September Graphing Recap La Gran Fiesta Viva Los Dodgers

I haven't posted on my blog in a long time. Most of it is due to laziness especially since it's the end of baseball season and the long graphing season can be draining at times. Here is a short recap of what I ended up with the last month of the baseball season.

Angels vs Rangers Series

I only ended up with one autograph since I didn't graph much during the series but I was able to get Adrian Beltre on my 2010 All Star bat which matches perfectly with the 2010 All Star ball I got signed earlier this year at the Eddie Guardado Charity Bowling event.

Most importantly though I was able to graph with my homie Rich who happened to be in town during the Rangers series. Go follow Rich on instagram. He has one of the sickest collections out there in the graphing game.

The coolest item signed during the day was when my friend Alex got Mike Trout's autograph. The photo is special; possibly the best photo ever of Mike Trout in terms of sentimental value among Anaheim graphers.

The Halos clinched the AL West earlier during the week and my friends Alex, Moe and Joe were featured in a celebration photo next to Mike Trout.

When I met up with Alex he shows me this photo signed literally a day after the celebration.

All I gotta say is that it's the best signed Trout item i've seen so far this year. The photo is simply legendary.

La Gran Fiesta Viva Los Dodgers and Rockies Graphing

I decided to check out La Gran Fiesta at Dodger Stadium with my friends Alex and Rob. Any other day we would skip this event since the weather was hot and it's annoying to deal with crowds but we each had personal goals in mind in terms of graphing. Both Alex and Rob needed Josh Beckett on their set cards since Josh was pretty much going to retire after this season and it would likely be impossible to track down Josh at a later time to get his autograph. My goal was to get Nomar Garciaparra's autograph on my Nomar Red Sox jersey.

As usual it was packed like a circus as you would expect from any Dodger event.

What was nice is that the autograph lines were organized. Instead of making us walk through a mystery line they actually labelled where each player would sign and you had the choice to choose one specific player to sign for you. I ended up going to the Nomar line and both Rob and Alex were in the Beckett line.

I ended up getting Nomar to sign my jersey. For some reason he was personalizing every item he was signing today, even random items like his Starting Lineup figurines. I don't mind the personalization but I just wish he would space the personalization more so that he wouldn't have to shrink his autograph in a small space.

We also ended up graphing the Rockies since they were playing the Dodgers that weekend. I ended up getting a 2011 All Star baseball signed my Michael Cuddyer with the 1st ASG inscription.

All I gotta say is that Michael Cuddyer is one of the nicest guys in baseball. I've never had a bad graphing experience with him. He's always nice to the fans and takes pride in his autograph and never rushes a signature like most ball players do these days. I wish more guys would sign like Cuddyer.

I also got Brandon Barnes to sign my photo. He's also another nice guy in baseball. Brandon does a lot of charity work to raise awareness for The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and each year he runs a Charity Wiffleball Tournament during the offseason. I actually originally printed this photo out for him to sign at the Barnyard Invitational but I wasn't able to attend the event last year. It was nice to finally get the photo signed.

It's great to see him do well this year with the Rockies, especially since he is a local guy from Orange.

I also ended up getting cards signed by Wilin Rosario, Rex Brothers and Jhoulys Chacin.

Overall the trip to Dodger Stadium was well worth it as Josh Beckett did indeed officially retire as expected after the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals in the playoffs.

Andre Reed Signing Saturday November 15, 2014 from 3-4pm at Dr. Liu's Office

Rod Carew Signing at Stadium Nissan 9-13-14

I decided to check out the Rod Carew signing at Stadium Nissan last Saturday. Rod was scheduled to sign from 10am til noon. I love going to Stadium Nissan signings since the events are always organized.

My goal today was to get something different signed. I've gotten Carew's autograph in the past on an HOF ball so I wanted to have him sign a 2014 All Star Baseball under the logo with possibly the 1st pitch inscription since he threw out the first pitch. Rod also threw out the first pitch in 2010 back when Anaheim hosted the All Star Game but he had his best years as a player representing the Minnesota Twins so I decided to get the 2014 All Star ball signed instead.

Rod was cordial as usual and he signed my 2014 All Star ball under the logo. Sadly he wasn't signing any bats today as usual and no inscriptions which was a bit shocking since he used to at least inscribe HOF before at previous signings. I couldn't complain though since it's not everyday you get to have a HOFer sign for free.

I want to give a shout out to my friend Roman for taking the photos above for me. Thanks again Roman.

I want to thank the staff of Stadium Nissan for hosting another well organized autograph signing. I hope they host more signings next year.

Signed Baseball Garage Sale

Here is a list of signed baseballs below along with the price that are part of my signed baseball garage sale. You can email me at dhp226@nyu.edu or message me via kik at lowdownrow 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. Some of the bargain bin $5 dollar baseballs are ROMLBs from batting practice. 

