In 1979, at age 19, I drove from Bangor, Maine to Winter Haven, Florida to see the Sox in spring training. George Scott hit a home run during the game and I outran everyone to get the ball. I hung around the clubhouse after the game for about two hours hoping to get someone's autograph. Lot's of future HOFers and stars on that team. Fisk, Rice, Yaz, Eckersley, Lynn and Evans all slipped out a side door, piled into a couple of waiting vehicles and laid rubber peeling out of the parking lot. Eventually George Scott came out and I asked him to sign and he said he wouldn't. I even told him it was the ball he'd hit for a home run and he brushed by me and said he didn't have time for that. I'd driven nearly 1400 miles and then waited about 5 hours through the game and afterward and was extremely disappointed in not getting an auto. Don Zimmer came out last and signed for the few of us still waiting and in hindsight, I guess I'd rather have Zimmer's auto than George Scott's. That was my first in-person auto and I still have the ball.
The only Hall of Famer I have met in person and gotten an autograph from was Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz was my favorite player growing up in Maine during the late 60's and through the 70's. I would imitate his stance and hold my bat high during our neighborhood games. In the late 80s I worked at the local NBC affiliate in Bangor, Maine and Yaz came up to do some tv commercials for the local Chrysler dealership. Our tv station handled the production and I got to work on the ads and in fact even did the voice on one of them. Technically I was in the same ad as Carl Yastrzemski although it was just my voice at the end. I met him and he signed some of my old cards for me. I should've had him sign some of my less valuable cards but didn't realize at the time that I was devaluing them. I pictured one of them earlier on this thread in a post of some of my 1961 cards.
Living where I do in Maine is about four hours from Fenway Park, the nearest MLB park, so it would take the better part of a day to drive there and back. I've worked six days a week since 1981, working my regular job Monday through Friday and producing and hosting my radio show on Sundays. These two obstacles have made it difficult for me to attend a MLB game. Maybe when I retire (Hahahaha) I can tour as many different MLB parks as I can. That would be a dream for me but for now, I keep plugging away at my jobs and living vicariously through my cards. Not having access to MLB players has made it difficult for me to obtain in-person autographs, unless the player comes to Maine, however for this post I am showing nine of my in-person obtained autographed cards from my collection.
1964 Topps #84 Carl Willey Autographed (Carlton Willey was a native of Cherryfield, Maine and went to the same school as my grandfather. In the early 1990s he came to Bangor for a live appearance on our news broadcast and he was very polite and signed a couple of cards for me.)
1965 Topps #295 Dick Radatz Autographed (Dick Radatz came to the Bangor Mall for a card show and I had him sign a couple cards for me. He was a giant of a man and died tragically not long after I met him when he fell down the stairs at his home in Massachusetts.)
1970 Topps #665 Jim Lonborg Autographed (Jim Lonborg also came to the Bangor Mall for a card show and when I arrived, he was standing alone with his PR person and there was no one else around. I went up to meet him just as his PR person left to get coffee and I had him sign my card, shook his hand and made some small talk, mostly about skiing. For those who don't know, he tore the ligaments in his left knee while skiing after winning the Cy Young Award in 1967. He was very congenial and he made me feel like he didn't want me to leave so I hung out with him until his PR person came back.)
1982 Topps #408 Ed Romero Autographed (I've been to three MLB games in my life, all at Fenway. My first was a birthday gift from my wife and best friend who took me to a game on September 6th, 1987. I had a stack of cards with me in hopes of getting some autographs. Ed Romero was the Red Sox second baseman that day and the only player who came near us and signed. This is the only in-person autograph I've gotten at a MLB game.)
1985 Topps #116 Dennis Boyd Autographed (In 1996 the Northeast (Independent) League came to Bangor, Maine in the form of the Bangor Blue Ox. The team was made up mostly of former University of Maine ballplayers but the big draw on the team was former Sox pitcher, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd. The tv station that I worked for broadcast their home games and I worked as an A1 which is "first audio". I ran the audio board in the truck during the game while my A2s (assistants) ran cables and set up shotgun mics along the fences and set up the broadcast booth with mics, headsets, monitors and IFBs (internal feedback). During downtime I talked to Boyd who was just hanging out and had him sign one of every one of his Topps cards for me except for one that he said he was going to keep and trade for some "nookie". He was in a good mood because he had just won a bet with another player who was literally streaking around the bases as punishment. Unfortunately Boyd held my cards in a stack, signed the top card then shuffled it to the bottom and continued to do that until he'd signed them all but in the process he smudged most of the autos. He got arrested for DWI soon after the season ended and he did not return.)
1993 Topps #51 Mo Vaughn Autographed (I waited in line for a signing at the Bangor Civic Center for about two hours to get "The Hit Dog's" autograph. He showed up more than an hour late. He never looked at me, he never spoke, he just kept his head down and signed whatever was thrust in front of him. I thanked him but got no response. The only in-person autograph I ever paid for.)
1994 Topps #661 Bob Zupcic Autographed (Only one player in the history of baseball is listed after Bob Zupcic alphabetically (Dutch Zwilling). Bob came to Bangor in 1997 to play and coach the Bangor Blue Ox and I met him in between setting up for our broadcast and he graciously signed for me. He wrote his favorite Bible verse, John 3:16, on his card under his name.)
1999 Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game #23 Bill Lee Autographed (Bill Lee came to Maine every so often and brought a rag tag team of older Red Sox players up to play the local fire department. He called his team the Grey Sox and he would stay until everyone had an autograph and was willing to chat while signing. My son and I talked with him for about 15 minutes after most everyone else had left and I asked him about the spacesuit he's wearing on this card. He said they asked him to wear it and that's all it took.)
2005 Topps #642 Boston Red Sox TC Autographed (This Red Sox team card depicts the 2004 World Champions signed by both Red Sox announcers Jerry "Way Back" Trupiano and Joe Castiglione. They came to Bangor in February of 2005 for a "Hot Stove" event sponsored by my radio station and they brought the World Series trophy with them. I've got a photo of me with the trophy. I didn't have cards of either announcer but felt the team card would be a good one to have them sign.)
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