IP-Chicago and burbs:arfmax:2021

[arfmax]

Day 2 of the National was light on VIP autograph guests. The three scheduled were former Milwaukee Brewer Cecil Cooper, former Chicago Bulls guard Randy Brown, and former Chicago White Sox slugger Ron Kittle. I was able to get 3 cards of Randy Brown signed and 5 cards of Cecil Cooper signed, and I traded away my Ron Kittle as I have gotten him in person multiple times. Finally, after the National ended, there was a trade night at a nearby hotel, and they brought in former Kentucky basketball player and current Charlotte Hornets power forward PJ Washington, I was able to get 5 cards signed by PJ Washington (technically, I got 8 signed, but three are for a friend who didn't go).

Photos:


-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 153

[Atlantaman]

Awesome stuff! Love reading the National recaps! I really need to go sometime, sounds like a lot of fun!

[arfmax]

Today at the National, VIP autograph guests were former MLB'er Brian McRae, HOF Football guard Joe DeLamielieure, Hall of Fame wide receiver Charlie Joiner, and former Phillies World Series Champion Greg Luzinski. I was able to get 2 cards signed and one mini helmet signed by Mr. Joiner, 2 cards signed by Mr. DeLamielleure, 4 cards signed by Mr. McRae, and 2 cards, a ball, and an 8x10 signed by Greg Luzinski. Also, Ferguson Jenkins was at the Topps booth, and he signed some Topps specific National cards, and I was able to get one.

Photos:.


-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 167

[arfmax]

Day 4 of the National had the most VIP autograph guests, and 4 of them were scheduled at the same time. The VIP autograph guests were Jack Clark, Everson Walls, Jeff Burroughs, Dexter Jackson (Super Bowl MVP, not the wide receiver), Calvin Murphy, and Frank White. I was also able to get 3 cards signed by former Braves and Phillies star Dale Murphy from a friend. I was able to get 4 cards and 1 mini helmet signed by Everson Walls, 1 mini helmet signed by Dexter Jackson, 2 cards signed by Frank White, 5 cards signed by Jeff Burroughs, 2 cards signed by Jack Clark, 3 cards and a mini basketball signed by Calvin Murphy, 1 additional card signed by former guard Evan Mathis, 2 promo cards signed by ESPN personality Sarah Spain, and finally, Phil Hughes has a booth called Phil's Pulls, and he was also signing cards for $15 each, so I got one card signed from him.

Photo of the football autos:


Photo of the baseball and basketball autos:


-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 193

[arfmax]

Last day of the National, and it was light on VIP signers. I was able to get 2 cards signed by former MLB pitcher Stan Bahnsen, 6 cards signed by former MLB pitcher Tim Stoddard, and 5 cards signed by former slugger Darrell Evans.

Photo of the autos:



-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 206

[arfmax]

Sunday, I went to the American Association game between the Kane County Cougars and the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Kane County lost their MILB affiliation this past offseason, and so are now independent. I bought a team set, and prior to the game, I was able to get 1 card signed by infielder Brandon Chinea, 1 card signed by pitcher Christian DeLeon, 2 cards signed by 1st baseman Kacy Clemens, 1 card signed by outfielder Mark Karaviotis, 1 card signed by outfielder Mitch Reeves, 1 card signed by pitcher Tyler Viza, and 1 card signed by pitcher and former Twins prospect Ryley Widell.

Pictures:




-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 214

[arfmax]

It's been a weird couple of days of autographs. On Sunday, I went to a restaurant/bar in Skokie, IL, to get an autograph from WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi. I am not a big wrestling fan, but last year, before the pandemic, one of the local minor league teams was planning to have Rikishi at a game. So, I went online and bought a sealed action figure. Of course that got cancelled, and so I have had this Rikishi sealed action figure in my place for a bit. I knew the autograph wasn't free, but I could swear I saw that it was $20. Then, the person who owns the bar where the event was said that prices wouldn't be known until Rikishi got there, but he heard it was $15. The appearance was in conjunction with a wrestling event, which was outside on a blocked off street, and was cool to see up close. Anyway, Rikishi gets there, he and I chat for a bit, and I give him the figure to sign, and he is charging $40 for an autograph. I paid it, and it came out nice, but $40 is a bit more than I want to spend on a wrestling autograph.

