Which players made you work for the autograph?
 

In other words, were there guys who pretended they would sign, but didn't, or guys who 'promised' to sign, only to walk on by.

Cecil Fielder used to be be extremely generous at Fenway, he'd go from dugout to dugout getting as many as he could.

Dave Winfield on the other hand would always 'promise' but then just smirk as he strode to the dugout....

Greg Luzinski would NEVER sign at ChiSox spring training games in early 80's. You'd have to pay me to take his autograph today.
Carlton Fisk had his hands full with a bat in each hand. I did manage to get his once, though.
Pete Rose wouldn't sign cards at those games. Never got his auto.

Pete Rose, 1973. Told us he had to put his bag in the bus and would come right back. He went to the back of the bus and smiled at us out the window. Total prick.

Spending 3 weeks each spring in spring training the list is way too long on players who promised and never signed. Then there were gems like Freddie Lewis who signed and purposely ran his hand over it to smear it. I don't blame players when there are lots of folks that bring stacks of the same card and want to player to sign 10+ of the exact same card.
I know some players well and it is interesting on getting their take on autograph collectors. I try to educate them and give them a positive spin

I was a very young child and I was at the Polo Grounds, Robin Roberts was pitching for the opposition Phillies and he was knocked out early. When the game ended my dad and I saw him standing completely alone outside the stadium. My very first time that I asked for an autograph. I thrust my scorecard and pencil towards him and asked, very politely, for his autograph. He shot me down :(. And I was a cute, little kid :).

I had a pit pass to a phoenix Indy race in the 90's and had purchased a Indycar tire that was on Emerson Fittipaldi's car the year before and had a grand idea of getting it signed at this race and making a end table for my rec room out of it. I lugged this heavy SOB all day in 94 degree weather and waited patiently by his trailer after his first practice session. He passed by the whole crowd waiting for an autograph and went iside until everyone was gone except me. At this point I had drove 800 miles thru snow and mountains lugged this tire at least a mile in the heat I was going to wait it out to get one of my racing heroes autographs!!! When he did come out he was as nice as I had hoped. He graceously signed my tire and talked to me for a bit. I then carried tire back to car and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. To this day the tire still sits in my house with a nice glass top on it. I truly worked for that one!

Eddie, Rickey and Rod
 

In 1997 when HOF Eddie Murray was an Anaheim Angel, I attempted to get his autograph coming in to the stadium at least 10 times. He always said "Thank you for asking, but I don't have time to sign". He never did sign for me, but on Fathers Day he came out of the stadium, winked at me and handed me his game used Fila sweat band that had his uniform # embroidered on it.

HOF Rickey Henderson also played briefly for the Angels. He never signed outside, but promised to sign inside many, many times. I never did see him sign inside, period...

During HOF Rod Carew's stint as the batting coach for the Angels, he was hounded like crazy to sign outside the stadium. After not signing for quite a while, some over-aggressive autograph hounds key-scratched his car. His days of signing for any of these guys was definitely over.
I always took the low key approach with him, but continued to ask him politely for his autograph coming in the stadium. One day he walked past the throng of autograph seekers and walked ahead. Mostly all of the hounds took off when Carew was out of sight. Mr. Carew turned around and came back to where I was standing by the fence. He asked me what I had for him to sign. I let him know that I had a full ticket to his 3,000th hit from 1985. He signed it in blue Sharpie. When all of the autograph hounds started running back to try to get his autograph , he made a quick announcement that he wouldn't be signing any others. Sweet!

Pete
 

On my first trip to Spring Training with my dad, we were at a Reds ST game and I really wanted a Pete Rose auto. I decided to try to get him going into the clubhouse, but my dad, with a bit more knowledge of what makes this world go around, handed the security guard a program and a 5 dollar bill. The guard disappeared around the corner and came back with a nicely signed Pete Rose on the cover of the program.

I haven't been collecting for very long, so my story isn't as impressive as some of these others, but every year Dunkin' Donuts puts out a 30-card set of the Pawtucket Red Sox. The cards are not available in stores; the only way to get them is to go to the game that they are given away at. I'd estimate the total print run is about 10,000, give or take a little.

