Saturday Feb 4th, Tony Gwynn Signing at El Cajon Ford

This was my first ever trip out to the famous Tony Gwynn El Cajon Ford signings. Drove out with my friend Benson from Anaheim to San Diego early in the morning. Surprisingly there weren't that many people. I guess it might be due to the fact that Tony does these signings quite a few times this year. About 100 people showed up and he was signing multiple items as long as you were ok with Tony giving you his famous evil glare. I didn't want to become another victim of Tony on youtube so I kept it at two items signed. I had to add to my Tony Gwynn collection.

Ended up getting a mini helmet and an HOF baseball signed.

The bat and the other SS ROMLB is from a previous Gwynn signing at the Grand Opening of the Cox Solutions Store in San Diego I attended last year. Next time I go to a Gwynn signing I plan to get a jersey signed. If anyone knows where I can find a good deal on a legit Authentic Gwynn jersey you can email me. None of that crap fake stuff on ebay. Thanks

January 29, 2012 Eddie Guardado Charity Bowling

Last month I attended Eddie Guardado's Stars and Strike Charity Bowling Event at Bowlmor Lanes in Tustin. The event was a benefit to support children with autism and it featured a lot of local MLB players as well as celebrities. Although I didn't have tickets to the event I decided to go graphing to see if I can get the players to sign as they came in. Scheduled players and celebrities included

"Everyday Eddie" Guardado, 2-Time All-Star Pitcher

Torii Hunter, LA Angels of Anaheim 4-Time All-Star
Michael Young, Texas Rangers 6-Time All-Star
Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers 2-Time All-Star
Derek Holland, Texas Rangers
Vernon Wells, LA Angels of Anaheim / 3-Time All-Star
Garret Anderson, LA Angels of Anaheim 3-Time All-Star
J.J.Putz, Arizona Diamondbacks All-Star Pitcher
LaTroy Hawkins, Milwaukee Brewers
Rex Hudler, Former MLB Player and Radio Personality
Troy Percival, 4-Time All Star
Jamie Moyer, All-Star Pitcher
Carlos Fisher, Cincinnati Reds
Brad Thompson, St. Louis Cardinals
Adam Melhuse, Former MLB Player
Aaron Sele, 2-Time All-Star Pitcher
Chad Cordero, All-Star Pitcher
Jacque Jones, Former MLB Player
Gary Pettis, Texas Ranger Coach and Former MLB Player
Lisa Foxx, On-Air Radio Personality 104.3 MYFM
Bret Saberhagen, 3-Time All Star Pitcher
Todd Marchant, Former NHL Player
Eric Chavez, New York Yankess Infielder
Denny Hocking, Former MLB Player
Sasha Pieterse, Actress – Pretty Little Liars
Musetta Vander, Actress - best known for her roles in science fiction and fantasy films
Nick Roux, Actor – Wizards of Waverly Place, Lemonade Mouth
Darwin Barney, Chicago Cubs
Ty Wright, Chicago Cubs
Howie Kendrick, LA Angels of Anaheim
Chanel Ryan, Model, Actress, "Small Apartments"


My main goal was to get Adrian Beltre and Michael Young. Adrian Beltre has been my white whale for quite some time. Last year I had four separate encounters with him at Angels Stadium and each time he declined to sign. There was one night where he didn't sign anyone for us even though it was a small group of four graphers trying to get him at the players parking lot at Angels Stadium.  


The first autograph I ended up getting was Troy Percival. I was happy I finally got a chance to get him on a SS ROMLB. I am trying to collect every single member of he 2002 Angels Championship team each on a SS ROMLB. The signed baseball also completes my collection of a signed jersey by Troy and now a signed baseball. Note that the signed jersey is an original California Angels authentic jersey from the mid 90s. One of my favorite jerseys in my jersey collection.

The next autograph I got was Bret Saberhagen. I already have a signed Saberhagen SS ROMLB in my collection but if you know me I never pass up a chance to get more. The first Saberhagen SS ROMLB is from the signing at Frank and Sons on 12-3-11 sponsored by good old Hall of Fame Sports. I actually paid for the autograph. Remember I had the discussion between sit down paid signings versus a meet up signing. You can tell that the one I got today was very rushed compared to the one I paid for. Even though I like to get my graphs for free sometimes it pays to pay since you end up getting a cleaner signature. Here is a comparison of both signed baseballs. The one on the left is the one I got for free at this event and the one on the right is the paid one at the signing at Frank and Sons.

Next up was the big moment. Adrian Beltre rolled through with his wife. I was a bit nervous at first to ask him to sign for me since I couldn't get him last season. Luckily he was in a good mood today so he signed for me. The baseball pictured on the left is Adrian Beltre on the one on the right is Michael Young.

