What would you do if you finally met the player you collect and...

He was a complete rude ******* to you? Would you still keep his cards? Would you dump his cards? Would you continue to collect him?

Has anybody met the player they collect? Share your stories. Good and bad.

For those that have met the player you collect. Did you tell the player about your collection? What was his reaction?

A big part of the reason I started collecting Olerud back in his rookie season was I had read that he was a pretty quiet, unassuming guy who barely said boo in the clubhouse and never got excited on the field. I kind of identified with his personality, being a pretty reserved and quiet guy myself.

A couple seasons later I learned that he's a devoted Christian and very family-oriented, so it was a reasonable assumption that he was a pretty decent guy.

I did get to meet him in 2006 when he made an appearance at a Blue Jays game. The full story and pictures are in my website but I had two limited interactions with him that day. First was at the pregame autograph session. I was literally the next person in line to get his auto when the organizers hustled him away. I said to him "Could you do one more?" and he replied "Sorry". Then after the game he stayed at field level signing for nearly an hour. I got to him, handed him my card, then when he handed it back I said "Thanks. Can I get a picture?" to which he replied "Sure".

Not exactly a conversation by any stretch, but still a highlight if my collecting life.

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Bagwell luckily seems to be a decent guy. I've met him once and spoken to him briefly. I didn't mention my collection in detail because honestly, I don't think he'd care. He did screw up a photo because it was too glossy to sign and immediately offered the guy money to get another one and offered to sign it. How many guys of his status do stuff like that?

I still like Biggio and Berkman but after meeting both, they both kind of irk me. Berkman is way too damn concerned with everyone being a dealer. I like the guy and he was a hell of a player but in all honesty, homeboy needs to check eBay if he thinks people really stand in line 8 hours to get something to sell and make fifty bucks max.

Biggio is a head case as far as I'm concerned. Still a hell of a player but I don't buy any of the nice guy bull crap image the media projects. At first I just figured it was graphers he hated. After him coaching here at the high school level a few years, it seems it's not only them that irritate him.

That was not my expirence with Berkman at all. When I met him he was very kind to everyone some put down 6 jerseys and 3 16x20s and he just laughed he said the jersey is worth more unsigned and signed every single one of them patiently talking to the guy the whole time about the season. Berkman seemed like a great guy

Nomar could call me a ****** gnat and I wouldn't care. I like him for how he played and what he brought to the team not because he was a Good Samaritan.

predatorkj said:

Bagwell luckily seems to be a decent guy. I've met him once and spoken to him briefly. I didn't mention my collection in detail because honestly, I don't think he'd care. He did screw up a photo because it was too glossy to sign and immediately offered the guy money to get another one and offered to sign it. How many guys of his status do stuff like that?

I still like Biggio and Berkman but after meeting both, they both kind of irk me. Berkman is way too damn concerned with everyone being a dealer. I like the guy and he was a hell of a player but in all honesty, homeboy needs to check eBay if he thinks people really stand in line 8 hours to get something to sell and make fifty bucks max.

Biggio is a head case as far as I'm concerned. Still a hell of a player but I don't buy any of the nice guy bull crap image the media projects. At first I just figured it was graphers he hated. After him coaching here at the high school level a few years, it seems it's not only them that irritate him.

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Wow...Thats one of the last guy that would seem that way.

I'd love to meet JJ. I think he's a pretty quiet and family guy as well. Every interview he's ever had has been pretty laid back and doesn't really get over excited if he has a good game or is getting torched. He'd probably be too shocked by what I had to say and know a guy has over 2,000 of his trading cards would probably make him 5 Finger Death Punch ... and walk away, making it easy on himself.

OK, this may become a little incoherent or rambling at times.

I live about 3 hours from Chicago. I had told Walt that I would make it to the show a few months ago. He said I would get "some face time" with Rickey if I did show up.