I am trying to get every card in the 2007 set signed, and so when I went to Red Sox spring training in 2009 as a 14th birthday present, I spent all three of my days there trying to get those cards signed by the guys who were still there who I needed. At the time, I think there were six: Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester, Javier Lopez, George Kottaras, and Manny Delcarmen. I got plenty of autographs there, including Josh Beckett on a ROMLB, but none of the six I needed. Lester shot me down when I was the only one nearby. I was dispirited by it, but a couple weeks after I got back, I saw a return from Buchholz on one of the internet forums. I knew he had a shoddy track record TTM, but figured 'what the hey' and sent to him. It came back about a week and a half later, signed. He started it with a dying Sharpie, but other than that it looks fine. As it turned out, there was about a 2 1/2- 3 week window that spring where he signed TTM, and I haven't seen any from him since. Lopez and Delcarmen also signed TTM for me that spring, and last year I bit the bullet and paid $150 for a Lester signing with Steiner. That made 25/30 (seen here), which I think will be it for a while, as none of the remaining five sign TTM, and I haven't done IP graphing in years.

Then about two months after getting the Buchholz, I wrote to Abe Alvarez, who at the time was playing for an Italian team. I wrote to him in Italy, and included an IRC with my request. When the season over there ended, and I hadn't received anything back, I wrote it off. Fast forward to July of 2010 (15 months after sending the request to Italy) I get a return postmarked from Los Angeles. I opened it, and Alvarez had signed both of my cards, and returned the unused (now expired) IRC with it.

In all my years collecting the set, I have only seen a few instances where cards from it have come up for sale, and none where the cards were signed. As far as I know, I'm the only person collecting that set.

This is a great story, Scott. I think that was pretty cool of Rod.
Another Angel that was a rocky request was Reggie. I remember hanging out after the games and he would get into one of his classic cars and yell at these little kids for getting too close to his car. He did sign for kids, but on those days, his signature was basically a horrible "RJ"...not worth even getting. I remember thinking what a jerk he was for yelling at the kids like that. I also remember one time an adult stuck his hand in front of Reggie to congratulate him on his homer that day and Reggie yelled at him saying "Don't stick your hand in my face! Can't you see I'm signing autographs!?". I never bothered to ask him for his autograph as I thought his attitude was so rude.

Scott,
Great story and cool set to have autographed

Thanks Jason! Yeah, that was definitely a nice gesture by Carew. At the time I was really pleasantly surprised.

During Reggie's era with the Angels, several friends and I sat out by the right field foul pole at Anaheim Stadium. We would talk to him over the railing a fair amount. Reggie did sign for me a few times through the years in various settings. All the sigs were his better, more complete autograph. With Reggie, as well as other players, I am certain that timing and approach are critical in terms of getting his autograph. Reggie was never rude or off-putting with me IP, but I was respectful and engaged him in dialogue other than just asking for his autograph before asking him to sign. Maybe the approach made the difference?

Two years ago I was at an A's minor league spring training game and Rickey Henderson was there. I a few months earlier had gotten a great deal on one of his minor league rovers spring training jerseys on milb.com. I called my wife and asked her to drive up to the field and bring the jersey. Meanwhile all the dealers waiting for him said that Rickey never signs jerseys. The game ends and Rickey comes off the field and the dealers stepped back while my 60 year old wife wearing the jersey walked up to him and asked him to sign it. He comes unglued and starts yelling at my wife "Where did you get that jersey. They are not supposed to sell those, etc etc in quite a loud voice" She had no idea where I got it and was pretty intimidated. Suddenly he took the sharpie and signed it, walked on and didn't sign for anyone else.

These stories are awesome!

One of the best auto stories I have happened last year at Target field. We went to a Tigers game and saw Omar Vizquel is their hitting coach and made eye contact with him and said "Omar, can we please get an auto?". He looked at us and nodded "no". The next time they were in town we found him again and asked for an auto, he finally said sure. He was in the camera area which it about 10 feet away from the field so my buddy threw him a ball, which he caught and when he threw the pen Omar fumbled it and dropped it. Next I throw him the ball, which he caught then came the pen which he again fumbled and dropped. Everyone around him started laughing and giving him a hard time about how he used to be sure handed, now he can't catch a pen. The one person who didn't sign for anyone on all 3 games we went to was Pujols, he didn't even look at the kids. Trout on the other hand was the man and signed for pretty much everyone.

i was at a dodgers mets game in L.A .had great seats to my right tom cruise and larry king both signed my program it was very cool.im not into autos so i will never sell .p.s mets lost.

