Lou's IP Thread

[loki1230]

Yesterday was my first night of legitimate graphing. I graphed the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre vs. the Columbus Clippers. The Clippers are stacked with former Yankee players so it was nice to see all of them play and the fans were, as usual, stoked to see Shelley Duncan in town. I wasn't quite as prepared as I would've liked to have been and I know I've still got a lot to learn. The Clippers were great signers and me and the fiance had a lot of fun with it.

Here's what I got:
Zach McAllister sweet spot ROMLB
Luis Valbuena 2010 Topps Heritage Card and my fiance got him on an ROLB2 ball because she said "he was really nice" and wanted to get him again after the game lol
Nick Johnson
Jared Goedert
Lee Mays Jr. (hitting coach and son of former MLB player Lee Mays)

I didn't go out all with the autos, looking for specific players more than anybody, but unfortunately missed Indians prospect Jason Kipnis whom I was also hoping to get on a ball. Lonnie Chisenhall, the Indians #1 prospect wasn't there as far as I know, and we waited out for quite awhile after the game after a bunch of the players missed the bus for Shelley Duncan, but he didn't come out until we decided to leave (of course!).

All in all the experience was a nice one and me and the fiance had a lot of fun with it. We have tickets for tonight's game as well and I'll probably be doing some Yankee graphing today, hoping mostly for Jesus Montero to sign for me again (got him on a ball already) on a 5x7 and Mark Prior on a ROMLB.

Also, one thing I noticed is my sharpies were a little TOO fine. I remember seeing something about "prepping" sharpies on here, is there something I need to do with them so they come out a little better?

[cyberer]

Welcome to the world of in person. I hope my tips helped. Not bad for a first try but you'll get better with time and practice. The big thing is being able to wait- missing guys because you left early is pain that eventually you won't be willing to stand. I have a girlfriend so I know how it goes sometimes, but I don't take her with me when I graph anymore- one time we were standing in the hot summer sun waiting for the phillies to come out pregame and she felt like she was going to pass out from the heat. I brought her into the shade, gave her water and gatorade and rubbed her down with ice cubes to cool her off. About 10 minutes later as she was recovering I saw Shane Victorino signing on the field. I (with her permission) left her sitting in the shade and went for 2 minutes and got his auto. She has never let me live it down that I "left her to die to get Victorino" even though she gave me permission.

[lambeauleap87]

Sounds like a great day! I'm hoping to make it to a Clippers game soon. Wonder why Chisenhall wasn't there...they just interviewed him this week prior to a Clippers game. Did Kipnis sign (and you just didn't get him) or did you not see him sign at all?

I got Shelly Duncan after an Indians game last year; very funny guy. He signed over Andy Marte's autograph, and was pretty entertaining about it (Aww, $#!+. Oh well, he's no good anyway).

[loki1230]

Welcome to the world of in person. I hope my tips helped. Not bad for a first try but you'll get better with time and practice. The big thing is being able to wait- missing guys because you left early is pain that eventually you won't be willing to stand. I have a girlfriend so I know how it goes sometimes, but I don't take her with me when I graph anymore- one time we were standing in the hot summer sun waiting for the phillies to come out pregame and she felt like she was going to pass out from the heat. I brought her into the shade, gave her water and gatorade and rubbed her down with ice cubes to cool her off. About 10 minutes later as she was recovering I saw Shane Victorino signing on the field. I (with her permission) left her sitting in the shade and went for 2 minutes and got his auto. She has never let me live it down that I "left her to die to get Victorino" even though she gave me permission.

Your tips were very helpful, thanks so much for them man! Thankfully, my fiance appears to be very into this, even doing her own graphing today LOL. She's very enthusiastic about it so I'm glad she can enjoy this with me. Lol at "leaving her to die to get Victorino", I can just imagine my fiance riding me about the same thing for the rest of eternity :p

Sounds like a great day! I'm hoping to make it to a Clippers game soon. Wonder why Chisenhall wasn't there...they just interviewed him this week prior to a Clippers game. Did Kipnis sign (and you just didn't get him) or did you not see him sign at all?

