My 2010 Spring Training 'Blog'...

[2000mvpfan]

Hey Chris-

Great thread,great trip,and great job with that Giambi uni-Christ,that's gonna bankrupt me when you finally decide to sell it to me LOL..Looking forward to seeing your Rox-and hopefully Giambi too-when they play my Phillies later this year at Citizen's Bank!

Take care!

Joe

[xpress34]

For all of you Paul Harvey fans, here is the Rest of the Story...

Sun Mar 28th, 2010...

Checked out of the motel early and headed out to Surprise for the Rangers practice...

The wife and kid in tow, we headed to the practice fields... Hamilton was on his way to the Batting Cage, so we went that way and I got him to sign this beautiful Trinity bat that I had been gifted:





Only to find out later this is a GAME USED Dexter Fowler Bat (I thought it was just a nice used bat from a MiLB player... oh well, Josh gave it a BEAUTIFUL Sig...

** GREAT moment and fact about Josh ** Before signing my bat, he was signing another Black Bat in Silver... the paint pen bled and ran everywhere and Josh used his batting gloves to CLEAN the Bat and then resigned it with a better paint pen! After, he said he hates giving a bad auto on a nice piece!!! ***

My kid got Nelson Cruz on the 'Stitches' jersey (pics to follow in another post) for me.

My wife tried to get my GU Ball (BP HR from Hamilton) signed while I was getting the bat, but doesn't have the 'killer' instinct to get in there, so the bat was it.

Added Teagarden and Treanor on the catcher's mitt... got blown off again by Max Ramirez.

Got another GU Practice MLB ball that was sitting at the gate on one of the empty practice fields and headed on our way to do some family stuff before the wife and kid headed back to Denver.

Went to check out the Rox/DBacks new site on the East 101 Loop... went to a couple of comic shops, and went back to one card shop to buy these two bats for $50...

GU Eric Davis (someone blacked out his name on the barrel!) Dodgers bat with Strawberry, Karros and other sigs on it:






And this unusual Rawlings MiLB GU bat from some early Rockies teams (Rawlings by Asics?) w/ Horseshoe/Omega brand w/ number in it signed by Will Scalzetti and other early Rox (Scalzetti hit the 1st GS in Rox franchise history with Bend Rockies - I believe it was also the 1st HR in franchise history - back in '92 I believe.):






And stopped by an Antique Store in downtown Glendale and grabbed this badboy for $100:




After that, we just did some site seeing - went by Sky Harbor and checked their bags with the Sky Cap early, went and grabbed a bite to eat and then back to the Airport. I then headed back to my brother's place in Sun City for the night before my FINAL day of the 2010 Spring Training Odyssey.

On the way I stopped by the Brass Armadillo Antique Mall and picked up a few cards for sets from a few booths.

Up next - the FINAL Day!!!

[xpress34]

The FINAL Day... the saddest of all Spring Training Trips - hell, any trip in general - but particularly Spring Training.

Woke up early and packed the car leaving Rangers and Rockies gear accessible... told my brother and his GF goodbye and headed to Surprise.

Hamilton was in an AMAZINGLY GREAT mood (he's always good, but on this Monday, he was particularly upbeat)... I handed him BOTH AS Balls (2008 and 2009) and asked if he would Sweet Spot - and he did as usual:






Then, I went over to watch BP and got Ian Kinsler and Chris Davis on the 'Stitches' Jersey as well, so here's how it finished up:



And I noticed a guy writing on a note pad and ended up getting Tom Verducci (SI and MLB Network) on a ball:




I then went back to the batting cages and thought I'd try one more time for a last Hamilton on the GU Ball that my wife didn't get signed on Sunday.

Josh came out of the cage, took the ball and before I could say anything, started signing the side panel. I asked about the Sweet Spot and he siad he would be back. After taking a few more cuts, he came back and signed it AGAIN on the Sweet Spot!!! :





By then, the players were heading in, so I went and moved the car, swapped to my Rox stuff and headed in.

