Some More Help From My Friends

Autograph collecting is a lot of fun to do in-person. I love spending the day at the park and trying to add some signatures to my collection. But sometimes it can be frustrating, time-consuming, and unrewarding, as you can never say who or how many people will sign in any given day. I've had some times where I was able to get 10-15 MLB autographs but not a single one of the players I was really targeting, so while it was successful to an extent, it can still be disappointing to miss out on the autographs you really wanted to add to your collection.

This is why it's so helpful to have a network of collectors to help each other out, and my preferred site is SportsCollectors.Net, or SCN for short. I don't know how many autographs I've been able to add or upgrade in my collection from that site over the last five or so years, but I can comfortably say that number is in the 100s. Whether via private signings, trades, consignments, or 50-50s, it's amazing what a country-wide group of collectors can do to help each other out. I highly recommend the site for any other autograph collectors out there. I think it's only like $15/year, and while you still run into some scumbags/shady dealer types, by and large the feedback scores will largely give you an idea of the type of collector you are working with.

Here are some of the autographs that I've been able to add or upgrade using SCN over the past six months or so. Not too bad.

Bruce Chen 

Jason Grimsley

Ramon Hernandez

Jim Hoey

(Your eyes do not deceive you, that's the same signed card, both personalized to me. One obtained IP, the other via SCN, pretty much simultaneously, hence the double down)

Charles Johnson

Matt Lindstrom

Bob Melvin

Scott Moore

Request Week- Bruce Chen

Zach who writes the continually great and entertaining "Autographed Cards" blog requested that I write about two players. The first of which is former Oriole and current Royal, Bruce Chen.

Bruce is the quintessential journeyman and has pitched for ten different MLB teams since 1998. He's still only 34 years old, so I think he might be able to squeeze at least two more teams in before he hangs up his spikes. Bruce pitched for the Orioles from 2004-06, and pitched very well his first two seasons in Baltimore before falling off precipitously in 2006.

I actually have a few funny stories about Bruce. The first of which took place at Orioles FanFest in 2005. If you're not familiar with the set-up, it takes place at the Baltimore Convention Center (a pretty standard convention center), and players are located at 4-5 signing stations around the building. While some of the details have changed over the years, essentially fans have to wait in long lines to get autographs. Well, as I was about to leave for the day, I saw a somewhat familiar looking Asian man looking around like he didn't know where to go. It was none other than Bruce, who was standing in the middle of hundreds of Orioles fans, many of whom had been waiting in long autograph lines all day, but no one immediately recognized him. I pounced on the opportunity and got his autograph on the event program. I think that I then pointed him in the right direction but by that point, I had blown his cover and other fans started to figure out who he was.

My next story occurred a few years later when Bruce was a member of the Royals. He signed this Bowman card for me at Camden Yards prior to a Royals-O's game and pretty much signed for all of the fans who were there (which wasn't many). The last two guys he signed for didn't have anything for him to sign except a few dollar bills which Bruce willingly signed. After he did so, a nearby usher mentioned how that could be considered defacing US currency, and Bruce mumbled something about never signing money again. It was a pretty funny ordeal.

Bruce was also known to be a "funny" guy, or at least a joke teller, and the Orioles had a "Bruce Chen Joke of the Day" feature that ran on the JumboTron between innings. A few of his jokes that I could find were:

"What do you do with a one-legged dog?" "Take him for a drag."

"Why did the bicycle keep falling over? Because it was too tired."

"What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear."

Hilarious, right?

I was happy to hear that the Royals are apparently doing a similar feature with Bruce and Zach mentioned that he has added at least one more joke to his arsenal.

"Where do you find a no legged dog? Right where you left him."


Here's to you Bruce Chen!

Recent Auto's at O's Games

Here are some cards that I have been able to get signed at recent O's games. My current definition of recent is within the past month or so. So, yes, that means that I am about a month behind on everything I am trying to do. Oh well, baseball season is almost over and then I can finally catch up on things. Sorry to anyone that I owe packages to, they will be on their way soon enough.

And I start off my post by lying to you. I got this Bruce Chen autograph when he was in town with the Royals in late July. So I'm like 6 weeks behind on showcasing this card. Wow, that's pretty bad.

But I do have a funny story about this autograph; if you read my previous post about Bruce, it really seems like he is a very nice guy. And at this O's-Royals game, he once again came through for the fans by being the only Royal to sign for the fans after BP. He signed everything for everyone, and used my sharpie for most of the signing but I didn't care as he was, like I said, the only player signing. He signed a couple of dollar bills for some guy and then the usher told him that he didn't think that was legal so I doubt Bruce will do that again.



This is now my favorite autograph of our slick-fielding shortstop. I like these O-Pee-Chee cards for autos.



Melmo came through again. And seeing as I got this signed shortly after my trip to Toronto; I got Mora's signature twice in one week and not another time for the rest of the season. At least to this point. It seems as though he is a streaky signer.



Bergy was around for his t-shirt giveaway game in mid-August. Not only did he sign this card for me but I was also able to get my t-shirt signed. Sweet!



I do not like that Moeller is featured in a Yankees uni on this card. I try to avoid getting Yankees or Red Sox cards signed whenever humanly possibly but I didn't have any other cards of his. But since I got my 09 Tides set for my birthday, this situation has been rectified.





That's it on Orioles autographs but I found out last weekend that the Indians are a very good signing team. I just missed out on Grady Sizemore twice but I did get a few decent autos.


Travis Hafner, although he's not the player he was a few years ago, is still a cool autograph to get at a game. He signed for a ton of fans too.


Aaron Laffey was talking to some friends/family in the stands and was signing while doing so. Interesting note about his autograph- he signed Laffey first, and then added the A. I've never seen a player sign backwards like that before.


Chris Perez signed for me for the second time this season. The first time was a Nationals-Cardinals game in DC when Perez was still playing for St. Louie.


Wyatt Toregas, a rookie catcher signed this team card for me. I think he was trying to leave some room for others to sign the card. That, or he has a tiny signature.


Finally, Eric Wedge. I like the way his signature looks; it's all over the place.

Rolling on the C's

I have some pictures and autographs from last night's O's-Twins game and alumni autograph signing but haven't scanned them yet. Hopefully I will get to that later tonight.

Without further ado, here are some more of the "C" Orioles' autos that I have:

Raul Chavez 2006

I got this card signed this past Spring Training when Raul was in the Blue Jays camp.
I think I was the only person who knew who he was and was happy to have had this card with me, since it is his only Orioles card, too bad the black sharpie blended in to the black background.

Bruce Chen 04-06

I bought this card on Ebay but have a funny story about Bruce.
I remember O's Fanfest ('05 I think) and Bruce was standing in the convention center lobby, looking lost. It was hilarious, as hundreds of fans were standing in long lines to get player autographs while one of the players was right next to them, totally out in the open. He was a very nice guy and signed for a bunch of fans once we figured out who he was.

Howie Clark 2002, 2006

Ivanon Coffie 2000

Jeff Conine 1999-2003, 2006

"Niner" was always one of my favorite players every year that he was on the team.
He had a dry sense of humor and seemed to be well-liked by teammates.
Definitely an O's HOFer in my book.