Best IP Story

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J

jkh11fan

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Jan 30, 2011
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Location
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I just spent about 2 hours at my LCS with some guys and we were talking about our best IP stories. It was great to just sit around and let guys tell their stories. And it got me thinking. If those 4 guys had lots of stories, Im sure there are tons on here. And I want to hear them all. So please post your best IP story. It can be about anything. Thanks!!!:D
 
When i was about 10 or so and living in N.J. myself along with my brother and mom went to Wendy's because Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell were signing autographs my mom at the time had no clue what football even was-She spent about 1/2 hour talking to them got there auto's they both signed for me and my brother afterward my mom said so what baseball team they play for i remember it like it was yesterday i am 45 now and will always remember that.

Best,
David
 
Well, this isn't a great story, but I feel the coolest auto experiences are the unexpected ones. I've got plenty of IP autographs at shows, etc., but I went knowing I was getting those players...that's the reason I went most of the time.
I'll relay an unexpected one for you.
I was at Wrigley Field (my family and I were in Chicago visiting family). We ordered tickets ahead of our trip, and the order was fouled up some way, so my mother (who also went to the game) contacted the Cubs office to straighten the problem out. She spoke with Frank Maloney who was very helpful..
It ended up he was from the area we were from so he talked on the phone with my mom a little longer than he needed to.
Anyway, when we finally went to the game, my mom looked up Mr. Maloney at his Wrigley Field office to thank him for his help. While I waited outside, in the concourse, Ron Santo walked by. I spoke with him and had him sign my scorecard. After my mom and Mr. Maloney were done talking, he asked us if we wanted to go to the booth and meet the announcers. We accepted and added Thom Brennaman and Steve Stone's autos to the scorecard.
 
When I was 12 or so, my buddy and I went to the grocery store to get a pop. I grew up in a town of about 300 people and the grocery store was not big at all. It only had 3 aisles. When we walked in and started walking to the back where the Shasta pop was kept we noticed about 4 guys in suits talking to the owner and a couple of farmers. This was odd since it was the middle of the summer in a farming town. We get out pops and walk back to the front to pay for them and I hear this voice say "I'll get these for you guys" We turned around and it was Bob Dole. This was the last year he was running for the U.S. Senate. He is from Russell, Kansas which is about 30 min from where I grew up. He plopped the 50 cents for the pops on the counter and asked us if we wanted a picture. We went outside and one of the guys in the suits pulled out a Polaroid camera and took two pictures. Bob signed the bottom white part of it and told us "Go home and tell your parents to vote for me."
 
Some pretty cool stories so far. I really like this thread and hope it goes on for a while.

I was a freshman or sophomore in high school when Tino Martinez was playing for the Cardinals. I remember a convincing my dad to get tickets to a Mets/Cardinals game so we can see Tino since I was so heart broken that he left the Yankees. So we get to Shea for batting practice looking to get some autos just like most fans, when sure enough Tino came over and started signing. I'm standing there yelling and screaming for Tino to come over in my direction, along with a good group of 30 or so fans, when my dad said I should yell out the nickname that a friend of mine and I had for Tino that we came up with during the 97' season. So I yelled from the top of my lungs, "TINO THE BAMBINO!!!!" He walked over to me, grabbed my baseball and card, and said, "I'm not Babe Ruth quite yet kid." Sure enough, he hit a bomb in the 4th inning that game, and was lifted in the 8th for Albert Pujols who hit a pinch hit HR.
 