My mom was down at Phillies spring training in 1983 and made it her mission to get autographs for me as a gift. She bought a cheap souvenir ball and had about 12, including most of the stars sign it.

She knew Schmidt was my favorite, so she approached him several times during the day but he kept giving excuses and saying "later". Finally after they were done practice, she asked him again and he said that he would sign after his shower. So she waited. And waited. Then she saw a figure briskly walking across the field behind the clubhouse. She sprinted around the fence and chased him, yelling the whole time. When she caught up to him, she scolded him about lying to her and that he could have just said no. He apologized, signed the ball, and reached into his duffel and handed her a pair of batting gloves.
I just wish I could have seen my barely 5' 95lb mom confronting the greatest third baseman of all time. :eek:

BTW, the signatures all bled like crazy into indecipherable blurs, and I wore the batting gloves out. And I have had nothing but pleasant encounters with Mike. :D

In the late 80s/early 90s my parents used to take me and my brother to a few Yankee games a year. We would always wait outside by the players entrance wich was connected to their parking lot and you could hang around and get some autos after the game. Usually it was easier to get the visiting team cause they also had to walk by you to get to their bus. Scored many signatures there including guys like Reggie and Roberto Alomar.

One time I begged my parents to stay, pretty much everyone passed by and the visiting team bus left. They started to break down the gates seperated the fans from the players and personnel, which was sign that most everyone was gone. Almost all the fellow autograph hounds were gone, except for me, my brother and parents and maybe 5 other people or so. Phil Rizzuto came walking out as he was still the Yankees Announcer at the time. My mom grabbed my hand and we ran up to him. She told him she grew up in Hillside( the town Rizzuto lived for many years) and how she walked by his house everyday on her way to school. She asks very politely if he could please sign my ball. He said he was sorry but if he signs for me he has to sign for everyone and jus walked away. My mom took a look around and just laughed cause other then us there was less then 10 people there.

Fast forward about 7 or 8 years later and my mother was working for Macy's in their PR dept. She had to set up some kind of event, but they had Rizzuto and Yogi signing autographs in the Bridgewater NJ mall. Well she made sure she told Phil the story and made sure I got a few extra autos that day. You were only allowed one auto from each guy.

Thanks Scott! (And by the way, nice name) What I think is really interesting in this day and age is that I was able to get 24 of the 25 players I have through the mail, for free.

Moms are like kryptonite to tough signers. I started out graphing at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore when my mom took me and one of my high school friends up to games. When Frank Robinson was the manager, he was impossible. Time after time he'd walk in, and he was so well known for denying, that if anyone did even bother to approach him, he'd just look at us and say "Guys, tell him the story." The guy just never signed. My mom usually just sat in the car reading or cross-stitching while we got players arriving, and I guess she noticed that Frank never did it. One day as Frank pulled up, she gets out and comes over to where we were and told me to ask him. I don't think I got even two steps towards him when he just waved me off. My mom said "gimme that!" and grabbed my card, yelled out to Frank who stopped literally in his tracks and signed my card beautifully. The whole crowd was in shock! She ended up asking him twice more at various times over the years, and both time he signed for her and only her. We still laugh about that.

My mom used to teach school and at one time decided to get those old SI posters signed to display in her classroom. I'll never forget her standing by the rail before a game against Kansas City with her George Brett poster. The entire rail was packed end to end and Brett was even then a very tough signer. I was actually on the other end of the dugout so I don't know if my mom yelled out to him or not, but when he headed back to the dugout, damned if he didn't make a 90 degree turn to go specifically over to her, signed her poster, and then left. I had to go over to where she was because I thought she was going to get mugged!

Ah, but when they miss 'em, they miss 'em. I went to high school with a guy whose mom is a professional photographer. In the 1980's she was hired to photograph a show with Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. At the end of the show, the two offered to sign as many things for her as he would like, and she said no, she wasn't an autograph collector.

doh!!!!

