Dodgers vs Giants Series La Gran Fiesta Viva Los Dodgers Recap

Dodgers vs Giants Post Game 9-13-13

The Giants were in town for a four game series vs the Dodgers. My goal this series was to get Tim Lincecum's autograph since I am the only person in the autograph community in Southern California that still hasn't gotten Timmy's autograph. I've tried for the last few years and I always missed him.

Initially I was stuck in traffic thus I thought I wouldn't make it on time for postgame graphing. Luckily I was able to arrive at Dodger Stadium in the bottom of the 9th inning.

It felt like the playoffs as the entire stadium was filled to capacity. Even though the Dodgers pretty much have the division won it was nice to see the fans stay and watch the full game. Unfortunately the Dodgers ended up losing to the Giants 4-2.

As soon as the game was over Tim Lincecum walked out and signed a photo for my friend Alex. Afterwards he grabbed my ROMLB and pen and ran toward his car. I guess he didn't want to get mobbed by the fans. It was weird since I had to chase Timmy down to get my baseball back. I wasn't sure if he was going to keep it and drive off or hand me the baseball back. Luckily he sat in his car and signed by baseball and tossed it back to me.

I was happy to finally add Tim Lincecum's autograph to my collection. What's unique about the baseball is that it looks like he drew a happy face like how Brett Butler signs his autograph.

That was pretty much it for postgame graphing as none of the other Giants signed. I was glad to knock Timmy out of the way the first night I tried graphing this series.

La Gran Fiesta Viva Los Dodgers 9-14-13 

I decided to check out La Gran Fiesta Viva Los Dodgers Event since I missed out last year due to work. The scheduled Dodgers to sign were Adrian Gonzalez, Juan Uribe, Jerry Hairston Jr, and Ronald Belisario from 2-2:30pm; Billy Ashley, Bobby Castillo, Sweet Lou Johnson, and Kenny Landreaux from 3:45-4:15; Fernando Valenzuela, Manny Mota, and Pepe Yniguez from 5:15-6:10.

My goal was to get either Adrian Gonzalez or Juan Uribe autograph today. I wanted to get my 2010 All star bat signed by Adrian Gonzalez and a photo by Juan Uribe since he rarely signs.

As expected the event was extremely crowded.

The Dodgers created four autograph lines. Unfortunately nobody knew where each player would sign so it was randomized. I decided to get in line 3 with Josh, Jessie, Benson and Larry. My buddy Spencer was in line 4.

I get really unlucky when it comes to lines so it was no surprise that I was in the Jerry Hairston Jr line. No offense to Jerry since he is a great guy in person and a World Series champion but I didn't have anything but a card for him to sign today so I was a bit upset. Adrian Gonzalez ended up in line 1, Juan Uribe ended up in line 2, Jerry was in line 3 and the biggest surprise were two unannounced signers Hanley Ramirez and Yasiel Puig in line 4. My buddy Spencer pretty much hit the jackpot. The organizers of the event let people in line four to choose between getting Hanley's autograph or Puig's autograph.

Ironically my buddy Spencer actually came to the event just to get his Yankee plaque signed by Jerry Hairston Jr. I had nothing but a measly card for Jerry to sign so Spencer asked me if I could get his plaque signed for him. Sure enough I agreed since I knew my buddy's Yankee's plaque project was more important than me getting my card signed. In exchange Spencer agreed to get me Yasiel Puig's autograph which is simply the most generous trade ever. Unfortunately I didn't have a bat on me that was appropriate for Puig to sign since I only brought my 2010 All Star bat with me but my buddy Larry who was in line with me immediately noticed the situation and gave me one of his bats so I could get Puig's autograph. I didn't want to drop a ball on Puig either since he was side paneling everyone since he is under "contracto."

I ended up getting Jerry to sign Spencer's Yankee plaque and he was nice enough to inscribe 09 World Series Champs.

Spencer handed me this signed Puig bat afterwards.

