Graphing Rant

[cyberer]

About the athletes controlling how they sign and how many, as the OP said jerkoffs like to double dip all the time for 1 per guys, so that isn't true unless they are taking mental notes of each and every person they sign for.

I think getting a binder page signed and double dipping are 2 different issues and the latter is the worse of the 2.

I have only double dipped once on sandberg. He yelled at me for it. Lesson learned.

[C&C Collecting]

When I do my in-person graphing I might have a few cards of the same player. I sometimes do 50/50 and other times it is because I want the guy to sign a card of each team he played for to add to my collection. I never ask for any cards to be signed, just merely hold out the page where his card, or cards, are and let him decide. Sometimes I might get 6, others just one. When they sign multiples I always thank them profusely. What I don't understand is the guys who show up with 17 of the same 8x10 and ask to get them signed. Part of graphing is the experience. I will often get the same player on different occasions throughout the year because I enjoy the few seconds of talking with them. I go to the games and if a certain player gets a great hit I will congratulate him on that hit, just to let him know I pay attention and that I am a fan and not a dealer. My wife and I share in this hobby and she might get a card or ball signed while I get a card or something else signed. It is our hobby and we enjoy it very much.
Somebody on here made the point that it is the athlete that makes the decision and they are right. I get angry at the dealers who cut in front of kids and such. I always let the kids go ahead of me. I enjoy watching the interactions of the kids with the players. I hope to do something with my kids one day. But when a dealer or other adult gets in ahead of kids who won't speak up for themselves I get angry. I often speak up in defense of those kids who just want a baseball player's autograph. It breaks my heart when a kid goes up to any athlete and gets squeezed out. I also can't stand when a dealer or overzealous fan invade personal space. This year at Giants camp in an attempt to get Justin Tuck I actually elbowed a man in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He was pushing me into some kids and breathing in my ear loud enough for me to feel extremely uncomfortable. I don't know if the guy just got out of prison or was the biggest Tuck fan in the world. Once he got his wind back I had gotten my signature from Tuck AFTER telling him about the little kids in front of me that couldn't reach him. I got a dirty look from the guy and I told him the next time he wants to push and invade personal space like that with me I will do some following up after the elbow. Turns out I later saw the guy using younger kids to get stuff signed for him. He was a dealer. I pointed him out to the players and the kids that he was using and the signatures dried up for those people.

[jyosi]

When I do my in-person graphing I might have a few cards of the same player. I sometimes do 50/50 and other times it is because I want the guy to sign a card of each team he played for to add to my collection. I never ask for any cards to be signed, just merely hold out the page where his card, or cards, are and let him decide. Sometimes I might get 6, others just one. When they sign multiples I always thank them profusely. What I don't understand is the guys who show up with 17 of the same 8x10 and ask to get them signed. Part of graphing is the experience. I will often get the same player on different occasions throughout the year because I enjoy the few seconds of talking with them. I go to the games and if a certain player gets a great hit I will congratulate him on that hit, just to let him know I pay attention and that I am a fan and not a dealer. My wife and I share in this hobby and she might get a card or ball signed while I get a card or something else signed. It is our hobby and we enjoy it very much.
Somebody on here made the point that it is the athlete that makes the decision and they are right. I get angry at the dealers who cut in front of kids and such. I always let the kids go ahead of me. I enjoy watching the interactions of the kids with the players. I hope to do something with my kids one day. But when a dealer or other adult gets in ahead of kids who won't speak up for themselves I get angry. I often speak up in defense of those kids who just want a baseball player's autograph. It breaks my heart when a kid goes up to any athlete and gets squeezed out. I also can't stand when a dealer or overzealous fan invade personal space. This year at Giants camp in an attempt to get Justin Tuck I actually elbowed a man in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. He was pushing me into some kids and breathing in my ear loud enough for me to feel extremely uncomfortable. I don't know if the guy just got out of prison or was the biggest Tuck fan in the world. Once he got his wind back I had gotten my signature from Tuck AFTER telling him about the little kids in front of me that couldn't reach him. I got a dirty look from the guy and I told him the next time he wants to push and invade personal space like that with me I will do some following up after the elbow. Turns out I later saw the guy using younger kids to get stuff signed for him. He was a dealer. I pointed him out to the players and the kids that he was using and the signatures dried up for those people.

That is what I hate the most about getting autographs. I don't care if you have 100 things you want signed and you are going to sell every single one of them, but get them signed yourself. Don't force your kids to get stuff signed then yell at them for doing it wrong or pimp out other kids.

I know a guy who won't hesitate to pay anyone around him $5 to get a signature for him if he sees them with nothing. The best day ever was when about 6 kids took his money and mini helmets, got them signed by Deion Sanders then stashed the helmets with their parents and refused to give the guy anything back. He started yelling at the kids, cops got involved, cops were so disgusted with the guy they just made him leave without getting his stuff back.

