Your experiences with HOF'ers

[Jantz]

Hi Andrew

I had the opportunity of working with Bob Feller. He came to the retail store that I worked at and signed autographs for free to any customer that wanted something signed.

It was a great time for me and just sitting there and listening to the stories he told was a great experience. At the end of the autograph session, I had two items that I wanted signed. He said that wasn't good enough. I went home with a grocery bag full of autographed items.



Jantz

[thebigtrain]

I can't really think of anything worse than an autograph signing if I was an MLB player. All those annoying people shoving trinkets at you to sign and trying to shake your hand, get a photo, etc. Bet it gets old quick.

I really wonder why they even bother, even at 175 a pop like Joe D. it seems like a really miserable & degrading way to make $$$. But old farts like him, Mays & Mantle who got paid squat while players have no choice I guess, maybe they need the cash to maintain their lifestyle?

Hard to see players today doing this garbage in say 10 or 15 years. Why would guys like Jeter, Arod etc waste a day of their life to do this when they already have more $$$ than any human could spend in 50 lifetimes?

If I was an MLB player I wouldn't sign anything for anyone while still an active player (like Steiner or whoever most of them now sign thru by contract). Why give those clowns a cut when you could create scarcity/demand and then be a huge "get" in retirement? Instead of shows you could sign thru the mail and charge rich collectors like 2500 a pop if they want it bad enough.

[71buc]

I got Feller a few times and on each occasion he was very gracious and friendly. I’m going to miss seeing him at spring training this year. Although he isn’t in the hall of fame, my favorite experience with a professional player occurred in 1974. I was eleven at the time. Lyman Bostock played wiffle ball with my friends and I for a few minutes in the Cheney stadium (Tacoma) parking lot. He was a great guy. His death was such a tragedy. Last week I took a female friend to see Cal Ripken at Mill Creek Sports. I came away thoroughly impressed. He was polite, friendly, and had a positive comment about each item he signed. He shook hands with virtually everyone and took the time to pose for pictures with anyone who requested one. He is a true gentleman and obviously a great ambassador for the game.