Wednesday, November 11, 2015

UPDATED Baseballs For Sale

Here is a list of signed baseballs below along with the price that are part of my updated signed baseball sale. You can email me at dhp226@nyu.edu  if you want to see photos of the items.

Shipping for each baseball is $5. For multiple baseballs ordered I can offer discounted shipping. I accept cash for in person local pickups from graphers in Southern California. Otherwise I accept Paypal from out of state buyers. Paypal payments can be made to dhp226@nyu.edu. Please make sure you send the payments as a gift so I don't get charged any paypal fees.

All baseballs are signed on the sweetspot in blue pen on Rawlings Official Major League baseballs unless stated otherwise.



15 Dollar Baseballs

1) Claude Osteen
2) Peter Bourjos
3) Frank Tanana
4) Chris Chambliss
5) CJ Wilson
6) Yonder Alonso
7) Chase Headley
8) Gordon Beckham
9) Tyler Skaggs with Go Halos inscription
10) Zach Lee with Go Dodgers inscription
11) Darwin Barney with Go Dodgers and 2012 Gold Glove inscription
12) Miguel Tejada signed under the MLB logo
13) Mickey Hatcher
14) Dioner Navarro with All Star Inscription
15) Bob Lee with 1965 All Star Inscription
16) Tyler Chatwood
17) Jordan Walden
18) Ricky Romero
19) Brady Anderson
20) LaTroy Hawkins with Angels COA



20 Dollar Baseballs

1) Al Leiter
2) Bret Saberhagen
3) Harold Baines
4) Shin Soo Choo black pen
5) Max Fried with #7 overall pick inscription
6) Derek Holland 2011 World Series Baseball
7) Jurickson Profar Side Panel
8) Matt Shoemaker
9) Odrisamer Despaigne
10) Patrick Corbin
11) Nomar Mazara side panel

30 Dollar Baseballs
1) Kyle Seager with Go M's inscription
2) Shin Soo Choo
3) Starling Marte
4) Matt Moore
5) Patrick Corbin 2013 Baseball with 1st ASG inscription
6) Robin Ventura
7) Billy Butler
8) Carlos Gonzalez
9) Joe Nathan
10) Roy Oswalt
11) Pedro Guerrero with World Series MVP inscription
12) Shelby Miller
13) Wil Myers
14) Julio Teheran
15) Jason Giambi
16) Josh Johnson 2009 ASG baseball with 1st All Star Game inscription
17) Jordan Zimmerman
18) Bradley Zimmer with Go Indians Inscription
19) Starlin Castro
20) Mat Latos with MLB Authentication
21) Wei Yin Chen
22) Billy Hamilton
23) RA Dickey Mets 50th Anniversary Baseball

35 Dollar Baseballs
1) Lance Berkman
2) Jack Morris
3) Josh Beckett 2011 All Star Ball
4) Allen Craig 2011 World Series Baseball
5) David Freese with Go Halos inscription
6) Don Newcombe Dodgers 50th Anniversary Ball Under the logo
7) Omar Vizquel
8) Melky Cabrera 2012 ASG Baseball
9) Joey Gallo

50 Dollar Baseballs
1) Gerrit Cole 2015 All Star Baseball


75 Dollar Baseballs
1) Adam Wainwright 2014 All Star Baseball






Thursday, July 23, 2015

Masanori "Mashi" Murakami Book Signing at Whittier College 7-7-15

Thanks to a tip from my friend Steve I decided to attend the Masanori aka Mashi Murakami book signing at Whittier College. As all of my readers know I'm a huge fan of collecting baseball autographs of players with Asian heritage so I had to attend this event. It was actually a paid signing with the cost of the book at $25 with each outside item costing $25 as well.






I arrived at the event around 7pm and the event was scheduled to start at 7:30pm. The author of the book Robert Fitts and Masanori Murakami were scheduled to have a discussion about Japanese baseball and Mashi's role as the first ever MLB player of Japanese heritage. There was also a Q and A session after the discussion.


