who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

[harpt]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

Got him years ago in FL as a member of the Dodgers when he first came up. He was sitting on a bench and he signed the side panel without even looking at me. Was if I was not there. Not sure why he is the way he is - not sure why he thinks he is so much better than anyone else. I had similar experiences with Mark McGwire both at the park and at paid appearances and would put him just above Piazza, but not far...

I was really suprised about the Kaline and McGwire references because I have had really positive experiences with both of those guys.

I saw Kaline in Cooperstown in 1999 and asked to have my picture taken with him. He had no problem with that at all...shook my hand, etc.

With McGwire, I was taking his picture before a game at Tiger stadium when the A's were in town. He was playing catch. When he was done he tossed me the ball made good eye contact and nodded when I said thank you, etc. It was pretty neat. The next year he hit a thousand homeruns.

One key variable is that I was not looking for an autograph in either case. I think a lot of guys are just really turned off by autograph seekers for some reason.

[yanks12025]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I got Mike Piazza's autograph at the WBC down in Florida a couple of years ago. Let me just tell you that you cant even tell that its Mike Piazza. But he was signing a t-shirt which is hard But we also got a ball signed by him to and it looks the same(Trash).

[harpt]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I am not an A's/Yankees/Angels fan, but I did stand in line once to get Reggie Jackson's autograph. That was my biggest disappointment to date. He never even picked up his head to look at anyone. That was 1999, and the last time I stood in line for an autograph show (other than if a 1982 Brewer was involved).

I am sure others have had good experiences with Reggie.

[AWA85]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

Seems everyone has conflicting stories on certain guys, just depends on their day/mood/ or could be how they have played lately. I can see where it gets old people always asking for an autograph everywhere, but it really makes me appreciate the guys like Brandon Phillips and others that take time out and are willing to sign and talk to fans.

[ahuff]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

Now this isn't really a "Least Fan Friendly", but rather just ironic.

I remember growing up watching Step by Step the t.v. series. In one episode (Wikipedia has it as #90 - Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?). "Cody takes Brendan to a baseball game, featuring his favorite player, Kenny Barton. After the game, Brendan meets his hero and asks him to autograph his baseball; however, Barton is nothing short of rude to Brendan and demands a $50 fee for an autograph. Cody - after consoling Brendan - then confronts the egotistical Barton during a TV interview and exposes his demeanor. The interviewer - Hall of Fame player and broadcaster Harmon Killebrew - is equally outraged and offers to sign Brendan's baseball at no charge. Brendan gladly accepts Killebrew's offer."

Harmon now charges $80 for his on his foundation website. I remember getting his back in the mid-90's, and I think I donated a few bucks. He was always one of my favorites (I use to watch the Home Run Derby reruns). Anyway, I must confess I lost a bit of respect after putting these two things together. I know - the one was just a t.v. show"

[mvandor]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

If you're hitting a guy up for a freebie, I can be understanding if he's short, could be a bad day, whatever. Paid signings? Sorry, you're WORKING now, signing at top dollar, rude in that context is completely unacceptable. If you only wanted a sig, you could buy it on ebay, usually for less. People pay absurd show prices for a chance to not just get a sig but to meet the athlete. If they can't even look you in the eye and be polite, they shouldn't do the show or expect to be paid.

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

i like to get my bats signed. unfortunately the guys i collect seem to no longer do shows. i wonder if the rangers owner rubs off on the players which in turn means not being very fan friendly. so far the most likeable rangers on the team are josh hamilton and kevin millwood.

[frikativ54]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

If you're hitting a guy up for a freebie, I can be understanding if he's short, could be a bad day, whatever. Paid signings? Sorry, you're WORKING now, signing at top dollar, rude in that context is completely unacceptable. If you only wanted a sig, you could buy it on ebay, usually for less. People pay absurd show prices for a chance to not just get a sig but to meet the athlete. If they can't even look you in the eye and be polite, they shouldn't do the show or expect to be paid.