A while back in the mid '60s I frequently went to Forbes Field with a buddy of mine. We used to hang out at one of the exit gates for the players and see if we could get some autos. One night we were pleasently surprised by Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. It ended up that we had about a 5 to 10 minute conversation with each. Great guys. This was the result. We got other autos as well. Thanks Butch


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My late father was the General Manager at the hotel next to old Arlington Stadium. When I turned 16, I was fortunate enough to get a bellboy gig there. I got to meet several players while delivering their luggage(and even their hot wives, i.e. dropping off Canseco's suitcase while his wife answered the door butt naked) but my favorite will always be taking Frank Thomas and Tim Raines in the hotel van when they were with chicago.
A favorite of players visiting Texas is to get boots(how stereotypical, I have never even owned a pair of boots in my life) and I happened to be there when Frank and Tim showed up at the bellman desk. We went to Shepler's, a huge Western store close to the ballpark where Thomas purchased an 800 dollar pair of boots. This is summer of 91 i believe. I was supposed to jsut drop them off and make them call back for a ride as we only had 2 vans; but they were persistent and said it would only take a few minutes and they would "make it worth my time". As a 17 yr old, how could I refuse??
After the boots purchase, we swung thru a Jack in the Box drive thru where the two of them got about $20 worth of fast food. As i dropped them off at the clubhouse, I asked them if instead of a tip, if they could please give me a bat or something like that...I remember Raines saying, yeah sure, but we're still gonna f***in tip you, man...we parked the van and I walked in to the visiting clubhouse with them. Thomas came over and said, sorry, it's the end of our road trip and I really don't have any bats to spare but here is a ball signed. Raines brought over a signed bat in silver sharpie and then they each handed me 20 bucks...As a 17 yr old, I thought this was about the coolest thing in the world...I have other stories from the hotel that I will always remember, but meeting those 2 HOF worthy guys really takes the cake for me...It was an hour of my time that I will remember vividly
 
Last edited:
Some years ago I was at a show and while taking
a break outside,Clete Boyer(one of the signers)
strolled up and bumned a cigarette off me.
He was alittle mellow(I think),but pleasant and
happy to answer questions.
Not as memerable as the time Stanton Friedman
walked up to my seat and asked where I'd gotten
my bottle of water,but stiil,a nice hobby memory.
:)
Ken
 
porkchops said:
Some years ago I was at a show and while taking
a break outside,Clete Boyer(one of the signers)
strolled up and bumned a cigarette off me.
He was alittle mellow(I think),but pleasant and
happy to answer questions.
Not as memerable as the time Stanton Friedman
walked up to my seat and asked where I'd gotten
my bottle of water,but stiil,a nice hobby memory.
:)
Ken
Click to expand...

Stanton Friedman, excellent!
 
I too have enjoyed this thread. I will give one of mine and more later.

Being a HUGE Duke fan, I have the opportunity to go to a lof of basketball games, both men and women's game. And yes the women's game is as competitive as the men's. One night an older friend of mine called me up when I was home from college and asked if I wanted to go to a Duke women's basketball game and I said I would go. This was the season of 2000-01. We usually sat on the section above the floor seats for a better view.

During the second half I decided to go down on the floor and sit behind the visiting team as a I saw some open seats and there were no assigned seats. I sit down and a nice guy beside me greeted me and asked me what I thought of the game. I look over and it was Jay Williams (who led the Duke men's team that year to the NCAA championship. We talked for a good 15-20minutes until the games was about over and he had to leave. When he left, I ended up heading out and ran into Carlos Boozer as he was leaving. Another super nice guy.

I returned to another women's game the next week and again ran into Jay Williams and he saw me and said "Hey Spencer, glad to see you again. Take care, gotta run." I couldn't bellieve he remembered me much less my name.


Be glad to share more later
 
Albert Belle, who was and still is my favorite baseball player of all-time, did a signing at the Belden Village Mall in Canton, OH when I was a kid. We were the last ones in line so he hung around for a few minutes and spoke with us. My cousins and I were awestruck, it was our parents doing most of the talking. He signed a poster and I had it for years, but after all the moves from place to place over the last decade it's been lost. Still an awesome experience that I won't forget.
 
Though he's relatively easy because he's signs at every game, Ryne Sandberg last summer! Ball + Jersey autographed = one very happy fan.

Matt
 
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