Start of Baseball Season! Favorite TTM or IP story???

[KCLJ520]

Hey all,

Post your favorite IP and/or TTM autograph story here, in honor of Opening Day around the corner!

My favorite TTM was definitely Jamie Moyer: he signed a ton of stuff for me, and my favorite was the ticket stub from the 1988 complete game he won with Chicago vs. Houston. That was the first game I ever went to, my Grandparents took me, and in my letter I told him the story of going to the game with them, and how he is my all time favorite player. We also support the Moyer Foundation, which is a great cause.

My favorite IP had to be Lou Brock, not because I am a huge fan of his (he retired before I was born) but there were a lot of people at the signing, and he was signing fast. I asked him if he had a second for a photo with a Cardinals fan from Chicago, and he stopped and said "A Cardinals fan from Chicago? How do you do that!" and he took a photo with me and was very friendly to everyone.

What are yours? It will be fun to see everyone's favorite successes!

Thanks and God Bless!

Kevin Mc

 

[Beachbum]

Well, I've literally only been doing if for a year (since I was 8 years old) but I would have to say meeting so many Reds last weekend would be tops for me at this point.

 

[KCLJ520]

Very awesome! You have the bug now.....

 

[KCLJ520]

Anyone else got some good stories?

 

[Mainiacmike]

My TTM is getting Matt White to sign one of his minor league cards, the Matt White who pitched 4 innings for the 2005 Nationals. My goal is to get an autographed card of every Nat that has played each year. My IP story is getting Brian Sanches to sign the 2008 Nationals yearbook, my first yearbook to be signed by every player and coach.

 

[KCLJ520]

NICE! Cool stuff man, thanks for sharing....go Nats this year then!!

 

[KCLJ520]

Any more stories?

 

[KCLJ520]

last bump!

 

[t.rooster]

I did a little doodle on the edge of a letter that I sent to Adrian Garrett who played a limited time w/ the Angels in the '70s, brother of former Mets Wayne Garrett. He wrote me back with a one page letter and asked if I would do his portrait and his son's who played some pro ball. Ha hah, who'd a thunk it….
The other story is with Bill Lee, the former Red Sox pitcher, known as Spaceman for his off-the-wall antics. He got a bunch of my cards mixed up and sent me ones that I don't collect (having my cards signed for sets) and many of those withheld were older vintage. When I complained to him, he sent me back a few more cards that were still not the cards, but one is a 1979 Topps in which he signed and made a speaking bubble which said F*** Off! followed by Angry Card written next to it…. I love it, it's my favorite signed card to date. I have more stories that I will get around to later….

 

[KCLJ520]

I remember Spaceman, I think he has a website or facebook page with his own odd rantings on it, but he was a real character in the Al Hrabosky/Pete Vuckovich vein of bizarre behavior on the mound, but it sure was memorable!

THanks for adding to this thread, keep the cool stories rolling in!!

God Bless,

Kevin Mc

 

[t.rooster]

Okay, here's another….. I wrote to Marty Perez & sent him 3 vintage cards, I got a letter back from the ex-Braves infielder stating that he charges $5 per card and he didn't send my cards back with the note to me. As a rule, I don't pay for any TTMs, though I've squeezed for graphs at $4 or less. So I wrote him back stating my unemployment situation at the time, which was true, and that I just couldn't do the fee. I received a letter back with my cards all signed and a heart-felt letter from him telling me that I would get a job soon upon receiving his letter. One very nice human being, that Marty Perez….

 

[daveteach]

I have so many stories about players I have gotten IP from a cranky George Brett, to a most cordial Harmon Killebrew but the best one occurred two years ago in ST. My friend and I do spring training one week a year in Florida and our favorite has been Washington Nationals camp ( at least before the changes this year).
Well one day they do physicals and don't practice but the last thing they do is to go out to a field near the clubhouse to do some wind sprints and work with the trainers. No one goes out with us when we see the first group go out to the field. There must be ten or more autograph hounds standing by the fence at the back of the clubhouse and not one person goes out front where the players are.
First Gio Gonzalez comes out,speaks briefly with the trainers and comes back to clubhouse. We were going to ask him if he could stop and sign but before we could, a lady, who had walked to get tickets stops him for a picture. We get him on our cards, my friend gets his picture with him and Gio is a class act. Later, though we get the greatest thrill. We get Stephen Strasburg all by ourselves. He was very nice and relaxed as he signed each of us a card. He wasn't the same player he appears when he is getting bombarded with autographers at practice or at a game. We happened to be the only ones to get that day which meant the dealers missed him.
Even though, I have two autographs of him and only need one, I will not part with that card because of how it was obtained. He may never the caliber of Brett or Killebrew but based on how he usually signs, this was a great experience for me and my friend.

Dave

 

[CW13]

i used to work as a bellboy at the visiting teams hotel when i was in high school so i have several..one would be taking Frank Thomas and Tim Raines to Shepler's(a big western store) so they could buy boots then through Jack in the Box where Thomas ordered about $15 worth of food. I dropped them off at the stadium and asked if I could get an auto instead of a tip. They brought me into the clubhouse where Raines signed and gave me a bat while Thomas signed a ball for me..And of course they tipped $40 bucks on top of that. Truly a moment I'll never forget.

 

[t.rooster]

i used to work as a bellboy at the visiting teams hotel when i was in high school so i have several..one would be taking Frank Thomas and Tim Raines to Shepler's(a big western store) so they could buy boots then through Jack in the Box where Thomas ordered about $15 worth of food. I dropped them off at the stadium and asked if I could get an auto instead of a tip. They brought me into the clubhouse where Raines signed and gave me a bat while Thomas signed a ball for me..And of course they tipped $40 bucks on top of that. Truly a moment I'll never forget.