Theschleps. You mention Freddie Lewis. Which Feddie Lewis?? The ex pro basketball player??

Back in the late 80s / early 90s, when Frank Robinson was managing the Orioles, I was waiting outside Fenway Park as he arrived for the game. I was the only autograph collector there, probably 5-6 hours before the start of the game.

I had a 1967 Topps #1 card of him, Hank Bauer and Brooks Robinson, and already had the other two sign it, needing only Frank to complete it. When I saw him get out of the cab, I held up the card so he might see what it was, and feel a slight desire to sign it, since the other two already had.

I nicely asked him to sign it, and it went something like this:

Robinson (stopping and looking at the card): Oh, you already got the others to sign it, huh?
Me (a polite 16 year old kid): Yes sir, and I'd appreciate it if you could sign it as well.
Robinson: I'll sign it for you tomorrow.
Me: But this is your last day in Boston.
Robinson: I know! (and walked away into the park)

The Orioles were heading to New York the next day - I would love to know what would've happened if I showed up at Yankee Stadium with that card for him the next day.

What a jerk. There have been times when I've seen him at shows, and had a fleeting thought to pay to have that card completed, but after the way he treated me when I was a kid, I won't give him the satisfaction of earning a penny off of me.

He mentioned spring training. It is probably the Fred Lewis who played for the Giants, Blue Jays, Mets and Reds 2006-2012.

There were two players named Freddie Lewis who played in the BAA/NBA/ABA. The first one was very nice. He played 1948-50 and for several years showed up at the Hall of Fame on induction weekend. Was always happy to sign autographs and be remembered. The second one, who played mainly in the ABA was also a good signer TTM if I recall. I am pretty sure he answered when I was getting basketball players that way.

The reason I asked is bc the Freddie Lewis who played in the ABA, I have become very good friends with. I play poker (semi-professionally haha) and Freddie plays every day. There's not a more gracious or friendly person than Freddie. Genuine all around nice guy. Could never see him smearing an autograph.

Was the baseball Freddie Lewis. My son got to batboy for team usa when they were at spring training maybe 10 years ago and Frank Robinson was manager. I had maybe 4 Topps leaders cards just missing Frank to get them completed. Frank and Noah would have many long converstations. Noah taught Frank the things they'd yell at the batter while Noah was on his HS team. Frank starting using them. Every day Noah would ask Frank to sign and he'd look at the cards and say "maybe someday". . He eventually signed a team picture but not the cards. Noah got his picture with Frank and we were going to get it signed but the camera place lost it when we brought it in to get developed (before we had a digital camera). A few years later I ran into Frank at the mlb winter meeting in LV. We talked about Noah but he still wouldn't sign.
Only time I got him was 1967. Went to hotel in NYC. 6 or us walked with him about a mile to another hotel and he went in for an hour. When he came out he signed.

As a 9 year old I collected autographs at the 1957 Phillies spring training games. The visiting teams were accessible between the clubhouse and the bus after the games. Most were willing signers. The Phillies were always around as well. Then the Dodgers came to town.

After the game I approached every Dodger on the way to the bus after the game. All of them refused to sign my book. There I was standing beside the bus looking like the dejected kid in the original Mean Joe Greene commercial for Coke.

Then the window of the bus opened and the guy at the window said, "Kid, give me your book to sign." I passed it up to the window and waited. The team had already been on the bus for awhile and my greatest fear was that the bus would leave with my autograph book. It seemed like forever and my anxiety grew, when finally the window opened and my book was returned. Soon after the bus departed.

I opened the book to see Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Roger Craig, Clem Labine, Joe Pignatano, Don Newcombe, Sal Maglie, Walter Alston, Ralph Branca and Roy Campanella (one year before his tragic accident).

I don't know who opened the window, probably Pignatano, but after complete rejection the Dodgers came through for me on the bus. And i still have the book.;)

I took autographs to a whole different level at Cubs Spring training. I had been to Cubs Fantasy camp that year and with camp you get a full dress Cubs uniform to keep. I decided to wear mine to a spring training game. I was talking with a friend in the stands and two really obnoxious kids started hounding me for my autograph. They were so rude with no hint of politeness that I happily took their balls with many Cub autographs on them that I complied with their request and signed my name right next to Kerry Wood's autograph on the balls.