[Niels50]

That is what I hate the most about getting autographs. I don't care if you have 100 things you want signed and you are going to sell every single one of them, but get them signed yourself. Don't force your kids to get stuff signed then yell at them for doing it wrong or pimp out other kids.

I know a guy who won't hesitate to pay anyone around him $5 to get a signature for him if he sees them with nothing. The best day ever was when about 6 kids took his money and mini helmets, got them signed by Deion Sanders then stashed the helmets with their parents and refused to give the guy anything back. He started yelling at the kids, cops got involved, cops were so disgusted with the guy they just made him leave without getting his stuff back.

Wow that's funny the kids did that, even if you are going to sell them respect the players and they do take notice take for example a player I got to sign my 8x10 talked to me for awhile and loooked at my other pictures I had to get signed and since he wasn't in a rush he inscribed it and wrote go ducks, now if I would have gone back to him the next day he would have thought twice........

[MattRaymond]

@loki1230 I feel your pain and agree with the main points in the thread.

I was at Josh Beckett's charity bowling event last week and Adrian Gonzalez was the only Red Sox big name to sign. He was swarmed and multiple people came away with 2-3 graphs (I got shutout). Some may say I wasn't aggressive enough but there is a certain etiquette I adhere to in those situations. I don't find it satisfying to get a graph at the expense of another collector.

[arfmax]

Most of the appearances that I go to, the 1 autograph per person is dictated by the store or the athlete's handlers. It is rarely what the athlete wants, and if you put two things in front of them, the athlete will usually sign two things, although the handler gets upset. I understand the need to get through a long line, but signing 2 cards or photos instead of 1 does not add much time, especially when many athletes sign 2 letters and a scribble. What adds time is photos, posed photos, or the person who wants to have a full conversation with the athlete, which often reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live sketch with Chris Farley, when he would say things like, "Uh, remember that time you got blown up in that movie? Um...That was awesome..." I personally don't have an issue with standing in line, getting a single autograph, and then going to the back of the line, and waiting more time, and then getting another autograph. Some may call that double-dipping, but I don't. The difference may be that people are talking about an athlete at a ballpark or in the parking lot, and I am talking about a scheduled appearance at a store, for free autograph signing.

I don't know, people get indignant about parts of the hobby, but then don't see that what they are doing is wrong to someone else. Is it wrong to use your kids to get an autograph? In my case, my kids are thrilled that they got to meet someone that they see on TV, such as a Blackhawk, Bear, or Cub. I am thrilled because I got more than one auto'd card. I'm not corrupting them.

-arfmax

[jyosi]

Your kids are thrilled to meet athletes and that is an awesome memory for them. I'm talking about they guy who pulls out a jersey and tells his kid to wiggle to the front and then scream for the athlete to sign so he or she won't get grounded. Or the kids are whining the entire time to home and their dad forces them to wait in the heat with ridiculous stuff like batting helmets. Or the kids who get yelled at because they didn't ask John Lester to sign on the sweetspot.

[loki1230]

Or the kids who get yelled at because they didn't ask John Lester to sign on the sweetspot.

Parents of the Year! lol.

[Star_Cards]

Wow that's funny the kids did that, even if you are going to sell them respect the players and they do take notice take for example a player I got to sign my 8x10 talked to me for awhile and loooked at my other pictures I had to get signed and since he wasn't in a rush he inscribed it and wrote go ducks, now if I would have gone back to him the next day he would have thought twice........

it's funny that the kids stole this guys items. Don't get me wrong, these guys crack me up and are usually pretty weird. I'm not a grapher so I don't have the distain that you guys have for these dealers, but find it odd that a parent would be okay with a kid taking money from s stranger to get stuff signed and even more baffled that they would let them steal the guys items once they took the money. I'd assume they'd us it as a lesson to teach them something. Stealing the guys items hardly seems like the proper lesson they should have taught their kids.

[dscards]

I think there is a time and a place for getting multiple items done and for double dipping. It's all about how you do it.
I've been on both ends..I wasn't able to get Josh Hamilton once because he took the time to sign 18 cards for one kid and ran out of time..it sucked.
But I have no problem hopping back in line after getting a signature and just seeing if there's time for me to get through again.
When it comes to double dipping/getting multiple items signed..I almost always say to the player 'You already signed for me, but I have one more photo that I'd really appreciate if you'd sign'..I've never been turned down using that method. When I've got multiple items of the player, I always say 'If you have time to sign more than one, I'd really appreciate it'..sometimes they sign everything, sometimes just a few, sometimes just one.