Bill Russell Autograph Signing at Frank and Son

Yesterday I went to Frank and Son with my father in order to attend the Bill Russell autograph signing.  Of all the signers that were scheduled, Bill was the only one that was doing it for free.  I just had to take the opportunity to start my project on getting the entire infield.  I already met Steve Garvey during the Mall Tours, but I had him sign on a separate picture of himself.  Once we arrived 20 minutes past 9 at Frank and Son, there was a limited amount of parking space left and a line was formed to get inside the exhibit center.

 

As you can see Darren Sproles couldn't make it to the event.  We were also given gift bags containing a bunch of stuff concerning the Lakers and LA Kings.  Hall of Fame Sports was also giving  out stuff via a raffle and selling memorabilla.

 

My father and I didn't win the raffle, but I did buy some stuff during the wait.  First, I went to see the autographed pictures they had of athletes and the Jesse Orosco was the one that interested me the most.  I say that because it pretty much looks to be when he closed out the 1986 World Series and celebrated.  The picture was $7.  I also looked around Frank and Son and bought  two Dodgers bobbleheads: Takashi Saito and Eric Karros.  Therefore, I decided to put everything  in my dad's car and headed back where the autograph signing was about to get underway.

 

The line formed at 10:45, but we were informed that Bill was going to run late.  Bill arrived about 15 - 20 minutes after 11, but promised to sign for everyone that had a ticket.  My turn came up at just about noon and Don Newcombe arrived to greet Bill.  It was an amazing sight to see two Dodger legends right in front of my eyes.  Anyway, Bill signed my 8x10 picture of the infield and we shaked hands after.  My father then got my baseball card signed and we quickly left. 

 

 

I left Frank and Son happy as ever whenever I get an autograph, but I did feel the fatigue of standing up for a while. I want to give thanks to Frank and Son, Hall of Fame Sports for arranging the event, the fans for coming out and making the atmosphere wonderful, and my father for taking me and helping out with the extra autograph.