I got Shelly Duncan after an Indians game last year; very funny guy. He signed over Andy Marte's autograph, and was pretty entertaining about it (Aww, $#!+. Oh well, he's no good anyway).

Chisenhall is on the DL I think, unfortunately. As for Kipnis, he didn't sign before the game and he only signed 1 or 2, trying to blow by everyone unseen after the game *shrugs*.

Shelley Duncan is very cool and very friendly. He's loved in Scranton too so he signs like crazy when he's here.

[loki1230]

Today was another awesome day at the Yankees/Clippers game. Greg Smith and Andrew Brackman threw a one-hitter and Jordan Parraz had a big game offensively as well as defensively with a sick grab in right.

I graphed the Yankees this time around but I didn't do a crazy amount of graphing before the game because it was Youth Baseball Night and the players were inaccesible for the most part. I did some more after the game but didn't go crazy afterwards either. Anyway, here's what I got:

Jesus Montero 4x6 in blue sharpie
Brandon Laird on ticket stub
Mark Prior sweet spot on ROMLB
Andrew Brackman sweet spot on ROMLB
Greg Golson on ticket stub - this was my fiance's, she was all giddy about this one and we waited out until he finally came. He was an awesome guy, very friendly with the kids and funny.

There was a kid there maybe 6 years old, so funny to watch. He knew every players name and had it planned whom he was looking to get tonight. Its clear he goes often, all the players knew him and one of his relatives told me he was a massive Austin Krum fan, crying his eyes out when Krum was called up from Trenton.

[loki1230]

One issue I am still having is my sharpies are coming out far too thin I think. Is there any way to avoid that? Any tips, suggestions? Some help would be greatly appreciated!

[loki1230]

Big week coming up ahead. SWB Yankees vs. IronPigs on July 4th, then vs. the Buffalo Bisons on July 8th, and a team autograph session on the 9th. I'm worried that my photos from Wataphoto won't come in tomorrow and I'm going to have nothing to be signed other than my Ryne Sandberg photo. I ordered the photos last Thursday and they've yet to come in, hopefully tomorrow's the day!

Also sent an email to Mark Richt, hoping to get an email success there and have photos of Bobby Richardson, Andruw Jones, and Jason Giambi coming in which I plan to send out for TTM as well as another handful of customs set to get ordered on Wataphoto for TTM.

[TTMcardMaster]

Today was another awesome day at the Yankees/Clippers game. Greg Smith and Andrew Brackman threw a one-hitter and Jordan Parraz had a big game offensively as well as defensively with a sick grab in right.

I graphed the Yankees this time around but I didn't do a crazy amount of graphing before the game because it was Youth Baseball Night and the players were inaccesible for the most part. I did some more after the game but didn't go crazy afterwards either. Anyway, here's what I got:

Jesus Montero 4x6 in blue sharpie
Brandon Laird on ticket stub
Mark Prior sweet spot on ROMLB
Andrew Brackman sweet spot on ROMLB
Greg Golson on ticket stub - this was my fiance's, she was all giddy about this one and we waited out until he finally came. He was an awesome guy, very friendly with the kids and funny.

There was a kid there maybe 6 years old, so funny to watch. He knew every players name and had it planned whom he was looking to get tonight. Its clear he goes often, all the players knew him and one of his relatives told me he was a massive Austin Krum fan, crying his eyes out when Krum was called up from Trenton.

Get to know the kid; sounds like one he can ID the players as they enter/leave the stadium

One issue I am still having is my sharpies are coming out far too thin I think. Is there any way to avoid that? Any tips, suggestions? Some help would be greatly appreciated!

Yeah, you gotta "break them in" a little bit before you hand it to them....

[jyosi]

Just mash the sharpie down on an index card and write with it like a crayon for a few seconds. The result will be nice fat and bold signatures until the ink runs out.

[loki1230]

Get to know the kid; sounds like one he can ID the players as they enter/leave the stadium



Yeah, you gotta "break them in" a little bit before you hand it to them....

Just mash the sharpie down on an index card and write with it like a crayon for a few seconds. The result will be nice fat and bold signatures until the ink runs out.

Thanks guys! I got my hands on some Staedtler Medium Point markers, I'm going to test them out a little, but is it fair to assume they'd need some breaking in as well?