SMatt's In Person - Page 2

sMatt · 07-07-2006, 03:37 AM

Rancho Cucamonga @ San Jose (Post-game only):

Alfredo Simon 5/5

Rafael Cruz 3/3
Kevin Jepsen 5/5
Josh LeBlanc 8/8
Baltazar Lopez 6/6
Kevin Lynch 2/2
Aaron Pullin 2/2
Sean Rodriguez 8/8
Joe Torres 6/6

sMatt · 07-17-2006, 12:50 AM

Fullerton @ Long Beach (postgame)

Jose Canseco 1/2 Took one person's marker and signed one each for everyone there with it
Randall Shelley 4/4
Bud Smith 8/8
Chris Testa 6/6

sMatt · 07-24-2006, 09:14 PM

Tacoma @ Fresno:

Jeff Clement 1/4 Had him one on one and he asked which one I wanted (all were different). He was real nice about it though.
TJ Bohn 1/1
Ismael Castro 2/2
Oswaldo Navarro 9/9 Seemed shocked to see so many of his cards, they were all different
Roberto Petagine 1/4 Same as Clement
Shin Soo Choo 1/2
Never saw Mike Morse, the rest of the guys I either didn't need or they came out too late, it was 107 or so at gametime so they weren't in much of a hurry to come out.

Brandon Villafuerte 1/1
Erick Threets 1/1
Jack Taschner 6/6
Pat Misch 1/1
Matt Anderson 2/2

sMatt · 07-26-2006, 11:43 PM

A few more games this week:

Rancho Cucamonga @ Lake Elsinore

Nick Adenhart 6/7 Got him in the stands right as the game was starting. A couple of the cards he signed were doubles so I think he just didn't have time for the last one.
Rafael Cruz 2/2
Michael Collins 5/5
Tim Duff 3/3
Cody Fuller 2/2
Karl Gelinas 3/3
Ryan Leahy 2/2
Josh LeBlanc 8/8
Ben Johnson 2/2
Bobby Mitchell 8/8
Micah Posey 4/7 Signed 2 each of the different cards. He takes his time with his autograph so I don't blame him for stopping after 4
Cliff Remole 2/2
Drew Toussaint 2/2
Sean Rodriguez 6/6
Freddy Sandoval 6/6
Michel Simard 8/8

San Diego @ Fullerton

Wes Faust 4/4
Charlie Hough 6/6
Adam Shorsher 2/2
Ryan Olson 5/5 Hadn't seen his Alaska Lg 4player card
Garry Templeton Jr 3/3
Jerry Turner 8/a lot I told him I had more but he was done after the first page. It took him a few minutes to sign the first 8 so again, I don't blame him.

Terry Kennedy 8/8
Steve Ontiveros 5/5
Scott Goodman 2/2
Ryan Fox 1/1 Hadn't seen his 06 Modesto card

They also gave out Rickey Henderson bobbleheads at the game.

sMatt · 07-29-2006, 08:02 PM

High Desert @ Inland Empire:

High Desert:
Rusty Brown 1/1
Gilbert De La Vara 1/1
Danny Christensen 5/5
Irving Falu 1/1
Mike Gaffney 1/1
Jarod Plummer 2/2
Ed Lucas 1/1
Brian McFall 6/6
Juan Senreiso 6/6
Mike Stodolka 8/8
James Tomlin 7/7
Geraldo Valentin 1/1
Brandon Weeden 6/6
Julio Pimentel and Blake Johnson were also just added to the roster

Inland Empire:
Jack Arroyo 2/2
Cibney Bello 2/2
Casey Craig 6/6
Jeff Dominguez 3/3
Reed Eastley 2/2
Omar Falcon 7/7
Aaron Jensen 5/5
Brent Johnson 3/3
Shawn Nottingham 5/5
Ronnie Prettyman 2/2
Mumba Rivera 2/2
Rafael Santo Domingo 2/2
Justin Thomas 4/4
Luis Valbuena 2/2
Aaron Trolia 2/2

sMatt · 08-12-2006, 06:18 PM

A few games lately:

Chico @ Long Beach

Alex Carbajal 1/1
Craig Kuzmic 4/4
Lino Garcia 1/1
Mark Parent 8/8 After signing the first page, he seemed surprised I didn't have more pages. I guess he's used to signing a lot more than that.

