Top 10 Autographs of 2014

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great one like I did. I did a Top 10 Autographs of 2013 post last year, and it's time to do it again for 2014.

I'm making this list with the following rough guidelines. 

• How good the person is. (All Star, Award Winner, Hall of Famer, etc.)
• How much the person means to me. 
• How I got the autograph. (Through the mail, in person, etc.) 
• Any fun story behind getting the autograph. 

With that, let the countdown begin. 

10. Harrison Barnes-Golden State Warriors Forward

One of the finest young players in the NBA today, Barnes did something few athletes do in today's world. Early in the summer, Barnes posted THIS message on his Facebook page. He invited fans to send him items for him to sign with specific guidelines. The day I saw that message, I sent out a 4x6 photo. A couple weeks later, I got the photo back signed in silver. He is now having a pretty good season playing for one of the top teams in the NBA. This was a great success from a class act to say the least. 

9. Trevor Gillies-NHL/AHL Hockey Player 

Up until this point, the NHL career of Trevor Gillies has been brief and full of controversy. He only has two NHL goals, but he is more known for his fighting skills. He was one of the main players in the famous brawl against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2011. Now, he is playing for the Calgary Flames AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames. I went to see their morning skate a few weeks ago, and Gillies was as nice as could be. Click HERE for the full story. He might not be a great player, but I saw him with the Islanders and he will always be a fan favorite for me. Also, how can a guy who draws a mustache on his autograph not be on this list? 

8. Matt Kemp-MLB All Star

The first in-person autograph I got at Citi Field last season was that of MLB All-Star Matt Kemp. He was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time. He was recently traded to the San Diego Padres. He signed for a few minutes before the game, and I was lucky to get his autograph on the sweet spot of an official MLB ball. There was a huge mosh pit of people, and I was very happy to get this autograph. 

7. Al Arbour-Hockey Hall of Famer, Former Islanders Coach

The Islanders have had many legends over their 43 year existence. Few are greater than coach Al Arbour. He was the Islanders coach for all four Stanley Cup Championships, and was the coach for exactly 1,500 games over his career. I attended game number 1,500 in 2007. It was an amazing experience, and the Isles got Arbour his 740th career win that night. I have autographs of pretty much everyone whose banner hangs in the Nassau Coliseum rafters, but Arbour's has been hard to find for a long time. I sent him a couple photos and an autograph card in hope of getting a response. To my delight, I got everything back signed in the mail. It was great to finally add his autograph to my collection. 

6. Dwight 'Doc' Gooden-Former Mets and Yankees Pitcher

One of the most celebrated pitchers in recent baseball history, Dwight Gooden is also one of New York's beloved baseball stars. He won a World Series for both the Mets and Yankees during his time in the MLB. However, he also had problems with drugs and alcohol during his career. Over the summer, he appeared at the Nassau County Health and Fitness Expo to give a speech on how his addiction made his life difficult. He also did an autograph signing that day, and he signed three cards for me and took a photo with me. One of the cards was previously signed by Wade Boggs. It was great to meet him and hear him admit his mistakes. 

5. Darryl Strawberry-Former Mets and Yankees Outfielder

Similarly to Gooden, Strawberry is also one of New York's beloved baseball stars. He was Gooden's teammate for many years on both the Mets and Yankees. Over the summer, he was a part of the Meet Mr. Met Tour, a Mets sponsored tour of Citibank locations that featured various Mets alumni. I met Strawberry twice over the summer, and I took a photo with him and got three autographs from him over the course over the summer. He was a nice guy, and I was happy to get his autograph.

 4. Curtis Granderson-Mets Outfielder
A man who made this list last year returns again. I got his autograph in the mail last year and said I hoped he would be in a Mets jersey next time I saw him. It turns out I was correct. Granderson didn't have the year I hoped he would, but he's a Met and he's here to stay. He has a reputation for being one of the nicest current players in baseball, and he lived up to that reputation over the summer. I met him two separate times over the summer, and got five autographs from him. He is truly a class act, and I hope to meet him again next season. He also gave my aunt a shoutout, as you can see in the video below.

3. Jadeveon Clowney-Houston Texans Linebacker
Although Jadeveon Clowney didn't have the rookie season anybody planned on, I had a good experience with him before the season started. I had won a free ticket to meet Clowney at the Steiner Sports Store on Long Island. I got him to sign a photo I printed out. He was a funny guy, and if you want to read the full story from that day, click HERE. Hopefully Clowney will be ready to star for the Texans next year, or he could end up being another top draft pick bust.

2. Dave Coulier-Actor/Comedian
I very rarely get autographs from people that aren't related to sports. However, the perfect opportunity arose when I found out Dave Coulier would be doing a free comedy show on my college campus. Since I grew up watching Full House, I knew I had to get his autograph. After his hilarious comedy show, I went to try and find him. Long story short, I did get his autograph and a picture with him. HERE is the full story from that night. He is one of my favorite actors now, and one that I will always remember. 

1. Denis Potvin-Hockey Hall of Famer, Former Islanders Captain
As I mentioned earlier in this post, I have autographs of nearly every Islander who has a banner hanging in the Nassau Coliseum rafters. The one player that eluded me for most of my life was Denis Potvin. He was one of the league's top defensemen and the captain of all four Islanders Stanley Cup Championship teams. I finally met him in November when I was home for Thanksgiving. HERE is the full story from that night. The fact that I was finally able to meet him after many, many years puts him in the number one slot as my top autograph of 2014. 

Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! Happy New Year!

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!