When the heck is Barry Bonds doing a signing?
 

He is the last guy I need to complete my 500 hr ball.
Any leads would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks all
Joe
Jcocozzellamd@hotmail.com

When "I'm Barry Bonds and you're not" feels like it. LOL;)

Never, I tried even emailing through his site and NADA

Bonds inherited his attitudes towards fans and signing autographs from his godfather.

Yeesh!! Thanks for the quick response guys.

Barry's actually been in the news lately as the former Marlins President David Samson has dished on his tenure with the club.

A couple of quotes from the article:

• "He was ineffective, completely. He would sleep in the clubhouse. He would not pay attention during games. He did not work hard. It was a complete disaster."
• “It was the worst interview I’ve ever been a part of,” said Samson. “Bonds was an absolute pain in the ass about pay because he knew he had the job.”
• "It was all about Barry. We had to do so many special things for him in terms of how we traveled, the hotel and the suite and the food, the money. It was just an absolute nightmare,”

I'm guessing we won't see Barry sitting behind a table greeting fans any time soon.

When he was with Marlins, they had a mandatory signing session at Spring Training. Ticket prices (free to season ticket holders) were insane and he was actually giving his nice autograph on whatever piece you brought. That is the last public signing that I know of. I know he did (at least) one public appearance with GTSM after he retired.

I've long since reconciled myself to high ticket prices. I remember paying 30 dollars to see Mickey Mantle in 1990 at Sturbridge Massachusetts. Ticket prices were $30, and that was a huge deal! Yeesh, that makes me sound old....

I've long since reconciled myself to high ticket prices. I remember paying 30 dollars to see Mickey Mantle in 1990 at Sturbridge Massachusetts. Ticket prices were $30, and that was a huge deal! Yeesh, that makes me sound old....

Well, $30 was a big deal when everyone else was 12-15. I remember it wasn't long after that Mantle went to $40. Still, glad to pay it to get him on the things I needed...wish I would have got more.

My son batboyed for team South Africa at the WBC a few years back. Barry came into the dugout (maybe to see Lee Smith) and Noah got him to pose. It took along time to get it signed. Noah worked at times in Scottdale clubhouse and new another guy who did got it signed for him. Signed God bless, Barry Bonds with the God bless going through the Barry Bonds. Typically he would personalize with the recipients name going through the sig as people often remove personalizations and then sell. I only have the picture on my computer before it was signed. We actually had good luck with Barry (getting him 3x in about 30 tries). He was the first autograph my son even got calling him over when he was on the field when Noah was just a fan in the field. Sosa was a total pain. Barry often turned up down but he was consistently not a nice guy. Sosa would be your best friend if the camera was on and sh_t on you once they turned it off
Attachment 457472

Great photo!

From the linked story : "During his interview, Samson recalled that Bonds was combative and refused to accept less than $1.5 million—well above the typical salary for MLB hitting coaches."

So they hired a guy who had no experience as a hitting coach to be their hitting coach, paid that guy will above what would be considered "typical", and it didn't work out very well? Bummer.

There is an easy way to pay somebody the typical salary for their position, hire somebody typical, the Marlins obviously wanted Bonds badly enough to agree to his terms, complaining about it later is just sour grapes in my book.



I have a feeling that the business managements for some of the bands I have worked for would describe my interviews with them in a similar fashion. I once interviewed for a position with a band that might have a stadium tour this summer, during the interview I got into three separate arguments with one of the band managers. Combative goes both ways. They didn't offer me the gig, and I would have upped my salary demands if they had.

Doug "pitch to Barry" Goodman

In the article, it also states that:

"Samson explained on Thursday that he didn't want to hire Bonds, saying he was “not worth the squeeze.” But, he was overruled by former owner Jeffrey Loria."

So the president of the club was overruled by the owner. Doesn't sound like sour grapes to me, more like 'We saw it coming but the orders were to march on.' We all have a boss.