San Jose @ Inland Empire

John Bowker 6/6
Adam Gardner 1/1
Brian Anderson 1/1
Pat Dobson 2/2
Yamid Haad 6/6
Justin Hedrick 2/2
Alex Hinshaw 3/3
Lenn Sakata 5/5
Alfredo Simon 4/5 Kept an SP
Chad Santos 1/1
Will Thompson 4/4

Lake Elsinore @ Rancho Cucamonga
Skip Adams 2/2
Tim Brown 2/2
Peter Ciofrone 4/4
Richie Daigle 2/2
Josh Geer 10/10
Josh Howard 2/2
Nick Hundley 6/6
Chris Jaile 2/2
Rick Renteria 3/3
Tom Tormincasa 3/3
Probably old news but Billy Susdorf was released

Kevin Jepsen 2/2
Baltazar Lopez 7/7
Aaron Pullin 4/4
Francisco Rodriguez 2/2
Joe Torres 8/8

sMatt · 08-14-2006, 11:39 PM

Chico @ Long Beach again:

Jose Canseco 2/2 I thought I was pushing it as it was but it seemed like he probably would have done more
Andre Simpson 1/1
Darrell Evans 4/4
Bud Smith 12/12

sMatt · 08-30-2006, 12:51 AM

Got these the other day:

Sacramento @ Fresno:

Jason Windsor 3/4 The other was a 5 player card from a team set, I think he either thought he already signed it or didn't think I wanted him to
Ben Fritz 2/2
Randy Keisler 3/8
Ron Flores 1/1
Jeremy Brown 4/4

Jonathan Sanchez 10/10
Billy Sadler 7/7
Carlos Hines 4/4
Brian Cooper 8/8
Matt Kinney 7/7

Most of Sacramento's team was either hurt or snuck out the other way. I don't know how they are in other places but Sacramento teams never seem to be too happy to sign at either of the California parks.

sMatt · 09-09-2006, 10:31 PM

High Desert @ Lake Elsinore

Got stuck in traffic and didn't make it to the game until after game time so I just had to focus on whichever team lost the series, which ended up being High Desert.

Jeff Carter 3/3
Boots Day 1/1
Steve Renko 4/4
Danny Christensen 6/6
Luis Cota 5/5
Blake Johnson 1/1
Brian McFall 4/4
Chris Nicoll 1/1
Julio Pimentel 1/1
Adam Rowe 2/2
Mike Stodolka 7/7

Juan Senreiso gave me a cracked bat without me even asking. It was kind of weird because he denied a few people who had asked for one and then handed one to me and someone else (who also hadn't asked) as he was leaving.

SteveG34 · 05-25-2008, 09:21 PM

Sorry you had a bad experience with Cepeda.

I've met him 3 times over the years--all in NY at various BAT Dinner functions.

The first time I met him, he was cranky, but signed.

Then this spring rolled around.....a friend and I went to dinner with him--just the three of us. I was able to ask him questions during dinner and try to open him up--he was funny, engaging and interesting. (He let me wear his HOF ring during dinner--which was pretty cool.) One of the conversations that came up was signing autopgraphs. Long story short--he's SICK of it. He hates it. He's 70 years old and has been doing this for 30+ years and is just flat out sick of signing. He told me that right after we finished eating, he had to go back to his hotel room to sign stickers for UD which would be placed on cards in packs. He had to do over 1000 for them, and said that his fingers were actually hurting.

The next day--he spotted me in a room with 1000+ people, smiled, waved me over and said that he wishes that we could go right now back to the restaurant from the night before for a quiet, terrific meal. He's a great guy deep down, but I fear his patience with the public is shot.

We also talked about his travel schedule--he's all over the place. Most people at his age are home, retired with a calm schedule. He's on a plane several times a month doing stuff.

On another note--right after I left that dinner, I had to drive my car back to the hotel....while Cepeda and my friend took a cab back. By the time I got there, they were already back. My buddy said that some guy got in the elevator with them as they were going to their rooms and begged Cepeda to sign a ball because he was in the Puerto Rican Armed Forces and some other long story. My buddy said the guy would NOT stop begging Cepeda to sign, so he finally grabbed the ball and scribbled on it and then went to his room. Cepeda told my buddy that it'd be easier for him to just sign something on the ball to get him to go away, than to have the guy bang on his door while he was sleeping for an autograph.

