HOF Weekend: Meeting Johnny Bench!

Hey guys, Drew back here! It was just past noon last Saturday and it was already one of the best days of the year. I mean, seriously, how many days in your life do you get to say you shook hands with 2 All Time record holders in Major League Baseball history? Rose and Rickey made Day 1 incredibly successful, but it wasn't even over yet. I also got to meet one of the best (Yogi beats him in my opinion) catchers ever!

Johnny Bench was also signing at the same hotel Henderson signed at. The signing was held by MAB Celebrity Services at the Tunnicliffe Inn, which just so happened to be the very inn I stayed at when I went to Cooperstown for the first time 4 years ago. It was empty when I was there as a 12 year old, however this go round the likes of Eddie Murray, Rickey Henderson, Orlando Cepeda, Wade Boggs, Joe Morgan, Roberto Alomar, and Bench (among many others) were all seated signing autographs! 

Johnny Bench. Wow. 14 time All Star. 10 time Gold Glove recipient. And some may say he was the best catcher in the history of the sport. A few years ago he actually gave a speech at my mom's hospital about some sort of Hip Replacement, and my mom's boss was able to get his autograph for me there! Now, several years later, I finally got to shake his hand. He was very personable with all of the fans, but as always, I really didn't have much to say. I had a bad case of being starstruck most of that day, so could you blame me? Unfortunately, the picture I got with Mr. Bench the first time through came out horribly due to the back lighting of the window. I noticed that before we left, and I asked his handler if we could take one more picture.

And I'm so very glad I did that. Bench was fine with it although it obviously wasn't what either of us wanted to do. But it was for the best and I'm so glad I went back to re-do it.

I got his autograph on a baseball, with the Hall of Fame inscription and everything! It wasn't very cheap, but I'd like to say it was worth every penny.

Thanks so much Mr. Bench! See Ya!

Leading Off- Shaking Hands with the Hit King!

Hey guys, Drew back here (and back on my regular blog)! Tonight I thought would be a nice time to begin the recap of my trip up to Cooperstown with William and his family, along with my dad! Like I said on William's blog yesterday, we all had a great time and experienced memories that we may not ever forget. And the trip started off with a bang.

After William bought a few signed balls immediately after we got in town, I decided to match him, and when I heard Pete Rose was signing at a store down the street, I knew where my first expense would take place at. Rose wasn't doing many of his classic inscriptions, however even that wasn't enough to keep me from meeting the man who I believe deserves a second chance at the Hall of Fame far more than any of the men involved in the Biogenesis/PED scandals.

According to many fans I've heard from, he normally comes up to Cooperstown on Induction Weekend to sign autographs. With all of the support he's gotten from fans, I'm sure he does very well financially for the few days he's signing. He was all over town during the weekend, and we went to 2 restaurants that people had said he attended that weekend. We learned that Pete has some good taste in food!

As usual, I didn't have much to say to the man, but my Dad did, saying that he made him a baseball fan. I didn't grow up watching Pete like my Dad did, but from everything I've read and seen about him over the years, I believe I would've became a baseball fan watching him too! I understand that his "crime" was a very big deal, and I think MLB did the right thing in its time, but I think it's about time Bud Selig lets this guy do his thing again. I believe he's paid his dues.

Who knows if he actually cares if he gets let back in or not though? I mean, he seems to be doing a great job selling "Bring Pete to Cooperstown" merchandise, and I'm sure he's not short on money. AND he's dating an ex-Playboy model who is 40 years younger than him! Life is good! I regret not asking Pete if I could have her autograph too!

I ended up getting this picture from the signing signed by Rose, and he inscribed it very nicely too (Drew + Joe, My Best Wishes, Pete Rose, Hit King"! It only costed $5 more than any regular flat autograph to get the picture taken and printed, and then signed. While that was a really awesome addition to my collection, William's son Chris wound up stealing the show! While the picture was being developed, Chris snuck a ball to Pete and got it signed free of charge. You can read more about that here.

After getting to meet Pete, I am even more in favor of getting him into the Hall of Fame. He never impacted the game with his actions, and always gave his all. He fought for every victory he could have, and in the long run, he got a little carried away. I'm all in favor of seeing him being reinstated by Selig, who hasn't exactly been winning many fans over of late with the relatively "easy" penalties he's been handing out.

I'll be back with more to show off tomorrow! See Ya!

TTM #85- Soon to Be 2 Time MVP!

Hey guys, Drew back here! It's been a great day so far, as I've learned I got over a 90 on my three state tests, as well as 97.64 quarter average to cap off my sophomore year! Outside of that, I have my first summer league baseball game tonight, with a bunch of my school friends, and some of my family is coming to stay for the weekend that I don't get to see often. They're Red Sox fans, and it's only fitting that the Yankees will play against them this weekend! The rivalry continues! Anyways, I got this incredible TTM success about two months ago, one I never expected to come back. Sent all the way back on February 16th of 2011, here is now one of my better autographs in my collection...

None other than Reds superstar first baseman Joey Votto signed a card for me! I didn't remember sending him this 2009 SP Authentic card, but I'm guessing I threw it in alongside a custom I made. The custom never returned, but who the heck cares, especially since the custom was probably destroyed by the time he got to it. Votto has always been known as a streaky signer, but he almost always gets to his mail eventually. A lot of the autographs look different, so I'm not all that worried about it being fake, however, you never really know. 

Votto was deservably voted as the starting first baseman for the National League this year for the All Star game, batting .350 with a great .469 on base percentage! He also has 14 home runs to go along with 47 RBI for a Reds team that wouldn't be anywhere near the success they've had without him. For only 28 years old, many can easily argue that he's the best hitter in the game. And now, I can say that I own an autograph of his!

Thanks so much to Mr. Votto for taking out his time to sign my card, and See Ya!

PS: CONTEST COMING UP ON THE NEXT POST! BE ON THE LOOKOUT!