Random Ponderings of the Collector's Mind

I thought I should share with those who live in the Southern California area that Orange County Sports Cards is having quite a few upcoming signing events.  http://www.ocsportscards.com/servlet/the-Autograph-Signings/Categories

I highly recommend this place, as I have actually had quite a few things signed there in the past.  It is a relatively painless process, you purchase the ticket for the type of item you want signed by the player you want it signed by, show up where the event is occurring (many times in the OC Dugout), and wait in line.  You get to meet many stars and have any type of memorabilia you want signed, so long as you are willing to pay some money.  Mike Trout is making his only public signing appearance this year with these guys, but there are many more players lined up with them right now as well.  Speaking of Trout, here is a ball I had signed by him last year...

A couple years ago, I attended a dual signing event at the OC Dugout where both Ervin Santana and Rod Carew were signing. The funny thing about signing events is that often times more people are going after the active player rather than the retired player, even when the retired guy is a Hall of Famer.  This is better for collectors like me that prefer the stars, it makes the process faster.  That being said, Santana had just recently thrown a no hitter so I decided to have him sign a ball with his no hit inscription on it, after I got the ball signed by Carew with his HOF '91 on it.  An interesting side note to getting the autograph from Carew was that I had my four year old son with me.  When it was our turn to meet him, Mr. Carew shook both our hands and struck up a conversation with my four year old. Mr. Carew asked him if he played ball and which team he liked to root for, and even told him that maybe some day he would wait in line to get my son's autograph when he became a ballplayer.  After this exchange, my son looks Rod Carew right in the eye and asks, "Are you a basketball player?"  Mr. Carew started cracking up and told my son "Why yes, I sure am". It's memories like these that make this hobby very fulfilling to me a sports fan like me.

There was an event later that year at the OC Dugout as well in which Bert Blyleven was going to sign autographs, and I wasn't going to be able to make it.  I asked my brother to go for me since he was in Irvine anyway, and he did.  Thanks Cody...

I have attended three more events hosted by Orange County Sports Cards in which Eric Dickerson, Dennis Rodman, and Gary Payton signed autographs.  I know I have included the Dennis Rodman photo I had signed on a previous post in this blog, so here are the photos of the other two 8 x 10 photos I had signed by Payton and Dickerson.  If you notice, after I get a photo signed I like to find a matte that corresponds to the color of the jersey the player is wearing in the photo.  I believe that after adding the frame, the ensemble is quite appealing when on display.

Again, I can't stress enough how nice it is to have places like Orange County Sports Cards in the So Cal area that host events such as these.  I really recommend that anyone in the sports collecting hoby check these guys out as they often have some HUGE names signing.  Last year they had events for both Kobe Bryant (though it was a private signing and not a public appearance by Kobe) as well as Albert Pujols.  Names like these are often difficult to add to a collection so take advantage of what is out there.

Thanks for reading I should be posting about Petco Park autograph experiences again soon!