Saturday
Saturday Walt messaged me his cell number so we could text and stay in contact. I texted him my number and he asked to let them know when I got in. I texted him when I arrived at the hotel, which was about a mile from the convention center and their hotel, and 3 blocks from Rivers Casino. My mom, dad and sister drove from Ohio to meet me there. My wife had to work and could not find anyone to swap shifts. I hadn't eaten and the Buckeye were getting ready to start soon. I asked the front desk where we could go to watch the game and had good food. They recommended The Ram, which was awesome! Sports bar side and restaurant side and really good food. I texted Walt saying we were going to eat and watch the game. He said have fun, enjoy the area and he would let me know if they did anything. We ate and watched the first half, then returned to the hotel to watch the second half and wait for Walt to text back. After the game, which almost gave me a heart attack, we changed into something nice, because I know Rickey dresses nice. Besides I had worn an Ohio State sweatshirt and ripped jeans in the car for 3 hours. My mom lived on the South Side and we wanted to drive around and see Navy Pier and such. We took some pictures and drove around for a bit when Walt texted "we're at the casino, if you get bored come check it out". So I started to get excited and we drove to the casino. I texted him when we got there. He instructed me to go to the bar. I swear I felt like I was in a spy novel. Going to a place I didn't know to meet a mysterious person. So I went to the only bar I saw and grabbed a seat. Few minutes later he texted and said "the bar in the casino". So I asked the bartender and he informed me there were a few bars in the casino. So I went to the one in the center of the casino and spotted Walt. We walked up and introduced ourselves. We talked for a few minutes and he bought me a beer. Then he asked "are you ready for this?". He walked down to where we came into the bar and I saw Rickey! Where he was standing, I had to of just walked by him and not even paid attention! I guess I was just looking for Walt so much (casino was crowded) that I walked right by Rickey and didn't know it. Walt introduced me as "the guy with all the jerseys and jackets and hats of every team you played for". Rickey shook my hand and said he was happy to meet me. He then shook my dads hand and hugged my mom and sister. We talked for a few minutes as he was waiting for a seat to open up so he could play a card game. Walt said we should get a picture. So my sister pulls out her cell phone and snaps a few. Pit Boss immediately comes over watches as she deletes the pictures. He said we could get a picture by the exit or by the steak house. Walt told us there had been some "lurkers" looking from afar and some came up to ask if it was Rickey. Walt told them it wasn't Rickey, but his twin brother and they get mixed up all the time. A lady tapped my shoulder and asked who I was getting a picture with. I replied I didn't know the man and she just turned and left. A couple guys beside us had heasrd/seen the whole thing and quietly told Rickey it was great to meet him and shook his hand. We headed over to the steak house as they had a pager and we wanted to get some pictures. In front of the steak house Walt takes my sisters phone and snaps a picture of me and Rickey. Security comes over and says we can't take a picture. Walt tells them that the Pit Boss just told us we could, so they leave. He takes another and someone else comes up. Rickey said "hurry and take the picture, they gonna throw us out!" So we told the next person that we were given permission to take pictures here and they let us be. Walt had to take a few pictures as he was covering the flash and everything was dark. They are ready to eat so Rickey shook hands/hugged everyone and said he'd see us tomorrow. Walt told me come to their hotel in the morning and bring a ball. I was absolutely stunned at how nice they were and couldn't believe I had finally met Rickey! We went back to the hotel after stopping by Steak N Shake.

