Phillykid15 Spring Training Successes: Day 1

[phillykid15]

I graphed 6 games in the past week and primarily did the Phillies, but also tried for the away teams. This is how I did on my first day, 3/14.

Game 1: Twins vs Phillies in Clearwater, Fl

I went to the minor league fields early first and got a few prospects:

Larry Greene 3/3- Signed 3 cards
Trevor May 2/2- Signed 2 cards
Cody Asche 4/4- Signed 4 cards
Jiwan James 4/4- Signed 4 cards
Kelly Dugan 1/1- Signed a card

Then I saw saw Ryne Sandberg walking from the stadium to the minor league fields and got him to sign.

Ryne Sandberg 1/1- Signed one rookie card

Then I went to the stadium and went to the Twins side near the dugout and got

Ben Revere 2/2- Really nice guy, signed 2 cards
Denard Span 1/1- Nice guy as well, signed a card
Justin Morneau 1/1- Surprisingly very nice, signed a Twins Mini-helmet

Mauer didn't make the trip, I just missed Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Josh Willingham refused to sign.

I then went over to the Phillies side and got these guys:

Vance Worley 1/1- Signed OMLB SS and inscribed "Vanimal" as asked. I asked if writing Vanimal would be too much and he jokingly said he usually charges for that. One of the nicest Phillies on the team.

Mike Schmidt 1/1- Signed one SI cover from 1980 in Blue. He wasn't too friendly and signed down the line with his blue sharpie.

Cole Hamels 1/1- Signed one 2008 World Series ball.

Juan Samuel signed and Ryne Sandberg signed, but I had already gotten Sandberg and didn't have anything for Samuel. Pence and Thome also signed a little, but I didn't get them.

I couldn't stay for the players to walk off because I had to go to the Nationals vs Braves game that night in Disney.

I struck out Pre-game but got a couple guys after the game in the parking lot.

Martin Prado 1/1- Signed one OMLB SS

Randall Delgado 2/2- Signed one card and an OMLB SS. He's a big prospect in their system.

All in all, it was a good day. I'll post another thread soon with Day 2.

[phillykid15]

Day 2: Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies.

I got to the Phillies complex early again to graph Minor leaguers before going into the stadium and got these guys:

Larry Greene 1/1: Signed a Ripken ball SS and inscribed "2011 First Round Pick"
Sebastian Valle 1/1: Signed a card
Brody Colvin 4/4: Signed 4 cards

Then I went into the stadium to graph the Braves and went near the dugout. I didn't think that many of them would report, but pretty much everyone did report besides Brian McCann, Freddie Freeman and all of the starting pitchers besides Jair Jurrjens who was pitching. First Martin Prado came over and I was able to get him for the 2nd day in a row.

Martin Prado 1/1: Signed one card

Someone asked Jason Heyward if he would sign when he was done with BP and he replied "maybe." I waited near the dugout until he was done and he grabbed my 8x10 to sign as the first guy.

Jason Heyward 1/1: Signed an 8x10. Came out really nice in blue sharpie.

I saw Chipper Jones sign a little above the dugout, but I didn't want to ditch my spot just yet. I then heard Chipper was signing again near the opposite side of the dugout and decided to run over. It ended up being a good decision as I was able to get the future Hall of Famer.

Chipper Jones 1/1: Signed an OMLB SS. Seemed to be in a really good mood.

Michael Bourn and Dan Uggla also signed a little bit, but I missed them. I got the 2 guys on the Braves that I wanted the most(Heyward and Chipper) so I was so far pretty happy.

I then went over to the Phillies side to see if I could get anyone down there. I ended up getting Vance Worley again.

Vance Worley 1/1: Signed a 2011 team ball that I hadn't completely finished.

Sandberg also signed down the line:

Ryne Sandberg 1/1: Signed a card.

A few other guys signed before the game as well. Among them were Roy Halladay, who signed a couple near the end of the foul line, Cliff Lee, who signed a couple for a picnic area near the left field pole, and Hunter Pence signed a few for that picnic area as well.