I want to thank Spencer for getting me Puig's autograph and also Larry for hooking me up with the bat. It's good to have nice friends in the autograph community. I felt really lucky to get Puig since I soon found out that Puig and Hanley weren't signing bats that day. There was a kid who tried to get a bat signed that got denied by the handlers running the event. Somehow Spencer was able to convince Puig so sign my bat. Hanley and Puig ended up signing for less than five minutes for about 20 fans and ended up leaving early as Belisario took their place. A lot of fans in line 4 were upset when this happened. I'm glad I dropped a bat since I soon found out that Puig was side paneling every baseball since he is under "contracto." My buddy Juan even tried to use a sweetspot cover aka "ball condom" to get Puig to sign on the SS but he ended up peeling it off to side panel the baseball.

Afterwards we entered the stadium to graph the Dodgers during BP. The first Dodger to sign was Paco Rodriguez near the bullpen. Unfortunately I missed him as he finished up signing by the time I was able to hand him my photo.

Then Carlos Marmol signed two cards for me. It was nice to finally add his autograph to my collection.

Next up was Michael Young. Today was my lucky day. First was getting Puig's autograph on a bat due to the generosity of my buddy Spencer. I recently ordered a 2006 All Star Baseball earlier during the week so that I could get Michael Young to sign it for me. My buddy Benson ran a bit late today before meeting up at my house to carpool to Dodger Stadium together. My mailman literally dropped off the baseball as Benson arrived at my house. Had we left for the stadium earlier I wouldn't have been able to get Michael Young to sign my 2006 All Star baseball. Michael Young was cool as usual and signed my 2006 Rawlings All Star baseball under the logo. He also hooked it up with the '06 ASG MVP inscription.

That was pretty much it for me and the rest of the day for graphing the Dodgers. I did take some action photos of my buddy Josh aka Dodgerbobble getting Don Mattingly's autograph near the dugout.

The Donnie baseball autograph came out sick. Another great pickup for Josh.

The best autograph that anyone got at the stadium today belongs to Josh's agent Benson. Among Dodger fans, graphers at Dodger Stadium, and graphers in Southern California Josh has become a cult hero. Benson ended up getting a 1 of 1 spotlight photo signed by the legend Dodgerbobble.

If any true Dodger fan or OG grapher needs a photo of Josh or his autograph feel free to contact his agent Benson.

I want to thank my buddy Spencer again for helping me get Yasiel Puig's autograph and also my buddy Larry for loaning me the bat I used to get Puig's autograph. It's nice to know good people and friends in the autograph community.

Tim Federowicz and Stephen Fife Signing at Harry's Dugout 9-14-13

The Hunt for Greg Maddux: Angels vs Rangers Series Recap

Angels vs Rangers Game 9-7-13

As soon we finished getting our items signed at the Howie Kendrick signing we headed over the Angel Stadium to graph the Rangers.  I decided to skip the Angels Fiesta since it was about 100 degrees outside and didn't want to deal with the crowds or the sun. Plus the lineup of players scheduled to sign were weak with only Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo being the top caliber players that were signing. I didn't want to risk the chance of waiting in line all day to end up being in the wrong line and getting a piece of paper signed by a random player on the Angels 40 man roster. I'd figure i'd graph the Rangers pregame in the shade instead.

My goal today was to get Greg Maddux's autograph. From fellow graphers I heard that Maddux was at the game the previous night and some of my friends were fortunate enough to get his autograph. Greg Maddux has been my holy grail for quite some time. He was one of my favorite pitchers growing up so I always wanted to add his autograph to my collection. I figured my chances were slim since he rarely signs but it was worth a shot today.

The first player to sign for me today was Ian Kinsler. It was nice to finally add his autograph to my collection since i've been trying to get him for the past two years. I love it when I get autographs from players i've never gotten before.

Adrian Beltre was next but I was denied as he ended up signing for about five fans. I always have the worst luck with that guy. I think I am 2 for 20 lifetime whenever I had a chance to get his autograph over the years but it wasn't the end of the world I missed out. I was still happy about getting Kinsler.

The last autograph I got pregame was from Jason Frasor who was super nice when signing a card for me. I guess it's because I was the only fan to ask him for an autograph. I wished him good luck at the game and he thanked me.

