Well, I received some great advice and encouragement from Bench members, so I thought I would report back about my successes at Syracuse's Alliance Bank Park last night. The Chiefs won 5-2, but it was a good game. Tom Milone pitched a heck of a game, with only one bad inning and the bullpen did a good job, too.
Even better, last night was Jose Canseco night. A local radio station apparently sponsored his appearance at the stadium. He signed under a little canopy on the concourse. While he was friendly enough, he wasn't exactly gregarious with people. I did get a no eye contact grin out of him when I told him that my girlfriend knows him as the cute one from Celebrity Apprentice. The line moved quickly (only one auto at a time), but they let people run through the line multiple times.
I headed to the third-base line and saw that everyone but me had their cards in binders...that was a good idea! I'll have to do that for next time. Wil Nieves and Dustin Richardson signed, but I didn't get them. I did get Ruben Gotay and Brandon Hicks, but I forgot to de-glossify my Hicks card. Oh well. I still think it's cool.
I asked around and figured out where the Gwinnett players would be heading to their bus and lots of guys signed then, including Teheran. (I think I traded all my Teherans to you nice people, so I didn't have any of his.) Tyler Pastornicky looked as though his knee hurt a little, but he signed my 2011 Topps Pro Debut and I got Wilkin Ramirez, a former Tiger!
Overall, I need to learn to be a little quicker on the draw. It's hard to tell which player is which when it's dark. They're all extremely fit, 6'5" guys in their mid-20s wearing polo shirts and jeans, so it can be hard to figure out who is who! The image below is pretty good, but I scanned the cards into a PDF and the conversion to JPG distorted things a little. (The Hicks looks better than that, at least.)
Even better, last night was Jose Canseco night. A local radio station apparently sponsored his appearance at the stadium. He signed under a little canopy on the concourse. While he was friendly enough, he wasn't exactly gregarious with people. I did get a no eye contact grin out of him when I told him that my girlfriend knows him as the cute one from Celebrity Apprentice. The line moved quickly (only one auto at a time), but they let people run through the line multiple times.
I headed to the third-base line and saw that everyone but me had their cards in binders...that was a good idea! I'll have to do that for next time. Wil Nieves and Dustin Richardson signed, but I didn't get them. I did get Ruben Gotay and Brandon Hicks, but I forgot to de-glossify my Hicks card. Oh well. I still think it's cool.
I asked around and figured out where the Gwinnett players would be heading to their bus and lots of guys signed then, including Teheran. (I think I traded all my Teherans to you nice people, so I didn't have any of his.) Tyler Pastornicky looked as though his knee hurt a little, but he signed my 2011 Topps Pro Debut and I got Wilkin Ramirez, a former Tiger!
Overall, I need to learn to be a little quicker on the draw. It's hard to tell which player is which when it's dark. They're all extremely fit, 6'5" guys in their mid-20s wearing polo shirts and jeans, so it can be hard to figure out who is who! The image below is pretty good, but I scanned the cards into a PDF and the conversion to JPG distorted things a little. (The Hicks looks better than that, at least.)