At the tunnel behind Home Plate I got Jim Tracy on the ball I had his son Chad (AAA w/ Rangers) sign a day or two before... Jim couldn't figure out which way or where to sign, so when I finally got the ball oriented the right way, Jim smiles, looks at the sig, then back at me before signing and says, "Next time you see my son, ask him what the hell kind of signature that is!":




I added Ian Stewart and a few other Rox to the always growing Rox Auto jersey (about 125+ autos now):



And I added Beimel and CarGo to the hat I had started at Hi Corbett for the wife:



While waiting fot the Rox autos, a Scout came and sat near us chatting up the younger guys until I saw his name and we started to chat - Chris Bosio of the Brewers/Mariners. Very nice guy and it was awesome to chat with him.

After that, I headed up and found out that Nolan was supposed to be there that day, so I was 3rd in the auto line (mind you the game had NOT started yet and he doesn't sign until the end). Nolan came by and went to his seat... about the mid of 2nd, his security guy came by and let us know that Nolan had gotten a call, so he was leaving in the 6th and would not be signing that day. I was a little bummed, but he also saved me about 3 hours of waiting for the game to finish and them to get Nolan set up and all.

I headed to the gates... to the car... and said goodbye to Spring Training 2010 and AZ. 746 miles and about 13.5 hours later, I was home...

And NOW you know the REST of the Story...

- Chris

[xpress34]

So now the story is told, but I just wanted to add this RECAP of my 2010 ST Journey...

Balls:

Josh Hamilton (3) - GU BP (2 Sigs), 2008 ASG, 2009 ASG :





Steve Buchelle :



Tom Verducci :



Jim Tracy / Chad Tracy :



Tommy Lasorda :



Matt Holliday (gifted to me) :



Troy Tulowitzki (gifted to me) :



Sandy Koufax (purchased) :



Willie Mays (purchased) :



1984 SF Giants Fantasy Camp Ball (purchased) :








More to follow...

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Hats / Helmets:

Clint Barmes GU 2006 Batting Helmet :



Rockies SGA Hat from Hi Corbett Field :




Magazines :

Denver Magazine (signed by Fowler, CarGo and Spilborgh) :



Rockies FINAL Tucson / Hi Corbett ST Mag :



Rangers 2010 ST Mag :



2009 Rockies Post Season Ticket Set (gifted to me) :




Eric Young Jr AU ticket from my seat at the game where I retrieved his 1st MLB Home Run :



Ticket Stubs from Games I attended :











More to follow...

[xpress34]

BATS:

Chad Krueter GU White Sox (from my brother) :



GU C243 (from my brother) :



433 (gifted to me) :



JM77 (gifted to me) :



Phoenix Bat - made for Rox (gifted to me) :



Pete Rose S2 AU (purchased) :




Trinity (gifted to me) - AU by Hamilton :



Early Rox (Rawlings by aSICS) AU Bat (purchased) :



Eric Davis GU AU Bat (purchased) :



T141 AU by Tulo (gifted to me):



Eric Young Jr GU AU )purchased) :



GLOVES :

Multi signed Catcher's Mitt - added Scosia, LaDuca, McKenry, Teagarden and Treanor :




Troy Tulowitzki Mini Mitt AU :




More to follow...

[xpress34]

JERSEYS:

Rockies Multi signed - added Sports Writers, Fowler, EY Jr, Stewart, and many others :



Rangers 'Stitches' Jersey - added many autos :



Josh Hamilton 2008 ASG Jersey :




Josh Hamilton 2009 ASG Jersey :




Josh Giambi GU 2009 Rox Jersey :




Jason signing the jersey :

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v7...ambiSigVid.flv

That pretty much covers my 2010 ST collection additions... there are a few cards here and there as well -and one Elvis Andrus auto on a card.

Hope you all have enjoyed the thread and I look forward to doing the 2011 edition next year...

Until then - PLAY BALL!!!

All the best -

Chris

[MiLe HigH]

Great haul Chris..I enjoyed your ST Blog very much! Now that your back in town hit me up.

[xpress34]

OOPS!!! I almost forgot TWO things...

1st - THANK YOU TO THE 'BATMan' (you know who you are!) for all his kindness and generosity on this trip...

2nd - the BOOKS I picked up at various Tucson and Phoenix BOOKMAN'S stores:

Baseball as America

The Catcher was a Spy (HC to upgrade my SC)

Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball

Breaking the Slump (NO, it's not about 'slump busters'... )

They Call Me Sparky

The Game That Was : George Brace Baseball Photos (this ended up being a duplicate book for me, so it is available if anyone is interested...

All the best -

Chris