The Autograph Connection: Random Thoughts September 2002

Random Thoughts & Autograph Experiences
September 2002

Have you been following the whole Brian Williams story? Freakin’ bizarre. I never liked Brian Williams or his alter-ego, Bison Dele. But, I never like to hear bad things happen to any person. I am mesmerized by the whole story. I’ve followed it since the first story came out about Bison's brother, Miles Debord (aka Kevin Williams) being held for questioning when he tried to use Brian’s identity to buy some gold. Then, a few days later, there was a report that Brian, his girlfriend, and the captain of his boat were reporting missing. Now, with Debord dead because he had an insulin and asthma attack, we will never know the whole truth about the fates of Bison and the two other guests.

Has it really been three years since the last Ryder Cup? The Ryder Cup, capped by Justin Leonard’s amazing putt on the 17th hole, really turned me into a golf fan. I walked an occassional tournament on TV, but watching the last few holes of the Ryder Cup with my Uncle Fred really turned me into the golf fan I am today.

Patrick Ewing retired this month. Good riddance. He is the biggest, er, tallest jerk I’ve ever met. He remains on my all-time “crap list” for rudest sports personality. His Georgetown counterpart, Alonzo Mourning, is right behind him. I’ve never seen Patrick sign an autograph, let alone say anything nice to any fan of his. I’ve literally had at least a dozen occassions to try and get his autograph and the response has always been the same. Unfortunately, it is because he doesn’t sign often (or at all) that will fetch him good money on the autograph convention circuit in the upcoming years. I imagine he will ask for Bill Russell type money (at least $200 an autograph) when he starts doing shows.

Orlando has decided to sign one of my favorite Sonics of yesteryear, Shawn Kemp. Though Shawn has managed to eat his way out of appearing annually at the All-Star Game, I think his being released by the Blazers was the wake up call he needed. I certainly hope that he gets into shape and stays out of trouble. Though many Sonics fans will point their fingers at Kemp for causing their demise in the West, I blame Vinny. It will be interesting to see how Boston disintegrates with Baker in the lineup.

Florida Instructional League

The Florida Instructional League starts in September, around the same time of the Arizona Fall League. One notable difference: The AFL gets publicity. Sure, the bigger name prospects all find their way to Arizona but many of the 2002 draftees make their way to the Instructional League. No one, including the Major League teams themselves, knows anything about the League so I decided to try and find out myself. This included emailing the following: Baseball America, the web sites of Philadelphia, Cincinatti, Tampa, Houston, Atlanta and Detroit, as well as posting to the forum at Topprospectalert.com looking for info. My responses: One. Luckily a kind Phillies employee gave me not only the schedule but the Phillies roster as well. Wish other teams had the same respect to a fan asking, what I thought was, a simple question. I posted the schedule on this site.

The Instructional League would be my autographing moment for September. I drove to St. Pete to witness the last day of the Rays' League. I was able to get Steve Henderson on an old Mariners schedule which provided my comic relief for the morning. He was so impressed by the picture and his swing in the picture that he borrowed my calendar and was showing all the young players. Then, right before the game, a few other players came up to me and asked if they could see the calendar as Steve recommended that they look at his swing. It was quite humorous.

I didn't bother to get any other autographs since I didn't have any cards for these guys and I've tired of getting autographs on index cards. I didn't see any of the guys being worthy of devoting a ball to their autograph. Some day I may kick myself because of that but the truth is that half of the players in attendance will never make it above Double A. I did take some pictures in the hopes that some of the guys make it to Orlando to play, most notably B.J. Upton (the first round pick), Elijah Dukes, and Seth McClung. As for the hype with B.J., I realize that he just graduated from high school but I was not impressed with his swing or his lack of range in the field. Stay tuned.

My Fantasy League Thoughts

This was the first year that I fielded a Fantasy Baseball team. A number of guys at work decided to have a league on CBS Sportsline. I made a few big mistakes that cost me dearly. I will end up 7th in the league of 10 teams. Here’s what I learned:

1. Attend Draft day: My daughter was just a week old when our league held its draft so naturally I was helping my wife instead of helping my team. Even though I tried to pick out my top choices for each position, I failed to make my choices for pitchers. I ended up with a rotation of Pedro Astacio, Joey Hamilton, Rick Helling, Daryl Kile, Mike Hampton and Terry Mulholland. Needless to say, my ERA and WHIP killed me in the first half of the season before I made some good transactions (added Prior and Tomo Ohka in May).

2. Never sign a Marlins reliever: Thinking that Braden Looper was going to take over for the departed Alfonseca was foolish on my part. Not only did Braden blow a number of games, I missed out on nabbing a guy like Jose Mesa or Jason Isringhausen who were available. I finished last in saves as I only had one legitimate closer in Billy Wagner…and even he had a rough first half.

3. Stop playing favorites: I drafted Jeromy Burnitz and Travis Lee because I thought each would have breakout years and I like both players. I also picked Dante Bichette as a fourth outfielder in the draft…dumb. Dante retired in Spring Training and left me without a legitimate fourth outfielder until I was able to sign Alex Sanchez who proved to be a wonderful addition.

4. Know how many utility players your league allows: I found out in July that I had one utility player position available from day one. So, instead of being able to utilize some extra hits and numbers from an extra player, I missed out on four months worth of stats.

5. Put all your eggs in one basket: OK, most people won’t agree with this but if I had to do it all over again, I’d have picked Randy or Curt and taken my chances on the rest of the team. Some of my picks worked out (Todd Walker, Michael Barrett for the first half) but my pitching staff kept me anchored towards the bottom of the standings.

This month's mailbox

Bill Plummer: Back up catcher to Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, also served in that capacity for the Mariners one year. Came back to manage the Mariners for one uneventful year. I still feel bad for his one managing year in Seattle…Kevin Mitchell was the left fielder (huge bust) and all the good pitchers had been traded to SF in that deal (Swift, Mike Jackson, Burba). He is now coaching in the California League which is where I sent him a page from an old program as well as two cards.

Mario Mendoza: Known affectionately as the man who inspired the “Mendoza Line” of hitting, Mario was a slick shortstop and played a few years in Seattle as well as Pittsburgh. Mario is now the manager for the Shreveport Dragons where he signed two cards for me. I added a link in my links section regarding a book called “Mendoza’s Heroes” chronicling the best “worst” hitters in baseball history.

Jose Mesa: Jose was one of the “merry-go-round” closers for the Mariners in the late ‘90s who lost his job when Kaz came to town. He signed two cards for me in two weeks. Used the Philadelphia Phillies address.

Dan Meyer: I finally got one of my favorite Mariners of yesteryear after a second attempt. Dan was a versatile player, playing third, first, and the outfield.

Bruce Ruffin: My first non-Mariners success in a while. Bruce was a highly touted prospect with the Phillies in the 80s who never lived up to the hype but had some great years as the Rockies closer in Colorado's inaugral seasons.

Baseball Weekly loses a fan

Even though there is no baseball strike, I’m still a bit disappointed in the way both sides handled the issue. Case in point in how the general public perceives baseball: USA Today, which has published Baseball Weekly for well over a decade, has revamped their publication to include football under the new guise known as “Sports Weekly.” They realized that just publishing baseball only was not a sound financial practice. I’ve decided to no longer purchase the periodical (unless a cover really strikes me for autographing purposes) and after not renewing my subscription to Baseball America a few years ago, I’ve decided that BA will once again get my business.

Final Thoughts

Johnny Unitas passed away this month. I was able to get his autograph a few years ago through the mail before he started charging for his autograph. He was a true legend of the game and I’m glad that his autograph is part of my collection.