Thanks to my friend Benson who had an extra ticket for me I was able to go to the game. Thanks again Benson for the ticket.

Unfortunately graphing during BP was bad today. I was set on getting Greg Maddux's autograph so we went over to the Rangers dugout. He was low profile so at first we didn't recognize him. Everyone else was fixated on trying to get Yu Darvish to sign as he ended up signing a few autographs the previous night. Greg Maddux was having a conversation with one of the members of the Rangers organization so Benson, Alex A. and I waited patiently to ask him for an autograph as soon as he finished his conversation. When we did ask he ended up completely ignoring us. That was strike one. We noticed afterwards that Maddux ran over to the outfield to give pitching instructions. We moved over to the left field bullpen.

If you look closely above you can see a Corona sign and a fence that swings open so that the players can enter the bullpen. I waited with my friends Ryan, Benson and Alex near that corner to try to get Maddux's attention to sign for us. The stadium employees began to close the fence in as Maddux was walking towards to the bullpen so he quickly ran towards me. We were literally face to face and he still denied us. That was strike two.

We then moved over to the bullpen near the left field seats where Greg Maddux was talking to his brother Mike. There we asked him again and this time we finally got a response from Greg Maddux who just shook his head meaning "no." That was strike three which was a bummer since we had three close encounters with him today.

Graphing during BP was terrible as none of the Rangers signed autographs for us. I decided to try postgame for Maddux again.

Post game was no different as many other graphers who also heard that Maddux was in attendance all waited for him. Maddux walked out with his family and was low profile again. By the time anyone noticed him he was already near his car. Maddux signed one autograph for legendary HOF grapher Matt Crocker. Good stuff as usual Matt. Sadly that was my fourth strike of the day.

Post game wasn't completely a bust as Joe Nathan signed a card for me. I want to thank my friend Eric aka  "Koontz" for helping me getting an extra card signed by Joe. Thanks again bro.

Overall I was a bit disappointed not getting Maddux but I still had one more day to try again.

Angels vs Rangers Game 9-8-13

Today was my last shot at getting Greg Maddux's autograph. We weren't completely sure he was even going to be at the stadium today. Sunday graphing is always tough since there is no BP and you have to get up really early since it's a day game. Plus it's a travel day for most teams so it's tough to graph on Sundays.

I arrived at the stadium and within 10 minutes Greg Maddux signed for us. I was fortunate enough to be the first guy he signed for. My persistence finally paid off. I didn't want this to be my fifth strikeout but luckily today was my day. Greg Maddux was nice enough to sign my Rawlings Gold Glove baseball on the SS. I figured that outside of the HOF ball this was the best type of commemorative baseball to use to get an autograph from Greg Maddux since he owns the record for most Gold Glove Awards won by a pitcher at 18 total GG awards.

That pretty much made my day, my month and maybe my year. Greg Maddux is my favorite autograph I got all year and is on top of my list next to getting Mariano Rivera's autograph in person.

Since I still had tickets to the game I decided to try to get some autographs after the pitchers finished warming up.

The only pitcher from the Rangers that signed was Neftali Feliz. It was nice to finally get him to sign my photo which I printed out for him last year. I never had a chance to get him to sign it since he was injured most of the time. As soon as he saw the photo he came up and signed it for me.

In terms of quantity I didn't get much this series but I was happy with the quality autographs I got.

Howie Kendrick Metro PCS Fullerton Signing 9-7-13

Since it has been months since I last attended a free signing I decided to check out the Howie Kendrick Metro PCS signing in Fullerton since it was only a few minutes away from my house. Howie was scheduled to sign from 11:30-1pm.

I try to avoid free signings in general these days since it's become worse over the years as people camp out overnight for popular players like Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford. Personally camping out is just too physically demanding for me so I stopped attending those types of free signings.

I arrived at the signing at around 8:30am and I was about 20th in line. This is the way all signings should be, zero stress and zero camping out. It was fun chilling in line with Kyle, Benson and Alex and it was also cool to run into old friends like Jerry, Larry, Anthony and Franz. In the end i'd say less than 100 fans showed up.

