Seattle Mariners at Petco Park July 9th 2024

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 It has been a long, long time since I've written a post like this. My blog started in this very way in 2012 when I used to wax poetic about my trips to Padres games and trying to "graph" players in person. I retired from this game years ago because it involves a lot of effort and preparation, long hours, and frankly, luck. The dreaded Omni Hotel bridge (more on that later) altered the strategy to such a degree that it actually made it less fun to try and obtain autographs in this way. 

I got some of the coolest items in my collection from getting autos pregame, during batting practice, and post game outside the ballpark as players leave the game and head to their team hotels. Names like Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, Randy Johnson and many more were obtained by me asking them in person for autographs. But then I got old. I got busy. I found it easier to get autos via signings that you pay for. And oh yeah, that damn Omni bridge. 

One thing I also have is a 17 year old son who really loves baseball and asked me a few days ago if we could try to get autographs at the ballpark like I used to, and I obliged. I wanted him to feel like I used to when I did it, I wanted him to get that adrenaline rush of meeting an elite star athlete, and mostly I just wanted some quality time with my son.

We got to the game tonight early to try and graph BP. Five or six Mariners did sign but my son had nothing for any of them. Turns out we need to hone our prep work a little better. I saw Ty France, Mitch Garver, Bryan Woo, and Bryce Miller sign.

After the Mariners beat the Padres, I taught my son some of my old tricks and passed on some knowledge I had garnered over the years of doing this. We noticed a lot of players using the Omni bridge and bypassing the street level altogether since they were staying at that hotel. This is very bad for autograph seekers as you get no chance to even ask. Julio Rodriguez, the main target of course, was among the players to deploy this tactic. Various generic looking Mariners came out that I couldn't quite place but we did see two great pitchers come out. One, tonight's winning starting pitcher and 2024 All Star Logan Gilbert, signed two cards for my son and everyone standing there asking. He took photos with people, and made small talk as well. He seems like a good dude.

Closer Andres Munoz was chatting with his family for about 20 minutes outside the hotel without signing but my son finally got brazen enough to ask and came away with a signed card of his as well.




My son was ecstatic and I'm so happy to witness him feel the same way I used to when I'd get some big name players. He's already asking me to go back and try again with other teams. In other words, expect to see some of these old school posts start back up again.

Thanks for reading!


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