One of the more memorable anecdotes Mashi told us was when Roberto Clemente asked him who was better; Willie Mays or himself. Mashi told Clemente that Mays was better and later on asked Roberto for his autograph. Another funny thing that Mashi mentioned was when he jokingly said that Sandy Koufax was "so-so" since he was able to get a hit off of him.

Afterwards the organizers set up an autograph table.


I ended up getting three baseballs signed one of which was for my friend Rich in New York who couldn't make it out to the signing. Mashi was kind enough to inscribe and write in Kanji for me as well. I also had a photo op with him.







It was an honor to meet the pioneer of Japanese baseball players in major league baseball. I want to give a shout out to all the local graphers including Spencer, Ronny, Roberto, Scotty and Jack. I also want to thank Whittier College for running such a well organized event.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Ozzie Smith and Eddie Murray Locke College Prep Academy Field Dedication 5-9-15

Thanks to a last minute tip from my friend Jeremy I decided to check out the field dedication at Locke College Prep Academy to honor the school's most famous alumni; Ozzie Smith and Eddie Murray. It's crazy to think that two HOFers attended the same high school at the same time. The event was scheduled to take place at 10am on Saturday.


As you can see from the time stamp I literally got the message less than an hour before the event started. With field dedications and events where there are no guaranteed autographs it's always a huge risk since a player can decide whether they want to sign or not. It's really up to their mood, how the event is set up ie location and logistics, and also what level of security there is. When it involves two HOFers you have to at least try so I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

I arrived around 10:30am. I hate driving to LA since it takes me at least an hour to get there all the time. Admission to the field dedication was $12 with all the proceeds going to charity.


As you can see from the photo above the baseball field was gated off and there was heavy security. My goal today was to get Eddie Murray's autograph since i've never gotten his autograph before but I went there with low expectations since he is notoriously known to be a tough graph in general.

I got pretty lucky. A lady that knew Eddie from their high school days wanted to talk with him so he came by the fence to chat with her.



Afterwards she wanted an autograph for her son but they didn't have a pen. Thus I let them use mine.


Afterwards Eddie signed my baseball which I had to throw over the fence to get it to him. Eddie wasn't paying much attention as he ended up signing my baseball on the sweetspot but reverse HOF logo.


I couldn't complain since it was still a free autograph. After he signed my baseball he left to chat with the baseball players on the field. I was pretty lucky since he signed for just me and Jeremy among the regular graphers that day. A lot of people struck out. We even saw him deny kids. The only people he would sign for were for the high school players on the field as security was with him the entire time.

We got this close to him after the event and yet he denied everyone. He just wasn't in a mood to sign.


I also ended up getting Ozzie Smith over the fence. Again I had to use the pen trick as he was talking to some of his former classmates. Someone needed a pen so I let Ozzie use mine. The entire community showed up to support this event. It was cool to see how both Ozzie and Eddie remembered most of the people in the stands. Some alumni even brought old yearbooks to get signed.


Afterwards he went toward the mound to throw out the first pitch with Eddie Murray.




I want to give a shout out to Jeremy, Spencer, Jack, Juan, Adrian, Marc, David S and the rest of the graphing family. I want to give a special thanks to Jeremy for the heads up on this event.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Jeremy Lin Signing at WSS in Los Angeles 4-11-15

Jeremy Lin had a public signing this past weekend at the WSS Store from 4-5pm. With the purchase of $30 worth of merchandise they gave you a wristband to get Jeremy Lin's autograph. I ended up picking up $30 worth of socks.

I arrived at the event around a little past 3pm. LA traffic is terrible but luckily I carpooled with Jeremy and Benson. Thanks to my friend Spencer he held down a spot for us. Thanks again Spencer.

One word pretty much sums up this event; clusterfuck.



Jeremy ended up arriving at about 4pm. 




It was basically a cattle call similar to a book signing where the handler grabs your item and the athlete or celebrity doesn't switch pens and runs with it. It was strictly one autograph per person with no photo ops and all the autographs were rushed. The handlers wouldn't let Jeremy switch pens so he ran with the jumbo black sharpie. Here is how my jersey turned out.