Next up was Jamie Moyer. He came out to the event with his kids. Moyer is a class act. Very nice guy in person.

Then Torii Hunter rolled through. Torii is one of my favorite players all time mainly because he is a great baseball player but most importantly he is one of the most fan friendly athletes you will ever meet. He is in the level of Matt Kemp in terms of being very fan friendly and willing to take the time to sign autographs and pose for pictures. I've gotten Torii to sign numerous times at Angels Stadium last year and also at sit down signings like at Metro PCS in Stanton on 5-21-11 but you can never get enough of Torii. The only item I never had him sign was a Angels 50th Anniversary Ball. I had an extra 50th ball that I picked up during batting practice last year so I ended up having Torii sign the baseball underneath the 50th logo.

As you can see from the picture I even had Vernon Wells sign the baseball as well. He came out next with Michael Young. Vernon is another example of a talented player who has no ego and takes the time to please his fans. Overall it was a great event.

January 21, 2012 Trinity Bat Company HR Derby Challenge Cory Hahn Fundraiser

I went to El Dorado High School in Placentia to check out the Trinity Bat Company HR Derby Challenge in support of Cory Hahn. It was a home run derby involving local high school players, top minor league players and a few MLB players. Scheduled players to participate in this event was Mark Trumbo, Hank Conger, Danny Espinoza and Mike Carp. Both Carp and Espinoza were no shows and Trumbo couldn't participate due to injury. Featured minor league prospects included Matt Hobgood, Nick Ramirez, Christian Colon, Trayce Thompson, Aaron Northcraft, Austin Hedges, and a surprise guest Gerrit Cole (#1 pick of the Pirates in the 2011 MLB Draft). The event was very well organized and it was easy to to get access to the players for autographs. Most were very friendly and willing to sign.

Since Trumbo wasn't participating in the home run derby they actually had a table ready for him to sign autographs. I ended up getting my Louisville Slugger Angels Bat signed as well as a SS ROMLB by Mark Trumbo.

I think I OD'ed on Trumbo this past year. I got Trumbo last year on a bat as well as a SS ROMLB at the Dave and Busters signing at The Block and I got his old richter scale rookie signature at the Angels Fanfest last year on a SS ROMLB. I just have a sick habit of not being able to pass up an autograph when I have an opportunity even if it's a player i've gotten before. If anyone reading this blog needs a Trumbo signed bat or baseball let me know. I am open for trade offers.

I then had Hank Conger sign my Allen and Ginters Topps Rookie. I don't normally do cards but i've gotten Hank on numerous items such as ROMLBs and Angels hats so I figured mix it up a bit. This card was given to me courtesy of my friend Benson last season at Angels Stadium who goes to all these signings with me. You can never get enough of Hank though. I hope he does well this season. I have a personal bias towards Asian major league baseball players. I collect autographs of all Asian players especially Korean players since I am Korean myself. I took a picture of a SS ROMLB signed Conger I got at Angels Fanfest last year vs the signed card I got at this event. Notice how sit down signatures always come out better since they are not rushed.

Then I went after the prospects. Ended up with Matt Hobgood, Christian Colon and Gerrit Cole x 2.
Hobgood was nice enough to add the inscription "5th overall pick" and Gerrit inscribed one of my baseballs with "#1 pick 2011." 

I was excited to get Gerrit since he is a UCLA alum. I always root for the UCLA players. I hope he does well this year. Both Gerrit and Christian were nice enough to take photos as well

Albert Pujols Angels Stadium Press Conference

I attended the Albert Pujols Angels Press conference at Angels Stadium on 12-10-11 with the goal of getting Albert's autograph which is the holy grail for all baseball autograph collectors. As a surprise offseason move the Angels ended up signing both Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. Nobody expected the Angels to sign Albert and it was a mad house at Angels stadium with over 4000 fans there to witness history. I figured this would be the best opportunity since everyone is in a good mood and there would be a ton of media covering this event. I drove out to the stadium really early around 7am to beat the crowd and to position myself perfectly for this autograph opportunity.

I figured the best way to get Albert was when he was driving into the stadium. Thus I had my friend's dad hold our spot at the press conference so we can try getting Albert at the players parking lot. We waited there for about an hour with no sign of Albert or any of the other players driving into the parking lot so we had to change plans. We noticed that there was heavy security forming around the Angels office where the employees walk through. As we were waiting security told all of us to leave and said we couldn't wait around the office anymore. That's when we figured for sure Albert will enter through the Angels office. We went back to the car and decided to drive near the parking lot and hide from security in our cars and wait until Albert drove in. As soon as Albert drove in we got out of the car and tried to approach Albert to get an autograph. There were other groups of people doing the same thing. Security unfortunately stopped us all except one little boy who went through and got his autograph on an Angels 2010 All Star ROMLB right underneath the All Star logo. Soon after this failure I decided to go back to the spot which was being held by my friend Scotty's dad. By then there were a ton of people so I had to weave through the lines and position myself. It was 50/50 and I was hoping as soon as the conference was over Albert would walk over to sign for us in our side.