Photo of the signed figure:



-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 215

[arfmax]

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Chicago Dogs game to get a Butch Hobson bobblehead. While waiting to get in the gates, they mention that the bobbleheads had not arrived, and would not be available, but you could fill out a voucher, and when they came in, you could pick them up or they would mail them. I live nearby, so they called at the end of last week, and said they were in, so I decided to go pick them up. I checked the schedule, and the Dogs were starting a 3-game series against the Lincoln Saltdogs on Monday night. The weather in Chicagoland was 80's on Monday, and then mid-90's Tuesday and Wednesday, so I decided to go Monday. I checked the Saltdogs roster, and they had a few players with cards, but I was only able to find a single card in my collection for a player. But, the hitting coach is former Atlanta Braves outfielder Tommy Gregg. I was able to find 8 cards of him very quickly from 1988 to 1991 sets, and decided to try. Prior to the game, Tommy Gregg is walking on the field, so I call him over (there were also two other guys trying to get cards signed). He takes one look at my sheet, and says, "I don't sign Braves cards." So, I had two Pittsburgh Pirates cards, which was his original team, and he signed one. I then asked him to sign the 2nd one, which he did. I asked him why he wouldn't sign Braves cards, assuming that he had a falling out with the organization or management or something, and he says, "A guy came up to me with like 40 Braves cards and we got into a thing, so I won't sign Braves cards anymore." This really made no sense. Gregg played a total of 24 games with the Pirates, 340 games with Atlanta, 10 with Cincinnati, and 72 with Florida. Just plain odd, I never heard that before. Anyway, I got two Pirates cards signed, and then I was able to get one card signed from former Dodgers pitching prospect John Richy.

Anyone else have this issue with Tommy Gregg?

Anyway, photo of the autos:


-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 218

[arfmax]

This morning, I went to a grand opening of a card store in Sycamore, IL, where they were having free autographs from former Northern Illinois University quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Jordan Lynch. Mr. Lynch signed tree cards for me, and I purchased a mini helmet at the store, and he signed that as well, and inscribed 2013 Heisman Finalist, all for free. Then, to continue my strange graphing week, I was driving home, 75 miles per hour on the highway, and something punctured my right rear tire, causing it to go from 38 PSI to 1 PSI in seconds. Thankfully, I was able to pull over on the highway, and eventually, the highway patrol came by and we changed my tire to the spare, but hopefully that was the end of my weird graphing experiences for the week. Part II in the PM went pretty well, will write about it tomorrow.

Photo of the Lynch autos:


-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 221

[arfmax]

After getting a new tire, I went up to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the Northwoods League Kenosha Kingfish were hosting a Legends weekend. There was a home run derby at the harbor on Friday, which I did not attend, but I bought tickets to the Softball game on Saturday. Leading up to the event, they advertised Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers, Jeff Cirillo, Geoff Jenkins, Bill Hall, Mike McKenzie, Vinny Rottino, Montee Ball, Willie Banks, Pat Mahomes (senior), Jose Canseco, and more. I was a bit skeptical, as these types of events are often disappointments, where you get one or two graphs and that's it. The stadium is small, and there is only 1 clubhouse exit, so hung out in front of the clubhouse, and on the way in, caught former Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs pitcher Willie Banks. Then, all the players came out at the same time, and while walking towards the field, some stopped and signed a few things. Molitor was signing some huge artwork while walking. All the players went onto the field, but then headed to the outfield, where there is a fence in left field, and then from there, they went into the VIP area set-up beyond the home run fencing. Before going into the VIP area, some of the players stopped and signed. Then, when they game was going to start, the players had to walk out of the VIP area, and many of them stopped and signed. Then, during the game, since it was a locals vs legends fun event, some of them would sign while by the dugout as well. Paul Molitor didn't play, but signed a bunch of free autos. Then, they announced he would be signing on the concourse for $25 in the 2nd inning, so I lined up there. When the time came, they said he would sign 2 items for $25, which was pretty cool. I really hope the $25 went to charity, it wasn't very clear.

Anyway, I ended up with 6 signed cards from Montee Ball, 2 signed cards from former Kenosha Twins player Jaime Ogden, 6 signed cards from former Brewers outfielder Bill Hall, 2 signed cards from former Brewers third baseman Jeff Cirillo, 1 autographed ball and one autographed card from Paul Molitor, 1 card signed by Geoff Jenkins, 4 signed cards from Willie Banks, and 2 cards signed by Rollie Fingers.

So the event way exceeded my expectations, but a couple of notes: Montee Ball would sign anything and everything that you put in front of him. He was incredibly personable, fun, and enjoyed meeting kids and adults alike. Jeff Cirillo would sign 2 things at a time, and refused to sign any additional. He would look at each person and try to memorize their face, and when that person tried asking him later, he wouldn't sign for them. I only had 1 more card for him, so it wasn't a big deal to me, but my friend came late toward the end of the game, and asked Cirillo to sign, and he told him he signed before, so no. Then, he called out some guy, saying that he already signed for him, and he keeps changing his shirt and hat to try to look different. I mean, it's Jeff Cirillo, not a hall of famer. Finally, Geoff Jenkins always had a beer in his hand. He would go to back without it, come back, not know where his beer was, and get another. He would only sign one thing per person, and towards the end of the game, was blatantly ignoring people calling for him to come over. But basically, everyone was super cool, friendly, and signed a ton. Jose Canseco didn't show, because apparently he got Covid. Pat Mahomes didn't show, because apparently his parents got ill, so he was with them. Mike McKenzie didn't show and Vinny Rottino didn't show, no idea why.

Photo of the autos:



-arfmax

Total IP Autos in 2021: 246