The main reason why I even went to the event was to try to get a full signature or even an inscription from Jeremy Lin. You would think at a technically paid sit down signing the quality of the autograph would be better. I probably could have gotten a better auto in person at another public event. I guess I shouldn't complain since I got the autograph and it was on a cheap item. But all in all it wasn't the best experience from an autograph signing since there was no fan interaction. Jeremy didn't even say a word to his fans and was focused on knocking out all the autographs for the 250 fans that showed up so he can get out of there as soon as possible.

Luckily though I wasn't stuck with $30 dollars worth of socks as I was able to return the items at another WSS store.


Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Joc Pederson Signing Time Warner Cable Store 4-4-15

Thanks to a last minute tip from my friend Josh I decided to go to the Joc Pederson signing at the Time Warner Cable Store at the Beverly Connection. Normally I sleep in on Saturdays if I am not working but luckily I got an early morning text from my friend Josh who knew I was still trying to get my first Joc Pederson autograph.


Joc was scheduled to sign from 10-11:30am. This was literally last minute so I drove straight to the store and arrived about 30 minutes into the signing. To my surprise only about 10 people were there and there was no line since everyone got their items signed. This was the rare autograph signing where only a few graphers showed up most likely due to the fact that it wasn't publicized well.



Joc's handlers enforced the strictly one autograph per person rule. Thus all the graphers who were there were lurking hoping that the rules would change.

There was a ton of media there filming the entire event which was most likely for the show Backstage Dodgers which is shown on the Dodgers Network on Time Warner Cable.


As soon as I gave Joc my baseball he turned the ball with the intention to side panel it. I politely asked for the sweetspot and he luckily obliged. I assumed he would be sweetspotting since it's a public signing but I noticed that he side panelled baseballs for other fans at the event and was personalizing photos like the previous night at Angel Stadium. I guess he is under contract since most rookies wouldn't be big leaguing like that. I was happy I finally got Joc's autograph and he was kind enough to take a photo with me as well.




All the regulars such as Josh, Spencer, Adrian, Larry, Marc, and Jay were all upset including me since we could have totally racked this event. Joc was sitting there with an hour left and didn't sign since we weren't allowed to go back in line for seconds. This reminded me of the time when Marshall Faulk finished up his session an hour early and just sat there and refused to sign more autographs for people who already got him.

All in all I couldn't complain too much since I was happy to finally get Joc's autograph. I want to thank Josh again for the last minute tip and also Marc for giving Josh the heads up about the event.


Dodgers Postgame Graphing in Anaheim 4-3-15

Here is a small recap of what I got during postgame at the Angels vs Dodgers game in Anaheim. Basically my goal was to get my Don Mattingly jersey signed and hopefuly get Joc Pederson and Jimmy Rollins' autograph for the first time.

I ran into old friends such as my friend Jose who hooked me up with a Jim Abbott ball with the no hitter inscription. I couldn't make the signing a few weeks ago but Jose was kind enough to get me his autograph.


Jose is one of nicest graphers in the graphing community. Thanks again Jose for helping me with Jim Abbott.

I also ran into You who like me is a diehard fan of the KBO aka Korea Baseball Organization. He was kind enough to hook me up with some baseball cards from Korea. Thanks again You.


As expected it was crowded as usual since fans from LA flock Anaheim whenever the Dodgers are in town. The first autograph I got was from Brett Anderson who walked out with Brandon McCarthy. Luckily I was able to get both guys to sign some cards for me.


I was also able to get autographs from Darwin Barney and Chris Heisey who walked out together as well.

I ended up getting skipped by Joc Pederson who was personalizing all photos and side paneling every single baseball. He's pretty difficult to get considering he's only an unproven rookie thus far. Due to his hype he's already big leaguing which isn't a good sign for graphers.

Last but not least I was able to get Coach Mattingly on my Yankees jersey. This was one of the quickest turnarounds for me as I ended up picking up the vintage Yankees jersey in February which is only about two months ago.





Coach Mattingly was doing a signing session so I also ended up getting my Gold Glove ball signed.




The only notable Angels autograph I got was from good old David Freese who was kind enough to add the "Go Halos" inscription.