In the beginning current Angels players were on hand to support Albert and CJ including Torii Hunter, Dan Haren and Jered Weaver. I've never witnessed this type of attention for one single player. There were a crowd of Angels fans and a ton of media covering this event. It was like people were celebrating a World Series victory. The moment was historic.

As soon as the press conference Albert went over to speak to the media. Luckily he walked right in front of us instead of exiting the other side. As soon as his interview session ended he walked straight toward me and picked up my pen and signed by 2010 All Star baseball. I couldn't believe my luck. I was so happy he picked up my pen since one of my fears was that he'd run with a sharpie. I knew he wouldn't sweet spot his signature so I handed him my all star baseball hoping he would sign underneath the all star logo. Luckily he did. Even though I got his short handed signature I will take it any day of the week since it is Albert Pujols. It was chaos afterwards as people were trying to push and push to get closer to him thus I was pushed up against the railing. Albert only ended up signing for 10 of us out of the 4000 that came out to see him. I felt like I won the lotto.

 Remember I told you about a ton of media being at the event. As soon as I got his autograph I got texted by all of my friends who saw me on tv asking me if I got Pujols' autograph. The coolest thing that happened was that I was also featured on page 33 in the Sports Illustrated December 19th, 2011 issue with Tim Tebow on the cover.

This was probably my best sports moment ever. As soon as I got his autograph I wanted to get out of the mob. I made sure to place the signed baseball in my backpack and I got out of there. Retrospectively I should have stayed in place since a few minutes later CJ Wilson walked by and signed for everyone. Luckily I got CJ to sign two baseballs for me last season when the Rangers were in town so I didn't need anything else signed from him.

After I got out of the crowd I decided to hang around for a bit to see what else was going on. I noticed that Torii was doing an interview so I was standing by the rails on the 1st base side of the stadium to see if he would sign afterwards. As soon as he finished he signed for all of us waiting for him. I ended up getting my ROMLB signed.

I decided that it was about time to leave. As I was headed toward the parking lot I ran into Mike Scioscia so I had him sign my ROMLB.

LAUNFD "For the City" Charity Basketball Game 11-27-11

I was horribly sick with the flu the day of this charity game. However I still went out to LA Southwest College with my friends James and Nick to check out the LAUNFD "For the City" Charity Basketball Game with the goal of getting Paul Pierce's Autograph on a basketball and Russell Westbrook on his signature Nike Hyperfuse shoes. The charity basketball event was one of the many basketball events last year that were available due to the NBA lockout. Baron Davis and Tina Thompson hosted the event and scheduled players to play and participate were, Paul Pierce, Russell Westbrook, Dorell Wright, Amir Johnson, Darren Collison, Jason Collins, Ryan Hollins, James Harden, Nick Young, Arron Afflalo, Jordan Hamilton, Trevor Ariza, Demar Derozan, Craig Smith, Jarron Collins, Matt Barnes, and Chase Budinger. During the day of the event we found out that the lockout was over which was bad news in that a lot of players were no shows including Pierce, Westbrook, Collison, and Budinger and the players didn't really try hard when playing. It felt more like a practice as opposed to a real game. It was one of the more disappointing charity basketball games i've been to especially since I was sick with the flu and both Pierce and Westbrook were no shows.

I intially tried to get players coming in. The few people I got coming in were Trevor Ariza and Aaron Afflalo. Aaron didn't even play in the game as scheduled but just hung out with family and friends probably due to the fact that he didn't want to get involved in a freak injury especially since the lockout was officially over. I ended up starting a new team basketball featuring all the great UCLA players who made the NBA so I had both Trevor and Aaron sign my basketball.

Security was tough since they didn't let graphers wait near the parking lot. It was much easier getting players to sign inside. However I didn't do much graphing afterwards since I was sick and also due to the fact that i've gotten the other players featured at this event before last summer at the Drew League and other summer pro am leagues like the Nike Real Run in Inglewood High School.

After the game ended I had Baron Davis sign his All Star Li Ning shoes for me.  This model was the same ones that Baron wore during the NBA Slam Dunk Contest when he threw the lob pass from inside the Kia to Blake Griffin for the dunk contest victory.