Strawberries and a Darling

The past few weeks haven't been too busy for me in terms of getting autographs, but I've done a few things. Here's a quick summary of a few signing that I've been up to recently.

I met Jadeveon Clowney a few weeks ago, but he wasn't the only athlete I met that day. The Meet Mr. Met Tour was near me at a Citibank that day, and I decided that I was going to go. Originally, the signing was scheduled to be with former Met and SNY analyst Ron Darling. However, the day before the signing, it was changed to Dwight "Doc" Gooden. I arrived about 20 minutes before the signing was going to begin. While I was standing on line, one of the Citibank representatives said that Gooden couldn't make it and Darryl Strawberry would be "pinch hitting" for him. During that time, I had a picture taken with Mr. Met. 

For me, that news was sad because I had cards of Gooden that I was hoping to get signed. I wasn't the only one, as people were holding photos of Gooden and other items for him. During the wait for Strawberry, the Citibank representatives were very friendly, handing out water and cookies for people to enjoy. Also, they were giving out forms for people to sign. The forms were for Ron Darling signed baseballs. The Citibank people said Ron Darling felt bad that he couldn't make it and he wanted to make it up for everyone. I filled out a form with my name, email address, mailing address, and whether or not I would like a personalized ball. (I'll take a personalized one, thank you.) The baseball hasn't came yet, but I'll be on the lookout for it.

Eventually, Darryl Strawberry showed up, parking his car in the middle of the street for a Citibank person to move it. I took the photos below of him coming in. I shook his hand as he walked past me into the building.

The line through the Citibank moved quickly. However, few people had stuff for him to sign. People mostly gave him baseballs or generic items to sign. Eventually, as I was getting to the front of the line, a Citibank representative went to the table with bags full of Modells products. During the signing, one of the people had went to the store and bought buckets of baseballs for Strawberry to sign. There was actually a group of people that didn't have items to get signed that were waiting for the baseballs to arrive. Here's a quick video I took of him signing. 

I soon made my way to the front of the line. I thanked Strawberry for coming on short notice, asked if I could get one of the baseballs signed, and thanked him. He then reached into the bucket, grabbed a Rawlings Official League baseball, not an official Major League ball, signed it, and handed it to me. Then I took a photo with him, thanked him again, and soon left the Citibank. The ball is a cheap ball, and the autograph should fade very soon. I knew that when I got it, but I had nothing else to get signed. I wonder how long it will take to fade.

Fast forward a week, and the Meet Mr. Met Tour was going to be back in town. Like the previous week, Ron Darling was supposed to be the scheduled guest. Also like the previous week, the website changed from Darling to Darryl Strawberry. Expecting to just see Darryl Strawberry, I brought a card and a large 5x7 card from the early 1980s that I found in my dad's old collection. Since I assumed it would be just Strawberry, I didn't bring anything for Ron Darling or anybody else.

I arrived about 45 minutes before the signing was going to begin, and the line was much longer than it was for the one the previous week. I got a good spot in line, just outside the front door of the Citibank branch. The line eventually went out the door, and around the corner of the block.

While talking to the people near me on line, one of the Citibank reps told us that Ron Darling would indeed be at the signing with Darryl Strawberry. As I was getting angry at myself for not bringing any Ron Darling items, the Citibank people said there would be photos of Darling and Strawberry available for signing. The rep also told us that no posed photos with Darling and Strawberry would be allowed because of the size of the line.

Once inside the store, everyone had the opportunity to take a photo in front of a green screen with Mr. Met. Since I took one the previous week, I figured I didn't need another. As I was moving my way through the line, a couple Citibank reps and a Nassau County police officer were trying to figure out a way to manage the line more efficiently. People were still entering the bank for banking purposes, and they had to deal with hundreds of baseball fans. 










Eventually, I made it to the front of the line about a half hour after the signing began. The person in line before me handed Strawberry a photo similar to THIS one, and Strawberry chuckled as he signed it. When it was my turn, I handed him the normal size card and larger 5x7 card. He signed both without saying much, then handed them to me and said, "Here you go." I thanked him, shook his hand, and proceeded to move on to Darling. With Darling, I asked for one of the giveaway photos. He grabbed one off the pile, signed it beautifully in blue sharpie, writing every single letter of his name on it. I thanked him, shook his hand, and got off the line.

Here are the autographs I got at the second signing. The Ron Darling photo is an 8x10. The Darryl Strawberry big card is the one with the white border, and it is 5x7 in size. It is made out of the same material as a baseball card, and even has stats on the back. It is a 5x7 card. I don't have much info on how these came to be on how many there are, I just found one in my basement. I wish the Darling photo was one of him playing, but it is a pretty good picture nevertheless.

