Miami Marlins at Tampa Bay Rays 9/30/15

[mberger718]

Went to the Marlins at Rays game to see Ichiro play and try to get his autograph for the first time. No Marlins signed when they came off the field after batting practice. I was going to wait to try and get him before the game, but I decided to head to the Rays side, where at least several players sign before each game. I had a good spot and ended up getting Evan Longoria to sign the Game 162 photo where his arms are up as he circled the bases after hitting the game-winning home run. Already a good day, then I get several other players to sign cards...Mikie Mahtook, Richie Shaffer, Brandon Guyer, Nathan Karns, Matt Andreise, Enny Romero, and Asdrubal Cabrera. James Loney skipped me a few times as usual, it seems that he only signs for kids.

Somewhere in between getting the autographs, a Rays employee came over to a bunch of us and asked if we wanted seat upgrades. I took the offer, seeing that my tickets are always the upper level cheap seats. The upgrade seats were the row directly behind the visitor's bullpen...kind of far from home plate but very close to the field. Definitely an interesting vantage point. I saw that the bullpen coach had a lineup card from the game taped to the padding where he was keeping track of the lineups, the pitching changes, and what batter ended each inning. After the game I asked him if I could have it and he signed it and gave it to me. Ichiro pinch hit in the game so it has Evan Longoria and Ichiro Suzuki on the card.

The key hit in the game was a bases clearing double by Grady Sizemore down the left field line. The ball went in front of the Marlins bullpen and into the left field corner. Since my seats were there, I figure I may have been on the tv broadcast of the game. When I got home, I found the play on the Rays website and went through it frame by frame. The score of the game was in the bottom left hand corner, right where I was sitting. However, for a frame or two, you can see me in the corner to the left of the score.

Pretty good night. The Longoria autograph, seat upgrade, lineup card, and television "appearance" would not have happened if I hadn't decided the odds of getting an autograph from Ichiro were pretty low.

Ichiro
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My seats
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Lineup Card
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Bullpen Phone
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[mberger718]

Autographed Evan Longoria 8x10 Photo
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Me after getting Longoria's Autograph
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Autographed Cards
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Autographed Cards
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[mberger718]

Game Used Lineup Card
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[anyzesty]

That's pretty rad. I'm going to Marlins Fan Fest in February to attempt to get something signed by Ichiro.

[mberger718]

Good luck, sure to be crazy there with Mattingly and Bonds also. Not sure how Bonds will be but Mattingly has always been a nice and great signer. Also look into the Chamber of Commerce event they have every year before spring training. No guarantees on who will be there but usually the managers/coaches are there and last year Ichiro was there.

[anyzesty]

Completely forgot about Bonds. I'm not huge into baseball anymore, played it as a kid and kind of grew tired of the sport as a whole. Now I'm an adult and living in Miami it's starting to appeal to me again since I went to a couple of games last year.

I'll keep an eye out of the CoC event. Thanks.

[chrisborene]

Speaking as a dodger fan and dodger autograph collector I have been able to get mattingly I believe 7 different occasions from 2010-2015, he is a good signer!!! Good luck if you get him