If they had been polite instead of interrupting the conversation, I would have gladly told them that I was a fan, not a player. Can only imagine these kids looking up Ken McMillan in a baseball encyclopedia and saying who is this player. Can imagine my name encased in a plastic case for all eternity.

Same day also had a group of about 50 women celebrating a birthday and they wanted a picture of me in the middle of the group for their friends that could'nt attend the event. They knew that I was not a player but wanted something to show off to their friends at home. All in good fun.

Whenever Greg Maddux would be on the visiting team, I would always try to go to at least one game of the series. In over 5 years, I never saw him sign a single autograph. Now I go to AZ spring training and he is an instructor for the Texas Rangers. Not only will he still not sign, but he goes out of his way to avoid fans. Walking a special route that takes longer just to avoid any fan interaction. And if you do get his attention, he will give that little smirk and keep on walking. Honestly, all players make you work for the autograph these days. With all the pushing, shoving, and yelling plus the ever present dealers, I don't blame them.

A friend was working at a bar when Tom Glavine came in and sat down. He asked Glavine for an autograph and was told "Sorry, I get $xx for my autographs - if I signed for you I'd have to sign for everyone."

My friend was not an autograph collector, so he was kind of stunned.

My favorite 'working for an autograph' story is Luke's - hopefully he'll pop in and tell it.

Was this recently? Glavine is one the most accommodating HOFers in any sport.

Early to mid-90's

I agree. Tom Glavine is one of the most down-to-earth and friendly Hall of Famer's I have ever met.

I saw on another forum a story from an NYPD officer who had gone up to Cooperstown for the induction ceremony on one of his weekends off. He was trying to get Reggie Jackson, but all weekend Jackson kept brushing him and the other autograph seekers off. Finally, as Jackson was pushing his way through a huge crowd, he went to push away this officer, and when he did, his hand brushed up against the officer's off-duty sidearm. That was the only autograph Jackson signed all week.

That's funny
Drew

That's great, but he wasn't when my friend approached him.

I was at Cubs Spring training today and Fergie Jenkins, Lee Smith, Meadowlark Lemon, Bill Buckner, Bobby Dernier, and Pete LaCock were signing autographs for the Ferguson Jenkins Foundation. Since I knew Fergie and Lee from Cubs camp, I stopped by to say Hi. Didn't need any autographs so I pulled out a couple of 5 dollar bills as a donation as they were there for a reason. Both told me that was not necessary but I told them that it was something I wanted to do for the foundation. Sometimes it is not about the autograph and more about friendship. Was good to talk to both of them and they both remembered me well. Lee started with "How is my catcher", he wanted to know how I was doing after my spinal stroke and he made a point to ask about my wife's health as she has COPD. Both great people and very caring.

At Futures at Fenway, the players are generally very obliging, except for Joe McEwing, who was there one year (2008?) when he was a coach with one of the White Sox minor league teams. He played the "I'll sign later" card, then sprinted up into the clubhouse, came down about an hour or so later, again brushed off everyone else and nearly tripped over a five year old to get out of there. I was able to get him TTM about a year later. Joey Gathright also never signed there.

One year at Tigers camp Gary Sheffield was giving everyone the run around. He wouldn't even look at people. At Tigers camp the player parking lot is situated near the back fields. When practice ends, security makes everyone leave the back fields and then you all set up along the railing that leads into the clubhouse.

My dad and I slipped through security and were able to post up along the fence that separated the back fields and the players parking lot. While Sheffy walked to his car, we waved at him. He got in a huge SUV and pulled up right alongside us at the fence, signed our balls for us through his driver side window, and sped past everyone else.

I saw the Lennox Lewis v. Vitali Klitschko heavyweight championship here in L.A. Funny story on that one. I went to the public workout the week before up at Universal Studios since it is practically spitting distance from my office. I figured it would be interesting and maybe I could score an autograph or two. I watched Shane Moseley work first and then got snubbed by him in the autograph lineup. I guess he just did not want to sign for me, even though he signed for everyone else. I then saw Lewis work out with his trainer Emanuel Steward. Now, when I decided to pop up there I grabbed some 1991 Kayo cards of Lewis and Steward just in case. There were several hundred fans around the ring for Lewis and he didn't really stop and sign as he was leaving to go to the stage, but I noticed that he would sign for anyone who could actually reach him over the barricade and crowd. 6'3"+ with a big wingspan finally came in handy; I got Lewis to sign a Kayo card:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...size/Lewis.jpg

So the heavyweight champ signed for me but not pissant Shame Moseley? Well, f*** him.