Seriously fellas--this is what its come to. If this is what goes on with Orlando Cepeda, can you imagine what ARod, Jeter or David Wright go through on a daily basis?

While I am not defending his cranky behavior by any means, I'm just trying to show another side to the story. Lots of these guys are just flat out burnt out with signing, and dealing with clowns who follow them around their hotel, etc.

SG

Laurens · 05-26-2008, 12:25 AM

Do you mean this Orlando Cepeda?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveG34

Sorry you had a bad experience with Cepeda.

I've met him 3 times over the years--all in NY at various BAT Dinner functions.

The first time I met him, he was cranky, but signed.

Then this spring rolled around.....a friend and I went to dinner with him--just the three of us. I was able to ask him questions during dinner and try to open him up--he was funny, engaging and interesting. (He let me wear his HOF ring during dinner--which was pretty cool.) One of the conversations that came up was signing autopgraphs. Long story short--he's SICK of it. He hates it. He's 70 years old and has been doing this for 30+ years and is just flat out sick of signing. He told me that right after we finished eating, he had to go back to his hotel room to sign stickers for UD which would be placed on cards in packs. He had to do over 1000 for them, and said that his fingers were actually hurting.

The next day--he spotted me in a room with 1000+ people, smiled, waved me over and said that he wishes that we could go right now back to the restaurant from the night before for a quiet, terrific meal. He's a great guy deep down, but I fear his patience with the public is shot.

We also talked about his travel schedule--he's all over the place. Most people at his age are home, retired with a calm schedule. He's on a plane several times a month doing stuff.

On another note--right after I left that dinner, I had to drive my car back to the hotel....while Cepeda and my friend took a cab back. By the time I got there, they were already back. My buddy said that some guy got in the elevator with them as they were going to their rooms and begged Cepeda to sign a ball because he was in the Puerto Rican Armed Forces and some other long story. My buddy said the guy would NOT stop begging Cepeda to sign, so he finally grabbed the ball and scribbled on it and then went to his room. Cepeda told my buddy that it'd be easier for him to just sign something on the ball to get him to go away, than to have the guy bang on his door while he was sleeping for an autograph.

Seriously fellas--this is what its come to. If this is what goes on with Orlando Cepeda, can you imagine what ARod, Jeter or David Wright go through on a daily basis?

While I am not defending his cranky behavior by any means, I'm just trying to show another side to the story. Lots of these guys are just flat out burnt out with signing, and dealing with clowns who follow them around their hotel, etc.

SG

alanmoore · 05-26-2008, 12:35 AM

The man loves the weed, hence jail 30 years ago and the reason he wasnt voted ino the HOF by the writers. Instead he had to wait until the Veterans Committee corrected that wrong.

Lifetime .297 hitter, 379 bombs and 1,365 Ribbies.

Played 16 seasons, All-star 7 times, MVP 1967, ROY 1958 and has 2 Rings with the Cardinals and Braves.

If that aint a legitimate HOF'er, I dont know who is.

sMatt · 05-26-2008, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveG34

While I am not defending his cranky behavior by any means, I'm just trying to show another side to the story. Lots of these guys are just flat out burnt out with signing, and dealing with clowns who follow them around their hotel, etc.

I'm sure it can be annoying to deal with autograph requests all the time. There's a pretty easy solution for Orlando though, all he needs to do is stop agreeing to these signings with Upper Deck, Tristar, etc that are causing him so much grief and just work a normal job like the rest of us.

SteveG34 · 05-26-2008, 08:59 PM

Are you kidding me, sMatt? Signing for TriStar and Upper Deck isn't grief...he's getting paid to do it...... on HIS time. What he's not getting paid to do is be hassled by collectors and dealers in hotels and during dinner. He had a normal job for 20+ years PLAYING BASEBALL. How many 70 year olds work REAL jobs anyway? Come on man...give me a break.

He's sick of people following him into hotel elevators, stalking him at charity events, banging on his hotel room door for stuff and generally just pissing him off. Can you really blame him?

Imagine if you had a door-to-door salesman selling vaccuums at your door every single day for the next 40 years. Let me know how your attitude is then.

alanmoore · 05-26-2008, 10:34 PM

I dont blame him but it comes with the territory. He makes a living signing autographs. Do like Bob Feller and charge people for your signature in person. People will pay up!