The Yogi Berra Experience

[1963Topps Set]

Story being told by request. However, I am putting it in a new thread.

It was May 12, 1990. I was in Atlantic City for a concert. I stopped in at a baseball card show that featured the 1961 Yankees. After getting a few, I saw Yogi and went up to him and asked him if he would personalized a photo to me Tom. He said "Sure, go get a ticket". After spending on a photo and a ticket, which was not cheap, I waited in a long line for what seemed like forever. Finally, I went up to the promoter and told him I had to leave for a concert, showed him my tickets, he put me ahead of the line. I went to Yogi with my photo and asked him to sign it "To Tom". He said "no, if he did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone." Well! Why didn't he tell me that in the first place??? With the time he spent explaining that to me, he could of easily wrote "To Tom"! What a waist of time and money. He can go shove that medal that everyone wants him to have far and deep. F..k you Yogi.

[byrone]

With all the stories of guys like Mays and Berra (and many others) acting like jerks at paid signings, has anyone ever seen them called out for being such idiots?

Imagine being paid to sign your name and treating your fans/customers that way...hard to understand

[MGHPro]

I met Yogi several times and he was always nice to me and my wife. I never asked for a personalization though so I can't comment on that. He did talk and take photos with us.

[eastonfalcon19]

He used to sign at Yogi Berra Stadium for free, all you needed was a ticket to the New Jersey Jackals game ($8). He was always nice to me and signed just about every flat and ball. I had my girlfriend at the time ask him to put his number, he did it with a smile and a wink. I guess I should start bringing my wife to more signings lol.

[mr2686]

I've never had any problem with Yogi, and he's always been nice although sometime a little quiet (which I chalked up to age more than anything else). The only player I've ever thought was a complete jackass was Mays, with a distant second going to Rose.

[Laxcat]

I was too young to register anything but here's what my father experienced.

Mays was his hero growing up. Mays and Maris. Willie did a show for my dad. When he picked him up at the airport everything was fine. They talked baseball and stats. He took him to the hotel and picked him up a few hours later. He was a completely different person. Rude, abrasive, ill tempered. It was night and day. Unfortunately, he treated the show attendees, that paid to meet him and get his autograph, like turds.

At that moment my father lost all respect for Mr. Mays and no longer valued him as an essential part of his collection.

[sylbry]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

Story being told by request. However, I am putting it in a new thread.

It was May 12, 1990. I was in Atlantic City for a concert. I stopped in at a baseball card show that featured the 1961 Yankees. After getting a few, I saw Yogi and went up to him and asked him if he would personalized a photo to me Tom. He said "Sure, go get a ticket". After spending on a photo and a ticket, which was not cheap, I waited in a long line for what seemed like forever. Finally, I went up to the promoter and told him I had to leave for a concert, showed him my tickets, he put me ahead of the line. I went to Yogi with my photo and asked him to sign it "To Tom". He said "no, if he did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone." Well! Why didn't he tell me that in the first place??? With the time he spent explaining that to me, he could of easily wrote "To Tom"! What a waist of time and money. He can go shove that medal that everyone wants him to have far and deep. F..k you Yogi.

It might not be a good idea to suggest someone who was part of the D-Day invasion shove a medal up you know where. Just saying.

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by 1963Topps Set

I saw Yogi and went up to him and asked him if he would personalized a photo to me Tom. He said "Sure, go get a ticket" . . . . . I went to Yogi with my photo and asked him to sign it "To Tom". He said "no, if he did it for me, he would have to do it for everyone." Well! Why didn't he tell me that in the first place???

All apologies for bringing this thread back to the negative experiences, but did you tell him that the only reason you bought a ticket was because you asked him, and he specifically told you that he would personalize the photo?

[1963Topps Set]

Time was very tight by this time and I didn't have the opportunity to debate the issue. I did appeal to the promoter to no avail. The only thing I could do in the future was to contact the promoter of a show in advance to see if a particular signer would personalize. This save me a lot of grief later, especially with Don Drysdale, and it helped with Warren Spahn.