That's all I have for this entry. It should be a fun month of August ahead. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing! 

UPDATE 8/28/14: Click HERE to see if I got those Ron Darling signed baseballs. 

Autograph Adventures: Jadeveon Clowney

If there is one sports memorabilia company that you know you are going to get a good product from, it's Steiner Sports. They have the exclusive autograph rights to some of the best athletes in sports, such as Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Henrik Lundqvist, and Carmelo Anthony among others.

A few weeks ago, they held a contest on their Instagram account for a free ticket to the Jadeveon Clowney signing they were having on July 18. Somehow, I won the contest and gave my info to the Steiner representative on the phone. The person on the phone told me I had won a free autograph on a flat item from Clowney, the top pick in this year's NFL Draft. A flat autograph from Clowney at this signing cost about $80, so I was thrilled to have won a free one.

After winning the contest, I immediately had trouble deciding what to do. I could have bought an 8x10 photo directly from Steiner for $6. But I took a different route. As cool as 'The Hit Heard Round The World' is, I didn't want a college photo signed. Eventually, I found a good picture of Clowney in a Texans uniform and printed it out on glossy 8.5x11 paper in my house.

Fast forward to Friday, July 18, the day of the signing. After going inside the Steiner Store at Roosevelt Field Mall, I identified myself as the contest winner and was given my ticket to the signing, which you can see on the right. The signing was scheduled to begin at 6:30 and go until 8 p.m. I was going to wait for my friend to show up before I approached Clowney so we could both meet Clowney together.

The line of people wasn't more than 20-30 people deep during the whole signing. However, at 7:30 p.m., my friend still hadn't showed up. There were no other fans in line for the signing, so Clowney decided that he was going to get some dinner. He and his manager went to Chipotle in the mall, where he apparently was hitting on girls and nobody really knew who he was, which is surprising because there aren't many people who are six and half feet tall walking around the mall. As Clowney was walking toward Chipotle, my friend showed up. After talking to the people at Steiner Sports, they assured me that I'd meet Clowney in the private signing room.

After about a half hour of standing around in the Steiner Store, my friend and I were told it was time to go to the private signing room. After going down a few escalators, stairways, and down a few creepy hallways in the bowels of the mall, a door was opened. Inside the room, tables filled with photos, helmets, footballs, jerseys and other items were waiting to be signed by the man sitting in a chair getting items handed to him.

I was standing in the room with my friend waiting to meet Clowney. The other people in the room said he had to sign a few more helmets before he could sign my item. Realizing that it might take a minute to sign the helmets, I figured I would take a picture of him signing a helmet. Unfortunately, it came out blurry (see right) and Clowney realized that I was taking a picture. "Let me see that," Clowney said pointing at my camera.

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

I handed Clowney my camera because as logic dictates, when someone bigger and stronger than you asks you to do something, you do it. He then questioned me as to why I was taking pictures. With my camera on his lap, Clowney signed a couple more helmets before questioning as to why I was taking pictures. After I said something that probably didn't appease him, he took the camera, pointed it at me and said something I won't ever forget. "You can tell your friends that Clowney took the f***ing picture," he said as he took a picture of me that you can see on the left. I was holding the photo I brought to get signed as well as a sharpie one of the Steiner people handed to me.

After taking the photo of me, he took a few selfies with me, which you can also see below. After taking one, he asked to see it because he thought it was blurry. He did agree that it was blurry, and took a few more selfies with me on my camera, which also turned out slightly blurry.

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

Photo Credit: Jadeveon Clowney

Sometime in the middle of everything, I can't exactly remember when, I told Clowney that I had won a contest to get to meet him. After explaining what the contest was to him, he clearly wasn't impressed. "You're a real winner," he said jokingly. After two selfies with me, I said my friend needed to get into the picture, so Clowney took a few selfies with my friend in the frame as well. One of them isn't that blurry. You can see that one on the right. The other ones are just too blurry. It's a good thing Clowney has a day job, because he wouldn't do well as a photographer, or at least a selfie photographer.

Eventually, Clowney signed the picture I had printed and then one of the Steiner people took a better picture of us. The picture came out perfect, as you can see on the right. The autograph was perfect as well, as you can see below. One of the Steiner people put a small hologram sticker on the bottom corner of my photo and handed me a matching certificate of authenticity. I've never gotten one of those at a signing before, and that is just another example of how Steiner is top notch when it comes to sports memorabilia.

Overall, it was an unforgettable experience. It was the first time I had ever been to a signing at the Steiner Sports store, and I will be back again whenever I can make it to a signing.