It's a shame, I have some items I would love to get signed by Barry, I hope he does a signing soon.

He very well could be one of those guys that mellows out when they get older, and decides to be more generous with the fans. I've read of plenty of bad experiences people had with players like Mickey Mantle, when they were active, and then Mantle turned around and became a pretty prolific signer. Hopefully Bonds will do the same.

I think it would do well to help at least recover his image a little bit, if he started signing things. Regardless of what sort of assistance with PED's he had on the field, watching him play was a sight to see, and something we certainly won't see again.

I'd like to see him change as well, and I agree that it would help mend his image considerably, but he's 57, and has been retired for 14 years. I think at this point he's set in his ways.

His Godfather Willie Mays probably told him how to deal with the public and be rude and that is what he is doing not to disappoint Mays

I'm not too familiar with Mays as a public figure, how was he signing back during the show circuits of the 80's and 90's? Wasn't Mays a pretty prolific signer?

I remember a dealer telling me as a joke....I hope

If you want Mays to sign your item over HERE, he'll sign it over THERE.....ask him to sign over THERE so he'll sign it probably where you want it.

I used to be a member of another collecting forum, and there were a couple members over the years who had tried to set up signings with Willie Mays. After these members would pay deposits and spend months jumping through all kinds of hoops, Mays’s handlers would just stop returning calls. This was more recently than the 1980s/90s (within the past 10-12 years IIRC).

I wish I had all those 1952s I had been saving for those "signings" I think I had 5 or 6 I just dumped when they didnt come through! That was a terrible tease.

Wasn't a joke. I watched when someone asked him to sign a 500 HR print. Everyone had signed below their image as Mays was asked to do. He promptly signed his image up the leg. I used to tell people that if Mays was your hero, never go to see him at a signing. He'll break your heart.

Willie used to sign for $100 TTM. I was collecting the 1964 Topps Giants set and send him $100. He signed the back

What a prick

I don't get why some people are the way they are, really. It's one thing if somebody is rude or impolite or entitled in asking for a signature, but if people are kindly and politely asking, I don't see why some go out of their way to be nasty if they don't oblige.

Furthermore, if it's an official, organized paid signing, I don't see why an athlete shouldn't oblige where somebody wants to have their particular item signed. I last saw Mays do a show (at least the venue I frequented) almost 10 years ago, and he was $289 for his cheapest price. Why not take the time out of your day to be nice to others?

After all, we are people, and being kind to one another shouldn't take much or be too much to ask.

From what I've heard, Mays is bitter about Mickey Mantle being more popular than him, and about today's athletes making several times what he did.

There have been several instances where Barry Bonds has showed some good will to the fans since the end of his playing days. During his one year stint as hitting coach for the Marlins there was a mob of about 40 people outside the team hotel in Minneapolis seeking to get his autograph. On the travel day, Barry stopped and signed for pretty much every one of us. He wasn't picking or choosing items. I got a gorgeous sweet spot that day on an ROMLB. Another instance of Bonds showing the fans some good will was at GiantsFest in 2017. Bonds had not been invited to attend 2017 GiantsFest and decided to crash the party. While the fans were waiting outside for the gates to open, Bonds rides up on his bicycle and just impromptu begins signing autographs. Barry has mellowed to an extent in his retirement. When he signed for us in Minnesota he even laughed and joked a bit. I even shook a bit after landing that signature.

One morning about 40 of us were outside Scottsdale stadium waiting for the Giants to come in and we knew Willie was there about 15 years ago. There was an old gentleman older than Willie waiting to get an item signed (something that meant alot to him but not something he could or would ever resell). he came just to get Willie. Willie is let out of the car he was in. All of us even the dealers moved away so the man could ask Willie one on one and Willie brushes him off. man was heartbroken
Another time outside the stadium 7 of us were waiting for Barry. It was raining and he walked by us. We waited there till he was done about 2 hours (please don't question my sanity). When he came back out and we were all still there he signed one for each of us (mine was on a Topps Heritage leader card signed by the others and he gave a beautiful signature of the BB type that since has been rejected by PSA when sent in cause I wanted in a slab- please dont tell me how stupid I was to do it)

Okay, and how is the second one the fault of the fans? It has nothing to with them. As far as Mantle goes, he played for the Yankees, and on a dynasty, too.

