Wednesday, April 22, 2015

A Friend Makes it to the Show - Alan's Ironbirds Debut

So this probably should have been the first autograph that I wrote about after Spring Training, but better late than never right? It's not everyday that someone you know gets to make their professional baseball debut and gets featured on a baseball card. Last summer, my buddy Alan Strout won a contest through Topps to make his "Pro Debut". Here are a couple articles that describe the contest and Alan's story. 


I had the pleasure of meeting Alan probably three or four years ago on a trip to visit the Orioles Spring Training home in Sarasota, Florida. Alan and I share an interest in the Orioles, and specifically Orioles autographs. As memory recalls, Alan had found his way to the this blog and we quickly hit it off. Each of the past few years, I've enjoyed trying to collect autographs with Alan during our respective trips to Spring Training. Well, as you probably know, I didn't make the trip this year, but my parents did and look what Alan had waiting for them to pass along to me. I can honestly say that this is the first signed baseball card I've ever received that featured someone who I know on it. In all likelihood, that will probably always be the case, so this will hold a special place in my collection.

I attended Alan's debut in Aberdeen last summer and it was great to see him have the chance to sign autographs for fans on the concourse, deliver the lineup card to the umpires, and spend time in the dugout and on the field with the players. I'm sure that it was an amazing and exceptionally unique experience. I'm sure that most of us would have settled for just being featured on the card! Congratulations Alan!

4 comments:

SAinPA said...

And he is a very nice guy, too. I enjoyed working with Alan at ST as we pursued getting autographs of our favorite team players. Congratulations Alan!

zman40 said...

That is cool. I knew about the contest last year, but I didn't realize they ran it the year before.

Awesome story!

Mark70Z said...

I know this is from last year, but thought this was a great story. Thanks for sharing. Also, I'm an Orioles collector (mainly Brooks) and I have corresponded with Alan in the past, but have lost contact. Do you have a recent email or a way to get in touch? Any help would be great.

Regards,

Mark

Orioles Magic said...

Mark,
Shoot me an email, my address is listed in my profile and I should be able to help you out.