5 Dollar Baseballs

1) Sweet Lou Johnson Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

2) Rudy Law Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

3) Jamey Carroll Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

4) Darren Dreifort Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

5) Josh Lindblom Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

6) Bobby Grich Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

7) Arte Moreno Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

8) Clyde Wright batting practice ROMLB with no Hitter inscription signed on the sweetspot

9) Ron Jackson Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

10) Jerome Williams Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

11) Mark Gubicza Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

12) Jake Westbrook signed ROMLB under the MLB logo

13) 2011 Indians Team Ball: Manny Acta, Jon Nunnally, Tim Tolman, Justin Germano, Vinnie Pestano, Josh Tomlin, Adam Everett batting practice ball (Acta is signed in black sharpie and the rest are in blue bic pen)

14) 2011 Indians Team Batting Practice Ball: Chad Durbin, Justin Germano, Jeanmar Gomez, Josh Tomlin, Lou Marson, Jack Hannahan, Michael Brantley

15) 2012 Nationals Team Batting Practice Ball: Collin Balester, Alex Cora, Danny Espinosa, Jerry Hairston, Roger Bernadina , Bo Porter

16) Ernesto Frieri batting practice side panel baseball

17) John Ely Batting Practice ROMLB signed on the Sweetspot

18) Addison Reed batting practice ROMLB Signed on the Sweetspot

19) Sam Fuld Battice Practice ROMLB on the Sweetspot

20) Mike Scioscia signed in black pen has slight toning

21) Derrel Thomas ROMLB signed on the SS

22) Dan Gladden signed in black pen personalized to David

23) Brendan Harris signed in black pen with Angles COA

10 Dollar Baseballs

1) Juan Pierre side panel baseball

2) Eric Young Dodgers 50th Baseball signed under the logo batting practice baseball

3) Manny Mota Dodgers 50th Anniversary Batting Practice Baseball signed under the logo

4) Lucas Giolito with 16^th pick inscription batting practice ball

5) Jay Johnstone
6) Jonathan Broxton

7) Howie Kendrick signed in black pen

8) Maicer Izturis

9) Hank Conger

10) Kyle Drabek

11) Miguel Batista

12) Edinson Volquez

13) Matt Hobgood with draft pick inscription

14) Matt Capps

15) Brandon League

16) Kevin Millwood

17) Scott Downs with Angels COA

15 Dollar Baseballs

1) Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells Angels 50^th Anniversary BP Baseball signed under the logo

2) Nick Swisher side panel baseball

3) Miguel Tejada ROMLB under mlb logo

4) Carl Crawford side panel ROMLB

5) Don Sutton with HOF inscription Batting Practice Baseball signed on the Sweetspot

6) 2011 Twins Team Ball: Ron Gardenhire, Delmon Young, Scott Diamond,  Luke Hughes, Trevor Plouffe, Rene Tosoni , Dan Gladden

7) 2012 Rangers Team Ball: Ron Washington, Colby Lewis, CJ Wilson, Matt Treanor, Mark Lowe, Gary Pettis

8) Mickey Hatcher

9) Alfredo Griffin

10) Dioner Navarro with All Star inscription

11) Casey Blake

12) Mike Napoli signed in black pen

13) Juan Rivera

14) Bobby Grich

15) Gary Disarcina

16) Chuck Finley signed in black pen MLB Authenticated

17) Tim Salmon Angels 50th Anniversary Batting Practice Ball

18) Bob Lee with 1965 All Star inscription

19) Mark Langston

20) Tyler Chatwood

21) Jordan Walden

22) Ricky Romero

23) Brady Anderson

24) Trevor Cahill

25) Brian Fuentes

26) LaTroy Hawkins with Angels COA

27) Erisbel Arruebarruena side panel

20 Dollar Baseballs

1) Claude Osteen

2) Chad Billingsley

3) James Loney

4) Peter Bourjos

5) Vernon Wells

6) Frank Tanana

7) Don Baylor

8) Orlando Cepeda on Pacbell Opening Day Baseball signed on the Sweetspot MLB Authenticated