I couldn't agree more. The worst experience is coming in town from over halfway across the country, battling chronic health issues, and then having an athlete treat you like dirt at a PAID signing. I still can't believe how incredibly rude Hunter Pence was to me last August. I had just paid $500 for a game-used bat, and I came to the front of the line and said, "I came in from Portland, Oregon and you are my favorite current Astros player. Can you please take a picture with me?" Of course, since Portland has no MLB team, I wouldn't be seeing him in person any time soon. My Mom had my camera in hand.

Instead of being civil, Hunter Pence refused to acknowledge me, threw his hands up in the air, and looked at security, which then barked at me to stop impeding the flow of the line. This was after I was told over the phone that Pence would be more than happy to pose with me. Of course I was making the lines move slowly , but his people had enough time to argue with me about what color pen Pence should use to sign my autograph, but not to pose 10 seconds for a photo. What a jerk!

I should have returned the bat to the promoters. Wish that I still could. The worst part of it is that I was practically in tears. And it was obvious that Hunter Pence saw that, and of course, he couldn't care less. He's going to make his millions, so what difference does one teary-eyed fan make? Contrast that with someone like Jeff Bagwell, who I held up a sign that I had flown so far to see him, when it was brought to his attention, came over and signed my game-used bat and un-used hat, and was nice enough to pose for several pictures.

What has stuck in my mind? Of course, it's how much you can do for a kid if you are just nice and take 5 or 10 minutes out of your day to sign something. I've only been to Houston twice in my twenty-three years of existence, but I tell you that I left with far different impressions, due in most part to the way I was treated by professional athletes.

[stovie]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

By my dealings for the last 20 plus years in dealing with athletes I have been around all major sports figures and have to say the biggest a$$holes were Terrell Owens who will go out of his way to treat people like crap and I know the guy and will not throw water on him if he were burning. I have watched him constantly be rude and nasty to people and people say he's just shy and misunderstood yeah right he misunderstood what being a human being is all about. Jerry Porter is another over rated jackass.. I watched him in the family parking lot after the game turn down a five year old kid for an autograph cause he was too busy chasing girls. Baseball a few are Rickey Henderson, Will Clark, Jose Canseco and Bonds of course. For the most part most of the other 49ers over the years are great guys Steve Young and Rice are great Joe can be touch and go. But I forgot Ronnie Lott can be a jerk too very bad temper. But that is from my personal experiences with athletes. Not from stories first hand.

[cjclong]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

Does anyone know where the quote about Michael Young not wanting to sign autographs came from? A few years back he appeared at store in Dallas and signed a bunch of autographs. I also went to a team function last year and he signed an All Star ball from the game where he was MVP and was very nice. I have noticed over the years that most of the bigger name Ranger players don't seem to sign at the Ballpark in Arlington before games. From my experience ARod, Palmeiro, Pudge etc. rarely signed at the Ballpark although Palmeiro and Pudge were very good about signing at team functions, like the fan fest, etc. Funny, after Pudge left he is great about signing at the Ballpark when the team he is with visits here.

[Master Shake]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I couldn't agree more. The worst experience is coming in town from over halfway across the country, battling chronic health issues, and then having an athlete treat you like dirt at a PAID signing. I still can't believe how incredibly rude Hunter Pence was to me last August. I had just paid $500 for a game-used bat, and I came to the front of the line and said, "I came in from Portland, Oregon and you are my favorite current Astros player. Can you please take a picture with me?" Of course, since Portland has no MLB team, I wouldn't be seeing him in person any time soon. My Mom had my camera in hand.

Instead of being civil, Hunter Pence refused to acknowledge me, threw his hands up in the air, and looked at security, which then barked at me to stop impeding the flow of the line. This was after I was told over the phone that Pence would be more than happy to pose with me. Of course I was making the lines move slowly , but his people had enough time to argue with me about what color pen Pence should use to sign my autograph, but not to pose 10 seconds for a photo. What a jerk!