That was classy….

 

[HockeyBrawler]

Most of my best stories involve hockey, but I have a few baseball ones.

TTM: Ernie Harwell. For those who don't know, I used to do play-by-play for a junior hockey team for about 8 seasons. Growing up in Ohio, we also often picked up WJR radio out of Detroit, and I had family in Michigan, so I'd constantly get to hear Harwell calling Tigers games. When Tom Monaghan fired him in 1990, my family swore we would never buy a Domino's Pizza as Monaghan owned them as well as the Tigers (it's been nearly 25 years, and I have never eaten a slice, and still never will even though he sold his stake in 1998). He was a major influence on my career even though we were in two different sports. So getting two cards and a CIC signed by him is probably my favorite baseball TTM so far. Honorable mention: another announcer Joe Buck. I mentioned in my letter that I had once served him at Starbucks when I worked there in college. He signed a card, a CIC, and wrote a short note back: "Drew-- Thanks for the grande skim latte. Err, skinny latte. --Joe"

IP: Any time Jason Frasor and Tom Foley sign, they're great. Both very personable, sign tons, and always like chatting with fans. But my favorite one was Joe Torre. During the 2004 ALCS in Boston, I went to the Yankees' hotel as I was working on a team ball. As the bus was about to leave for Game 5, Torre was one of the last ones out. The crowd there was huge, mostly just with onlookers who were just getting dollar bills and scraps of paper signed. I was in the front, pinned to a wall as everyone surged against the (ineffective) rope barricades. Calmly, I held my ground and as everyone screamed "JOE! JOE!" I simply said "Mr. Torre, will you sign my ball please?" He walks over, takes my ball and pen, takes a few steps back, signs it, hands it back to me with a nod as I thanked him, and boarded the bus. Good manners go a long way.

 

[KCLJ520]

REALLY cool and some hilarious stories guys, LOVE to hear this kind of stuff! Interesting about Marty Perez, cool story!

I imagined Joe Torre to be a class act, and glad he is in real life. The Strasburg story kind of takes the sting out of him beating the Cardinals today (!!) and as a childhood White Sox fan, cool to hear about Thomas and Raines, two great players, and probably all time greats for sure. Neat to hear some big names are still nice to the fans!

Keep the cool stories rolling in, these are a lot of fun to read!

God Bless,

Kevin Mc

 

[dragonslayer913]

The best and most outrageous TTM story has be Don Carman (Phillies)-While cleaning out his garage discovers a box with all these auto requests most the envelopes had $0.29 stamps some had $0.26 stamps-So after 15 years + of sitting in his garage sent out the requests even paid for the additional postage and attached a note to each one apologizing for the late return-But after 15 years wonder how many actually made it the rightful owners you can read more about the story here.http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2006/12/the_autograph_man.html

 

[KCLJ520]

BEST. STORY. EVER!! I love the author's sarcasm, mixed with very touching words about Carman's kindness to others, that is the ultimate TTM story, makes me want to take TTM up again and send Carman a letter! I may have to wait 15 more years, but it would be worth it!

God Bless,

Kevin Mc

 

[Mainiacmike]

Here are a few IP stories about being polite or not so polite, one of my earliest experiences with the politeness factor was waiting outside Fenway and Dave McKay gets out of the cab and a 12 yr old boy just shoves a baseball in his face, Dave went on a five minute lecture about manners and finally the boy said please, so I learned always to say please and thank-you even when I was turned down, because there always will be another meeting. More recently I was at the Hall of Fame golf event waiting at one of the greens when Frank Robinson and Joe Morgan arrived, we asked Frank first and he turned us down, but one guy starting yelling and screaming at Frank for not signing. When the shouting stopped someone else asked Joe Morgan for an autograph and of course he declined, because of the way one guy treated Frank. Lesson be polite at all times.

 

[t.rooster]

Most of my best stories involve hockey, but I have a few baseball ones.

TTM: Ernie Harwell. For those who don't know, I used to do play-by-play for a junior hockey team for about 8 seasons. Growing up in Ohio, we also often picked up WJR radio out of Detroit, and I had family in Michigan, so I'd constantly get to hear Harwell calling Tigers games. When Tom Monaghan fired him in 1990, my family swore we would never buy a Domino's Pizza as Monaghan owned them as well as the Tigers (it's been nearly 25 years, and I have never eaten a slice, and still never will even though he sold his stake in 1998). He was a major influence on my career even though we were in two different sports. So getting two cards and a CIC signed by him is probably my favorite baseball TTM so far. Honorable mention: another announcer Joe Buck. I mentioned in my letter that I had once served him at Starbucks when I worked there in college. He signed a card, a CIC, and wrote a short note back: "Drew-- Thanks for the grande skim latte. Err, skinny latte. --Joe"

IP: Any time Jason Frasor and Tom Foley sign, they're great. Both very personable, sign tons, and always like chatting with fans. But my favorite one was Joe Torre. During the 2004 ALCS in Boston, I went to the Yankees' hotel as I was working on a team ball. As the bus was about to leave for Game 5, Torre was one of the last ones out. The crowd there was huge, mostly just with onlookers who were just getting dollar bills and scraps of paper signed. I was in the front, pinned to a wall as everyone surged against the (ineffective) rope barricades. Calmly, I held my ground and as everyone screamed "JOE! JOE!" I simply said "Mr. Torre, will you sign my ball please?" He walks over, takes my ball and pen, takes a few steps back, signs it, hands it back to me with a nod as I thanked him, and boarded the bus. Good manners go a long way.

Nice one, Joe doesn't do TTMs....