9) Troy Percival

10) Chili Davis

11) Chris Chambliss

12) Adam Kennedy

13) CJ Wilson

14) Neftali Feliz

15) Andrew Bailey

16) Yonder Alonso

17) Dustin Ackley

18) Ervin Santana with Angels COA

19) Carlos Quentin

20) Chase Headley

21) Justin Morneau (MLB Authenticated) has small areas of toning

22) Steve Finley

25 Dollar Baseballs

1) Mark Trumbo

2) Terry Pendleton

3)Al Leiter

4) Bret Saberhagen

5) Harold Baines

6) Shin Soo Choo black pen

7) Max Fried with #7 overall pick inscription

9) Jason Giambi

10) Darryl Strawberry

11) Joakim Soria 2008 All Star Ball slight spotting

12) Corey Hart 2008 All Star Baseball 
13) Kenley Jansen 

30 Dollar Baseballs

1) Mike Moustakas

2) Nolan Arenado

3) Shin Soo Choo

4) Jurickson Profar Side Panel

5) Francisco Rodriguez

6) Starling Marte

7) James Worthy

8) Matt Moore 
9) Patrick Corbin

35 Dollar Baseballs

1) Josh Hamilton 2012 All Star Ball signed under the logo

2) Brandon Phillips

3) Torii Hunter 2010 All Star Baseball signed under the logo

40 Dollar Baseballs

1) Wade Boggs with HOF inscription

2) Don Sutton on HOF Ball under the logo

3) Magic Johnson signed in black pen under Dodgers Logo Ball

75 Dollar Baseballs

1) Nolan Ryan 2010 WS baseball with 2010 AL Champs inscription Ryan Authentication

Athletes vs Cancer 2nd Annual Celebrity Flag Football Hosted by Matt Barnes and Snoop Dogg

This was my second year attending the Athletes vs Cancer Celebrity Flag Football Game hosted by Matt Barnes and Snoop Dogg. The venue was different this year and the game was held at Granada Hills Charter High School with the kickoff starting at 6:30pm.

The change in venue didn't help when it came to graphing since security was tighter than ever before for this event. Just like a lot of other charity events there were a lot of no shows such as Kevin Durant, Monta Ellis, Nick Young, Brandon Jennings, Chris Brown and Nate Robinson.

The first autograph opportunity was from Chris Paul. We waited for Chris at the player parking lot. It was me and three other graphers. As Chris was about to sign for us security intervened and said no autographs since Chris was with his family. Chris didn't even get a chance to tell us no.

What was weird was that Chris walked towards us and gave each of us a handshake. I guess that was his way for feeling bad he couldn't sign.

We also got denied by Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan who were escorted by security. 
Chuck Liddell, Terrell Owens, and Danny Trejo walked by but I had nothing for them.

The first autograph of the day was from Shawne Merriman who signed a mini helmet for me.

He was surprised to see that I had a Chargers mini helmet for him. I guess he didn't expect people to know that he was going to be at the event.

The next autograph was from Baron Davis who signed a photo for me. I love how he purposely signed the basketball pictured in the photo when there was plenty of room above the basketball. He's not the nicest guy you will meet in person. I guess he's still bitter how his career turned out.

This photo below pretty much sums up the day of how bad it was. Basically Chris and Blake weren't signing on the field either.

Chris left early and at the end of the game Blake and Deandre were mobbed by the fans so security escorted them out of the field.

My favorite autograph of the day was from Snoop who signed a photo for me. He was also mobbed as well but luckily I came away with an autograph today.

Kole Calhoun Signing at Stadium Nissan

I decided to check out the Kole Calhoun signing at Stadium Nissan this past Saturday. Kole was scheduled to sign autographs from 10:30-12:30. I love going to Stadium Nissan signings since the events are organized and always run smoothly. Most of the time you don't need to camp out for a free autograph which is always nice.

I ended up showing up around 9:30 and chilled with my friends Ryan and Alex who were already in line. My goal today was to get an 11x14 photo and an 8x10 photo signed by Kole.

Kole arrived promply on time riding his monster truck.

Kole was kind enough to sign my photos for me.

Afterwards I headed out to the stadium to graph the Angels.

I ended up getting John McDonald and Fernando Salas to sign cards for me.

Josh Hamilton was kind enough to sign my 2008 Homerun Derby Gold baseball for me.

I also ended up getting David Freese to sign my 2012 All Star ball with the 1st All Star Game inscription along with Matt Shoemaker and Gordon Beckham on ROMLBs on the SS.

I have to say that David Freese is one of the coolest ball players you will ever meet. He's always cool about inscribing and also uses his old jersey number on items that correspond to his playing time for the Cardinals.

Marshall Faulk Signing at Macy's Lakewood Mall

Thanks to a tip from my friend Greg aka guccigraphs I decided to check out the Marshall Faulk signing today at Macy's in Lakewood Mall. Marshall was scheduled to make an appearance today to promote Hugo Boss at Macy's fragrance department today from 2-4pm.

With a $75 purchase of Men's Hugo Boss fragrances fans had a chance to meet and take photos with Marshall Faulk and also received an autographed Hugo Boss football.

I arrived a few minutes after the event started at two. There was already of line of about 75 fans waiting for Marshall to arrive.

My goal today was to get my authentic Colts Marshall Faulk rookie jersey signed. Sadly no outside items were allowed to be signed but luckily I had my friend Greg who helped me get Marshall's autograph on my jersey. Thanks again Greg for the homie hookup. Everyone make sure to follow Greg on instagram.