Steiner Sports Mets Signing 6/29/15

A couple weeks ago, I finally used my Steiner Sports gift cards that I have had for years.

They were hosting a signing with former Mets pitcher Jesse Orosco and current Mets outfielder Juan Lagares. To make this entry short and to the point, I won't get into all the specifics. I used up all my gift cards and paid less than $20 to meet both Lagares and Orosco.

After a long wait on line, Lagares signed a ball on the sweet spot for me and took a photo with me.

And Orosco signed a photo and took a photo with me.













It was a good signing, but I wouldn't have gone if I didn't have the gift cards.

That's it for what may be my shortest entry ever. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!

Ron Darling Signed Baseball Update

About four weeks ago, I met Darryl Strawberry at a Citibank. He wasn't the scheduled guest that day, the scheduled guest was Ron Darling, who cancelled at the last minute. Since I didn't have any stuff for Strawberry, I ended up getting a baseball signed. The Citibank people got a bucket of baseballs and handed them out to get signed.

While at the signing, the Citibank representatives were handing out forms asking for people's information. They said that Ron Darling wanted to make up for not being able to come to the signing, and the form would be for a signed baseball that would be mailed to your house. I filled out the form with all of my basic info and my address. There was an option for either a personalized or not personalized ball, and I chose to get a personalized one. A few minutes after filling out one form, I was handed another form. I figured that I'd fill out one for my dad and get it not personalized.

Fast forward a few weeks. Two packages arrived at my door. When I opened one up, this is what I saw inside.

I honestly didn't think I was going to get this in the mail. I honestly thought that the Mets and Citibank were just going to forget about everything, but this was a pleasant surprise to find in the mail. 

When I opened up the ROMLB box, I was delighted to see this. 

Perfect. The cube they included was unwrapped and unopened, and a perfect place to display the ball. The personalization isn't the best, but it works. Darling probably had hundreds of balls to sign, and I can't blame him for rushing the personalization. The signature is spectacular though, and wrote out all of his name. 

I opened the other package to find the unpersonalized ball, also with it's own cube. 

Also included in each package was a letter from the Citibank branch manager thanking me for coming to the signing and for being a Mets fan. She thanked everyone's loyalty and I'm sure everyone who got one of the balls was happy to open their mail one day. Just a pure class move from the Mets and Citibank right here. 

That's it for this entry. I'm back in Albany, so I don't know whose autograph I'll get next, but that is what makes this fun. Thanks for reading and have a great day! 

Cubs @ Mets 8/18/14 at Citi Field

After a pretty successful series last week at Citi Field, I was back one more time before I go back to college. The day before the game, I got great tickets on StubHub. I went to the game with my mom, who had never been to a Mets game with me before.

The game was a bright and early one, with a 12:10 p.m. first pitch on a Monday afternoon. I arrived at about 10:30, 20 minutes after the gates had opened. That wasn't early enough for me, but it was almost too early for my mom. Upon arriving at the gate, I noticed something I'd never seen before: no line. Usually when entering Citi Field, there is a line dozens, if not hundreds of people deep waiting to get in. But this time, I just showed up and walked through the gate no problem.

Being that it was also a Military Monday at Citi Field, I figured I'd get in on the act. I dug up my camouflage Mets hat that was a giveaway at a game at Shea Stadium in 2008 and wore it for the first time in recent memory. Once I got inside, I squeezed myself into a corner spot in the front row right next to the Mets dugout. Within a few minutes of getting to my spot, reliever Josh Edgin signed a baseball for me. I don't have a picture of him signing, but take my word, he signed for everybody that wanted one. You can see the signed ball at the bottom of this entry.

Since there was no batting practice, there wasn't much action happening before the game. The only other person to come over in the long lull before the National Anthem was Mets manager Terry Collins. He came and chatted with someone he knew in the crowd behind the dugout for a few minutes before walking over toward the crowd of people I was in. When he was near me, I took a selfie with him when he wasn't looking up. Unfortunately, I had already put the baseball Edgin signed away by the time Collins came over. I also had a signed baseball from him that I got last season. Instead of getting another one signed, Collins signed a blank autograph card for me. Here is a brief video I took of him signing for some of the people.

After Collins, there was no action until the National Anthem. I sat down with my mom in a spot where I figured we had the best chance to meet Curtis Granderson. I had met him on Thursday, and wanted to try again. Granderson signed three cards for me on Thursday, and I brought three more in hopes of getting them signed. True to his form, Granderson came over after the national anthem and started signing. I gave my mother the baseball in hopes of getting that signed as well. Here's a video I took as I got closer to Granderson, with a shoutout to my Aunt Jill (huge Yankees fan) at the end.