Today worked out great since there were a lot of Angels events including the Ernesto Frieri signing, Hank Conger meet and greet, and also the Angels Fiesta at Angels Stadium. Thus a lot of graphers were at different events.

My goal today was to get my 11x14 photo signed by Howie who is one of the tougher Angels that rarely sign. I also wanted to get a replacement baseball signed in blue to replace my baseball signed in black ink during one of his free signings from Howards Appliances during my rookie days when i'd have the player use the table pens to sign my items.

Howie was cool as can be and signed my 11x14 photo for me and also took a picture with me as well.

Since the line was short I got back in line and had Howie sign a ROMLB on the SS for me.

Howie has one of the best signatures in baseball. I wish more players took pride in their autographs. Benson had Howie sign his jersey for him. It came out sweet.

After the signing we headed out to Angel Stadium for the Angels Fiesta and to graph the Rangers pregame.

Labor Day Angels vs Rays 9-2-13

Thanks to my friend Jen who hooked me up with tickets to the Angels vs Rays game I decided to spend my Labor Day at the stadium hoping to score some autographs. It felt strange being back since I haven't been graphing at Angel Stadium the past month skipping the Rangers, Astros and Indians series. It was exactly 1 month ago since I was at the stadium when I got Jose Reyes' autograph when the Blue Jays were in town.

I ran into my buddy Ryan who had a special care package for me. He was also at the game to hook up David Price as well.

Thanks again for the shirt and stickers Ryan. That pretty much made my day.


The first autograph I got was from Chris Archer who ironically signed during his pitching day. Chris signed a ROMLB on the SS for me.

Next up was Ben Zobrist who signed three cards for me. Thanks to my friend Jose who helped me get an extra item signed, I was also able to get a 2009 All Star ball signed "Under the Logo" as Jose would say.

The first autograph I got inside the stadium was from David Price who signed my 2010 All Star baseball under the logo.

Initially I was going for Matt Moore and didn't notice that Price was signing next to him. There was a huge mob of people trying to get autographs over the dugout. Moore ended up signing a few and ran inside so it was too late for me to get his autograph today. Price however was good as usual and ended up staying back to sign for the fans.

Afterwards I ended up getting Evan Longoria on a card. Evan was running with a black sharpie. Sadly I didn't have a photo ready for him so I was forced to drop a card on him even though a player his caliber isn't card worthy. However he was side paneling as usual and was giving out his short version of his signature all day. Hopefully next year I will come prepared with a photo instead.

The last autograph I got was from David DeJesus who signed a card for me as well.

I got bored so I took a picture of a guy who is allergic to pens. It seems as though Wil Myers is already big leaguing everyone as he ended up signing only one autograph for a grapher during the four game series.

I hope this trend doesn't continue. I feel really lucky to get his auto a few weeks ago at Dodger Stadium.

Dodgers vs Red Sox Game 8-23-13

I haven't blogged in a long time especially since i've been busy the last few weeks and also due to my laziness. Here is a small recap of Dodgers vs Red Sox.

That's pretty much the only autograph I got the entire day. The picture above shows Ron Cey handing a signed baseball back to my friend Jeremy after he signed my photo. I was glad I was finally able to get my Ron Cey photo signed but the entire day was bad as none of the Red Sox players ended up signing for us. I also arrived late to the stadium as I was stuck in traffic after getting off from work.

It was still cool chilling with Alex, Rob and Jeremy again since I haven't seen them for awhile even though we didn't get much autographs that day.

After the game I met up with my friend Josh aka Dodgerbobble to complete a trade. Since I missed out on Matt Harvey a few weeks ago Josh was kind enough to trade me his Harvey baseball signed under the All Star Logo.

The irony about the trade is that as soon as it was completed Matt Harvey injured himself and was shut down for the rest of the season. If he has Tommy John surgery he may be out for next year. I hope for a speedy recovery. Thanks again though for the trade Josh.