Albert Pujols Signing at Dr. Liu Optometry

Approximately two weeks ago I came across some interesting and unusual news.  Albert Pujols would be making a very rare public signing appearance at the Dr. Liu Optometry office in Rowland Heights.  It was hosted by Guerrero Collectibles, who up until this point I had honestly not heard very much about.  I decided to make the purchase in advance and attend the signing, even though it was on the pricey side and quite a drive up from Oceanside.  The signing was to take place from 10-11 AM, but I drove up early and arrive at about 8:20.  The host was still in the process of setting up and I was only the second person there.  It turns out since I purchased in advance I'd get a "VIP" envelope and one of the first handful of spots in line.  The setup looked like this;

Since I didn't have to worry about a first come first served type of situation, I decided to grab some food and come back and pick up my envelope later, which already had my place in line listed on it (16th).  As an aside, I actually like the tickets they handed out, which are pictured below.

As you might be able to tell, I bought a small item and an inscription.  Going in, I had some debate in my mind as to whether to get an 11x14 photo signed, or a baseball.  I ended up deciding on the baseball since it is impossible to get Pujols to sign a baseball on the sweetspot unless you purchase it or attend a signing.  He will not sign inscriptions either so in my mind I decided a baseball signed on the sweetspot (and inscribed) would be harder to obtain than a photo, which you could theoretically get signed at the ballpark.

Pujols arrived and started signing pretty much right at 10, and I was in and out of there very quickly.  I tried to snap a photo of him real quick but it came out a bit blurry.

One reason the line went quick was that Albert was pretty much all business.  There was no shaking of hands, small chat, smiles, or anything.  I know a few people behind me were turned off by the behavior but, despite the fact that an outgoing player makes it more personable, it didn't bother me much.  My baseball came out nice, and I had him sign the 2001 ROY inscription as well.

I'll end this post by saying my personal experience with this signing was that it went smoothly, quickly, and I ended up with an outstanding piece for my collection.  That being said, while standing in line to get the JSA authentication there was quite a bit of grumbling going on behind me about the dreaded "APS" signature he was giving to some of the people in line.  For a point of reference, Pujols has his nice clean signature like the one I have above, and a sloppy quick signature that he is more inclined to give out at the ballpark.  To see what that looks like see below.

This is one of the two balls I have gotten in the past from Albert Pujols, and you can see the difference between the two baseballs.  If you're at a paid signing, you fully expect the clean version like the one I was lucky enough to get.  You especially expect the good signature when you're at a paid signing that costs as much as this one did, so I can fully understand why people would be frustrated.  The man in front of me had three tickets from the game in which Pujols hit his 500th HR, and he signed all three tickets like the "APS" one above.  He also allegedly did not sign every item that people had prepaid for.  For example, one guy paid for a box of baseballs to be signed, and Pujols signed three.  There are some other bloggers out there who might have more information or saw something similar to what I was hearing, but my experience was just fine and I'd go through Guerrero Collectibles again.  Thanks for reading.