Sunday
We woke up and headed to IHOP for breakfast. Walt told us to be there between 10 and 10:30. Got there about 10:15 and saw Walt talking to a guy I would later meet, Joel Bradley. He was a fellow Rickey Collector, but now does auto's of different people and celebrities. I talked to him and his little boy for awhile. Walt said Rickey would be down "in a bit". My sister, who was sitting on the other side of the hotel lobby came over and said "Rickey's in the restaurant over there, and every time I look over he is looking at me". I told here it's probably because he recognized her from last night and she was wearing a Yankees BP jersey. I had Angels away (with Jackie Robinson patch), Mom had Red Sox Home (with Ted Williams armband) and Dad was wearing Dodgers alternate (never worn by Rickey but was still on the Dodgers list of official jerseys until 2004) plus I got it from ESPN.com for $50! A few guys come down to the lobby and sit down adjacent to my mom. After they left, I walked over and asked if she knew who it was. She did not. I told her she was just sitting next to Dave Winfield! So Rickey finally comes down (he was signing stuff for Joel and other people). He talks to Joel and his little boy, who had to ask Rickey 2 questions for his homework. Since Joel took him out of school Friday, the teacher said Elliot needed to ask Rickey 2 questions. We got pictures of all of this and I told Joel we'd send them to him. Rickey saw my jerseys and we talked about the patches and such. I showed him what everyone was wearing and my sister was snapping away the whole time. She's going to send me the pictures on a CD so I'll post them when I get them. Rickey asked if there was anything I didn't have. I told him I was looking to get his Mexican League jersey made since we had pictures now. He laughed and said they were ugly. He then said he had some Red Sox stuff that he would send to Walt and pass it on to me! This just keeps getting better and better! Walt told me to stick around after the signing and bring a camera and ball. They leave for the show and we head over too. Headed to the show (right across the street) and get our tickets. I probably could have gotten in free if we walked in with Rickey, but we said good bye to Joel and Elliot and swapped info. I met Matt Keller there. We talked for a bit and swapped stories. He's traded with Brad and might be buying some stuff from Ken. My phone died so Dad went to the car to get my charger (other people were charging their phones and I needed to be able to text Walt. He asked what Rickey's rookie card was and I said 77 Chong. He said, "that's it!" as someone must have asked and he couldn't remember. I didn't see too much for cards that I was looking for, but did find a few.

Rickey was signing from 1-3 and it was around 3 now. So I headed towards the auto pavillion and waited for Walt to text me. He comes out after a bit and says that Rickey is really slammed (signing mail order stuff from the show) and their flight is in about 45 minutes. He says he's really sorry and hands me a ball. He said Rickey wanted you to have this. I was floored!


Everyone was packing up but I ran over and grabbed a ball cube for my new prized piece! So now I still have 2 blank OMLB balls that could use signed! He gave me his card, told me to stay in touch and they'd see me later. I wasn't mad or anything because we had already spent a good amount of time together. Would I have liked more? Yes, but I was happy with what I had. On my way home Walt texted and said "was great to meet you and your family, safe travels".

Sometime during the weekend I told them I lived an hour from Field of Dreams, and they said that should be coming up. Walt will let me know in advance and we'll meet them there. I have some friends that want to go and I said they had to wear a jersey. Going to try to have all of the ones I have lettered be worn there (roughly 16-20). Walt also told me the M&N jersey will be the first baseball jersey released next March. I forgot to ask about Fan Club. I planned to during my "face time" but since that didn't happen I couldn't.

More pictures coming.

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PujolsCollector said:

That was not my expirence with Berkman at all. When I met him he was very kind to everyone some put down 6 jerseys and 3 16x20s and he just laughed he said the jersey is worth more unsigned and signed every single one of them patiently talking to the guy the whole time about the season. Berkman seemed like a great guy

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He's probably happy to see new faces and sign new stuff. See, I guess some of these guys get recognized and because they have nice stuff to get signed , they are automatically tagged as dealers. He gets awfully grouchy.

BiggioBrooks755 said:

Wow...Thats one of the last guy that would seem that way.

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Just my opinion. Not to be confused with facts good man.

You know, I didn't even answer the question of the OP. I would still collect the guy. Everyone has their days and on top of it, some guys hate fan interaction. I'm cool with that. I'm not very hip on the Reggie Jackson's of the world that go out of their way to be mean but I'm not looking for the model citizen either. I think more than anything, the only thing that irritates me is when they get mean or do rude stuff for assnine reasons. Messing up autos for people simply because you think they'll sell it or being mean to people because they simply want to tell you they enjoyed watching your career and you're too worried they might ask for an auto, although they haven't. Stuff like that. If you don't want to interact or sign or be acknowledged, cool. But don't half ass it.

