Angels vs Twins Post Game Graphing 4-30-12

I went out to Angels Stadium after the game to graph the Twins as they were leaving the stadium. Surprisingly it was a larger crowd that normal even though it was a Monday night game. I'd say roughly there were 20 graphers waiting in the front. Most of the regulars were there. There was absolutely no action in the beginning.

The first player to walk out was Trevor Plouffe who came out with his family and was holding hands with his girlfriend or wife thus he didn't sign for us as expected. When a player says "no" it's not the end of the world and it usually means no. You politely wish him a good night and move on. I was surprised that there were still graphers chasing him down across the street. That's really rude in my opinion. Sometimes you need to give players space. People need to learn some autographing etiquette. That kind of behavior makes us all look bad.

The next person to walk out was Coach Gardenhire. Ron is usually a gracious signer and he signed for all of us. I ended up getting my Topps Heritage Card signed from him. When I presented him my notebook of cards he asked me if I wanted my Ryan Doumit card signed too as a joke since it was placed next to his card. Another grapher got Ron's rookie card signed and Ron mentioned that he was skinnier back then before the steroids. Ron's a funny guy if you ask me.

Along with Ron, Chris Parmelee walked out as well. Not many fans noticed him. He was nice and signed three cards for me. Two Topps 2012 Heritage Rookie Cards and a Topps 2012 rookie card.

The last Twin to walk out was Josh Willingham. He seemed like in a rush to get out of there. I didn't have a card of him so I had him sign my Twins Topps Heritage 2012 team card. When he looked at the card he was confused and asked which card to sign. I guess he expected me to have his card. I asked him to sign the team card politely and he signed. However due to the number of fans he rushed most of his signatures. Still I was happy to get his autograph.