out sick. 

As for me my goal was to get my Superbowl XXXIV football signed and my Rams throwback mini helmet signed as well. 

Although the turnout was low Marshall and his handlers were only allowing one item signed per person at the event. People who were double dipping were getting called out left and right by his handlers. It made no sense since Marshall finished signing in less than half and hour and just sat at the autograph table doing nothing. He didn't seem to be happy to be there. He denied every fan who asked for a photo op and even told Paul's daughters that he doesn't take pictures with kids. How sad is that.

The picture above is the line when there was still 30 minutes left at the signing. Since Marshall wasn't doing anything they did an interview.

I was just happy to get both of my items signed since Marshall is notorious for being a tough autograph. I was also relieved that he was nice enough to sign personal items so I couldn't complain about his poor behavior with the fans. 

Afterwards I waited in line for Manti Te'o who compared to Marshall was friendly as can be. Manti was posing for photos and was chatting it up with the fans. Unfortunately his handers didn't allow us to get any personal items signed but they did provide a stock photo for him to sign.

Since it was already a long day for me I skipped the Larry English signing and went straight to my post graphing spot in San Diego to get a well deserved lunch at Phil's BBQ.

Phil's is hands down the best BBQ in Southern California. I recommend the spot to everyone.

I want to give a shout out to Paul and the entire Hirigoyen fam, Anthony, Victor, Daniel and the rest of the graphers who were there today for the signing.