If I collected someone and they turned out to be a real dick, I would most likely sell it all off.

thats a great sotry about rickey

i have met morneau on a few occasions and never had a bad experience. couple years back i was chatting with him while he was signing a couple of baseballs for my mom and i, i gave him a patrick roy signed photo and his eyes lit up. i am very thankful i have had great experiences with him. and if he were to be a dick i wouldnt care the guy is just cool as hell i would keep everything i have

I started collecting Andre Ethier and Jeff Francis because I met them and they were such cool and nice people.

I sat next to Jeff Francis in the stands at a AA Texas League Minor League game in Midland in 2004. He was charting pitches next to me behind home plate for his Tulsa Drillers team and was really friendly. At the end of the game, he said to wait for him, and he brought back one of his game-used Drillers caps and signed it for me.

I talked with Andre Ethier several times during the 2005 season. He was the star on the hometown Midland RoughRiders team. He was a fan favorite and always signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans. His mother visited from Arizona several times and she and my wife became friendly. We got two autographed bats from Ethier and have a couple dozen autogrpahs on bats, balls, tickets, programs and several cards, including his Arizona University card. I have more in-person signed stuff from Ethier than I do certified autographs.

I feel like a crap collector compared to other stories. I'm not emotionally connected to my collection, and I get rid of stuff as fast as I collect it. I don't know if its personal experience or not, but I kind of lose the allure of a card after a couple days. I'm excited to add it to the collection, but after I look at it for a minute, it goes into a drawer.

I met Ron Santo at a small show in Elk Grove Village in 1991. He was a guest signer. The show was dead! I got him to sign an 8x10 and had it personalized to me. We talked about baseball and that he was my idol growing up watching him play.He still looked great and it was one of the best thrills i have ever had at a signing. We talked for over an hour. We both loved it! As i was leaving the show he GAVE me an autographed ball!I can not say enough of how much of a great guy he was.

Glad he made the hall. The asshoes should have put him in when he was alive. SHAME ON THEM!

I have met Josh Hamilton a couple of times. Once at a signing, I had him autograph a bat for me which he signed perfect and even told me to use a blue marker on a blonde bat because it would look nicer. That was pretty awesome of him.

I also ran into him and his wife about three days before Christmas 2010 shopping at Target. At first I hesitated to say anything but since we ended up in the same checkout line I shook his hand and congratulated him on the season and asked about why Cliff Lee went back to the phillies. He was really awesome and humble then as well.

I got to meet nomar once back when he was hot stuff. Really nice guy. Probably around '99 or '00. He signed all my stuff and gave me a little pep talk about school since I was only around ten years old. The thing I will always remember was how buff he was. I still think of him as a skinny, scrappy player but the dude was ripped when he was playing.
I've never met nolan Ryan but he seems cool.

For everyone that I am a genuine fan of, and collect, they've all been nice to me.

I understand what went on with Perkins and the club back in 2009, but he has changed (as far as I can tell) and he's been pretty nice to me every time. In fact, I saw him this past summer and brought him a gamer to sign. He wanted to make sure he signed it just right, and then he inscribed what I had requested.

I've also met Kingery, Kiecker, and Thome and those 3 were nice as well.

Very few Vanderbilt players are rude to fans at all. Some are occasionally, and correctly, curt and dismissive with professional autograph hounds. Since I normally only ever want one item signed, and to talk about their collegiate glory days, they are pretty nice and collegial. Our coaches do a great job ofnot recruiting shady character guys. Plus our small size makes it damn hard for anyone to get a BMOC attitude.

If one were tobe rude, I'd likely chalk it up to it being a bad day. I'm an ass on bad days, and I extend the same presumption to others.