The first part may be true but certainly isn't the case for those of us in the Bay Area, the majority of us would take Willie over Mickey in a heartbeat.

As to the 2nd part Mays has had many lucrative endorsement deals since he retired and has long lived in an exclusive community here in the Bay Area and by that I mean exclusive even by Silicon Valley standards (there is literally a wall around the whole of he city limits).

Any perceived bitterness is likely rooted in something much deeper I doubt any of us are equipped to understand.

It's what I've heard his feelings are, from this site and other places. I did not say I agreed with it.

Willie came up in an era where he was the greatest player on the field and served his country but yet heard every slur in the book and was still treated as a second class citizen by a lot of people at the time. That doesn't leave you.

How did Mr. Aaron respond? Or Mr. Robinson?

The people who treated him that way are all either dead or in nursing homes, and they aren't the same people who paid Mays hundreds of dollars only for him to sign their cards on the back or otherwise mess up their items. He's being a grouch because he wants to be a grouch.

Yelich tells a different story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgj66qwaw9w

Everyone deals with things differently.

Racism aside (if it can be put aside) I always hear that Mays had a serious beef with money. But if you look at his earnings it doesn't seem to match up with his perception that he was short changed in some way.

The most amount of money made per year according to Baseball Reference was $165,000 in 1973. The median household income in 1973 is listed as $12,157. In essence, Mays made more than 10 times the average family at a time when purchasing power was overwhelmingly in his favor. I'm not sure he has room to complain.

HOWEVER, the median income today is around $31k, so the top stars are making nearly 1000 times that average.

Yes, but the purchasing power of a dollar today vs 1973 doesn't compare. Nor does the price of just about everything else. The purchasing power of a six-figure income in 1973 was huge.

On top of being very well compensated during his career, Mays could have easily made six figures with each appearance at an autograph signing. His last show (that I'm aware of) was in 2010/2011, where cards were $300 apiece. Then figure higher prices for rookie cards, balls, flats up to 8"x10", flats over 8"x10", premium items, plus fees for inscriptions and personalizations, and he would've done very well spending an afternoon writing his name. If he'd done that two or three times a year, well, that's about as close as someone in the private sector will ever come to printing money.

I don’t find this particularly compelling.

Look at it this way: in 1973, CPI was 44.4 and in 2020 it was 258.8. That is a factor of 5.82 which translates Mays 1973 salary to $976,000 today. Not bad money for a schlub like me. But hardly worthy of a generational talent like Willie Mays.

For comparison, I looked at the salaries of today’s SF Giants. The closest to $976K is Jarlin Garcia, a league average middle reliever.

Have you considered what nearly a million dollars in purchasing power could have bought you in 1973? It's not apples to apples.

Average cost of a brand new house in 1973 was $32,500. Average cost of a brand new house in 2021 is $400,000. That $32,500 that bought you a brand new house in 1973 is worth less than 200K in 2021, or only enough for half a new house.

How much did a new car cost in 1973? Just over $4,000. Average cost of a new car in 2021 is about $40,000.

That $4,000 in 1973 would be worth $24,000 today, or half a new car.

Federal minimum wage in 1973 was $1.60. Federal minimum wage in 2021 is still only $7.25. You actually had more purchasing power then than you do now on Federal minimum wage.

Everyone could always use more money but his salary put him far ahead of every normal person around him.

Have you considered that CPI *is* a measure of purchasing power? Because it is. And the beauty of it is that it is a representative basket of goods and services, which means it is immune to cherry-picking.