But I digress...

The crowd shifted to the stage for the press conference. I was gonna go with them until I noticed Steward in the ring alone, picking up equipment, etc. I went over there and asked whether he'd sign my card. He said OK and the guard took it up for me. Steward not only signed, he fixed the spelling error in his name on the card front and corrected his birthdate on the card back:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ze/Steward.jpg

Bill Buckner was a minor leave coach for a while. He would always rush through the ballpark to try and avoid signing. He would sign one per and would do so on the move. I handed him a ball one time and asked him to personalize it to my son, Billy. Without a second he deadpan asked me how to spell it and like an idiot I started spelling Billy to Bill Buckner. Classic

Bill Buckner was signing autographs left and right for the Fergie Jenkins foundation on Monday. Only thing requested but not required was a donation to the foundation. Believe to amout recommended was $20.00. You are righ that he was not very talkative.

I believe it was in 2000 I was at the Western Open trying to get Tiger Woods sig. I noticed in the previous year or two, after the 18th hole, he and about 10 police officers would cut through the ropes about 25 yard in front of the green (the typical player exit is right behind the hole) to avoid a massive rush and screams for his autograph...so that day, I recognized Tiger's girlfriend and a marshall sitting quietly in a cart approx. 75 yards away without anyone around. I decided to make my way to them and sit tight. Lo and behold, the crowd parted and Tiger and his cops made their way to his girlfriend/cart where he stopped long enough to sign for me . Mind you I was 19 at the time, but of course, he asked "what's your name son?" and inscribed the magazine to me with his signature...I figure it was meant to impress his then girlfriend. That was the only autograph he signed before he was off to wherever...

Last spring training while I was at the Dodgers camp I inadvertently annoyed Adrian Gonzalez. He felt like I cut in on people or something and passed me up maybe 10 times while I followed him down the line. Finally he took my ball. But when he signed it he used a sharpie and signed the side panel.

Classic!

Who does he think he is, Willie Mays?

Dick Butkus was the toughest I worked for and didn't get. I was 9 or 10 and a bunch of NFL players were at a golf charity event. The players I wanted to make sure I got were Lem Barney, Deacon Jones, Dick Butkus and Don Meredith. Lem Barney was easy and Don Meredith didn't show. Deacon Jones was very difficult to locate - he seemed to be kind of Marshawn Lynch-ish and when I found him he was by himself in a small bar nowhere near the main clubhouse. He never said a word, but signed. Butkus simply was nowhere to be seen. Turns out he spent all of his free time in the clubhouse, certainly because kids weren't allowed inside. I went inside anyway and walked up to the table where he was sitting with some other men. He grimaced and yelled at me "Kids aren't allowed in here." He was the only sports figure asshole on my childhood list until I met Pete Rose.

Ha..that is funny. But I wouldn't be too hard on the guy. At least he signed it for you and I'm sure he's more experienced in running into folks who have unorthodox spellings of common names. I've seen my name, "Jason", spelled "Jaison" and "Jayson". I'm sure there are odd variations of "Billy": "Billie", "Billee", etc. :D

He was just joking with me. I found it amusing. Great story to go with the ball.

Back in 1985, I was waiting outside Shea Stadium after a night game. It was pretty late and it was just me and maybe two or three other fans left. Ray Knight comes out and, quite angrily, refuses to sign for us. One of the other fans yells out, in frustration, "We pay your salary!" to which Knight replied "No you don't!"

His wife, the golfer Nancy Lopez, comes out and Knight orders us not to ask for her autograph.

Maybe he had a bad day that day, I don't know. But considering that there was just a handful of people there, Knight's attitude was too much. I mean, if some of you out there had positive experiences with the man, that's all good and well. All I can do is share my experience - which, in this particular case, was not a pleasant one.