Saturday, May 31, 2014

Howie Kendrick Signing at Stadium Nissan 5-24-14

I decided to attend the Howie Kendrick Signing at Stadium Nissan. The signing was scheduled to take place from 11-1pm but Howie ended up showing up early at around 10:30 and started to sign.







As expected less than 100 people showed up to the signing which is great since there is no drama at signings with low turnouts. It seems as though Howie has been having a free signing every week this year as he already had two appearances before this event and two during the same week. He is tough to get at the stadium so it's nice that he has these free signings.




I ended up getting a 2011 All Star Game ball signed under the logo as well as a heritage card.





 My migraines kicked in so I went home to rest and skipped the game. 


Angels vs Royals Series

I didn't attend any games due to my schedule and because of migraines. Here are some of my pickups over the weekend via postgame graphing.

Alcides Escobar and Danny Duffy on cards






Salvador Perez signed my 2013 All Star baseball under the logo as well but when I asked for the 1st All Star Game inscription I think Salvador forgot how to spell 1st ASG.


It looks like he started to write 1st but ran out of room then put AG instead of ASG. Oh well this is a 1 of 1 extremely limited Salvador Perez autograph with 1 SAG inscription.

My last autograph was from Billy Butler who signed my 2012 All Star baseball under the logo.





Sunday, May 11, 2014

Dodgers vs Giants Series Old Timers Game 2014

Dodgers vs Giants Postgame Graphing Recap 5-8-14

After the epic fail with Jeter during the Angels vs Yankees series I decided to try my luck with some post game graphing at Dodger Stadium. Maybe a change of venue would bring me some better luck.

I arrived at the stadium around the 8th inning and took a few photos near the Giants bullpen.








In terms of postgame graphing I ended up with one autograph from my favorite pitcher Tim Lincecum who signed my 2010 All Star ball under the logo. The goal this year is to get all four Lincecum All Star baseballs signed.





Old Timers Game 2014: 5-10-14

Since I had work on Saturday I couldn't go to the Dodgers vs Giants game on time. Luckily the Old Timers Game was scheduled after the completion of the Dodgers vs Giants game this year. The Dodgers released a roster of former Dodger greats to play in the Old Timers game which included legends such as Eric Gagne, Darryl Strawberry, Fernando Valenzuela, Nomar Garciaparra, and Orel Hershiser. The goal today was to get Eric Gagne and Darryl Strawberry.

I arrived at the stadium around the 8th inning again like a few nights before. I was bored so I took photos.







I love going to the ballpark for day games.

As soon as the game ended I decided to do some post game graphing. I ended up getting Matt Cain on a photo and Tim Lincecum on a 2011 All Star ball. The Cain photo was a rushed signature. His regular signature is haggard but the one I got from him on my photo is probably the worst autograph he has ever given out. Luckily the photo wasn't expensive to print.



Afterwards I decided to check out the Old Timers Game.







The first autograph I got was from Eric Gagne who signed a ROMLB on the SS for me. He was mobbed as expected so I ended up with his short sig. However I was still stoked to add him to my Dodger PC.




Next up was Steve Finley who also signed a ROMLB on the SS for me as well.




Finally last but not least I finally got Darryl Strawberry's autograph. Darryl was one of my favorite players back in the 80s when I first fell in love with baseball. Even though he was mobbed by everyone he was nice enough to also take a photo with me as well.







Overall it was another stellar day of graphing at Dodger Stadium.

Angels vs Yankees Series

Angels vs Yankees Day 1: 5-5-14

Today was the first game of the Angels vs Yankees series. This was Derek Jeter's last visit to Anaheim before his retirement so I had to attend the entire series. The goal was to get my Jeter jersey signed.

I was able to get out of work early and arrived at the stadium at around 3pm. Look how empty the parking lot looks below.






ESPN LA 710AM radio was live in front of the stadium with Max Kellerman and special guest Jim Leyritz.


As soon as the gates opened I headed toward the Yankees dugout. As you can see below there were a ton of media covering the series.





Since it was Derek Jeter's last trip to Anaheim he was being interviewed by members of the media.





All eyes were on Jeter.







Sadly Jeter only signed for a few fans with field passes. On a brighter note I came up huge by getting Adam Warren to sign his Heritage Rookie card over the dugout. Now I just need Melky Mesa lol.


After striking out with Jeter I decided to take a photo of Jeter at bat.


Angels vs Yankees Day 2: 5-6-14  

Day 2 was no different than day 1. Due to a strict security guard checking bags in the front gates I ended up getting inside the stadium a bit late so I was stuck in the outfield.





When I was finally able to get to the dugout Jeter ended up signing three autographs. Yes only three autographs over the dugout. Luckily my friend Alex was one of the lucky ones to get him on his heritage card.






That was pretty much it for the day. As a consolation though I was able to take a few more cool photos of Jeter.








Thanks to my friend Spencer I was able to watch the game four rows behind the dugout.



I also ended up getting Reggie Jackson via trade with Spencer.





Thanks again Spencer for the trade along with the awesome seats to the game.

Angels vs Yankees Day 3: 5-7-14  

Today was the final shot of getting Derek Jeter's autograph this year. I ended up arriving to the stadium about an hour into batting practice since I got off work late. During the entire drive down to the stadium I was worried that Jeter already started to sign or finished up signing for everyone. Since he didn't sign the first two games everyone expected Jeter to sign today.

The Angels gave out a promotional Derek Jeter Retirement card to the first 40,000 fans in attendance. The format for the card was the same as the one they gave out last year for Mariano Rivera's retirement.






Although I was late Derek Jeter ended up not signing for anyone during batting practice. Again this was a shocker to most of us since we all expected him to sign.

The Angels held a ceremony for Jeter honoring his career and gave him a customized surfboard as a farewell gift.



My buddy Kyle made a painting just for Jeter to sign.





Sadly again Jeter didn't pick up a pen today which disappointed all the fans in attendance who were trying to get his autograph for the three game series vs the Angels.