I'll end with a lesson for all who may meet Jadeveon Clowney: Don't take pictures without him knowing. He may steal your camera and take selfies on them.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!!!

Autograph Adventures: Eric Decker

If you have been following this blog for the last little while, than you may remember the David Tyree Autograph Signing I went to last year at a Sports Authority. This year, they and another signing at the same exact Sports Authority, as well as many others throughout the New York/New Jersey area. This year, the signing was for current Jets receiver and former Bronco, Eric Decker.

The signing was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m, and I arrived with my friend at about 11:45. Unlike last year when the line was pretty short, the line was very long this year, even an hour before the signing was going to start. We were probably 80-100 people deep in the line by the time the signing started. Decker arrived right on time and began singing as soon as he sat down. Wristbands were given out to indicate who would be getting an autograph. I'm pretty sure the first 200 people got wristbands, but I could be wrong.

After about a half hour of waiting, my friend and I approached Decker. My friend got his mini-helmet  signed. I handed Decker a photo of him in a Jets uniform that I printed out earlier in the day. He quickly signed it in black sharpie and handed it back to me. I handed my camera to one of the Sports Authority people in hopes of taking a picture with Decker, but all I got is what you can see on the left. I shook Decker's hand, and then was forced out.

The signing itself was almost too organized. There were about a dozen employees within 10 feet of Decker, and there were strict rules. The most interesting of which was that you can't take a selfie with the athlete. I don't get the motivation for that, but it is what it is. Here is the photo I got Decker to sign. I'll be at another signing later this week, it should be fun.  Thanks for reading!

Sweet Mail Stories

I haven't wrote an entry about some cool mail that I've gotten in a long time, so here it is. If you are interested, StarTiger is the website that I get all the addresses and find out who is a good signer. I highly recommend it. It costs an annual rate, but it is worth every penny in my opinion. I'll get right into the fun stuff, hope you enjoy it. Feel free to comment with any questions.

Former UNC Tar Heels great and current Golden State Warrior Harrison Barnes did something that I haven't seen before with athletes that are currently playing. Soon after his season ended, Barnes posted THIS on his Facebook page. The day after I saw that post, I sent a 4x6 photo on it's way to California. About two weeks later, I came back to my mailbox to find the photo on the right inside. All I could say after getting that back was, "Wow." The fact that Barnes got a PO Box for the summer just so he could sign for his fans makes him one of the classiest players in the NBA today. If you want his autograph, make sure you follow the rules specifically, including a photo of you holding the item you want signed, but hurry, summer won't last forever and he easily has hundreds of requests.

Switching sports, I sent a request in spring training to Washington Nationals pitcher Ross Ohlendorf. After almost two months of waiting, I got the card returned signed. This card was very glossy when I got it, so I had to prepare it to get signed, and as you can see, it was worth it. Want to know how to prepare a card like this? Click HERE. This trick usually works for glossy and/or chrome cards and it is very helpful.


One of the great managers of all time, Jim Leyland, retired after the 2013 season. Since he is living in Pennsylvania, I figured I'd send him a card and see what happens. Over four months later, I was delighted to come back and find that he had signed my card beautifully. I rarely get Allen & Ginter cards signed, and getting this one back was extra gratifying. He will be in Cooperstown one day, but it's just a matter of when. With some mail successes, like this one, it takes a very long time, but in the end it is worth it. This is one of the longest waits I've ever had for an autograph that actually came back signed, not a return to sender or unsigned stuff.


A man more known for his nickname than playing ability, Bill Lee, signed two card for me from his home in Vermont. He has the nickname 'Spaceman' and was famous for throwing an eephus pitch, which is nothing more than an overhand lob pitch. I'm pretty sure I sent him three cards, but he only signed two of them. That's fine by me. He wrote 'Earth 2014' on one of the cards, which is an interesting inscription and one that I will likely never see again. He has been at the center of controversy for his opinions on many subjects. If you have time and want to learn a little more about him, click HERE or HERE.

Another former Red Sox, 1986 American League Championship Series MVP Marty Barrett signed four cards for me. Three of them are 1987 Topps. My dad collected a lot of those when he was a kid, and now I'm getting some of them signed.




That's it for this entry. I'll be attending one of the Mets games against Oakland this week. Thanks for reading and good luck graphing!

New York Rangers Hockey House 6/1/14

This entry was supposed to be about some recent mail successes I've had, but alas, you never know what is going to happen. I was in New York City for the Celebrate Israel Parade, and a little detour occurred on the way back.

