Baseball players who aren't friendly signers

[Gary Dunaier]

Originally Posted by witster

Very hard to get autographs as an adult at a MLB game, or even a crowded MiLB All Star game. Naturally, kids get first crack, and every adult is viewed as someone looking to sell their autographs.

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

I always get a kick out of players who only sign for kids.

So, all of these players who only sign for kids. The kid gets an autograph, is happy, and he wants to go to more games and get more autographs. Which he does. And the players continue to sign for him because he's a kid. So the kid develops an interest in collecting autographs.

Then one day the kid is no longer a kid. Goes up to a player and asks for an autograph. The player is, like, "Sorry pal, I only sign for kids." Is the kid supposed to lose interest in autographs the moment he turns 18? Just stop, cold turkey?

For all we know, getting autographs may have been a highlight of going to games. If he can't get them any more, he may decide that a big part of the ballpark experience is now closed off to him - and stop going to games altogether.

Meanwhile, what is he expected to do with the autographs he already has? The guy might decide that if the players aren't going to sign for him any more because he's "too old," he no longer wants the autographs he has. So he takes what could have been the foundation of a wonderful lifelong collection... and sells them.

The irony is that he might sell them to a middle-aged adult who the player wouldn't sign for... a middle-aged adult who might have appreciated getting his autograph in person more than a kid would, if for no other reason than he's older and has the maturity to appreciate and understand baseball in general than a kid can have.

[theshleps]

In spring training in AZ most kids say 8 or under "collecting autographs" were children whose fathers were dealers and they brought them along knowing they would sign. Often they brought multiple children. There were tho not that many players who would only sign for children. Women did as well or better than children

[sicollector1954]

By far the worst person that I ever encounter for signing was Dimaggio. In 1995, in Chicago he signed at the Sun Times Show but had a list of things he would also not sign. I took a 1949 "Life magazine size Sports Illustrated...He was on the cover...I also took a regular 90's one as well as a backup.. He was charging $175.00 for a flat item if I remember correctly. He came out wearing glasses like for when you eyes are dilated. Apparently the flashes from cameras bothered him. He told my mother who went with me (big Yankee fan) to hurry up and finish the pictures she was taking as she was holding up the line....(before extra fees for photos)
However, the kicker was the guy in front of me. He had paid his money...waited in line...and had a baseball signed by Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle which he had gotten signed previously. When he got to the front of the line...Dimaggio looked at the baseball and said...."Not signing that.....don't sign anything Mantle signed ahead of me!" The guy had to get out of line and buy a regular baseball and just get that signed instead...
By far however the highlight of the day was a person who had a framed picture with a cut out area to have signed...Dimaggio signed it....the guy was elated...and later opened the frame to reveal a first issue of Playboy with Marilyn on the cover and unknowingly---Dimaggio had signed it in the cut out area.

[Johnny630]

That’s why Dimaggio was prob a jerk because of that last sleazy dealer/collector who would stoope that low to get a piece signed. Unreal how cruddy people can be in this industry. To top it off he brags about, low, very low.

[dgo71]

Ted Simmons, Pete Vuckovich, John Denny, Ron Reed and Jim Rice all make this list for me.

[mr2686]

WOW...DiMaggio was $175 in 1995? I was fortunate to pay 40 bucks a piece for him signing an 11x14 flat and my HOF book in 1991. Talk about inflation. LOL.

[Mr. Zipper]

Originally Posted by mr2686

WOW...DiMaggio was $175 in 1995? I was fortunate to pay 40 bucks a piece for him signing an 11x14 flat and my HOF book in 1991. Talk about inflation. LOL.

Sounds about right.

I vaguely recall Mantle being at a show on Long Island the year before he passed and I think it was around $150 base fee.

Seemed insanely high at the time given most other players were $20 and under. And, if you spent your $150 on a signed 8x10, you would barely get that back today.

[silvor]

Originally Posted by dgo71

Ted Simmons, Pete Vuckovich, John Denny,
Ron Reed and Jim Rice all make this list for me.

Care to share the Ron Reed experience?

[36GoudeyMan]

If you're not getting a signature for resale purposes, does it matter all that much if the corner of a baseball card being signed is bent? I seem to recall a story about Tug McGraw (?) who would sign cards but would crease the upper corner, to make it "un-resale-able." I'd be happy, as an adult, to bend the corners of my cards if I could get my favorites to sign cards of theirs, since I have no intention of selling, just displaying for my own enjoyment.

[dgo71]

Originally Posted by silvor

Care to share the Ron Reed experience?

There's no real story to share, just that as an in person collector in the 80s, he and the other players I mentioned consistently denied every time I would see them.

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by silvor

Care to share the Ron Reed experience?

As I recall, he was part of that Philadelphia contingent that was very tough. He did mellow in person after he retired. I recall getting him in person in a copy of Basketball's Best (similar to "Who's Who in Baseball") and he was fine.

[chalupacollects]

Originally Posted by theshleps

In spring training in AZ most kids say 8 or under "collecting autographs" were children whose fathers were dealers and they brought them along knowing they would sign. Often they brought multiple children. There were tho not that many players who would only sign for children. Women did as well or better than children

Women do much better! We were at Saints/Colts Super Bowl back in 2010, lucky enough to sit in Legends box where my wife was able to get every player she asked to sign a football where I eventually gave up and just pointed people out for her.. She even had it passed around the next box which belonged to the Dolphins... Great fun!