FANTASTIC story (even if this Giants fan could have done without your reliving of the '89 WS)!!!
It's hard to believe an "average guy" could get this arranged. I lived in Vegas for 33 years and a few things struck me about your story: your hotel room was attached to a casino? It's hard to find one that ISN'T. Jose's house? Stucco with tile roof is pretty much 99% of Vegas. My old house could be the little portion you showed of Jose's. Cigarette smoke? Yup, Vegas is pretty much the last place on the planet you can still smoke nearly everywhere.
I kinda met Jose at a signing but I was actually there to get Greg "moon man" Minton to sign a game bat. They were sitting side by side and Minton took the bat and told Jose he could probably hit one farther than Jose. As a side note, Greg was super cool and happy to talk to a Giants fan who remembered him. The handler or promoter or whoever he was was such an a**hole I basically threw the 40 bucks he demanded before I left. It seemed like Greg would have signed it for nothing.
Anyway, great story Tanner.
edit: I'm a retired LV firefighter...some of my buddies still on the job "ran on" Jose when his finger fell off at the poker table.
