Yesterday was by far the most successful autograph experience I have had in my life up to date. It all began when autograph vouchers went up on sale on the twenty - second, as I was able to acquire a good amount of the most sought out autograph sessions that most fans had hoped to get. I was able to buy them by persistently refreshing the page and constantly clicking on the sessions as they came up at every opportunistic moment.
My family and I arrived at Dodger Stadium around the time the parking gates opened. From there we got in line to enter the Left Field gate. Before I got in line for the first autograph session, I helped my family to receive their wristbands, so they could enjoy the rest of the festivities. The first autograph session I waited for was Orel Hershiser and Yimi Garcia. Naturally, I was excited with getting the opportunity to meet a former Cy Young Winner, so I bought an 8x10 in order to include it in my Wall of Fame.
Here is a look at the photo I was able to get him to sign. Thank you very much Orel; it was a pleasure to meet you.
As for Yimi, I asked him to sign his 2015 Topps Heritage card. This is a dual "Rookie Stars" baseball card that also includes Melvin Mercedes of the Detroit Tigers, whom I'll mail an extra card in order to knock off the card for my Heritage set.
The next session I waited in line for was Shawn Green and Ross Stripling. I opted to get my bobblehead signed. I usually don't go as crazy with signed bobbleheads, but this was an exception since I already have a signed 8x10 of Shawn from two years back.
The next item I got signed was the Dodgers team card from the 2015 Heritage set. I got Ross Stripling, Bill Russell, and Josh Ravin to sign it. On a footnote, I was originally going to get Bill Russell to sign my helmet, but I changed my mind and opted for the convenience of the card, so that I may move over to my left easily to get Chase Utley.
I had two sessions in the 12:10 hour. I decided to head over to the Chase Utley and Bill Russell line first considering that more people were getting in line. Plus, I knew I could just move quickly towards the Brandon McCarthy and Mickey Hatcher line once I was done. I also got Chase to sign his respective card from the 2015 Heritage set.
Continuing the trend with the 2015 Topps Heritage cards, I got Brandon McCarthy to sign one the minute I moved over to his session with Hatcher. As you can see I got him to sign the card just before he was getting set to leave.
Meanwhile, I had an 8x10 of Mickey Hatcher that was lying around in my desk for months. Therefore, it was a great opportunity to get it signed by him.
Due to the dark background, I got Mickey to sign it with a Silver Sharpie.
Afterwards, I headed back in line to get ready for two sessions in the 1:10 hour. The first of the two was Justin Turner and Josh Ravin. As with everyone else, I had him sign his heritage card for the set. Overall, his signature looks just as awesome as the Scott Van Slyke hat that he was wearing.
The last autograph session of the day for me was Dave Roberts and Bob Geren. I had the new Dodgers manager sign my baseball on the sweet spot.
As for Bob Geren, I decided to get him to sign the Mets team card from the 2015 Heritage set. My mind set was that since he was the previous bench coach for the team that it made sense to get him to sign it and add it to the collection. With that, came an end to an amazing day at the stadium. I hope that this event was a sign of good fortune for me to build upon for the upcoming season. I wish you all a good day and an upcoming season full of goals to look forward to.