After the parade, I took a taxi back to Penn Station. With no timetable for when I needed to get on the train, I decided to look around the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden area. After looking around for about 30 seconds, I saw the Rangerstown Hockey House, a playoff fan-fest type area for New York Rangers fans to get hyped for their Stanley Cup Playoffs run. It was a Sunday afternoon, there was no Rangers game happening that day, but the fun was still happening.

As you probably know, I am not a New York Rangers fan by any stretch of the imagination. The name of my other website should give you enough of a hint about that. However, as a hockey fan, I felt like I should check out what was happening inside. The line to get in was about 20 people deep and moving slowly because everyone entering had to sign a waiver. It pretty much said that if you hurt yourself inside, whether it be shooting a puck, tripping, or whatever, you couldn't sue the Rangers. Also, people had to go through security with a guard patting people down and using a metal detector. After all of that, you were given a Rangerstown necklace and led inside.

Once inside, there were many options of what you could do. Walking around, I noticed an older gentleman in a Rangers shirt standing around and taking photos with people. After asking a few people near me, I discovered it was Ron Greschner, a defenseman who played his entire 16 year NHL career with the Rangers. Since I wasn't really prepared with anything for him to sign, I handed him the necklace that I was given on the way in, and he signed it for me. You can see it toward the bottom of this entry. He was walking toward the door to leave as he was signing for people.

After Greschner signed for me, I saw a line for a signing with a former Ranger had been roped off. I then walked over the rope, making me last in line for the signing. After convincing the security guard I was in line the whole time, she let me wait in line for Pete Stemkowski. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I approached Stemkowski. He was signing photos that were free and given to pretty much anybody. I asked if I could get two of the photos signed, and he didn't even think before signing two and handing them to me. I asked the person next to me in line if he could take a photo of Stemkowski and I, and he said he would. You can see that on the right as well as the photos below. He also signed the necklace that Greschner had just signed. I thanked him, then went on my way

Stemkowski left later on, and I went to explore the rest of the house. I walked around for about five minutes, then saw the Prince of Wales Trophy on a table. People were taking pictures with it. The Rangers had just won the trophy a few days earlier, and the fans were able to be a part of the celebration. Click HERE to see what the Rangers did when they received the trophy. That's right, none of them laid a finger on it, as Doc Emrick mentioned. After a surprisingly short wait in line, I handed my camera to the woman who was taking all the photos and stood next to the trophy. After taking one picture not touching the trophy, she was about to take another one. I figured I might as well touch the trophy and see if anyone notices for the second picture. Nobody cared, and I might have just jinxed the Stanley Cup Finals for the New York Rangers. Only time will prove the superstition right or wrong.

Walking around the house some more, I saw another former Ranger was sitting at the table Stemkowski was at minutes earlier. It turned out to be former All-Star, Brian Mullen, who played for both the Islanders and Rangers, among other teams, in his career. After another short wait in line, I approached him. He mentioned something about my New York Mets shirt, and I said that they have been stinking pretty badly lately. I was actually wearing the shirt I had caught at the game eight days prior. I asked for two photos again, and he personalized one for my friend who is a big Rangers fan. He added his signature to the necklace. I also took a picture with him. Then, I shook his hand, thanked him, and went to look around again.  Here is the photo he signed that I kept for myself, and the necklace that Greschner, Stemkowski, and Mullen signed. If you were wondering, the signed photos are about 6x9 inches, an unusual size, but a good one.












That was all I got on the necklace, but it wan't all I got on the day. While I was exploring the back of the hockey house, I saw a face that I actually recognized. MSG network's Ron Duguay, a former Ranger known for his awesome hair. He was doing a question and answer session when I first entered, and now he was sitting in the corner, eating lunch and getting ready to leave. When he emerged, he stopped to sign autographs for a couple other people. He signed an autograph card for me. After that, I took a picture with him, took a picture of him with other fans, and he left. I always keep an autograph card with me, and this is exactly why. I guess I could have gotten him to sign the necklace, but the card was more accessible. He's still got the hair.

I left soon after Duguay, as I had to get on the LIRR. I didn't plan on getting a single autograph, and I ended up having a fun time. Even though it's the Rangers, I respect them. The event was very well organized, and enjoyable for all, even an Islander fan like me.

Diamondbacks @ Mets 5/24/14 at Citi Field

After going on Tuesday to see the Mets play the Dodgers, I was back at Citi Field again on Saturday to see the Mets play the Diamondbacks. I went with my friend, and we got to Citi Field at about 1:45 for the 4:10 game. There was a giveaway of a David Wright canvas print, and I wanted to make sure to show up early to try and get it.