During the middle of the game, I tried for Phillies coming off the field. I was able to get this guy:

Hunter Pence 1/1: Signed an 8x10. Very nice guy, signed very nicely in blue. If you ever try to graph Pence, don't ever try to get multiples from him, he will stop signing.

Jim Thome also signed a couple in a few different spots down the left field line, but I didn't get him then.

Another pretty successful day. I was happy with what I got and was happy to watch some Phillies baseball in 87 degree weather.

[yellowsuby03]

sounds very successful!! nice work..

[phillykid15]

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Day 3: Philadelphia Phillies vs Pittsburgh Pirates

The Phillies sent Pence, Mayberry and Cliff Lee along with a few other starters. I started by doing the parking lot as Phillies came in.

Cliff Lee took a car with Kyle Kendrick, Brian Schneider and Michael Stutes. I didn't think Lee would sign because he was pitching later, but he did and I was one of the lucky 5 to get him out of the 15-20 who tried.

Cliff Lee 1/1: signed one OMLB SS

Then I saw Michael Stutes was signing, and I was able to get him as well.

Michael Stutes 1/1: Signed one Ripken League ball SS

I then went inside the stadium and did a combination of the Pirates and Phillies. I saw manager, Charlie Manuel signing near homeplate and ran down there.

Charlie Manuel 1/1: Signed a 2008 WS ball SS.

Then I went over to the Pirates side right before the game and I got these guys.

Starling Marte 1/1: Signed a card
Neil Walker 1/1: Signed a card
Alex Presley 2/2: Signed 2 cards
Kyle McPherson 3/3: Signed 3 cards

I then watched about 4 or 5 innings of the game and went outside to get some more Phillies.

Hunter Pence signed outside, but I didn't really need him. Cliff Lee signed a little bit again, but he only signed a couple again and I missed him. Coming off the bus, I was able to get this guy though:

John Mayberry 1/1: Signed a Phillies mini helmet. Signed for a while outside and was a pretty nice guy. I think he's going to have a breakout year.

I was happy to get guys that I needed, I'll post Day 4 later tonight or tomorrow.

[rockstar71888]

Damn, good work. Wish I didn't have to work during the week

[FloridaGators15]

nice work on the graphs dude .....how was larry greene i except him to be in lakewood this year how r his signing habbits...michael stutes is always a cool guy

[phillykid15]

Thanks guys. Larry Greene is a very nice guy, but he's a little timid which is sort of ironic because he's HUGE in terms of being muscular considering he's only 19 years old.

Day 4: Blue Jays vs Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater.

In the morning, Charlie Manuel and Jim Thome were at a local breakfast diner called Lenny's signing autographs and doing interviews from 6-7 AM. I got there pretty early and was able to get Thome.

Jim Thome 1/2: Signed one OMLB SS. I really wanted to get him on a ball with Mike Schmidt already on it so that I could have a ball signed by the only 2 Phillies to hit 500+ HRs, but by the time I got up, he was only signing one per which I was still happy with. Thome was, as always, a class act.

I could have gotten Manuel, but I had nothing for him at the time.

Then I went to the stadium and tried to graph the Blue Jays, but they didn't get in until around 12:30 when the ushers kick you out.

I then went to the Phillies side and saw that Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick were signing a little bit. I was unable to get down where they were signing, so I couldn't get them.

Right when I thought I was going to strike out in the stadium, Roy Halladay started coming near I was to sign!

Roy Halladay 1/1: Signed my 8x10 in blue sharpie. My first time in many attempts at getting Doc. I was so happy to finally get him.

Those were the only 2 autographs that I got that day, but I always prefer quality over quantity, so I was very happy.

[JerseyInk]

Wow man. Doing work down there. Good job getting Roy. Tough graphs are the best.

[phillykid15]

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

[bronxbomber33]

Wow, sounds like you have had really good success graphing, Ryne Sandberg is awesome about signing, as I have gotten him on about 7 cards, 4 8x10's and 3 balls while he was managing Lehigh Valley.