Like most GU collectors, most of the items I acquire are things that I pay for, so this question doesn't really come up much...but a situation arose earlier this week that made me wonder whether I did the right thing, and I wanted to get others' input on it.
Lately, I've been going out to some of the Arizona League games, to watch the lower-ranked rookies and new signers play, and I've been noting which Diamondbacks player cracks a bat and then politely asking for it after the game, and then getting it signed, either then or later. (In the Fall League, there is too much competition from the kids and pretty young things for me to have a chance at those bats.)
Last Tuesday, the DBacks closer blew a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning, and a foul mood prevailed in the dugout, to put it mildly. I had seen two players break bats - one in the eighth and one in the ninth - and I was torn between just walking away and forgetting about them and asking the players if I could have them. (I am smart enough not to ask for autographs in a situation like that.)
Well, my acquisitive instincts prevailed, and I ended up asking, and both players went back into the dugout, retrieved the broken bat (from the trash can, in one case), and handed it to me without a word. One of the bats, which I knew had been cracked but in one piece when the player left the field, was broken in half in that distinctive "broken in half over the knee" way.
I'm hoping to get both bats signed before the game tonight, and I'm thinking about actually apologizing to the guys - or at least to the one that I know is conversant in English - for bugging them the other night, when I'm sure they were not in a mood for much fan interaction. I sort of feel some embarassment about having asked for those bats, given the circumstances. Opinions?
Lately, I've been going out to some of the Arizona League games, to watch the lower-ranked rookies and new signers play, and I've been noting which Diamondbacks player cracks a bat and then politely asking for it after the game, and then getting it signed, either then or later. (In the Fall League, there is too much competition from the kids and pretty young things for me to have a chance at those bats.)
Last Tuesday, the DBacks closer blew a 5-4 lead in the ninth inning, and a foul mood prevailed in the dugout, to put it mildly. I had seen two players break bats - one in the eighth and one in the ninth - and I was torn between just walking away and forgetting about them and asking the players if I could have them. (I am smart enough not to ask for autographs in a situation like that.)
Well, my acquisitive instincts prevailed, and I ended up asking, and both players went back into the dugout, retrieved the broken bat (from the trash can, in one case), and handed it to me without a word. One of the bats, which I knew had been cracked but in one piece when the player left the field, was broken in half in that distinctive "broken in half over the knee" way.
I'm hoping to get both bats signed before the game tonight, and I'm thinking about actually apologizing to the guys - or at least to the one that I know is conversant in English - for bugging them the other night, when I'm sure they were not in a mood for much fan interaction. I sort of feel some embarassment about having asked for those bats, given the circumstances. Opinions?
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