I had gotten tickets at a good price for the section behind the visitors dugout. Once the gates opened at 2:10, I was given the canvas print and went directly down to the visitors dugout. Within two minutes of getting behind the dugout, someone in a Diamondbacks hat, I don't know who, started walking toward the dugout holding a ball in his hand. I asked if he could toss it up to me, and he responded by taking two steps into the dugout and tossing the ball to me. The ball was brand new as if it was fresh out of the box. The only mark on it was a small blue patch from where the ball hit the dugout roof when the person threw it to me. I wish I knew who grew it to me or took a picture of him, but I honestly don't have a clue. After the Mets finished batting practice, the Diamondbacks elected to take infield practice instead of batting practice. The photo on the right was my view for most of that practice.

After getting the ball from the Diamondbacks coach, I watched Brandon McCarthy have a catch with one of the Diamondbacks bullpen catchers down the line. After he finished playing catch, he signed for a few fans near the tarp down the line. When he got to the dugout, I asked if he could sign for me. He said sure, and I tossed him the ball I had just gotten. He quickly signed it and tossed it back to me. I figured I'd get the ball from the Diamondbacks coach signed by the Diamondbacks. His signature is on the right.

After McCarthy, I just missed Henry Blanco and a couple other Diamondbacks who I couldn't recognize. One of the other people to stop was utility player Cliff Pennington. He stood on the dugout steps and signed for me and about five other people before going to the clubhouse to get ready for the game.

Closer to game time, I noticed someone signing on the other end of the dugout. When I ran over there, I saw it was one of the best hitters in baseball, Paul Goldschmidt. He signed for some of the Diamondbacks fans that were in the Delta club near home plate, and he also stopped at the dugout to sign for a few people there. He signed my ball with someone else's pen. Someone tossed him one of the David Wright canvas prints to sign, and he said, "What do you want me to do with this? It's David Wright." When the person said he didn't have anything else, Goldschmidt signed it on the bottom corner and tossed it back to the guy. I got a short video of him signing, which you can see below. Goldschmidt and Pennington signed the same ball McCarthy signed earlier. Goldschmidt's signature is on the bottom of the photo on the right.


That was all the action I saw until the 5th inning. Since it was raining for most of the game, I was wearing my rain coat. With my glove on my left hand, I held my umbrella in my right for most of the game while the rain was coming down. Many people fled for cover, but my friend and I waited out the storm. There were no delays or stoppages in the game. After the fifth inning ended, the Pepsi Party Patrol started throwing and shooting t-shirts into the crowd with Mr. Met. I had run down the aisle to try and get a third out ball, but didn't get one. Once the t-shirts were being thrown into the crowd, I stayed and watched. As one the people with the t-shirt gun was launching them into the upper deck, and one of the girls was handing the shirts to him to shoot. Out of nowhere, the girl reached into the bag and threw one into the crowd as hard as she could. I held up my wide open glove, and to my surprise, I caught the shirt. There were people standing behind me who flinched as it came, but I snagged it perfectly in my glove and held it up. After walking back to my seat, I took the photo on the left. As you may notice, the shirt is tied up with a balloon, not rubber bands as I originally thought. That was the first time I had caught a t-shirt at a Mets game. When I got home, I took the photos of the shirt that you can see below. I'm not a big fan of the design, but a free shirt is better than no shirt.

Back

Front

Shortly after that, the game got interesting as the Mets tried and failed to get back into the game. Here are a few action shots I took of Eric Young Jr. on the base paths. He dove back on a pickoff throw on the photo on the left. Then he took off and stole second as you can see on the photo on the right.

As per usual, the Mets left many runners in scoring position, and ended up falling to the Diamondbacks 3-2 on a rainy day from Citi Field. You may remember I got a ball on Tuesday from umpire Larry Vanover. HERE is a video of that snag that I took. I figured I'd try and get another ball, this time from umpire Jim Reynolds. Take a look at what happened next, from the other side of the tunnel this time.

Yeah, I got another ball from the umpire. Reynolds gave away a bunch of baseballs, and actually gave a few to the people standing next to me, the Cooks. I said hi and made a quick introduction with them, but I had a train to catch, so I left soon after that, grabbing a canvas print someone had left on the floor on my way out. Here are the two balls I snagged at the game. I got one of them signed as I mentioned earlier. The ball from Jim Reynolds is on the right.

Sweet Spots

The baseballs I snagged

That's all I have from Citi Field. I hope to be back again soon. I should have another entry about some cool autographs I have gotten in the mail recently up soon. Thanks for reading. Follow me on twitter if you want to HERE.

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!