[johnxgodfree]

so today down in Atlanta Jonny Venters did a signing at a shop ... a friend of mine that lives nearby picked up a ticket to grab an autograph for me and had what I think is a pretty awesome idea for an inscription.

for those that don't listen to the braves radio broadcasts, Jim Powell and Don Sutton around 2-3 months ago started referring to our 7, 8 and 9 guys O'Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel as "Sit Down!" "Shut Up!" and "go home!"

I got a kick out of it the first time i heard them say it..and they've continued using it since then. when I found out Kimbrel would be doing a signing two weeks after Venters at the same place and the friend was going to both decided I'd try for something other than just a "Go Braves!" or "Everyday" Venters inscription decided to go with "Shut Up!" I wasn't sure if he would even know the reference, but with the price of the signing seems like it would be relatively small so hopefully my buddy would have a minute to BS with him. so sure enough got there he was just in the back hanging out came out introduced himself and they talked for a few minutes.

He laughed and asked "Shut Up?" when he told him what he'd like inscribed on the one ball. so he explained the sit down, shut up and go home thing... venters seemed to get a kick out of it and thought it was pretty funny. and noted that he had never signed that one before.

seemed really laid back and didn't come off nearly as shy and timid as the media interviews with him made him out to be (guess he is a lil more relaxed when not in some kinda spotlight)

anyway, this already made the wife and I's day... then during the braves broadcast this evening, I had got in touch with Jim Powell via twitter to get their e-mail address to show him as it was pretty much a lil ode to their phrase. thought he'd get a kick out of it.. sure enough he did. asked if he could post it on twitter and then gave a shoutout during the broadcast. went something like this...I was feverishly typing it as they were talking so its not word for word

"just got a shout out on braves radio from jim powerell haha ""john rivera a big braves fan listening in charlotte NC he sent me an e-mail with a photograph of an autograph he got over the past couple of days and got it signed jonny venters shutup! apparently venters got a kick out of it... he was doing a signing somewhere and a lot of other people were getting signed "everyday jonny venters" ..he better get use to that hes gonna be signing it for a while" or something along those lines!"

anyway! without further ado, here are two photos. I'll take a better one of the ball once it gets here in the mail.


Jonny signing the ball


shut up!

hopefully in two weeks will have the "go home!" kimbrel ball to go with it...then time to figure out how to get the o'flaherty
/nerd

[keyser soze]

Very nice item. That would be a killer trifecta to complete. You'd think O'Flaherty would be the easiest to get so you have that going for you. As an Astros fan, those 3 remind me of when the Astros had a young Brad Lidge throwing the 7th, a dominant Octavio Dotel in the 8th, and Billy Wagner slamming the door in the 9th.

[johnxgodfree]

I can definitely see the similarity... wagner was my favorite reliever prior to his retirement...really glad he spent his last year with the braves, bummer he went out injured to end it, he was one of the remaining few I still remember from when i originally was into baseball although he was a rookie then.

I figure once I get the kimbrel in two weeks, I will just write to o'flaherty through the braves and send him a photo of the other two along with an explanation/ball/return envelope and hope for the best!

since venters got a kick out of hearing about the nicknames, hoping its something he passes on to the others so maybe o'flaherty would already know!

pretty excited either way just on the venters alone. definitely a unique and cool inscription! the shoutout on braves radio was icing on the cake.

[chipper4president]

Awesome story and new addition. I hope you get the other two. It will make a cool show piece for your PC. Congrats!

[johnxgodfree]

looking forward to it also! the kimbrel signing is a couple bucks more than the venters which I thought a bit pricey already but figure I'll enjoy the hell out of it so why not!

got the post on twitter today from jim powell too, nerdy but kinda cool. got my record label tweeted to braves country LOL

[keyser soze]

Saw this on another site, this the Kimbrel signing you were referring to? If not, might be a better deal.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/vi...2&t=143655

[rocknandrew]

That's really cool! With something like that you will always have a great story to tell.

[johnxgodfree]

Saw this on another site, this the Kimbrel signing you were referring to? If not, might be a better deal.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/vi...2&t=143655

yeah same price on those, only difference is for $10 you can get JSA certification at that one. bummer this on wasn't announced earlier since it was finalized before the other i guess.

friend already grabbed a ticket for the other kimbrel signing. certification doesn't mean much to me on these couple since they won't be leaving my possession

[the cardboard fan]

I need to remember Beachy will be there^ I will have to get a ball and card signed there

[jimfalbo21]

sweet dude