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mrmopar
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- Jan 19, 2010
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The Everett AquaSox have hosted a variety of autograph guests over the years. They are the Mariners A affiliate and are about 25-30 miles north of Seattle.
Yesterday they had former Mariners (and Yankees) pitcher, Jeff Nelson. Apparently, as I learned yesterday, he still holds the franchise record for games pitched (432). All of those appearances were in relief. Felix Hernandez is the next active player in line and 4th all-time with 318, all starts. If Felix stays healthy and remains with the Mariners, it is possible for him to eclipse that team record, perhaps sometime during the 2019 season.
Anyway, I have come to really enjoy these games, as it is not only an opportunity to take in a ball game, but also to add some autographs to the collection, often in more quantity than I could otherwise manage through other channels. I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to autographs. I am not satisfied with just a single signature from a player. If I could, I'd have every card I own signed by the player, doubles included, but that is just not possible. However, when there is an intimate signing like this, there is a chance to get multiples and I jump at that chance.
When I first learned of Nelson's appearance, I was not as excited as I had been in the past. With the past roster of names like Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Dave Stewart and Dan Wilson, Nelson was just not all that appealing to me. I had a few cards signed by him already and for the effort needed to stand in the line multiple times and often waiting 1/2 hour or more between turns, begging my family to help me to be able to get more per turn, it just didn't seen worth it. Oddly enough, with the HOFers and such, Wilson was the hardest guy to get multiple times, probably because of his connection locally, where as the others (besides Perry) didn't have that connection. Still, it was a good reason to at least get a couple things signed and catch a game.
I made an epic discovery though when checking out what cards I might be able to get signed. Nelson started his career in the Dodgers organization and had a Dodger card!! Now the game had changed. Now I WANTED to get his signature, if only on that one card. I already had the card from a minor league team set and that is where my laziness kicked in. I failed to get any additional copies, nor did I dig into my cards for other Nelson cards to sign. I found myself a week before the game and I had not prepared. I would have done a better job had I known how the signing would go. There are other cards I would have loved to get signed, had I made the effort.
A quick trip to the local card shop earlier this week didn't help as much as I'd hoped. Nelson had retired and although they are a fairly organized shop, there was no "Jeff Nelson" file to look through. I was forced to scrounge through the Mariner quarter boxes. On a side note, I did score some cool Arod inserts for a quarter each. Normally I wouldn't consider paying a quarter for a Jeff nelson card unless it was something cool like a 1994 UD CC Gold parallel, but what choice did I have? Luckily I found some oddballs worth the 25 cents and I even bought a few common cards as well. I figured a 25 cent investment was nothing once I got it signed, so it was worth it?
I had also recently busted some cheap wax from the mid 90s, so I was able to add a small handful of Nelson cards that way as well. Heading to the game, I had a mere 15 cards to have signed. I know, it sounds like enough to most, but considering the past signings, it was a light load. This was nothing like the 50+ I had brought to other signings in hope of getting as many as possible and often running out of time before I could.
The signing was different this time. We got into the stadium at about 5:15 PM. Gates open 1 hour before first pitch. The autograph guest throws out the first pitch and game time was 6:05, so I figured we'd get in line and wait until the game started, like we always had in the past. This time, as we walked into the stadium, I noticed Jeff was already signing and there was no line! We were able to get through the line 3 times in a matter of 15 minutes or so, if that, and got everything I had signed. There was even a guy handing out Nelson cards to those of us in line who maybe didn't have anything to be signed, but I didn't need any more and wanted kids to have a shot at the free cards, so we politely declined 2-3 times as this man walked the short line. We went to our seats to catch the first pitch (first time during a signing) and we even went back after the game started for 2 additional autographs. I even felt a little bad for Nelson as he was sitting there waiting for people part of time time. Every other signing I had attended, they had to cut the lines off at the 2 hour point.
In the end, we had him sign each of our ticket stubs (3), the boys each got a Mariner ball cap as a SGA that Nelson signed and then my 15 cards. My youngest also got his glove signed and ended up with a practice ball that one of the Boise bullpen tossed to him and he got that signed as well. All and all a great time. Nelson was very approachable and even signed for a couple boys after his time had ended, as he was walking out of the park. My only regret is that I couldn't get a Yankee card signed for my buddy, as I send him all my Yankee stuff and literally had nothing handy featuring Nelson in a yankee uniform!
Lastly, I was trying to encourage my boys to try to interact with the players before the game started. Kids tend to get more attention than adults. In the end, my youngest did get a ball out of the deal, which was cool for him. He has an interest in moustaches right now as well and I noticed what appeared to be a coach sporting a horseshoe 'stache. I told my son to tell him he had a cool moustache and to ask if he would pose for a photo. That got a chuckle from the bullpen. He wouldn't use the "Hey Moustache!" line from impractical jokers though. That would have been hilarious, if they got the reference. I wasn't sure who he is though, maybe someone will recognize him???
