Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

[camarokids]

An article in the St. Petersburg Times the other day was talking about older people collecting autographs, this one guy has 5000 autographed cards .
Read on how Card Crawford says "Sometimes, You pretty much know they are going to put them on ebay or something" ....

Paranoid someone will make $10 on your sig , maybe that's why the Devil Rays suck, the players are so concerned about petty crap .....

I have yet to go to any Devil Rays functions this year, still collecting , but not in person.

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/1230335161.html?dids=1230335161:1230335161&FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Mar+10%2C+2007&author=CURTIS+KRUEGER&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&edition=&startpage=8.B&desc=%27Hey%2C+getcher+autographs+here%27

[Nathan]

Re: Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

Although most won't act or say it publicly, I'd be willing to bet there's a large percentage of professional athletes who have the same feeling. However, most who feel this way won't act it.

There certainly are collectors like the gentleman described in the article who basically collect sigs as a memento of players he's seen, but there's also a lot who, unfortunately, try to turn something they receive for free into cash via eBay or other outlets. I've said before that a fan simply is not inherently entitled to free ink the way a lot of people seem to believe. There are basic courtesies and boundaries that common sense would dictate that unfortunately aren't followed often.

I've told the story either here or elsewhere about watching some pest (not a collector, but a legitimate pest) rip into a player for not signing something. All the standard crap about "I pay your salary" and various references to "immature" and "spoiled" thrown in there. Of course, the player didn't sign because his hand was casted to protect a serious injury on his dominant hand. Simply put, if there's a time where you wouldn't want to be disturbed by someone you don't know, then it's probably best NOT to try to get free ink from an athlete during that time.

Players who have no good reason to duck fans should be fined for blowing people off, and pests (again, not fans or collectors, but pests) who violate basic boundaries of common sense should be hung from their feet and scourged across the stomach.

[camarokids]

Re: Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

When I would go to get sigs , I would always say please and thank you . I have seen the type you are talking about Nathan. Being rude to other fans and players ,even pushing kids out of the way to get closer to the players signing . Not saying thank you, etc.

It is to the point where players don't know who is collecting for fun and who's trying to make a buck. I bet the players have made a lot of wrong guess's and had a lot of wrong impressions of people trying to figure who's who....

[suave1477]

Re: Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

Camaro I agree with Crawford and any other players who feels that way cuz whether you like it or not I would say half if not most of the time, the person trying to get the auto is trying to make a quick easy buck.

I am not saying there isn't legit collectors out there but there is a ton more of people just trying to make a buck.

You say it's a petty $10 to the player but when you get harrased day in and day out for autographs and half of them are going to end up on Ebay or some other outlet. Yeah you tend to get a bit cold towards it. Because it means over a season a decent amount of money is being made off of you and your not seeing a cent.

You have to remember its not like years ago (example the 1950's) when collectors went to ball parks to get autographs for the love of the game. Back then they didn't understand what the true value of the item could be worth. Now everyone sees how much an item can be worth so you have more hounds out there trying to make money. Also remember now you have ten times more outlets to sell these items, before you had to rely on your local baseball card shop or a baseball card flea market. Today you have the whole world to shop from right over the internet!!!

[metsbats]

Re: Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

I'm not sure i feel sorry for Carl Crawford losing out a piece of the $10 action that a dealer may be able to get by selling his John Hancock. With his 2006 salary at 2.6 million which is the 2007 major league average he is pulling in more in one inning than the dealer will see in week.

David

[worldchamps]

Re: Is this how all baseball players feel towards collectors? read story.....

I think this is the biggest misconception, and this argument drives me crazy. The person that makes money on getting autographs is the person that fakes them. If you look on ebay most autographs are fake.

Say you do get a Derek Jeter autograph and you try to re-sell it. One you aren't going to get upperdeck, steiner money. You would probably get $50-$70...and that is being generous.

Ok you spent $14 on the ball. You spent at least $10 on a tickets and probably $5 on parking.....so you make $41 on a best case scenerio?????

How many games do you go to and get shut out, or get a lower marketable player.

And how many hours did you have to stand in the heat to get the autograph.

If you are doing this to make money, maybe you should reconsider a better profession.

Now for the guy that is a huge fan, and loves Jeter....all this can be justified.

It is the guy that is sitting at home, manufacturing Arod, Jeter and Pujols balls all day that is making money. That is who players should get mad at.

Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller have the best philosophy, sign for everyone who wants it, it will only drive down the price. And maybe make a fan happy.