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+--- Thread: ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) (/thread-318882.html)
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - james6 - 05-21-2008
Alex Gordon - I've gone to two shows, and had him sign baseballs. Both times he was friendly and personable. He shakes your hand, and thanks you for coming out. In fact, most of the Royals I can think of are good guys.
Torii Hunter - has some family in Kansas City (or in the area) that usually come when he plays the Royals. I've always seen him take time to sign and he is a friendly guy.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - madvlad13 - 05-22-2008
Brewer Andy Wrote:+1 for Paul Molitor. He sent one of my buddies a hundred dollar bill when he heard he was going through a rough time. This was someone who Paul only knew as an everyday fan from the ballpark.
Nicest that I've had experience with were Chris Capuano and Gabe Gross. On the negative side, both Tony Gwynn Jr. and Prince Fielder come off as real arrogant jerks towards fans. Thats by my experience anyway
Weird that you mentioned Prince and Gwynn in the negative side. Both signed for me at a Dodgers game last year, on a ball tossed to me by Kevin Mench. Prince also signed my Fielder jersey in '06 after losing the game to L.A. (as he was walking back to the dugout after the 9th). I was sitting right by the dugout and he saw me with his jersey ( I was standing to leave), so I figured , what the hell. I said "Prince, will sign this ( as I was unbuttoning it)" He said "Sure" and even asked a guy for a marker.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - jjtmoney - 05-22-2008
i didn't meet him, but i always hoped rod beck was a nice guy...
any experience with him?
everything i read about him sounded great.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - Mikeyt3 - 05-22-2008
Nort really 'meeting' moments but what happened in brief encounters when attempting to get autographs at the practice fields in St. Lucie or at a game -
Nice:
Ron Swoboda (my childhood hero took all the time I wanted to chat about 1969 and other stuff)
Howard Johnson
David Wright
Art Howe
Tom Glavine
Moises Alou
Mike Cameron
Carlos Beltran
Eric Valent
Jorge Sosa
Ron Darling
Keith Hernandez (for my wife)
Not so nice:
Gary Carter (surly yet still signed a ball for my boy)
Braden Looper (wouldn't sign even though he was just standing there with his slackjaw open doing nothing...just a jerk)
Keith Hernandez (for me...nope, he only signs for the ladies...HE's Keith Hernandez)
Awful:
George Brett:
I will never forget him spitting tobacco juice just in front of me and my brother when we asked for an autograph after a game. He just glared at us and kept walking.
John Franco:
In what was thankfully his last useless year with the Mets, Franco hadn't done a thing all season but ride the pine in the bullpen and after a game in Cincy my boy was two feet away from him and asked for an autograph. Franco scowled and strolled on by without even looking up. We already didn't like his undue self-importance but that iced it.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - jerryowens - 05-22-2008
anyone have encounters with pujols or braun?
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - CampWest - 05-22-2008
Mikeyt3 Wrote:Awful:
George Brett:
I will never forget him spitting tobacco juice just in front of me and my brother when we asked for an autograph after a game. He just glared at us and kept walking.
I've heard bad stories about George Brett and honestly I just don't believe them all. I've run into him about a dozen times from when I was 5yo to 30+yo and in a variety of places (paid appearances, ballpark, restaurants, office lobby, golf course, etc). And every single time he's been kind, genuine, and personable.
I've never seen him be rude or mean to anyone. I think if he is put-off, by what someone says or asks him, then he's not going to be pleasant, but people that treat him nicely and don't over-step his privacy and demand things of him get treated kindly in return.
George is a fire-y competitor and trying to grab him or any guy with that makeup immediately after a game is a bad time... They are too geared up to slow down and turn on a smile.
I thought Manny Ramirez was the same way before games, he has his game face on when he gets to the park, I thought he was mean and rude before games, but after games going to the bus or away from the ballpark, he was really nice.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - CampWest - 05-22-2008
jerryowens Wrote:anyone have encounters with pujols or braun?I've not met Pujols, but he plays golf at my neighborhood course a lot in the offseason. A buddy of mine met him at the driving range a couple years ago and Pujols started a conversation with him, asked him if he wanted to join their four-some, and they've played golf several times in the past couple years. Pujols has sent him several autographed baseballs personalized for family and friends. By all accounts, Pujols is a really great guy.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - 952melvin - 05-22-2008
Raymond Wrote:Buck O'Neil.
Runner up: Harmon Killebrew
True that, the Negro League players will always be the coolest and nicest guys you can ever talk to! They are so eager to share their history and the history of their fellow team mates, and teams.
Tony Oliva wasn't mean but he didn't say a thing to me when I got my jersey signed at Twinsfest.
I guess always nice since they are family friends would be:
Dan Gladden and Brad Gulden
Bob Neagle (former owner of the MN Wild) bought my Great Grandma a super nice sony flatscreen for Christmas. But she has known him for several decades.
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - 952melvin - 05-22-2008
catcherpride Wrote:Best - Bo Jackson was cracking jokes and having fun.
Worst - Ron Cey was a complete jerk.
Ya don't Cey
Sorry, Just had to do that. Thats been an inside thing with my buddy and I since we where about 15
ot- nicest baseball players you have met? (and the not so nice) - bigpops65 ® - 05-22-2008
Some good experiences for me:
Gabe Kapler: Met him this past January at a fundraiser for The Jimmy Fund. Waited in line for a couple of hours, got to him and he was as nice as could be. My wife always liked Kapler and had him sign a photo. We asked for a picture, he moved over in the booth he was at (the fundraiser was at a restaurant) and put his arm around her. He even offered her a piece of chicken and said she could hang out for a bit if she wanted. Just a class act, and one of the nicest guys I've met.
Jon Lester: Have met him twice so far. At a sgining last June, I was waiting for two dozen baseballs to get autographed. Since I had bought quantity, they waited until he was done with the public signing. Well, he had to leave before he got to my items because he had to get to Pawtucket for a rehab start, but he was willing to stop and take a photo with me before he left. Then met him at the same fundraiser as Kapler, he took photos with everyone and was, again, reall nice.
Jim Rice: Was really engaging when I met him last summer. We talked about some of the Red Sox prospects and he picked my brain on a couple of players. Took multiple pictures and was genuinely pleasant to be around.
Jonathan Papelbon: I have heard he has gotten tougher recently with his success. I have met him on a few ocassions. MEt him at a fundraiser two years ago, signed multiples for me and my wife and was ready to take a photo with both of us when some security guard came running over and said "NO PHOTOS!!!" This is after Papelbon got up from his table, put his arms around us and was posing. In the time it took the security guard to tell us why no photos, we could've been done and moved on.
Funny side story from this signing. It was supposed to be 1 per person with the fundraiser ticket. My wife and I had three items, one was for someone else, and Papelbon had no problem signing them (probably because they were personalized). So after us, some guy comes up (a local dealer) and had like 4-5 jerseys, a bunch of baseballs and some photos. Papelbon turns to one of the organizers and says "It's one per person, right?" Well the guy had purchased 12 tickets (Schilling was also part of this signing) and Papelbon had to sign the stuff. Those 12 sigs -- and Papelbon has far from a nice sig -- were some of the worst I've seen. On the Jerseys, they were almost like straight lines. And Papelbon was laughing the whole time!