Yesterday they had former Mariners (and Yankees) pitcher, Jeff Nelson. Apparently, as I learned yesterday, he still holds the franchise record for games pitched (432). All of those appearances were in relief. Felix Hernandez is the next active player in line and 4th all-time with 318, all starts. If Felix stays healthy and remains with the Mariners, it is possible for him to eclipse that team record, perhaps sometime during the 2019 season.
Anyway, I have come to really enjoy these games, as it is not only an opportunity to take in a ball game, but also to add some autographs to the collection, often in more quantity than I could otherwise manage through other channels. I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to autographs. I am not satisfied with just a single signature from a player. If I could, I'd have every card I own signed by the player, doubles included, but that is just not possible. However, when there is an intimate signing like this, there is a chance to get multiples and I jump at that chance.
When I first learned of Nelson's appearance, I was not as excited as I had been in the past. With the past roster of names like Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Dave Stewart and Dan Wilson, Nelson was just not all that appealing to me. I had a few cards signed by him already and for the effort needed to stand in the line multiple times and often waiting 1/2 hour or more between turns, begging my family to help me to be able to get more per turn, it just didn't seen worth it. Oddly enough, with the HOFers and such, Wilson was the hardest guy to get multiple times, probably because of his connection locally, where as the others (besides Perry) didn't have that connection. Still, it was a good reason to at least get a couple things signed and catch a game.
I made an epic discovery though when checking out what cards I might be able to get signed. Nelson started his career in the Dodgers organization and had a Dodger card!! Now the game had changed. Now I WANTED to get his signature, if only on that one card. I already had the card from a minor league team set and that is where my laziness kicked in. I failed to get any additional copies, nor did I dig into my cards for other Nelson cards to sign. I found myself a week before the game and I had not prepared. I would have done a better job had I known how the signing would go. There are other cards I would have loved to get signed, had I made the effort.
A quick trip to the local card shop earlier this week didn't help as much as I'd hoped. Nelson had retired and although they are a fairly organized shop, there was no "Jeff Nelson" file to look through. I was forced to scrounge through the Mariner quarter boxes. On a side note, I did score some cool Arod inserts for a quarter each. Normally I wouldn't consider paying a quarter for a Jeff nelson card unless it was something cool like a 1994 UD CC Gold parallel, but what choice did I have? Luckily I found some oddballs worth the 25 cents and I even bought a few common cards as well. I figured a 25 cent investment was nothing once I got it signed, so it was worth it?
I had also recently busted some cheap wax from the mid 90s, so I was able to add a small handful of Nelson cards that way as well. Heading to the game, I had a mere 15 cards to have signed. I know, it sounds like enough to most, but considering the past signings, it was a light load. This was nothing like the 50+ I had brought to other signings in hope of getting as many as possible and often running out of time before I could.
The signing was different this time. We got into the stadium at about 5:15 PM. Gates open 1 hour before first pitch. The autograph guest throws out the first pitch and game time was 6:05, so I figured we'd get in line and wait until the game started, like we always had in the past. This time, as we walked into the stadium, I noticed Jeff was already signing and there was no line! We were able to get through the line 3 times in a matter of 15 minutes or so, if that, and got everything I had signed. There was even a guy handing out Nelson cards to those of us in line who maybe didn't have anything to be signed, but I didn't need any more and wanted kids to have a shot at the free cards, so we politely declined 2-3 times as this man walked the short line. We went to our seats to catch the first pitch (first time during a signing) and we even went back after the game started for 2 additional autographs. I even felt a little bad for Nelson as he was sitting there waiting for people part of time time. Every other signing I had attended, they had to cut the lines off at the 2 hour point.
In the end, we had him sign each of our ticket stubs (3), the boys each got a Mariner ball cap as a SGA that Nelson signed and then my 15 cards. My youngest also got his glove signed and ended up with a practice ball that one of the Boise bullpen tossed to him and he got that signed as well. All and all a great time. Nelson was very approachable and even signed for a couple boys after his time had ended, as he was walking out of the park. My only regret is that I couldn't get a Yankee card signed for my buddy, as I send him all my Yankee stuff and literally had nothing handy featuring Nelson in a yankee uniform!
Lastly, I was trying to encourage my boys to try to interact with the players before the game started. Kids tend to get more attention than adults. In the end, my youngest did get a ball out of the deal, which was cool for him. He has an interest in moustaches right now as well and I noticed what appeared to be a coach sporting a horseshoe 'stache. I told my son to tell him he had a cool moustache and to ask if he would pose for a photo. That got a chuckle from the bullpen. He wouldn't use the "Hey Moustache!" line from impractical jokers though. That would have been hilarious, if they got the reference. I wasn't sure who he is though, maybe someone will recognize him???