I should have returned the bat to the promoters. Wish that I still could. The worst part of it is that I was practically in tears. And it was obvious that Hunter Pence saw that, and of course, he couldn't care less. He's going to make his millions, so what difference does one teary-eyed fan make? Contrast that with someone like Jeff Bagwell, who I held up a sign that I had flown so far to see him, when it was brought to his attention, came over and signed my game-used bat and un-used hat, and was nice enough to pose for several pictures.

What has stuck in my mind? Of course, it's how much you can do for a kid if you are just nice and take 5 or 10 minutes out of your day to sign something. I've only been to Houston twice in my twenty-three years of existence, but I tell you that I left with far different impressions, due in most part to the way I was treated by professional athletes.

I think I read about your experience once before but it still surprises me because Pence was the absolutely best Astros signer this past spring training than anyone else on the team. He signed autographs every time I went to their practices and games and usually signed at least 100+ autographs every time. You must have caught him on a really, really bad day which is quite unfortunately because he's one of the nicest players I've ever met.

[jshortt]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I think I read about your experience once before but it still surprises me because Pence was the absolutely best Astros signer this past spring training than anyone else on the team. He signed autographs every time I went to their practices and games and usually signed at least 100+ autographs every time. You must have caught him on a really, really bad day which is quite unfortunately because he's one of the nicest players I've ever met.

I would have to second Mastershake's theory. It must have been a TERRIBLE day for Hunter when you met him. Easily one of, if not THE, nicest superstar player in the NL right now. He's always been really talkative with me, and just super nice. The last Astros series of 2007 in Cincy, I was chatting him up about the prices of his bats on Ebay. He was laughing, and couldn't believe what his bats were going for. When I told him that I had seen one auction end at around $700-ish, he cracked up and said "For ME?" Heck, he was still great at the stadium a couple of weeks ago. He signed at least one thing for everybody that wanted one (though it was all personalized, if that sort of thing bothers you), took pics, and joked around.

I would try to put that last experience out of your mind, and try to get to see him again. I can almost guarantee that it will be a totally different experience.

-Josh

[frikativ54]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I would have to second Mastershake's theory. It must have been a TERRIBLE day for Hunter when you met him. Easily one of, if not THE, nicest superstar player in the NL right now. He's always been really talkative with me, and just super nice. The last Astros series of 2007 in Cincy, I was chatting him up about the prices of his bats on Ebay. He was laughing, and couldn't believe what his bats were going for. When I told him that I had seen one auction end at around $700-ish, he cracked up and said "For ME?" Heck, he was still great at the stadium a couple of weeks ago. He signed at least one thing for everybody that wanted one (though it was all personalized, if that sort of thing bothers you), took pics, and joked around.

I would try to put that last experience out of your mind, and try to get to see him again. I can almost guarantee that it will be a totally different experience.

-Josh

Thanks for telling me that. I will definitely try to get a photo with him next time I'm at an MLB ballpark. I guess I'll just have to accept it as a really bad day. Good to hear he's nice the majority of times, because I love the Astros and try to think the best of their players.

[godwulf]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

I can't say how he is at free autograph opportunities, since he goes out of his way to avoid them, but when it comes to paid signing events - Randy Johnson, hands down.

I don't know where this strong aversion to signing autographs, that you see with some guys, comes from. It's not just athletes, of course - many non-sport celebs are infamous in that realm, too. I wonder whether anyone has ever done a formal study on the subject.

Reggie Sanders, now that he's retired from Baseball and working as a commentator for Fox and the Diamondbacks, is back in Phoenix full-time, and a lot of people have been after him to sign their 2001 World Series items. I was told just last month that he was not signing for anyone, and had said that now that he's not playing any more, he's not signing, either. (I know...it makes no sense, but that's what he supposedly said.) Then last week, I found out that he's doing a paid signing on the 17th, which should be well-attended. We'll see how personable he is under those conditions, I guess.

[platinum1]

Re: who is the least fan friendly palyer on your favorite team

for me it would have to be michael young. i have never seen him sign at the stadium and he tends to ignore all request.

That's crazy Miguel Young signs everything when he comes to Comiskey Park. For some reason players dont like to sign at Home.