In the still frame of the above video before clicking play, Granderson is holding a card and blue sharpie. That was my card. He signed one card and then handed the card and sharpie back to me. After, I gave my camera to a nearby security guard to try and take a picture with Granderson. My mom was a couple people behind me in the line of people, but she managed to sneak her way forward when she saw a picture being taken. It came out great, as you can see on the left.

After the picture, my mom handed Granderson the ball Edgin already signed and a pen. Granderson quickly signed the ball and handed it back to my mom. For someone who hasn't gotten an autograph before, she did a great job. Also, if I didn't compliment my mom, what kind of son would I be? (Don't answer that.) Here's the card Granderson signed, and the ball that he and Edgin both signed. Edgin's signature is on the top.

After meeting Granderson, we went back to watch the game from our seats. If I haven't mentioned this already, the Mets stink. That's all for this entry. I probably won't be at another Mets game this season. If that's the case, than I think I went out on a high note. I will have another entry up soon once I'm back in school. Have any questions or want any tips? Have you met Curtis Granderson? I'd love to hear about it in the comments. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Dodgers @ Mets 5/20/14 at Citi Field

It's good to be home. It was time for my first game of the year. I went to Citi Field on Tuesday night for the Mets game against the Dodgers. After purchasing a ticket on StubHub the day of the game, I was off to Flushing.

I arrived right on time for the gates to open, and saw Zack Hample waiting patiently for the gates to open as well. He was about 15 people ahead of me in line, and when the stadium opened, he went to left field as I went to my usual spot down the third base line. 

Within 10 minutes of going to my spot, a few balls got hit toward one of the Mets coaches that was hitting fungos back to the bucket. He tossed one to a gloveless fan near me. So, when the next ball was hit over to him, I asked if he could toss it up. He looked at me, and threw a perfect strike right to my glove. I thanked him, and he went back to fielding the balls and I went to a different spot down the line. I later found out that it was Tom Goodwin, the Mets first base coach. I took the photo of him on the right after he threw me the ball. 

One of the highlights of batting practice was watching Yasiel Puig hit. He was hitting bombs into the second deck in left field seemingly on every other pitch. He easily hit at least five up there, and the two or three people up there got many chances to catch some home runs. I moved down toward the dugout near the tarp to try and get some autographs. 

Many people signed, but I was in an unlucky spot. Puig, Clayton Kershaw, Scott Van Slyke, and Don Mattingly all signed for people at the dugout, which I wan't able to get to. Carl Crawford and Dee Gordon signed for people about 10 feet to my left. When getting autographs, 10 feet might as well be 10 miles because I was stuck in a mob of people and I couldn't move an inch. 

Both Crawford and Gordon were signing in the five minutes right before the national anthem. At about 7:05, after the anthem was played, Matt Kemp finished warming up in left field and walked over to the mob of people wanting his autograph. He signed for about three minutes, signing for as many people as he could. I walked over to where he was, and got my hand in with the mob of people within arm's reach of Kemp. He took my baseball and signed it on the sweet spot quickly before handing it back to me. I took two photos of him signing, then he ran back as the Mets took the field to start the game. You can see the ball he signed at the bottom of this entry. I am happy to say I emerged from the mob with all of my limbs intact.

That was all for before the game. The game itself was an interesting one. The nine inning game took over four hours. It was one of the longest, if not the longest nine inning game in Mets history. The Mets lost 9-4, and there were a lot of runs, pitching changes, and runners left on base to go around. Here are some pictures I took of Yasiel Puig and Brian Wilson. I think they are pretty good pictures.

For the whole game, I was about five rows behind the ball boy on the third base side. I didn't end up getting a ball from him, but I saw him give balls to a bunch of different people, mostly kids. As the four hour marathon game was winding to a close, I went toward the dugout where the umpires walk down the tunnel. I had gotten a few balls there like THIS game last year. At about 11:20 p.m. the game ended and home plate Larry Vanover walked toward the tunnel with the rest of his crew. See what happened next below.

Yeah, he gave me a ball. Good thing I was on the left side of the tunnel farther way from the dugout. That ball justified me staying for the entire game. I had considered leaving, but figured I would stick it out and see if I could get a ball after. After I got the ball, I ran as fast as I could to catch the LIRR back to Long Island, and made it home shortly after midnight.