Willie Mays was a generational talent. Comparing him to the average person is, at best, a specious argument. The fact of the matter is that none of us would accept the argument from our employer that they *could* pay us more given our performance and value to the company, but we should just sit down, shut up, and be thankful that we are getting paid a bit more than the average Joe on the street. We'd walk out the door and find someone to pay us what we were worth. And would be right to do so.

Mays, and his contemporaries, didn't have that luxury because of the reserve clause. They may have been paid a lot relative to workaday folks, but they were grossly underpaid relative to the rarity of their talent and the profits they brought to the company that employed them. I got caught up in one of the failed attempts to schedule a Mays signing. I wasn't happy about it, but I will never begrudge him some level of bitterness regarding his treatment by baseball.

You can’t really control when you were born and what era you grew up in. Mays would have a contract of hundreds of millions of dollars today, but but Mays was born and played in an era where the Reserve Clause ruled and free agency didn’t exist. The Curt Flood incident happened when Mays was in his late thirties.

Also, if he was upset about money, was he not making money at the shows he did and the $100 he charged by mail?

It’s not my place to say how someone should or shouldn’t feel, especially if it’s someone I don’t know, but frustration can be misplaced, and that’s exactly what it is if this is how he was acting towards fans.

Sorry guys but I have to re-new this thread to ask "When is Barry doing a signing?!" It has been long enough already.
Thanks!

The simple answer to that is likely: when he can get what HE thinks are Barry Bonds prices, not asterisk prices.

If there were no scandals with the group of players in question, most signing fees would have an extra zero tagged on to the ends of them.

All you need to know about Bonds.

"Sure, he was enigmatic and problematic, that has always been embedded in his personality. He couldn’t connect with teammates. He could barely tolerate the media. And he just couldn’t get his arms around the fans’ expectations. For Bonds, baseball itself was supposed to be the only thing that mattered. Everything else — everything else — annoyed him to no end.

“Why can’t people just enjoy the show?” he asked. “And then let the entertainer go home and get his rest, so he can put on another show? But in baseball, you get to see us, touch us, trade our cards, buy and sell our jerseys. To me, that dilutes the excitement.

“Autograph seekers! When I go to a movie, after the final credits roll, I get up and leave. It’s the end. But I’m supposed to stand out there for three hours and then sign autographs? Fans pay $10 to see ‘Batman,’ they don’t expect to get Jack Nicholson’s autograph.”

The article: https://theathletic.com/1730039/2020...3-barry-bonds/

Back in the 90's, the story was that Bonds did not like the way the media or MLB treated his dad.


Back in the 90's Bonds was scheduled to sign at a Tuff-Stuff show in Richmond. If memory serves he was signing with his dad. EVERYONE signed on the sweet spot of the ball, but Bonds. In the advertising for the show, it specifically stated "no sweet spot" for Bonds.

I will never add Bonds to my collection and I am okay with it.


I would not say that Willie Mays was a prolific signer. From time to time he would be advertised to sign at shows in Secaucus, NJ. I never had a problem with Mays. His eyesight was pretty poor, so you had to be on your game about which pen he had in his hand and the placement of your item. He had the tendency to flip items upside down. Over the years I managed to get Mays 4-5 times. He was not a talker but overall pleasant.

If he signed another 100,000 pieces, would your opinion change? ;)

There's an absolute ton of Mays autographs in this world. The problem only arises when it's a certain piece you're after. If you want a ball, a photo, a bat, a, plaque PC, an awful 1980's baseball card as opposed to a particular card, a lithograph, a commemorative plate.... If you want something that isn't blandly pedestrian that was cranked out by the thousands, then yes, Mays can present a challenge.

Fleece Mop is kind of disgusting. I'm more partial to William. (Which makes absolutely no sense, as his birth name was Willie! But this is indeed him back in '51.)

I should have been more succinct. Mays was not a regular like a Feller or Palmer on the autograph circuit.