Since the Tigers were in town I decided to head out to Angel Stadium for some post game graphing. The Tigers are in town for just one series all year so this was my one and only shot of getting Miguel Cabrera or Prince Fielder's autograph. The goal for me this weekend was to get one of the two.
I heard from fellow graphers that Prince signed a ton over the dugout during batting practice on Friday. This was a bad sign since Prince already signed quite a few autographs already.
The first player to sign for me post game was Joaquin Benoit who signed a card for me. Joaquin is always nice about signing.
Anibal Sanchez signed as well but he was strictly one per for some reason. However he signed for everyone who waited for him which was a surprise since he was the losing pitcher that night. There were a ton of graphers that night so it was a surprise that he signed for basically everyone.
I also ended up getting Max Scherzer to sign a baseball for me. Initially it looked like he didn't want to sign since he hesitated. When I asked him to sweetspot the baseball he asked for my name. I've heard rumors that he personalizes which is fine by me since I wasn't planning on selling the ball anyways. Max was nice enough to personalize my baseball and sign it on the SS. Max even personalized some cards as well and he ended up signing for about five fans.
As for my intuition that Prince wouldn't sign I was correct since he was escorted by security along with Austin Jackson. Prince had already signed a ton of autographs inside the stadium so he denied all autograph requests post game.
Angels vs Tigers Game 4-20-13
Thanks to my friend Benson who hooked me up with tickets I was able to attend the Angels vs Tigers game. Benson and I decided to go some pregame graphing with the hopes of getting Tigers autographs prior to the start of the game.
The first Tiger to sign for me was Brayan Villarreal. Nobody stopped him for an autograph since nobody recognized him. Since I didn't have a card for him I had him sign a team card.
Andy Dirks, Omar Infante, and Anibal Sanchez came in together and signed. I had each player sign a card for me. Ramon Santiago and Joiquin Benoit also signed cards for me as well.
During warmups there wasn't much action. Since it was a day game there was no BP so only the pitchers were out there warming up. The only player who signed for me was Phil Coke who pretty much signed down the line for every fan. He signed for about 15 minutes. Phil signed two cards for me which are pictured above.
Justin Verlander signed over the dugout as well. My friend Nancy ended up getting her card signed by Justin. None of the other usual graphers ended up getting Justin as he was signing mostly for kids and casual fans. I was in prime position to get his autograph since I was standing next to Nancy but Justin kept on skipping over me. Justin would point and signal at each fan so that they could toss him a pen and their item to get signed. Fans who prematurely threw items at Justin without his signal ended up getting their items thrown back unsigned. Justin kept on skipping over me to the left then to the right. This was extremely frustrating since I came so close to getting his autograph. Although he was side panelling every baseball I didn't care since he is one of the toughest autographs to obtain in the graphing world. This day just felt like the day I missed out on Prince last year. In the end Justin ended up signing for about 10 fans and went back inside the dugout. It just wasn't meant to be.
After the game I decided to wait for Eric Karros. Eric was at the stadium since the game was being broadcasted by Fox. As soon as the third out was recorded Eric basically bolted out of the stadium with his luggage. None of the graphers noticed him leaving so I politely asked Eric if he could sign an autograph for me. I didn't expect him to stop and sign for me since he has luggage in his hands and he looked like he was in a rush to leave the stadium asap. Luckily he stopped and signed my ROMLB on the SS.
I think I was the only grapher to get Eric Karros that day since he abruptly left the stadium after signing my baseball. That made up for me missing out on Verlander since Eric was one of my favorite Dodgers growing up. It was nice to add his autograph to my collection.
The biggest surprise of the day was USC's own Matt Barkley who is projected as the 2nd QB to be selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. Matt was at the stadium as a fan watching the Halos beat the Tigers. Not many fans noticed who he was. I am not much of a USC fan since I am a Bruin but I couldn't pass up this autograph opportunity. Since I didn't have a football or mini helmet on me I did the next best thing which was to get an ROMLB signed on the SS.
Afterwards Prince and Austin Jackson walked out of the stadium together and again with security. Therefore we were shut out again from Prince.
Coach Leyland signed as well after the game and he signed my 2013 Topps Heritage card for me which is pictured above.
After another day of missing out on Miggy and Prince I decided to hit up the Clippers vs Memphis playoff game at Staples Center with Benson to keep my mind off of missing out on Verlander, Prince and Miggy again. Luckily the Clippers beat the Grizzlies to take a 1-0 lead in their playoff series. Notable guests in attendance at the Clipper game were Mike Trout and Garrett Richards. I want to thank my friend Benson again for hooking me up with game tickets for both the Clips and Angels.
Angels vs Tigers Pregame 4-21-13
Although I was tired for graphing all day and getting home late from the Clipper game the night before I decided to try getting Miggy, Prince or Verlander again at the stadium. I decided to graph pregame only today since physically I was too tired to graph back to back days. Again it was another tough day as only Omar Infante and Andy Dirks signed pregame.
I guess i'll have to test my luck on getting them next year or if the Angels face the Tigers in the playoffs.
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