Here are the two baseballs I got at the game. The Larry Vanover ball is the one on the right, and it is rubbed up with mud, ready for game use. If the last pitch of the game was a foul ball, he probably would have given the ball I got to the pitcher.

Here is the Matt Kemp signed ball. Not the greatest signature ever, but better than others that I have gotten throughout they years. This is all I have for now. I may be back at Citi Field again soon. Good luck graphing! 

Reds @ Mets 5/20/13 at Citi Field

After getting back from college this past weekend, I finally got out to Citi Field this past Monday, May 20. I had gotten tickets on StubHub to see the Reds play the Mets. I went with one of my friends, and we had great seats behind the Reds dugout.

After taking the train to the game, we arrived at the Jackie Robinson Rotunda with 15 minutes to spare before the gates opened. After talking to Zack Hample and Mateo Fischer for a little while, it was time to enter. Immediately after entering, I ran down to a spot in the front row right behind the Reds dugout.



A few minutes later, I saw a Reds player signing autographs at the dugout. I wasn't sure who it was, but  I threw him my baseball and pen anyway. He signed it and tossed it back up to me. After looking at the signature, as you can see to the right, I discovered it was reliever Sam LeCure.


Shortly after that, I wandered over to the other end of the dugout and noticed Dusty Baker having a conversation with a man who wasn't in any uniform. The only thing I could notice was that he was wearing a hat that had the number 42 on it. I'm guessing it was after the Jackie Robinson movie that was recently released, but I will never be completely sure. When I asked someone else who that was, I was surprised to find that it was former Mets manager and Yankee Captain Willie Randolph. After he wrapped up his conversation with Dusty Baker, I asked Willie if he could sign, and he motioned for me to throw a ball and a pen to him. I threw him the one official MLB ball I had brought with me, and he signed it very nicely on the side panel and threw it back to me. He actually wrote out most of the letters in his name, which you don't see to often today.



Later on during batting practice, I just missed Dusty Baker and nearly got Shin-Soo Choo to sign my baseball, but he just didn't take it. Even though I missed those two great players, I still got another great player to sign. Brandon Phillips, aka @DatDudeBP, was coming to the dugout after taking his round of BP, and he started talking with some of the fans behind the dugout. Eventually he started signing, and I was fortunate enough to get him to sign the same ball LeCure had signed earlier. There was a funny moment when two people had tossed him gloves to sign, yet he didn't have a pen, as you can see on the left. HERE is a video that I took of Phillips signing. I'm pretty sure Phillips signs before every game, and if you are ever at a Reds game, try your best to get him and you won't be disappointed.

The last autograph I would get during the day would be Mat Latos. He started signing balls at the dugout steps, and he signed mine right in the middle of a large pack of people. He has a very unique signature to say the least. After he tossed my ball back to me, I fumbled around in my pockets trying to get a card out. To my surprise, Latos kept signing, probably for about 15 minutes. Eventually I got my Reds team card out, clipped it to a blue sharpie, and Mat pointed to me and asked me to throw it to him. After he signed it, he tossed it back to me and went down into the clubhouse to prepare for the game. Turns out Latos wasn't even on the Reds when that card was made, but it looks good either way.


That would be all the autographs I got for the day. I sat down in my seats and tried to get a third out ball from Joey Votto, but was unsuccessful each time. I just missed out on a foul ball that Votto hit in the third inning, as it landed in the section to my left, and I had no chance to grab it as it rolled even farther away from me.

When the Reds finished off a 4-3 win, I went to the tunnel where the umpires enter and exit the field. Home plate umpire Tom Hallion was getting heckled from many of the unhappy Mets fans as he exited the field for some questionable decisions and calls he made during the game. After flipping a ball to Mateo and giving a ball to each of the two young kids that were also near the tunnel, I saw him take one other ball out of his pouch. I yelled out, "Tom, good game." He definitely heard me as after that he placed a rubbed up but unused ball in my glove then walked down the tunnel. That was the first baseball I had snagged for the season.

After the game, I met up with Zack, Mateo, and a third ballhawk named Mark, who had caught Marlon Byrd's home run earlier, and we all posed with the Byrd home run ball. From left to right, it is Zack, Mark, Mateo, and I am on the right in the yellow shirt.

That's it for my first game of the season. Thanks for reading and have an amazing day! 

-Aaron