Sunday, March 15, 2015

Shaqfest at Newegg City of Industry 3-15-15

Thanks to a tip from my friend Shaun aka Yosh I decided to check out Monster Madness with Shaquille O'neal at the Newegg store in City of Industry. Shaq was there to promote his Monster products such as speakers and headphones. I was literally informed about the signing yesterday but by the time I went to check for tickets they were already sold out.





Luckily Shaun had an extra ticket for me. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have gotten all of these autographs today since the tickets to the event were sold out. Thanks again Shaun I owe you one. I couldn't pass up the chance to meet Shaq let alone get his autograph. The signing took place literally a few miles from my house. You rarely get a signing so close to your home let alone from a future HOFer. Shaq has always been one of my all time favorite Lakers so it was a great opportunity to finally meet him in person. My goal today was to get my Forum Floor Piece signed along with possibly a basketball. I didn't prep for this event since this was last minute.

Here are the details of the signing below.


Basically the first 20 fans were guaranteed an auto and a photo op with a purchase of a Monster product. Today they had portable cell phone chargers for sale which cost about 32 dollars and also portable speakers for sale which went for sale for 100-120 depending on which model you bought.


I arrived at the signing at around 8am and was ironically number 8 in line which is also Kobe's old number.  I hope that didn't mean bad luck for me. The event was organized and they started handing out wristbands at around 11am.



They ended up selling 12 powercards to the first 12 people in line. The rest of the fans who wanted a wristband had to fork over 100-120 for a speaker. I picked up the powercard since I always needed one and also because I didn't want to spent 100 on some speakers I wouldn't end up using.



While waiting in line I was chatting with the graphing family and ran into a familiar face; my buddy Jerry. If you recall Jerry is the same guy who hooked me up with a Gary Matthews Jr bat several years ago. Jerry has always been nice to me over the years so we chatted a bit and discussed what items we were hoping to get signed today. He mentioned he was going to get a jersey signed plus his forum floor piece and possibly a basketball as well. I told him I had no time to prep since it was a last minute event for me and mentioned this would be a perfect opportunity to drop a jersey on Shaq. Jerry mentioned that he had a surplus of procut Shaq jerseys in his car and asked me if I wanted one. So we go over to his car and I see two brand new with tags attached Procut Road Shaq jerseys from the 2000-2001 season. Getting a last minute high quality jersey unplanned is completely unexpected and thanks to Jerry he sold me his extra jersey for a reasonable price. Thanks again Jerry for the hookup. Thus my plans changed and the jersey was the first item to be signed today.




Shaq arrived at the signing around 3pm and they were letting the first group of five go inside the Newegg building. Shaq was cool as can be and kindly added the 3peat inscription for me on my jersey.





I also ended up getting a basketball signed by Shaq.



As soon as Shaq was finished signing for fans with wristbands the organizers of the event said that Shaq was done signing. There were still about 150 fans waiting outside, most of which showed up to the event when it started and they were also the ones who didn't buy any Monster products. Shaq was cool and told the organizers that he would sign for the rest of the fans. Thus we all hopped back in line to maximize our opportunities for the day. The last item I had left for him was my Great Western Forum Floor Piece with all the players with retired Lakers jersey numbers. This project is still a work in progress as I am missing Magic, Elgin, Kareem, and West. Chamberlain, Mikan and Hearn are also missing but sadly those guys won't be on this piece since they are deceased. If Goodrich didn't take up all the real estate i'd have room for more.


Here is what the rest of the gang got today. Shaun ended up getting a basketball and all of his SI's done.




My buddy Manuel aka "The Godfather" racked as usual and got his photos plus a basketball done.


My buddy Mikey got his shoes done plus a few photos.




Last but not least my friend Big Mike ended up getting a basketball plus an ROMLB signed by Shaq using the good ol Sweetspot Jacket.


I want to give a shoutout to the graphing family and all those who waited with me for seven hours to get Shaq's autograph. I want to thank the staff of Newegg for running such a well organized event. I also want to give a special thanks to Shaun aka Yosh and also Jerry. If it weren't for Shaun I wouldn't have gotten all these autographs today and it weren't for Jerry then there wouldn't be a signed Shaq autographed jersey in my PC. Thanks again everyone.