So last week's post may have been boring to you because it wasn't actually about a piece of memorabilia from a player. Well, I hope this week's piece will make up for it.
I want to feature the first-ever autograph I got:
It's a Walmart brand ball signed by Nolan Ryan! I was probably 10 years old - it was at old Arlington Stadium**, so it was pre-1994. My step-brother and I went down by the dugout and waited in line.
When Nolan came out of the dugout, he was kind enough to sign for the kids, asking adults to step aside and let us through. Unfortunately for my step-brother, he didn't sign his ball. He cried for the rest of the game. What a baby!
Not only was this my first autograph, it may very well have been the very first professional baseball game I ever attended...I know it was against the White Sox, and I remember cheering when Frank Thomas came to bat...
Anyway, a much shorter post than last week. What was your first in-person autograph experience? Do you remember the first game you attended?
**A quick note about Arlington Stadium. The entire place was built for what would be the equivalent of roughly $14 million today. How crazy is that? I'm pretty sure the jumbotron at Jerryworld, a.k.a. Cowboys Stadium, cost more than that! The entire outfield seating was made of aluminum bleachers...you have no idea what hell is until you have to sit on aluminum bleachers to watch baseball during the summer in Texas!!!
The first game I went to was at Shea Stadium to see the Giants vs. Mets in 1982. I was 8-years-old. Mets pitcher, Brent Gaff signed a page inside the program my dad had bought for me.
ReplyDeleteIt was about 10 years later when autograph collecting became a major hobby for me.
http://dailyautograph.blogspot.com
My mom and dad used to may sister and I to Peoria Chiefs games with the "company's tickets" when the CEO wasn't using them. The scorecards at the time had a large Bud advertisement on the back where 3/4 of the page was beer in a glass. The carbonated yellow beverage was the perfect place for autographs to pop of the page. Boy, I guess this would have been around 1988 or so! Them were the days!
ReplyDeleteFirst in person was a racecar driver, Tommy Kendall, at a banquet.
ReplyDeleteMy first Yanks game was Sept 22, 1996. A few weeks before the Yanks won the World Series. I went on a local bus trip for my birthday. NY won 3-1. Bernie Willians hit a triple off the wall.
Very cool. I believe "Spaceman" Bill Lee was my first auto
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