Monday, April 14, 2014

Spring Training Autographs- Old Man Cards

I've said it before, and I know that I'll say it again, but I really appreciate the time and effort that my dad puts in to create his awesome Old Man Cards. I know that he enjoys doing it, but it's quite a time-consuming process and it makes having these signed cards in my collection mean that much more to me. Thanks dad!


Today, I'm going to start with a player who will almost certainly never appear in a game for the Orioles after he didn't make the 25 man roster out of Spring Training and opted out of his contract. For all the stories, I have heard about Alfredo Aceves over the years, I had no idea what to expect from him on the autograph front. Turns out that he was about the most approachable player I've dealt with on the O's in Spring Training, short of Pat Neshek, but he's nearly incomparable in his fan friendliness. 



Alfredo pulled out of the player lot one day, and parked on the side of the street, and got out of his car to sign autographs. Neshek was the only other player I've ever seen do that. And when I thanked Alfredo for signing, he said thank you for giving me the opportunity to do it. Pretty awesome. So I'm sad that things didn't work out for him and the O's, but I will definitely remain a fan of his after our interaction in Sarasota. If only more players acted that way, at least from time to time!

You might recognize some of these other OMCs, as I had many of these personalized in addition to these unpersonalized versions. But you might notice some subtle differences in the design, as my dad stepped up his game and added the year and some other bells and whistles on some of the cards.


There is a dated version...

And another with the year kind of highlighted. 





I just now realized that Ivan and Eddie kind of look like each other.





With Johnny Monell, he even did a few versions of his cards.








I was anticipating that Suk-Min might sign in Korean, and while I'm not exactly sure what he signature says, I believe it is his last name and number.



Thanks again for your help Dad! I look forward to our yearly Spring Training trips!

2 comments:

Yankeejetsfan said...

Great sucesses! Like the cards also.

Orioles Magic said...

Thanks much Mike! I always have some nice success on my Spring Training adventures.