How do some baseball players react when you ask if they can sign their game used items ?

[TNTtoys]

Re: How do some baseball players react when you ask if they can sign their game used items ?

I know I have responded to similar threads with my stories, but likely never got to post this one, as it was more recent than the others.

In Jan/Feb 2013, I met Al Holland at a show and presented for him his 1979 Giants jersey to sign. He was so happy to see this jersey, he raved on about it for several minutes. I was with my youngest son, who was 8 at the time... and I could get the feeling that he saw the actual joy we get out of this hobby at that point. Holland could not have been nicer... let's face it, he is a huge scary looking guy, but came across as a big teddy bear with a heart of gold.

We stopped chatting, and were about to walk away, when Al picked up his cell phone and told us that he's going to call his wife and tell her all about what he just signed. Truly a great experience for everyone...and a jersey that doesn't quite fit into my collection but will probably always be a part of it.

[rchimes13@yahoo.com]

Re: How do some baseball players react when you ask if they can sign their game used items ?

Contrary to what others have experienced...Joey Votto, following his 2008 rookie season, was more than gracious and in fact taught me about game used bats and what to look for contact mark wise etc. He explained that the bat I had presented him was in fact his, but that due to contact marks was used by a right handed hitter (most likely a pitcher he said due to the sloppy placement of ball marks) and took the time to explain and demonstrate how he holds his bats etc. It was an amazing experience and at the time I knew nothing about what to look for in GU bats so it's kind of cool to say that my favorite player and one of the best pure hitters in MLB taught me about GU bats